The first owner of the lot, platted in 1841, was South Carolina native Joseph W. Robertson. In 1848, the physician and fifth mayor (for one year) of Austin bought the French Legation building and its surrounding property for a girls' school. When the school closed after a semester or two, he moved in with his wife, nine slaves and eventually 11 children. Since then, the area between Interstate 35 and the Texas State Cemetery and between East Ninth Street and East 12th Street has been called Robertson Hill. In 1869, he deeded the East Eighth Street lot to George Lee Robertson, one of his five sons, who held it in trust for his mother. Since 1877, this pocket of picturesque real estate has been known as the George L. Robertson subdivision. According to Steve Sadowsky, historical preservation officer with the City of Austin, the George A. Peterson House, named for its first owner-occupant, was built in 1901. Peterson was a prominent merchant, who came to Texas from Sweden by way of Minnesota in 1890. He operated a grocery and dry goods store at 701 E. Sixth (then Pecan) St. Peterson lived in the house on East Eighth Street until 1923 when he sold it to Albert H. Stroud, an engineer for the Southern Pacific Railroad. In 1943, Stroud's widow, Annie, sold it to the Galvan family. Nazario Galvan was caretaker and gardener of Laguna Gloria from 1920 until his retirement and subsequent death in 1958. The Galvans lived in Laguna Gloria's gatehouse with their eight children until after the property was donated to the Texas Fine Arts Association in 1943. Source: http://www.statesman.com/news/business/real-estate/historic-east-austin-...

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