Published by The History Press
Charleston, SC
www.historypress.com
Copyright 2020 by Tristan Smith
All rights reserved
Front cover, bottom: Downtown Houston skyline, early twenty-first century. Carol Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress.
Front cover, top left: Alabama Theatre, 1977. Library of Congress.
First published 2020
E-book edition 2020
ISBN 978.1.43966.936.5
Library of Congress Control Number: 2019954233
print edition ISBN 978.1.46714.466.7
Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
For Theo and Max,
You inspire me to preserve the past for your future.
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Since I was young, I liked to explore. I grew up near the woods, essentially a good-sized wooded area running around a small lake in the neighborhoodbig enough to get lost in but not big enough to get truly lost. I am grateful to my parents, Greg and Vicki Smith, for giving me and my brothers the freedom to explore until the porch lights came on.
When I first moved to Houston in 2011, I picked up two books to help guide me as I started work at the Fire Museum. The first was Historic Photos of Houston by Betty Trapp Chapman, a renowned independent historian and writer who is one of the go-to people when it comes to Houston history. The other was an edition of Stephen Foxs Houston Architectural Guide. This is the true guide to Houstons architectural history. Please buy his book and use it to explore Houstons built environment in depth.
I would like to thank Ben Gibson, my editor at The History Press, who has provided guidance, assistance and gentle prodding; and to copyeditor extraordinaire Hayley Behal, for making corrections that only serve to make this book better. Additionally, Id like to clue you in to a few resources Ive found to be golden since moving to Houston. Id like to point a finger at James Glassman, the Houstorian whose website and social media output on the daily history of Houston is unmatched. Kudos to Robert Kimberlys Sig Byrd archival project. If you read enough Houston history, youll come across the old column The Stroller by Sigman Byrd, Houston Press columnist from 1947 to the mid-1950s; his project brings the city together online. Check it out. Swamplot, an online column about Houstons real estate landscape was a treasure-trove of information on what historic Houston buildings were in peril. Luckily for you, the archives are still around. Also, make it out to Story Sloanes Gallery on Dairy Ashford in west Houstonyou wont find a better collection of images or a better storyteller.
Finally, to Jen, thank you for your love and encouragement, Im definitely The Luckiest. To Jen, Theo, Max, Grace and Grant, thanks for putting up with me, supporting me, cheering me on and exploring this great cityand beyondon our Smanson Adventures.
PREFACE
A History Lovers Guide to Houston is an exploration of historic downtown Houston. I moved here in August 2011, from a city trenched firmly in historic preservation, Lawrence, Kansas. This college town of about 100,000 people is home to many historic structures and districts. As I sat on the historic resources commission, I saw firsthand not only the struggles of preserving a communitys historic fabric but also the struggles of attempting to grow in it. When I moved to Houston, I encountered a city that had struggled to hold on to its past while traveling at lightspeed to the future, felling numerous stories along the way.
Im an explorer. I like to discover my city, street by street, neighborhood by neighborhood, building by building. I find adaptive reuse of historic properties fascinating and am amazed by the work people put into the restoration of historic structures. My purpose for this book is to help others explore the historic fabric of downtown Houston. I want others to experience what we have left in the way of historic buildings. While not enough, I think we have a good number of historic buildings to appreciate. I also think that an informed and interested base of people will add to the number of those hoping to save future projects from demolition. We already have amazing work from those at the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance, the Texas Historical Commission, the Heritage Society and the Houston Archaeological and Historic Commission, along with numerous individuals, architects and engineers working to highlight historic preservation efforts in our community. I hope readers of this book will add to that force.
This book is not meant to be a complete listing of all historic structures in Houston, nor is it comprehensive; however, it is a good overview. Id like for you to read and exploreto take the book with you. Ive walked and driven the streets of downtown taking notes, researched the National Register of Historic Places and perused the listings of the citys historic preservation landmarks to collect the buildings in this book.
I hope that you enjoy this book. I hope that you take it and explore downtown Houston. I hope you get involved with the preservation of our community in ways that maybe you hadnt before.
INTRODUCTION
The first Anglo settlers in southeast Texas were members of Stephen F. Austins Old 300, remaining in Brazoria County, south of present-day Houston, in the 1820s. Working with the Mexican government, Austin had encouraged settlers to come to Texas to colonize the area.
In August 1836, brothers Augustus Allen and John Allen, who arrived in Texas five years prior, purchased six thousand acres of land running along Buffalo Bayou, part of John Austins (no relation to Stephen) original survey. In November, with land surveyed, they laid out the original town plat, with Main Street running through the center of town. It was located between White Oak and Buffalo Bayous, and the Allen brothers thought that Buffalo Bayou could become an important shipping route between the Gulf Coast and the interior of the new Republic of Texas. Houston contained sixty-two blocks and sixteen streets laid in an off-center grid along the bayou.
The Allens promoted their new townnamed for General Sam Houston, cleared the land and began selling parcels, giving little attention to any future development. In fact, some of the earliest accounts of Houston recount the streets and blocks of the new town becoming muddy after rain and pockmarked with tree stumps in the right of way. Reserves were set aside for a courthouse, market house, capitol for the Republic of Texas and, on the southern edge of town, a church and a school. Little other development regulation was established. The town was officially chartered in 1837.
Early residents and visitors to Houston could find emergency accommodations that were hastily built to provide shelter for general life and business. Until proper sawmills could be established, most structures were tents or simple log structures. Eventually, these would be replaced with wood frame buildings and then replaced by masonry structures both for stability and to stave off the destructive fires that were common in Houston.
