History
_H7 Ranch
Emil Henry Marks (1881-1969), a descendant of Prussian immigrants, was orphaned at an early age and reared by his maternal grandparents in Addicks, Texas, and later by relatives in Pattison, Texas. Marks registered the _H7 cattle brand in 1898. He married Maud May Smith in 1907. They raised longhorn cattle in Addicks and in 1917 relocated their expanding herd to a 640-acre ranch in Barker, Texas.
History
"Constitution" Bend
Now Houston's famous ship-turning basin, this bend in Buffalo Bayou was named for the "Constitution," first steamboat to turn around here in June 1837. At the time, Houston was less than a year old. It was serving as temporary capital of the Republic of Texas, which was itself barely more than a year old.
History
1840 Houston City Cemetery
On April 8, 1840, the City of Houston purchased five acres in the First Ward from brothers Henry R. And Samuel L. Allen for $750, in order to establish Houston's first city owned cemetery. A city ordinance passed later that year divided the cemetery into four sections: (1) a "potters field" for criminals, suicides, and persons killed in duels, (2) the "negroes burying ground," (3) the "commons"…
Architecture
A. M. Armand House
New Orleans native Albert M. Armand was a clerk for Ahrens & Ott, a Houston plumbing supply company, by 1910. On Sep. 15, 1911, he bought block 6 lot 5 in the Avondale neighborhood from the greater Houston land and improvement company for $2,000. Armand lived here for only two years before selling the house, which had several owners and residents in its early history.
History
Abraham Roberts Homesite
Texas Army Route - April 16, 1836. Abraham (Abram) Roberts (1773-1850), a native of Georgia, came to Texas as a widower n 1827 and settled at this site on Spring Creek about 1829. His home was located at a prominent crossroads in the sparsely populated community of New Kentucky about three miles east of his neighbor Samuel McCarley.
History
Acres Homes Community
In 1910, land developer Alfred A. Wright platted the first of several subdivisions that eventually became the African American community of Acres Homes. Wright sold parcels of varying sized to residents who were attracted to the rural area by the inexpensive land, low taxes, and the absense of building restrictions, as well as the slow-paced life and wide-open spaces of rural living.
History
Aldine
The railroad arrived in this area, first called Prairie Switch, in 1873. The Aldine Post Office was established in 1896; twenty-five to thirty families, most of Swedish descent, settled on Aldine's fertile land. Here they grew such products as Satsuma oranges, pears and magnolia figs. In 1900 developer E. C. Robertson and his partner, F. W.
History
Alief Cemetery
The first permanent settlers in this area were Dr. John Magee and his wife, Alief, who came from Ellis County in 1896. The community originally was known as Dairy, but was renamed in 1897 for Mrs. Magee, the town's first postmistress. By 1899, there was a small but growing community here, with most families involved in ranching and farming.
History
Allen Ranch
This busy commercial area was once part of the Allen Ranch, one of the oldest and largest ranches in southeast Texas. A portion of the land was granted to Morris Callahan in 1824 by Mexico and inherited by his niece Rebecca Jane Thomas (d. 1919), who married Samuel William Allen (1826-1888) in 1844.
History
Allen's Landing
This Houston City Park, created in 1967, is on the site of Houston's first port, ocean-going ships, both steamers and sailing vessels, loaded and unloaded freight here, beginning with visit of the steamer "Laura," which docked on January 26, 1837. The farsighted Allen brothers, Augustus C. and John K.
History
Almeda
In 1892 Illinois investors bought land here, near a pre-Civil War railroad line, and platted the town of Almeda. With its mild climate, the town was marketed as a citrus farming community, but unusually severe freezes caused many farmers to turn to dairy production by the 1920s. Almeda became a prosperous dairy farming town.
Military
Amos B. Edson
Arrived in Texas January 28, 1836, having been recruited in New Orleans for the Army of Texas by Captain Amasa Turner in whose company he served at San Jacinto. Died in Houston, 1837.
History
Amos Cemetery
The Amos family came to Texas before 1860. In 1881, Thomas Amos and his son-in-law, Duncan Kosse (Cossey), bought 130 acres in Kohrville, which became a self-sufficient African American community. The Amos family grew and prospered, leading them to establish the nearby Kohrville School (1893) and Pilgrim Branch Baptist Church (1898).
Industry & Science
Anderson, Clayton & Co.
In 1904, Frank E. Anderson, his brother, Monroe D. Anderson, and his wife's brothers, William L. and Benjamin B. Clayton, formed the partnership of Anderson, Clayton & Co. in Oklahoma City. The successful cotton firm moved its headquarters in 1916 to Houston and built Long Reach, a cotton compressing-storing-shipping complex covering 32 acres on the new Houston Ship Channel, including a wharf for…
Architecture
Angelo and Lillian Minella House
By 1946, Angelo and Lillian Minella had moved to Houston, where Angelo operated a plumbing and heating supply company. The couple hired architect Allen R. Williams, Jr. to design this residence, finished in 1950. It was one of several "Century Built Homes" designed by Williams, who developed a standardized, all-masonry plan used in various iterations by other Houston families.
Architecture
Annunciation Church
In style of great European churches. The work of the very Rev. Joseph Querat, a canon of Cathedral of Lyons, France, and missionary to Texas 1852-1878. Begun 1867 when Father Querat (with aid of parishioners) bought old Harris County Courthouse to get bricks for foundation; completed 1874. Sacristy and steeple were added 1881-1884 by plans of Nicholas J.
History
Anson Jones
(January 20, 1798 - January 9, 1858) Anson Jones was born in great Barrington, Massachusetts. He earned his M.D. degree in Philadelphia in 1827; by October 1833, Jones had moved to Texas, establishing a successful medical practice in Brazoria. In 1835, he helped organize Holland Lodge No. 36, the first Masonic Lodge in Texas.
Military
Archibald S. Lewis
A member of Captain Benjamin F. Bryant's company at San Jacinto. Died in Houston, December 3, 1839.
Architecture
Arthur B. Cohn House
A native of Little Rock, Arkansas, Arthur Benjamin Cohn (1871-1938) constructed this home soon after purchasing the property in 1905. As principal accountant for the William Marsh Rice Estate, Cohn was instrumental in the establishment of Rice Institute in 1912 and served as its first business manager.
History
Ashbel Smith, M. D.
(1805-1885) Born in Hartford, Connecticut, this prominent physician, statesman, soldier, and educator received his degree from Yale Medical College in 1828. After a period of study in France, Smith returned to the United States to practice medicine in the state of North Carolina.
Entertainment & Sports
Astrodome
Judge Roy Hofheinz envisioned the world's first air-conditioned fully enclosed multi-purpose stadium by 1960. Officially named the Harris County Domed Stadium, ground was broken for the home of Major League Baseball's Houston Colt .45s on January 3, 1962, with Colt .45 pistols fired into the soil.
Architecture
Auditorium Hotel
The Auditorium Hotel was built in 1926 for Houston investor Michele DeGeorge (1850-1927), who came to the United States from Italy in 1881. Designed by architect Joseph Finger (1887-1953), the building features Italian renaissance detailing in the upper stories.
History
Augustus Chapman Allen
Augustus Chapman Allen was born to Roland and Sarah (Chapman) Allen in Canaseraga, New York on July 4, 1806. He graduated from the Polytechnic Institute at Chittenango, New York, where he taught mathematics until 1827. That year, he became a bookkeeper for the H. and H. Canfield Company, in which he and his brother John Kirby Allen bought an interest. A.C. Allen married Charlotte M.
Architecture
Autry House
This house was built in 1921 by the Episcopal Diocese of Texas as a student center for Rice University. It was designed by Houston architect William Ward Watkin and the Boston architectural firm of Cram & Ferguson in the Italian Mediterranean style featured on many Rice University campus structures.
Architecture
Baker-Jones House
Prominent attorney, banker, and industrialist James Addison Baker (d. 1941) purchased this property in 1915. He hired noted Houston architect Birdsall P. Briscoe to design this house, which he presented as a gift to his daughter, Alice Graham Baker and her husband, Murray Brashear Jones.
Elsewhere in Texas
Hear it from the road
Whistlestop tells you this story automatically when you drive past. No searching, no tapping, nothing to ask.
