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Convent Of The Good Shepherd At 1400 Richmond Ave.


hydepark

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I'm not positive about this, but wasn't the large convent about where the Richmont Square apartments on Richmond are now?

That's correct. Richmont Square (aka 1400 Richmond, aka Vaseline Flats) is built on the site where a convent formerly stood. It was demolished in the 1970s.

However, some of the homes which formerly stood at or near Hyde Park Crescent were owned by a religious or charitable institution - I'm not sure which one. No relation to the Richmont property that I know of.

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That's correct. Richmont Square (aka 1400 Richmond, aka Vaseline Flats) is built on the site where a convent formerly stood. It was demolished in the 1970s.

However, some of the homes which formerly stood at or near Hyde Park Crescent were owned by a religious or charitable institution - I'm not sure which one. No relation to the Richmont property that I know of.

Another Tremont conspiracy theory bites the dust.

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  • 12 years later...

Here is a portion of a 1920 photo looking north past Rice University's Lovett Hall. (The full photo was posted yesterday on the Rice History Corner blog: https://ricehistorycorner.com/2018/04/11/wm-rice-institute-houston-tex-1920/)

 

Might someone here identify the three-story building on the horizon, near the right edge of this cropped image?

27545122158_0aea6c20ff.jpg

Edited by almadenmike
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Could it be the Montrose Public School? It was on the block where HSPVA is now, West Main and Stanford, and that building looks like a school from that time period. The Montrose school was built in 1916. Using Google Earth, the angles look right. There were some pictures here on HAIF at one point, but the links are broken now.

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Thanks, Ross. It does look like a school building to me, too.

However, I see in this Feb. 23, 1919, Houston Post article (p.34, pasted below) that the Montrose School appears to be two-story, not three. Was there another one on that campus. (In several articles about the Montrose school, I see mention of an administration building, but I haven't (yet) found if this news photo shows that ... or other photos that specifically show that building or say if it's 3 stories high.)

1919-MontroseSchool-HoustonPost-23Feb-p34.jpg

Edited by almadenmike
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I searched all through the Sanborn maps for any possible building and there doesn't seem to be anything that fits the bill. 

 

I even tried to triangulate the location of the building from the photo you posted above and another Schlueter photo from the Rice History Corner posted on March 27

https://ricehistorycorner.com/2018/03/27/chemistry-building-construction-circa-1925/

https://ricehistorycorner.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/oversize-chem-construction-1925.jpg

 

Based on my amateur analysis, I determined that the building should be between two N/S lines formed roughly by Graustark and West Blvd and as far north as Richmond.

I redoubled my efforts in the Sanborn maps and the City Directories.

I searched the lists of schools and apartment buildings.  The Kinkaid School was there but it was one story and faced north.

There doesn't seem to be anything.  Also note that the 1924 Sanborn maps don't go west of Institute, so it might have slipped off the left of the map.

I wonder if maybe it wasn't around long. 

 

I decided to search for other Schlueter photos but I could not find anything else to really help.  I did find a photo of this unidentified building that could possibly pass as the subject building.  Unfortunately it has no location or identification.

http://digital.houstonlibrary.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/schlueter/id/207/rec/19

 

 

?CISOROOT=schlueter&CISOPTR=207&action=2

 

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On the 1944 Google Earth aerials, there are a couple of possibilities on Richmond West of Graustark. One is on the South side of Richmond at Graustark, and I can't find a reference in the 1940 City directory(starting there and trying to work backwards to 1920, since 1944 is the earliest phots), the other is on the North side of Richmond at Yupon, which was the Convent of the Good Shepherd. 

 

There is another intriguing property at Graustark between Castle Court and what is now the SW Frwy. It looks like a major residential property, and, again, I can't find a relevant entry in the City directory. I will keep looking.

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Ross -- Is this the Castle Court property that intrigued you? If so, I agree that the buildings at the 7 o'clock and 9 o'clock positions on the left side of that circle do look interesting. (1944 Google Earth Pro view below)
 

1944-Houston-CastleCourt-Graustark.jpg

Edited by almadenmike
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  • The title was changed to Identity Of A Building In 1920
  • The title was changed to Convent Of The Good Shepherd At 1400 Richmond Ave.

I'm not sure if you're still reading @almadenmike but I found the building in question!  Thanks for Ross for hinting at the building earlier in the thread.

This is cool!!  Amazing. 

Architects were Sanguinet, Staats, & Gottlieb. Wyatt C. Hedrick wasn't a partner at that time?

From the newspaper The Houston Post. dated December 30, 1917:

The New Convent of the Good Shepherd
Cornerstone Is To be Laid This Afternoon With Ceremony, Vicar - General Kiwin to Officiate.
---
The site selected for the home comprises 10 acres of land on the Richmond road, just six blocks from the end of the Montrose street car line. It is within easy access of the city, yet its location offers the seclusion necessary for an institution of this kind. The house of the Good Shepherd has no racial or denomination lines. Catholic, Jew, Gentile; any race or creed are received in the home without being questioned and without being required to be embrace the Catholic religion. The same--

fN2uWNR.jpg

6f08cZR.jpg

3pB7uB6.jpg

yJElcIs.jpg

 

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