Obliteration Of Downtown Mansions

[marmer]

On the Houston History site, there's a great slideshow of old mansions and homes.

http://www.houstonhistory.com/poduct2/album3/jsalbum.html

Most of them were downtown or in Midtown. There were literally dozens of High Victorian mansions, some designed by George Dickey and one by Nicholas Clayton. What I found totally surprising was how short a time they lasted. Many were built after 1870 and torn down just after the turn of the century. The 1920's saw most of these grand homes, none as much as fifty years old and many closer to thirty years old, demolished, seemingly without a second thought. A bare handful survived until the 1950's but no later. I suspect the development of Broadacres, Shadyside, Shadowlawn, and later River Oaks and Riverside Terrace contributed to this, but it's enough to sicken any ardent preservationist. Anyone else heard of this?

marmer

[sevfiv]

i had noticed it a little while looking through older sanborn maps - the d's (dwellings) were quickly vanishing around the boom of the twenties, and the cbd as we know it now was forming

[jm1fd]

Wow. Those are some incredible houses. Not terribly surprising to see that they're gone however. They were obviously some very wealthy folks that built those houses, and it seems like the wealthy are more likely, or at least more likely than those without tremendous means, to teardown and rebuild or move elsewhere.

Edited January 31, 2007 by jm1fd

[Guest danax]

This one is at Preston and Fannin in the 1860s. Anyone know what those poles are for? They don't look like telegraph poles.

[Vertigo58]

On the Houston History site, there's a great slideshow of old mansions and homes.

http://www.houstonhistory.com/poduct2/album3/jsalbum.html

Most of them were downtown or in Midtown. There were literally dozens of High Victorian mansions, some designed by George Dickey and one by Nicholas Clayton. What I found totally surprising was how short a time they lasted. Many were built after 1870 and torn down just after the turn of the century. The 1920's saw most of these grand homes, none as much as fifty years old and many closer to thirty years old, demolished, seemingly without a second thought. A bare handful survived until the 1950's but no later. I suspect the development of Broadacres, Shadyside, Shadowlawn, and later River Oaks and Riverside Terrace contributed to this, but it's enough to sicken any ardent preservationist. Anyone else heard of this?

marmer

There is an excellent book locally called "Houston's Forgotten Heritage". This one will leave you breathless. Many of these mansions were more like castles to me! Some of these gorgeous homes were barely 15-20 years old when they were victims of the wrecking ball. The worse thing is some were removed to be replaced with car dealers or parking lots. Most aggravating was that the mindset was "well they are already out of fashion so lets go modern". Aaaaauuurrrrgghhh!

[sevfiv]

This one is at Preston and Fannin in the 1860s. Anyone know what those poles are for? They don't look like telegraph poles.

hmm - i can't think offhand what else they would be - maybe they appear to be small since the big telegraph boom wasn't until the mid 1860s or so (western union) and the service was still small here...

fwiw, this is an interesting article about telegraphs in texas:

http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online...es/TT/egt1.html

Edited February 1, 2007 by sevfiv

[marmer]

There is an excellent book locally called "Houston's Forgotten Heritage". This one will leave you breathless. Many of these mansions were more like castles to me! Some of these gorgeous homes were barely 15-20 years old when they were victims of the wrecking ball. The worse thing is some were removed to be replaced with car dealers or parking lots. Most aggravating was that the mindset was "well they are already out of fashion so lets go modern". Aaaaauuurrrrgghhh!

I know that book well. In fact, the Pearland Public Library's copy is sitting on the counter in my kitchen right now, along with Marguerite Johnston's _Houston, The Unknown City 1836-1946._ I checked them out hoping to find a picture of the Simms mansion Wayside, but all I found was the description posted earlier from the Johnston book.

Many of the photos and information on the houstonhistory site I posted earlier seem to be from _Houston's Forgotten Heritage_

From what I can tell, the lure of living in "the country" was very strong to the early developers of places like River Oaks and Shadyside. That plus the increasing availability and reliability of automobiles probably contributed to the flight of well-to-do people from the downtown area.

Concerning the short poles shown in the picture: Probably they were still under construction; either telegraph poles without wires installed yet or maybe gaslights without lanterns installed?

marmer

[KinkaidAlum]

I totally understand the well off fleeing the plight of the city.

What I don't understand is that Midtown was wiped clean of these gorgeous houses. Nearly every other city I have ever traveled to has areas like Midtown right outside of the city center. Most were turned into apartment buildings. Can you imagine midtown if just 50% of these still remained today? Mix in new apartments and townhomes with these older homes turned into fourplexes and you'd have one kick-ass neighborhood.

I always thought that when Houston was booming in the 70s and early 80s, many land owners in midtown cleared their lots waiting for the next skyscraper project...

[Subdude]

What happened to Houston's South End (today's Midtown) was common in cities all over the country. Mansions in what were once wealthy neighborhoods were turned into apartments or funeral homes and the neighborhoods turned low-end commercial. I think part of the reason was cars. As automobiles became common, new wealthy subdivisions were built further from downtown. Much the same thing happens today as suburbs continue to move further out. Plus, once a neighborhood began to be commercialized and become less "upscale," the wealthy people remaining had even more incentive to cut their losses and move too. There's a great novel called "The Magnificent Ambersons" that deals in part with the same evolution as happened in Midtown.

Although most of the old mansions are gone, aren't there still a number of smaller old houses remaining on the eastern side of Midtown?

[silverartfox]

I totally understand the well off fleeing the plight of the city.

What I don't understand is that Midtown was wiped clean of these gorgeous houses. Nearly every other city I have ever traveled to has areas like Midtown right outside of the city center. Most were turned into apartment buildings. Can you imagine midtown if just 50% of these still remained today? Mix in new apartments and townhomes with these older homes turned into fourplexes and you'd have one kick-ass neighborhood.

I always thought that when Houston was booming in the 70s and early 80s, many land owners in midtown cleared their lots waiting for the next skyscraper project...

Many of those handsome old houses in Houston were of wood or brick veneer construction. It would take just a few years of neglect in our humid Gulf Coast climate for termites and rot to take their toll. Cities with intact late 19th century neighborhoods frequently have more houses constructed of stone or solid brick, or at least a climate that is less harsh on wood structures. At the end of WWII there were quite a few wonderful old residences still standing in Midtown and adjacent neighborhoods. They had suffered from deferred maintenance during the Great Depression and the war and were demolished in the 1950's-60's.

On the whole, Houston residents have scant respect for the history of their city. Therefore, any interest in preserving our architectural heritage is slight. As a native Houstonian, I can only hope that this situation will improve.

When it comes to residential neighborhoods in Houston, the motto has always been "Newer is Better".

[57Tbird]

I was looking at the fantastic pictures of those old homes in the link posted by marmer. I was hoping to find one of my grandparents' houses, either on Main or on Elgin. I didn't find either, but there was one of a magnificent house at 3112 Main, which must have been on the NW corner of Main and Elgin, right across the street from my grandparents' house at 3111 Main. I have posted the only picture I could find that shows some of their house. My aunt is the "flapper" on the left. This photo was taken in 1925. My grandfather had a business that made molded concrete pots such as those shown in the picture. I never saw this house, since it was torn down a few years later. A Magnolia gas station replaced it. They moved to a house which was directly behind it, on Elgin. That is where I lived as a very young boy from 1941-1946. I remember the gas station very well and the big homes that were still in the area, some of which were in the process of going downhill. There were three within a block or so that had become room-and-board houses. One at the NE corner of Main and Rosalie even had a small trailer park with about 4-5 trailers occupying the space behind it and over to Fannin. There was a big house on the other side of us on Fannin and Elgin that had a big porch around the front and side and two huge magnolia trees in the front yard. The houses are gone, but I still have some wonderful memories from that time and place.

Edited February 4, 2007 by 57Tbird

[Vertigo58]

I was looking at the fantastic pictures of those old homes in the link posted by marmer. I was hoping to find one of my grandparents' houses, either on Main or on Elgin. I didn't find either, but there was one of a magnificent house at 3112 Main, which must have been on the NW corner of Main and Elgin, right across the street from my grandparents' house at 3111 Main. I have posted the only picture I could find that shows some of their house. My aunt is the "flapper" on the left. This photo was taken in 1925. My grandfather had a business that made molded concrete pots such as those shown in the picture. I never saw this house, since it was torn down a few years later. A Magnolia gas station replaced it. They moved to a house which was directly behind it, on Elgin. That is where I lived as a very young boy from 1941-1946. I remember the gas station very well and the big homes that were still in the area, some of which were in the process of going downhill. There were three within a block or so that had become room-and-board houses. One at the NE corner of Main and Rosalie even had a small trailer park with about 4-5 trailers occupying the space behind it and over to Fannin. There was a big house on the other side of us on Fannin and Elgin that had a big porch around the front and side and two huge magnolia trees in the front yard. The houses are gone, but I still have some wonderful memories from that time and place.

Excellent, excellent photo!

and look at that beautiful urn, grapes and all. I think another reason photos were hard to find was the fact that many people simply could not afford them. It was considered a perk or extra. Even harder to get during the rations of WWII.

Wish someone would start a thread about what people had to give up as an effort to help the war ie: women's hose for parachutes, kids bike tires, etc. I heard many iron fences/gates and metal from anywhere was needed and given at an alarming rate. Thats why we dont see too many crestings on the older homes and or model-T's either.

[marmer]

What happened to Houston's South End (today's Midtown) was common in cities all over the country. Mansions in what were once wealthy neighborhoods were turned into apartments or funeral homes and the neighborhoods turned low-end commercial. (snip) Plus, once a neighborhood began to be commercialized and become less "upscale," the wealthy people remaining had even more incentive to cut their losses and move too. There's a great novel called "The Magnificent Ambersons" that deals in part with the same evolution as happened in Midtown.

Although most of the old mansions are gone, aren't there still a number of smaller old houses remaining on the eastern side of Midtown?

Yes, I think there are quite a few on Caroline, Austin, La Branch, etc. (I went out once with a girl named Caroline Austin. No kidding.) _Houston's Forgotten Heritage_ does explicitly state that the new South End developments were very attractive to wealthy Houstonians who were then able to sell their downtown homes for significant profit as commercialization moved southward. Silverartfox also believes that neglect fostered by the Depression and by wartime austerity caused many of these houses to deteriorate beyond repair so that they were demolished after WWII. That seems perfectly reasonable, as does the nineteenth-century level of amenities in even those large houses, as compared with, say, the houses built in River Oaks in the 20's. And, too, the city was still less than a hundred years old and preservation was not on anyone's mind.

I'm less willing to go along with the deterioration due to climactic factors only because of the large numbers of contemporaneous houses still extant in Galveston. But the thing that I find tremendously surprising is not how many of those houses were torn down after WWII, it's how many of them were torn down BEFORE 1920.

marmer

[editor]

It's interesting all of the varied styles of homes. Some look straight out of New Orleans. Others from New England. A few look more appropriate for Houston -- like the kind you see up in Huntsville. I guess it took a while for Houston settlers to figure out which form was best, and by then there was air conditioning so it didn't matter anymore.

[Vertigo58]

It's interesting all of the varied styles of homes. Some look straight out of New Orleans. Others from New England. A few look more appropriate for Houston -- like the kind you see up in Huntsville. I guess it took a while for Houston settlers to figure out which form was best, and by then there was air conditioning so it didn't matter anymore.

There is a house I used to pass by many times as a teenager and it's still there! Corner of Caroline and Oakdale. This house always stood out to me because it looks like one you would see in Amsterdam or Denmark. I call it the Anne Frank house as it looks so much like the one from the 1959 film. Check it out before its gone! It is 5 yes 5 stories high and is used as a apartment house. In fact there is presently a vacancy. The windows are the long to the floor type so you can't help but see inside and it looks even more dated which what makes it cool. Has light brown plaster siding and is a bit on a high grading. One day I want to ask to see the apt just for curiosity's sake. The builders must have been European as it must have been built in the 1920-30's. You can see the 5th floor loft at night quite clearly, must have a great view. Sure wish I could interview one of the older tenants as to its history.

[Vertigo58]

It is interesting to see how others around the world strive for the same goals to save history.

Charles Pugin, architectural draughtsman and topographical watercolourist, is arguably the greatest British architect, designer and writer of the nineteenth century.

See this memo from The Pugin Society in England. (below)

The Chapel, Inglewood House, Kintbury, Berkshire

See here a few photographs of this most unusual structure (by member Peter Blacklock). The tiles (1) High Altar (2) and stained glass (3) are all essentially Puginesque, and so also, to some extent, is the fine Walmesley Memorial screen (4). The exterior (5), however, is a puzzle, with classical embellishments of a distinctly non-Pugin kind. Although it is recorded emphaticially that the chapel was moved "stone by stone, by canal barge", from the former home of the Walmesley family at Westwood House, near Wigan, is it possible that only some of the fabric was transferred, and that some alteration to the exterior may have taken place at Inglewood? THIS CHAPEL IS CURRENTLY IN GRAVE DANGER OF DEMOLITION.

NEWSFLASH The Society greatly regrets to have to inform all readers of this page that just before Christmas 2006 nearly all the interior fittings from this important building were removed, so that when Inspectors from English Heritage visited the chapel, with a view to a speedy spot-listing following the Society's application, the building, although itself still standing (then), no longer fulfilled the criteria for listing. Inglewood is now a lost cause. We understand that the fittings have been given to reasonably good and appreciative homes, but the whole episode is still deeply disturbing.

[Modernceo]

I was looking at the fantastic pictures of those old homes in the link posted by marmer. I was hoping to find one of my grandparents' houses, either on Main or on Elgin. I didn't find either, but there was one of a magnificent house at 3112 Main, which must have been on the NW corner of Main and Elgin, right across the street from my grandparents' house at 3111 Main. I have posted the only picture I could find that shows some of their house. My aunt is the "flapper" on the left. This photo was taken in 1925. My grandfather had a business that made molded concrete pots such as those shown in the picture. I never saw this house, since it was torn down a few years later. A Magnolia gas station replaced it. They moved to a house which was directly behind it, on Elgin. That is where I lived as a very young boy from 1941-1946. I remember the gas station very well and the big homes that were still in the area, some of which were in the process of going downhill. There were three within a block or so that had become room-and-board houses. One at the NE corner of Main and Rosalie even had a small trailer park with about 4-5 trailers occupying the space behind it and over to Fannin. There was a big house on the other side of us on Fannin and Elgin that had a big porch around the front and side and two huge magnolia trees in the front yard. The houses are gone, but I still have some wonderful memories from that time and place.

57Tbird,

Was your Aunt, and relatives Greek ? Or Italian ?

Just curious, your aunt looks a little Greek.

[57Tbird]

57Tbird,

Was your Aunt, and relatives Greek ? Or Italian ?

Just curious, your aunt looks a little Greek.

My grandparents had english/scottish names and were from Tennessee, where my mother was born. My aunt was several years younger than my mother, so she may have been born after they moved to Houston. No Greek or Italian in the recent bloodline that I know of.

[2fatcats]

Some of these gorgeous homes were barely 15-20 years old when they were victims of the wrecking ball. The worse thing is some were removed to be replaced with car dealers or parking lots. Most aggravating was that the mindset was "well they are already out of fashion so lets go modern". Aaaaauuurrrrgghhh!<<Vertigo58

A good case in point was the estate called the Oaks in the 23-2400 block of Baldwin@Bagby. Do you all recall several years ago that area was a park-like area, undeveloped and covered with those nice old oak trees? The Oaks mansion had been missing since the 1950's but the property was sold in the late 80s (I might be a little fuzzy on the date), and all those ugly apartments sit there now. They pulled up all the oak trees, about 60 or so of them, piled them up and hauled them off, leaving only a few around the perimeter. There was a public outcry about it as I recall, but not enough to make a difference. To add insult to injury, there was a small brick cottage that stood on the corner of Baldwin which had been built in 1909 as a temporary residence until the Oaks main house was completed, and had manged to outlive the mansion and the wrecking ball until the apartments came along. I had been going by there wondering about the house and then one day it was nothing but a pile of bricks where they had bulldozed it. I thought it was a damn shame.

[Montrose1100]

"The Rossonian" Looks stunning, I wonder what replaced it?? Was demolished in 1952

[Subdude]

"The Rossonian" Looks stunning, I wonder what replaced it?? Was demolished in 1952

The Rossonian (later the Ambassador) was on Fannin at McKinney. The site is now the entrance to Two Houston Center.

[Vertigo58]

Take a look at the thread I did on East End mansions and East End Structures now gone. That will leave you reeling.

My fav in that book is the 3 story home/tower that has elaborate roof detail, and a porte corche which was as the book describes becoming quite fashionable/de riguer in Victorian society. Was torn down for a tire shop. Gotta love it.

On a happier note I am glad to say that I am recreating/restoring my home to resemble one of these beauties. Gingerbread, bargeboards even with a High Gothic/Victorian Gazebo strait out of historical renderings circa 1880's.

[robhan]

Does Anyone have any info or pics on mansions that used to stand in the Sowntown and northern Midtown areas? Most of them are demolished. I know there is a book called Hidden Houston somewhere out there that I can not find.

[nm5k]

Does Anyone have any info or pics on mansions that used to stand in the Sowntown and northern Midtown areas? Most of them are demolished. I know there is a book called Hidden Houston somewhere out there that I can not find.

I've got pictures of nearly every one of them I think..

One of the sites had many pictures of them. Baily's ??

I fergot..

Here is a few to whet your appetite..

Loads more where that came from..

Someone here will probably remember the site all

those are on.

[robhan]

I know the Scanlan Mansion was on Main near where the Lee Brown Metro Center is now and the fountain in Sam Houston Park was moved from mthat loation when the mansion was torn down.

I've got pictures of nearly every one of them I think..

One of the sites had many pictures of them. Baily's ??

I fergot..

Here is a few to whet your appetite..

Loads more where that came from..

Someone here will probably remember the site all

those are on.

[isuredid]

There's a slide show at the bottom of this page. On the old web site these houses were all identified:

www.houstonhistory.com

[Vertigo58]

There's a slide show at the bottom of this page. On the old web site these houses were all identified:

www.houstonhistory.com

In that very slide show is my all time favorite Victorian's which books states: A Porte-cochere was a very common feature on most prominent homes.

What truly irks me to this day is that some of these jewels were leveled for tire shops or car dealers.

Porte-cochere:

1. A carriage entrance leading through a building or wall into an inner courtyard. 2. A roofed structure covering a driveway at the entrance of a building to provide shelter while entering or leaving a vehicle.

2. A porte-cochere (porte-coch

[robhan]

Not only were many beautiful mansions torn but but also many nice apartment houses as well. To this day most of the people that attend Holy Rosary parish come from all over the city due to the gutting of the houses and apartments within it's traditional boundries. The same can be said for Annunciation and Sacred Heart.

[Subdude]

Note duplicate downtown mansion topics merged.

[Plumb Bob]

This one is at Preston and Fannin in the 1860s. Anyone know what those poles are for? They don't look like telegraph poles.

Hi danax,

Yes this is a photograph of the first telegraph line in Houston. It's on the corner of Preston @ Fannin, looking east. This line going down to Galveston. The reason you can't see any wires is because of the very poor quality of the photo. What you have is crude copy. The poles were painted white to keep people from cutting them down and I also assume the same reason they used to whitewash trees.

Anyway, see if these images help clear things up for you. There was only one line at first that ran between Houston & Galveston. Also there is a close-up of the 1873 map of Houston. There are only two telegraph lines on this map. One on the north side of CBD and the other heading south.

BOB

Edited July 23, 2012 by Plumb Bob