W. L. Foley Dry Goods Co. At 214-218 Travis St.

[gonzo1976]

Not sure if this is where Twelve Spot Bar is located, but the W.L. Foley Dry Goods Co. building was located at 214-218 Travis. The Houston Architectural Guide says it was built in 1889 and designed by Eugene T. Heiner. The Post described the store as "magnificent" and "palatial" at the time.

[houston1973]

yea i got the one for 509 and where 12spot on the corner of preston and travis by the Hermann Building is another.

yea i got the one for 509 and where 12spot on the corner of preston and travis by the Hermann Building is another.

here is the one on travis which is the twelve spot building 214 travis

yea i got the one for 509 and where 12spot on the corner of preston and travis by the Hermann Building is another.

here is the one on travis which is the twelve spot building 214 travis

Photographs by Hester + Hardaway, copyright 1996

214 Travis Street

W. L. Foley Dry Goods Company Building

1889, Eugene T. Heiner

The Foley Dry Goods Company store is a rare survivor of Victorian Houston. Fortune tested its will to survival with serious fires in 1976 and 1989. But the determination of architect Guy Hagstette, gallery owner Doug Lawing, restaurateurs Jamie Mize and Dan Tidwell, and preservation doyenne Minnette B. Boesel has overcome Houston's unwillingness to treat its past with respect. They saved the Foley Building and Hagstette designed a pair of apartments on the second floor (with potential for more apartments on the third floor) that maintain an admirable balance between domestic accommodation and architectural preservation. Next door at 220 Travis, artist Lee Benner is pursuing preservation of the shell of a part of the Foley Building, while on the other side developer Doug Crosson and Minnette Boesel have kicked off the transformation of the Hermann Estate Building (1917, F. S. Glover & Sons) into apartments. The sidewalk canopy along Travis is a reminder of what all of downtown Houston was once like.

[houston1973]

[edit] Timeline

1900: Foley Brothers was opened by brothers Pat and James Foley, two young and enterprising Irishmen, on February 12 with $2000 borrowed from an uncle. The 1400-square-foot store located at 507 Main Street in Houston, Texas, was stocked with calico, linen, lace, pins, needles, and men

[neuman]

Not sure if this is where Twelve Spot Bar is located, but the W.L. Foley Dry Goods Co. building was located at 214-218 Travis. The Houston Architectural Guide says it was built in 1889 and designed by Eugene T. Heiner. The Post described the store as "magnificent" and "palatial" at the time.

W.L. Foley Dry Goods was not Foley Bros., and Foley Bros. was never at this location. I believe, however, that he was the uncle that loaned Pat and James the money.

On a side note, the buildings were built in 1860 and remodelled by Heiner in 1889.