Houston History Tour - January 23rd, 2010
 Our tour starts at Founders Cemetery at 1217 West Dallas |
 The younger Allen brother (Founded Houston) rests here |
 JK died soon after founding Houston and worked to make it the capital of Texas and it was until a year after he died |
 AC died in DC (1864) and his widow could not return his body to Houston (Civil War) so he is buried Brooklyn, NY |
 The cemetery's last interment was 1908, JK's marker was installed in 1968, AC's marker was added in 2006 |
 Rebecca Lamar was the mother of Mirabeau Lamar, the 2nd President of the Republic of Texas |
 Signer of TX Dec. of Independence, Sec. of State & Senator of the Republic; His was the 1st Masonic Funeral in Texas |
 JK's parents (Roland & Sally Chapman Allen) on left, brother (George Allen), middle, beside John Kirby Allen |
 JK, born in Orrville, NY, 1810, bought the land & founded Houston, died of congestive fever here in 1838 |
 Roland Allen's stone has lost the wording (right); Sally Chapman Allen added to the front side later |
 Henry Livingston Thompson was Commodore of the Texian Navy and died in Houston in 1837 |
 John Cheevers came to Texas in 1829, fought at San Jacinto, and died in Houston in 1846 |
 John Moore signed the Declaration of Independence & was 1st Sheriff of Harris County [Call John, get more!] |
 David Grieves was born in Scotland, fought at San Jacinto, and died in Houston in 1837 |
 Jacob Maybee came to Texas in 1835, fought at San Jacinto, and died in Houston in 1838 |
 Major Moreland commanded the artillary at San Jacinto and died while Harris County Chief Justice in 1840 |
 Markers spread across Founders Cemetery having over 130 interments of settlers, soldiers, & early city leaders | |
 The cemetery is north of downtown in the 4th Ward |
 Kellum-Noble House (built 1847) still on its original site |
 The 4th Ward Cottage, built in 1866, was moved to Sam Houston Park from 809 Robin St. in 2002 |
 Nichols-Rice-Cherry House, built 1850 by Nichols, owned by Rice University founder until 1873, saved by Cherry in 1897, & 1st house moved to Sam Houston Park in 1959 |
 N-R-C was originally built at Congress & San Jacinto |
 The kitchen is in a separate building behind N-R-C house |
 Further back is the USS Houston Memorial |
 The Houston was sunk in March, 1942 by overwhelming Japanese forces near Indonesia |
 Story of the Sinking The City's Involvement |
 Nice oak tree within Connally Plaza |
 Three term Governor of Texas, John Connally (1963-1969) |
 The 53 floor Heritage Plaza building, finished in 1987, casts a big shadow on Sam Houston Park |
 World War I Memorial by the Heritage Society Museum |
 Listing of Harris County dead who fought in WWI |
 76 year old Alexander Hodge led women and children to safety away from the advancing Mexican army before the Battle of San Jacinto. He died in August, 1836 |
 Old Place, thought to be Harris County's oldest remaining structure (1826), was moved here from the west bank of Clear Creek in 1973 |
 Houston's first public park established 1899 |
 The Scanlan Fountain, originally located at the 1900 block of Main, was relocated to Rosharon in 1938, and donated to the Heritage Foundation in 1972 |
 The 12ft fountain has water pouring out of goats mouths |
 Spirit of the Confederacy erected in 1908 |
 Placed here in the 9th year of the Sam Houston Park by the United Daughters of the Confederacy |
 Founded in 1894, the UDC are female lineal descendants of soldiers who served in the Confederate forces |
 The Spirit of the Confederacy now watches over ducks |
 This mother duck has the spirit as well |
 Sam Houston Park's gazebo and St. John Church are dwarfed by downtown skyscrapers |
 Built in 1868, the Pillot house was occupied continuously until 1964. The family gave the house to the park in 1965. |
 The Pillot Dogs were cast in 1870 |
 Good boy! |
 San Felipe House was built in 1868 on San Felipe Rd . . . |
 . . . by German immigrants and added to the park in 1962 |
 Staiti House, built in 1905, had 17-rooms & electricity |
 The house was moved into Sam Houston Park in 1986 |
 St. John Church was built in 1891 in northwest Harris County for an Evangelical Lutheran congregation |
 A good photographer uses the Texas flag to block the sun |
 Built by German farmers, St. John Church was moved to Sam Houston Park in 1968 |
 Yates House was built in 1870 by freed slave Rev. Jack Yates and moved from the 4th Ward to the park in 1994 |
 Statues of 2 foxes keeping watch while a 3rd drinks nearby |
 The Houston Armillary Sphere is basically a sundial |
 The large vertical ring represents the meridian of Houston The inside ring with zodiac signs represents the celestial equator, the slanted middle rod with ball at end represents the earth's axis which points towards the north pole. As the sun moves from east to west the shadow of the central rod moves across the inside band, passing from one hour to another, constantly showing the actual sun time in Houston. |
 Houston was the capital of the Republic of Texas from 1836 to 1839 |
 View of City Hall from Sam Houston Park |
 Cross over the intersection of McKinney & Bagby |
 City Hall was completed in 1939 by Joseph Finger |
 Specially cast aluminum doors on the back of City Hall |
 The floor inside City Hall's grand entry proclaims that Government Protects the People |
 Plaster relief of the Western hemisphere on the ceiling, surrounded by zodiac signs, with Houston in the center. |
 View of front entrance from within |
 Impressive gift shop and information center inside City Hall |
 Aluminum medallions of the "great lawgivers": Akhenaten, Julius Caesar, Moses, Charlemagne, King John, and Thomas Jefferson above the main entrances |
 The sculpture above the front door depicts two men taming a wild horse, representing men uniting in government to control the chaotic forces of nature. |
 City Hall slowly appears out of the skyscraper shadows The south facing clock demonstrates that there is no time like the present! |
 Capture the reflection of City Hall in the reflection pool |
 The park was once the homestead of George H. Hermann, for whom Hermann Park in the Museum District is named. |
 The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts is across from City Hall and Tranquility Park |
 Tranquility Park was dedicated on the 10th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 lunar landing at the Sea of Tranquility |
 The Wortham Fountains are towering stainless steel cylinders designed to resemble Apollo's rocket boosters |
 The Park is the top surface of the underground parking lot for the Hobby Center (background) |
 The oasis of water & walkways, mounds & depressions are meant to represent the cratered lunar surface |
 One Shell Plaza (50 floors) & Wells Fargo Plaza (71 floors) help make the park shady spot for lunch |
Houston's Tallest Skyscrapers Tranquility Park's One Small Step for Man plaque |
 Tranquility Park's north section has a Columbia Memorial |
 And closeby is a Challenger Memorial |
 View of both memorials in field with City Hall in background |
 Original Houston Public Library opened in 1904 |
 Please read the informative sign about the Library |
 A big renovation of the old building is underway |
 Saint Arnold's new Brewery at 2000 Lyons Ave has a line outside for those who show an hour after the doors open |
 Depart with the knowledge to come early (10:30am) next time after only two gain entrance in 15 minutes |
 George H. W. Bush (41st President) Monument |
 Can be found at the corner of Bagby & Franklyn |
 The first panel depicts Bush as a WWII Aviator |
 The 2nd panel has Bush working in the Texas oil trade |
 Bush was president when the Berlin Wall came down |
 Bush watching his son inaugurated as the 43rd president |
 George loves his great view of . . . |
 Sesquicentennial Park along Buffalo Bayou |
 The Park lies where Buffalo Bayou's east bank winds around the Wortham Center |
 The Preston Street bridge and Wortham Center rise above Sesquicentennial Park down below |
 Christopher Columbus off Montrose, bet. Banks & Milford |
 You're right, it is a dude |
 What is Columbus pointing to? The Fountain of Youth? |
 No, go grab a cold one over at Ernie's on Banks It's like discovering a whole new world |
 Hyde Park Dolphin Fountain (Hyde Park @ Waugh) |
 Brick pavers may be placed around the muddy fountain |
 7 of 8 dolphins are operating unclogged today |
 Better take advantage of that with my new friend |
 The Police Officer Memorial at 1400 Memorial Drive is guarded 24 hours a day by on-duty police officers |
 Shaped like a Greek cross of five stepped pyramids with four outer pyramids inverted in a ziggurat design |
 Reflecting pool surrounded by four inscribed slabs of pink granite located at the apex of the central pyramid |
 The inscriptions bear the names of over eighty officers that died in the line of duty |
 Houston Police Officer's Memorial honors the officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty It is a meditative & picturesque spot with an incredible view of the downtown skyline that is never crowded | |
 Houston Heights WWII Memorial Plaza on the esplanade at Heights @ 11th Street was dedicated on Nov. 7th, 1999 |
 In memory of the men who made the supreme sacrifice while serving their country with honor during WWII |
 224 names of those Heights residents who died are inscribed on the 5 sided pylon by branch of service |
 2,549 names of survivors of the war are inscribed on the curved memorial wall divided by branch of service |
 25 bollards chronologically depict the major events of WWII |
 Starting with the attack on Pearl Harbor and ending with Victory Japan day |
 Visit the Beer Can House at 222 Malone Street |
 The owner started tinkering with aluminum cans in 1968 |
 Driveway & yard were replaced with paver decorations |
 The driveway fence has lost a few can curtain strands |
 The covered back porch has a rear wall of bottles |
 Rear of house covered with aluminum & has a lemon tree |
 The side of the house is also covered with aluminum |
 The house reopened to public viewing on March 6, 2008 |
 A wall of old beer cans greet visitors to the house |
 Nice tidy kitchen toward the back of house |
 More well preserved steel beer & soda cans |
 Front bedroom has an aluminum can curtain on the wall |
 A wall of 1976 Lucky Bicentennial beer cans have seen much better days |
 Luckily, a pristine Lucky Beer can was saved for posterity |
 A view of the house in 1968 before the project began |
 They say every man should leave something to be remembered by. At least I accomplished that goal - JMM |
 The garage (now a gift shop) was not neglected either but does have a new steel roof |
 After touring the inside & watching a video, head back out towards the front of the house |
 After a long day of sight-seeing, its time to relax on the front porch under the shade of the can curtains |
 The front door and house walls are covered with the same aluminum can exterior . . . where's the dang door? |
 You know, if Saint Arnold canned their beer, I'd have a two story beer can house by now |
 David enjoyed the tour, now it's time to go find a full and cold beer to toast JMM's visionary recycling effort |