Historic Preservation

Until recently, the best friend of the preservation of historic buildings in urban areas in this region has been urban sprawl. When there was always raw land to be developed just a little further out, why bother to tear down old buildings? They might have been neglected and deteriorating, but the structure was there.

Now, urban consolidation threatens older neighborhoods. Preservation Texas, Inc, a partner of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, lists older neighborhoods among the state’s most endangered historic places.

The group says, “Now some of these places are facing a new threat – a disturbing new pattern of demolition as newcomers move in on their own terms.

“Typically measuring 3,000 to 10,000 square feet, these new structures overwhelm neighboring homes and threaten the very qualities that make historic neighborhoods attractive in the first place. Character and charm are replaced by a hodgepodge of boxy new mansions and forlorn-looking older homes. Neighborhood livability is diminished as mature trees, landscaping, and backyards are eliminated. Community and economic or social diversity is reduced as affordable homes are destroyed.”

On the other hand, downtown revitalization projects have contributed to preservation of older downtown buildings; not just in Houston but also across the region.

In downtown Houston, The Humble Oil Building, the Union National Bank Building, and the Post-Dispatch Building are enjoying new life as a Residence Inn, a Hotel Icon, and The Magnolia Hotel. The Texas State Hotel and the Lancaster have been restored as luxury hotels. Several office or warehouse buildings have been converted to residential lofts.

The Texas Main Street Program, of the Texas Historical Commission’s Community Heritage Development Division, helps Texas cities revitalize their historic downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts by utilizing preservation and economic development strategies. Conroe, La Porte, Livingston, Bay City, Brenham, Freeport, and Huntsville have enrolled in the program.

The Galveston Historical Foundation, Texas’s oldest historic preservation group, began in 1871 as theGalvestonHistorical Society and incorporated under its present name in 1954. It operates nine museums and is the second largest local historic preservation group in the country, with more than 5,100 members from 38 states and two foreign countries.

The historic preservation movement in Houston achieved a major boost in 2005 when the city passed an ordinance to allow historic buildings to be designated as protected landmarks and permanently prohibit the destruction of such buildings, even after changes in ownership. Before the ordinance passed, an owner could demolish a designated historic building after giving 90 days public notice. The ordinance also designates eight city-owned buildings as protected landmarks: City Hall, the Kellum-Noble House, the Julia Ideson Building, Heights Branch Library, Former Heights City Hall/Fire State No. 14, the Arthur B. Cohn House, Fire Station No. 7 (Houston FireMuseum), and Gregory School in Freedmen’s Town.

Also in Houston, Greater Houston Preservation Alliance and citizen opposition to plans to widen I-45 were put on hold to allow the plans to be revised. The original widening plans threatened the historic neighborhoods in the near north side, including in Grota Homestead, which was developed between the 1890s and 1920 as a working- and middleclass neighborhood. The neighborhood is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places as a locally significant historic district. Many houses in the neighborhood were demolished for the original construction of the freeway in the 1960s.

Work to preserve land for nature preserves sometimes also protects historical properties. The Stevenson family’s historic 26-acre homestead on Reed Road was donated to the city as E.R. and Ann Taylor nature park last year. The park includes the family cemetery and antebellum home site. The Katy Prairie Conservancy’s is preserving Nelson Farms as a farm. Work to restore our bayous to their native state is a type of historic preservation.

Urban sprawl has threatened smaller communities, which are in danger of loosing their historic identities as larger cities run over them. The GHPA honored Carol Ekels Adams last year for her work in revitalizing The Katy Heritage Society and preserving the history of west Harris County.

In addition, area historical preservation efforts work to preserve minority history. The Galveston Historical Foundation’s Sacred Places Tour earlier this year visited Galveston’s historic African-American churches. There is chapter of the Tejano Association for Historical Preservation in Harris County.

Earlier this year it was announced that the Houston Endowment, Inc., is providing a large grant to develop an online museum of Houston history. The project is a cooperative effort among Houston’s top educational institutions, cultural organizations, and public archives to create a digital storehouse of historic resources relating to Houston’s past, led by GHPA.

Although there is certainly progress on the historic preservation front, historically significant and/or architecturally important or interesting buildings continue to be torn down regularly.

State park funding problems have hampered restoration of the Battleship Texas and led to a reduction in the hours that the Varner-Hogg Plantation State Historic Site historic home is open to the public.

An interesting opportunity and challenge for historic preservation in Houston is just around the corner, according to GHPA’s David Bush. Bush reports that Harris County owns several historic buildings downtown, including the present Cotton Exchange Building, but the buildings are being vacated as courts move into the newly completed civil courthouse. Bush said the county’s plans for the buildings are unknown.

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