Historic Buildings

The Eating...Our Words 100: Dan Tidwell of Treebeards on Downtown Houston's Past, Present and Future

If you've set foot downtown at any point in the last 30 years, there's a strong chance you've eaten at Treebeards. Ever since it opened on Market Square in 1978 between what its website calls "a peep show arcade and a rowdy bar," Treebeards has served some of the city's favorite Cajun food from some ... More >>

Write and Wrong

Magnolia Brewery Tours

Saengerfest Mini Monster Bash

Discover Houston Ghost Walks

Happy Hour Scene: Rushing Lizzard's

​The Place: Lizzard's Pub 2715 Sackett 713-529-4610 The Deals: $2.75 wells and domestics The Hours: 2 to 8 p.m. The Scene: According to its sign, Lizzard's Pub has been around since 1976. In Houston bar years, that's enough to earn it a spot on the National Register of Historic Places. In ... More >>

Glenbrook Valley, Our Recent Cover-Story Subject, Becomes a Historic District

​Just before 10 a.m. today, Houston City Council approved the historic district applications for Glenbrook Valley, Woodland Heights and Heights South. The mid-century modern neighborhood Glenbrook Valley, at the center of a contentious debate and the subject of the Press' June 23 cover story, ... More >>

War Zoned

Who knew historic preservation could ignite so much neighborhood drama?

Cover Story: Glenbrook Valley's Historic Preservation Fight

​Robert Searcy and Joe Ablaza have something in common: They each think they're doing good things for their neighborhood. And that's about it. Real estate agent Searcy and working professional Ablaza live in Glenbrook Valley, the southeast Houston subdivision that's striving to become Texas' ... More >>

Comment of the Day: The Most Even-Handed Comment Ever

​We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involv ... More >>

Historic Preservation Protesters Claim "Bait-And-Switch" Tactics Against Mayor Annise Parker

Steve JansenYesterday's scene in front of Houston City Hall.​There are a bunch of folks in Heights South, Woodland Heights and Glenbrook Valley seriously P.O.'d about what they're calling a classic "bait-and-switch" technique pulled by the City of Houston. Today about 50 of them (which dwindl ... More >>

Brennan's Recognized by the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance

Photo by Dan KramerBrennan's then...​When Brennan's burned to the ground in the chaos of Hurricane Ike in September 2008, owner Alex Brennan-Martin wasn't even sure if the restaurant could be salvaged at all. Before the remains of the structure were assessed, it looked like he'd have to rebuil ... More >>

Houston Puts (Some) Teeth Into Its Historic Preservation Code

One side's happy​City Council easily passed today some important revisions to Houston's historic preservation laws, the key part being you can no longer thumb your nose at Houston's historic preservation laws.The ""90-day clause" -- which said the city could stop you from demolishing a historic st ... More >>

David Beale, Sarah Gish: Still Fighting For Houston's History

Good enough for DC, why not Houston?​There's been some talk about how Houston has strengthened its historical-preservation ordinances, but -- you know -- it's Houston. Ain't too much strengthening going on.But it's a nver-ending battle, and if you want to join it, there's a meeting tonight at the ... More >>

Historic (For Houston) Immanuel Lutheran Church Is Preserved

​Sure, it's younger than Angie Dickinson, but the Immanuel Lutheran Church at 15th and Cortlandt in the Heights is still historic. (So's Angie, to Police Woman and Rat Pack fans.)"The building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is a wonderful example of early 20th ce ... More >>

San Jacinto Battleground Among State's Most Endangered Historic Places, Group Says

Photo by diveofficer​Is it a good or bad thing to be named one of the state's Most Endangered Historic Places?The Sam Jacinto Battlefield is going to find out, having earned that dubious honor this morning."The landscape is all that remains of this important historic site, and without a comp ... More >>

Dickens on the Strand Returns To Full Strength This Year

Photos courtesy of Galveston Island​Last year, after the all-round drenching and destruction that the Strand Historic Landmark District in Galveston took on in Hurricane Ike, the annual presentation of the Dickens on the Strand was a shadow of its former self. Three months wasn't nearly enou ... More >>

The Strand's Historic Buildings Get A Boost

Photo courtesy Galveston Historical FoundationThe Strand, downtown Galveston's most historic district, is getting a little help today in its efforts to preserve itself.The National Trust for Historic Preservation has named "The Cast-Iron Architecture of Galveston" as one of its 11 Most Endangered Hi ... More >>

Hobby Bloggers at the Chronicle Spark Controversy

Woodlands Heights Home Tour

Web exclusive!

Lone Star Saloon In Richmond To Be Demolished, Reborn

The historic Lone Star Saloon in Richmond is about to be demolished.Heavily damaged by a fire in November, the remains of the 120-year-old building will be taken down by the end of the month, owner Bill Lundquist tells Fort Bend Now.The good news: He's planning to build a replacement. That's not rea ... More >>

An Update On The Strand's Comeback, From George Mitchell

George Mitchell is pretty much the guy who saved Downtown Galveston and the Strand area as it was slowly deteriorating into oblivion; now he's leading the efforts to bring it back from Ike.Today he issued an upbeat assessment of where things stand and where they'll be going.The 24 historical buildin ... More >>

Lights in the Heights

Web exclusive!

Dickens on the Strand

Ike who? Galveston Island’s ode to merry old England is alive and well

Orange Show Christmas Lights EyeOpener Tour

4,800 Santas, thousands of lights and a little eggnog

On Shaky Grounds

HISD got more than it bargained for when it decided to develop the Fourth Ward

Best Mint Julep

Best Recycling Effort

Best Preservation Group

Houston Mod

Down the Road

The city buys the historic Cohn House to move it into a possible future tourism center

This Old House

The City of Houston wants to further spiff up the area around Minute Maid Park. The historic Cohn House stands in its way.

Letters

Hysteric Preservation, Blame Brandi, Innocence Lost

Bulldozers at the Gate

Houston fiddles while its architectural and cultural heritage disappears

Gramercy Gets Fingered

Some Museum District residents rally against plans for razing quaint apartments

Shermann Bilks's Top 10 Signs of Blight Slippage

No Account

Secrecy and lack of oversight plague housing programs

Lovett? Or Leave It?

Can public opinion preserve what a preservation ordinance can't? Or: Follow the bouncing wrecking ball

Home, New Home

The Press moves to a spiffy new building

The Great Land Grab

A nonprofit "charity" is pursuing millions in taxpayers' money to redevelop the Fourth Ward. The question for Houston Renaissance is, charity for whom?

Make It Ugly, By All Means

Montrose-area neighborhoods broach a novel idea: Let freeway expansion improve the inner city

Lenwood Johnson's Last Stand

APV is more than his home. It's his life. No wonder he can't let it go without one final struggle.