April 1990 GHPA Newsletter

FOR PRESERVATION NEWSLETTER OF THE GREATER HOUSTON PRESERVATION ALLIANCE

MAY 18 PRESERVATION WEEK LUNCHEON National Preservation Week, the 18th annual celebration of America's heritage, will take place nationwide on May 13-19. To mark this celebration, the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance will sponsor a luncheon on Friday May 18 at the recently restored Wyndham Warwick Hotel to honor Mrs. Faith Bybee with a special award for her leadership in preservation efforts in Texas. First Lady Rita Clements has accepted our invitation to speak at this event and will talk about the new Texas Heritage Tourism Program, which was announced in Austin on April 5.

In 1988, the Program Council of the National Trust for Historic Preservation examined the relationship between the travel/tourism industry and the historic preservation movement.

Recognizing the economic importance of tourism throughout the nation, the Council considered how the historic preservation movement could position itself to become a more important force in the travel industry and to accomplish historic preservation through tourism.

tation, the Texas Historical Commission, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the Department of Recreation and Parks, and the Center for Historic Resources at Texas A & M University.

Mrs. Clements recently announced the four regions to be targeted in the Texas Heritage Tourism Program.

The "Cotton Industry" region includes the area in and around Brenham, Independence, BryanCollege Station, Hearne, Calvert, Lyons, Dime Box, Round Top/Wmedale, Navasota, Fayetteville, Chappell Hill and Washington.

"LBJ Heartland" includes the area in and around Fredericksburg, Luckenbach, Stonewall, Johnson City, Marble Falls, Dripping Springs, Wunberley, Blanco and the LyndonB. Johnson National Historic Park.

The "Missions of EI Paso" includes all of EI Paso's historic missions and historic downtown district.

The "Galveston Bay" region includes Galveston Island, Texas City, Clear Lake City, Port Bolivar and Crystal Beach. Galveston Bay will be the only coastal region in the nation to participate in the Trust's pilot program.

Tourism is a vital force in the Texas economy.

With Texas' variety of historic resourCes and attractions, our state will be an ideal launching site for this program.

Invitations to the May 18 luncheon are being mailed to an eXpanded mailing list. Since seating for the event is limited, please be sure to make your reservations early.

In 1989, the National Trust created a pilot heritage tourism program and invited each of the 50 states to apply for participation. Under the leadership of Rita Clements and the Tourism Division of the Texas Department of Commerce, Texas applied and was subsequently declared the top-ranked choice from more than a dozen applicants. We ~re selected as one of four states to take part in the pilot program.

Modeled after the National Trust's Main Street Program, this three-year project will work to stimulate tourism to historic sites in selected target areas. The Trust will provide guidance and on-site technical assistance to the regions selected to participate in the program, which will be funded by local communities and corpo~ rations, the Texas Department of Commerce Tourism Division, the State Department of Highways and Public Transportation Transpor-

The John W. Parker House at #2 Courtlandt Place, 1925'26, John Staub, architect. Located in Courtlandt

Place National Register Historic District. See article on page 2 (Rob Muir photograph, Howard Barnstone Collection, Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Houston Public Library.)

HOUSTO~S

mSTORIC DISTRICfS Part I. Courtlandt Place

Houston is currently home to six National Register Historic Districts and one National Register Multiple Resource Area. To increase the familiarity of Houstonians with these historic districts, For Preservation will publish in successive issues descriptive summaries of each one, beginning in this issue with the smallest.

Courtlandt Place, established as an exclusive neighborhood in 1906, maintains continuity with its early 20th century elegance. It is a paradigmatic example of an American subdivision type known as the "private place."

This type originated in St. Louis and was transmitted from there throughout the central United States around the turn of the twentieth century. Eighteen houses on Courtlandt Place, built mainly in the 'teens and 'twenties along a tree路lined, divided boulevard, reflect excellent examples of early 20th century architectural styles, designed by such well-known architects

as Sanguinet & Staats, Birdsall P. Briscoe, Alfred C. Finn, John F. Staub and, from New York, Warren & Wetmore. Courtlandt Place is one of the oldest subdivisions in Houston with its deed restrictions still in force. In addition to the architectural and community planning significance of the district, Courtlandt Place was the home of some of Houston's most prominent business leaders--cotton factors, oilmen, lumbermen, lawyers, and real estate investors. Its most famous female resident was Frankie Carter Randolph, founder of The Texas Observer. The Courtlandt Place Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

When it was established, Courtlandt Place contained 26 lots, 24 of which were 100 feet wide by 170 feet deep. The two lots on the east end of the street were slightly larger to accommodate a crescent-shaped entry with formal gates. On these lots 18 houses were

built between 1909 and 1937. None of the houses have been destroyed or significantly altered and the street retains a rare and remarkable early 20th century ambience, reflected in several popular architectural styles oftheperiod--ColonialRevival,Mediterranean, Tudor Revival, and Georgian Revival The boundaries of the Courtlandt Place Historic District are the alleys behind the houses on the north and south. Garrott Street on the west and the access road of the Southwest Freeway (U.S. Hwy. 59) on the east.

The original property lines of the Courtlandt Place addition follO\Wd these same boundaries with the exception of the east end, which was shortened in 1963 due to the expansion of the Southwest Freeway. Half of the vacant lot in the southeast comer was condemned and the entrance piers were demolished to accommodate the freeway. The present east entrance to the boulevard, designed by

CALENDAR April 26-28

Texas State Historic Preservation Conference, co-sponsored by Preservation Texas Alliance and Texas Historical Commission, Abilene. Call 512-463-6100.

May 3

"Why Scenic Beauty is Good for Business" luncheon co-sponsored by GHPA, Billboards Limited, and other grollpS-

May 5-6, 12-13

16th Annual Galveston Historic Homes Tour. Discount on tickets purchased before May 5. Call 409-765-7834 or 713-280-3907.

May 10-11

"Heritage Preservation and Tourism: A Wmning Combination," and Certified Local Government Workshop, Beaumont, Texas.

Sponsored by the Beaumont Historical Landmark Commission and the Texas Historical Commission. For information, call the Planning Division, City of Beaumont, 409-880-3764.

May 12-13

Houston Heights Home Tour.

May 13-19

National Preservation Week - "Keeping America's Heritage Alive"

May 16

GHPA Walking Tour, Main Street/Market Sq. Historic District, 12:00 noon, call 236-5000.

May 18

GHPA Outstanding Preservation Award Luncheon, honoring Mrs. Faith Bybee, The Wyndham Warwick. Guest speaker- Mrs. Rita Clements, "Texas's Heritage Tourism Program." Reservations required; call 236-5000.

May 19-21

Magnolia Homes Tour, Columbus, Texas. Call Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce, 409-732-5881 or 732-5175.

May 20

GHPA Walking Tour, Main Street/Market Sq. Historic District, 2:00 p.m., call 236-5000.

May 22-23

Preservation and Affordable Housing Conference; Newark, New Jersey; call 201-932-3133.

Eubanks/Bohnn Associates, incorporates some of the stone and iron fencing materials from the original entrance. In 1981 the City of Houston sold the streets and sidewalks of Courtlandt Place to the property owners association, which returned the addition to its original status as a private place by closing the boulevard to through traffic.

Before the turn of the century the land surrounding and including Courtlandt Place was prairie and used primarily for farming. After the city annexed the land in 1903, developers began planning subdivisions in the rural landscape as an alternative to urban housing.

Several subdivisions were establisbed in this area--Westmoreland, Avondale, and finally Courtlandt Place. Of these early 20th century developments, Courtlandt Place was the most exclusive, and only Courtlandt Place remains intact. The neighborhood's pre-automobile origins are still evident in the stables behind many of the big houses and in the hitching posts and carriage blocks in the front yards.

After the city annexed the land in 1903, developers began planning subdivisions in the rural landscape as an alternative to urban housing.

Several subdivisions were established in this area--Westmoreland, Avondale, and finally Courtlandt Place. Of these early 20th century developments, Courtlandt Place was the most exclusive, and only Courtlandt Place remains intact. The neighborhood's pre-automobile origins are still evident in the stables behind many of the big houses and in the hitching posts and carriage blocks in the front yards.

THE PSI VOLUNTEER HOME REPAIR PROGRAM Homes owned by 88 low-income people in several of Houston's older inner-city neighborhoods will receive needed home repairs and a fresh coat of paint free of charge during tv.u Saturdays in late April. The Houston Committee for Private Sector Initiatives (PSI) sponsors

the Volunteer Home Repair Program twice each year.

talization. We encourage others to follow their lead."

For the Spring 1990 effort. PSI has recruited 2,500 volunteers from Houston corporations, religious congregations, and other organizations. The Houston PSI program, now one of the largest of its kind in the nation, has included 650 houses since 1985, when the effort began.

lbis spring's program will repair 25 houses in Fifth Ward/Frenchtown, 18 in West EndHeights, 16 in Denver Harbor, 15 in Near Northside, 10 in Fifth Ward, and 4 in the East End.

Owners of most of the targeted homes are elderly and physically and financially unable to make the repairs. Volunteers tackle such projects as porch re-decking, replacement of rotted wood, reframing screens, and exterior painting.

The program also focuses on neighborhood revitalization. Jeff Baloutine, who directs the program for PSI, says "We target our resources to a few neighborhoods and attempt to make an impact by working on as many houses as possible that are near each other." Homeowner identification is done through a netv.urk of neighborhood-based social service agencies, community development corporations, civic associations, churcbes, and individual volunteers. The Houston Police Department also is a key partner in soliciting homeowner applications and in designing a home security component of the program..

In the Fifth Ward, PSI now has included 108 homes since the program started. Work is closely coordinated with tv.u recently-established community development corporations.

The Home Repair Program plays a part in the strategy of each CDC to stabilize and revitalize the neighborhood.

Volunteers will repair nine houses within one block of the first affordable housing project proposed by the Fifth Ward Community Redevelopment Corporation. President of that CDC, Reverend Harvey Clemons of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church expresses appreciation for the work of the PSI volunteers. "The program emphasizes the concept of building coalitions to aid the community's goal of economic revi-

For additional information, contact the Houston Committee at 659-2911.

FROM TIlE DIRECfOR Tucked inside this nev.sletter, you'll find an invitation to a May 3 luncheon sponsored jointly by the Preservation Alliance and several other Houston civic organizations. I encourage preservation-minded Houstonians to attend.

In his hometown in Maryland, Edward T. McMahon is on the historic preservation commission and is a member of the local architecture review board. I heard him speak last year at the National Historic Preservation Conference in Philadelphia.

Many of the roads and streets throughout the country have become corridors of visual chaos and endless commercial clutter. The inevitable result is the erosion of the distinctive character of our land, our country, and our cities. A sense of place is being replaced by a sense of placelessness. Every place in America is being turned into every other place else in America, and our communities too often look like they've been put together with interchangeable parts.

Scenic America is the only national conservation organization devoted to the preservation and enhancement of the visual environment in the United States. The organization believes that environmental protection involves more than clean air and water, that it also involves protecting the unique character, charm and beauty of our cities and countryside.

That philosophy will sound familiar to all historic preservationists.

Margie Elliott

NEWS CLIPS The six-color promotional brochure on the Main Street/Market Square Historic District is finally off the press and looks fantastic.

Congratulations and thanks are in order to Minnette Boesel and all the other committee members who worked so long and hard on this publication. Team HOU and Euclid Studios are also to be congratulated on a fine product.

The Preservation Alliance has received a grant to be used in our Heritage Education program to develop educational materials about the Main Street/Market Square District for use by school groups.

• Budget Reconciliation Act, Public Law 101239.

• Scenic By-Ways, Public Law 101-164.

Directs the Secretary of the Transportation to identify and protect scenic and historic roads_ • Advisory Council Reauthorization, Public Law 101-70_ Reauthorizes the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation through FY 94.

• National Museum for the American Indian Act, Public Law 101-185.

Establishes a National Museum of the American Indian within the Smithsonian Institution.

The Tejano Association for Historical Preservation has been formed to work for the preservation of Tejano/Mejicano sites of historical significance that are endangered. For information, contact Rolando Romo at 9264418 or 739-4004, or Genaro Flores at 9440365.

"Classical Roman Glass" is on exhibit through May 11 at University of St. Thomas, Little Gallery, M-F 9-5, call 522-7911, ext. 346.

According to Preservation Action, the following bills have been signed into law: • Interior and Related Agencies FY '90 Appropriations, Public Law 101-1211. S27m States; S4.75m National Trust; Slm Lighthouses; S1.92m Advisory CounciL

The Greater Houston Preservation Alliance 712 Main Street, Suite 110 Houston, Texas 77002-3207 Address Correction Requested Return Postage Guaranteed

Preservation Alliance WISh List Five-drawer legal size file cabinet Fax machine Toner cartridges for HP LaserJet II Copy Machine Office Supplies 8 112 " x 11" Copier Paper File Folders Large Manila Envelopes (Calls are welcome at 236-5000.)

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