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Historic urban park featuring preserved nineteenth-century buildings, landscaped gardens, monuments, walking paths, and exhibits highlighting regional history.
General Information
Historic building tours and museum facilities generally operate Tuesday to Saturday: 10am to 4pm
Some museum exhibits and guided tours may require admission fees
Spring and fall offer the most comfortable weather for walking tours
How to Get There
From Houston: Follow I-45, I-69, or local downtown streets toward Bagby Street near City Hall, then continue to the park entrance at 1000 Bagby Street.
Overview
Sam Houston Park is Houston's oldest city park, established in 1900 on land purchased by former mayor Sam Brashear to create the city's first public green space. Today the 20-acre park in Downtown Houston is home to the Heritage Society, a nonprofit founded in 1954 that has relocated and restored ten historic structures here spanning from the 1820s to the early 1900s, turning the park into an open-air museum of Houston's early architecture and daily life.
A small museum, the Heritage Society Museum, sits at the corner of Bagby and Lamar Streets and anchors guided tours of the surrounding historic buildings, which range from a pre-Texas Revolution log cabin to Houston's oldest surviving brick home.
Historic Buildings
Kellum-Noble House
Built in 1847 by Nathaniel Kellum, this is Houston's oldest surviving brick dwelling. The double-pen home with its wraparound gallery was saved and renovated by the Heritage Society in 1954 and later opened as a museum.
Nichols-Rice-Cherry House
A Greek Revival home built around 1850 for merchant Ebeneezer Nichols and later owned by William Marsh Rice. Moved to the park from the Montrose area, it was restored to reflect both its original owners and a later era as artist Emma Richardson Cherry's studio.
Fourth Ward Cottage
Originally built for a German family in Freedmen's Town, this hybrid cottage blends an Arcadian front with a shotgun-style back, reflecting the neighborhood's history as a community for formerly enslaved Houstonians after the Civil War.
San Felipe Cottage
Dating to 1868, this modest cottage illustrates the common architecture of Houston's German settlers and was relocated to the park in 1962.
Pillot House
Built in 1868 for Houston businessman Eugene Pillot, this home was a trendsetter for its era, featuring an attached kitchen, gas lighting, and closets — comforts unusual for the time.
Yates House
Built in 1870 by John Henry Yates, a formerly enslaved minister and educator, this double-gallery Greek Revival home originally stood in Freedmen's Town and was moved to the park in 1994.
St. John Church
An 1891 church built by German Lutheran settlers in northwest Harris County, relocated to the park in 1968, notable for its rectangular footprint, gabled roof, and bell tower.
Baker Family Playhouse
A small playhouse built around 1893 by James A. Baker for his daughter Alice, located behind the Nichols-Rice-Cherry House.
Staiti House
Built in 1905 for Henry Staiti, this home featured then-modern conveniences like electric lighting and a built-in refrigerator, and was moved to the park in 1986.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Sam Houston Park", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.
