Take a Walking Tour of the Old Sixth Ward

St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Houston Avenue at Lubbock
Established in 1880, the church remains an active part of the community today.  Sections of the church have been restored due to losses from storm and fire.

Albert Keller Grocery Building, 1720 Lubbock
A fine example of a corner grocery store building that were made popular in the South around the turn of the 20th century, it was built in 1913 to house Mr. Albert Keller’s grocery store business. Mr. Keller and his family lived in a large apartment on the second floor above the store. There was a circa 1875 frame dwelling on the site that was relocated to the rear of the property to make way for the construction of the grocery building.
Freedman’s Town Cottage, 705 Sabine Street
This house is a fine Folk Victorian example of an extended shotgun cottage, popular in coastal Texas and Louisiana around the turn of the 20th century as tenant housing. It was built around 1900 at 1508 Sutton Street in Freedman’s Town (Fourth Ward) and moved to this location in 1994. The first documented tenant of the house was Mr. Eugene Kelly, a cook for the Rice and Brazos Hotels.  A large house built in 1885 by J.W. Melvin once stood on this lot, but had disappeared by the mid 1920’s.

The Joseph Melvin House, 707 Sabine Street
Melvin, a railroad engineer, built this Folk Victorian cottage with Eastlake-inspired porch in 1885. Early fire insurance maps show the cottage to originally have a side porch that extended the entire length of the house. After being used as a tenant cottage for over 90 years, the house was sold in 1997 to its current owners. The house was extended 12 feet to the rear to contain three new bedrooms and the original 3-room floor plan completely revamped to meet the needs of the 21st century lifestyle.

Arthur & Katherine Spring House, 1808 Lubbock
This 1906 home was moved from N. Memorial Way to be restored.  The pressed tin roof is a replication of the original.  It has a simple utilitarian floor plan, departing from a formal Victorian

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Hempstead-Wagner House, 709 Silver
One of the few raised houses in the neighborhood, this circa 1880 Gulf Coast Colonial retains it’s original shutters and turned porch railings.  Note the rare century old Burr Oak in the side yard.

 
Justin E. Dow Elementary School, 1900 Kane Street
The school name honors Justin E. Dow, superintendent of the Houston Public Schools from 1855 to 1887. Built in 1912 as a 16-room brick structure designed by noted Texas school builder C.H. Paige, the Dow School building was enlarged to its present size in 1928. Today, the building serves as a cultural community center operated by Multicultural Education and Counseling through the Arts (MECA).

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