The photos presented in this section have been selected from the Heights Centennial Photography book entitled "Houston Heights 1891-1991; A Historical Portrait and Contemporary Perspective". Sorry, but this book is out of print.  

Car No. 49 of the Houston City Street Railway Company, shown here outside the car barn on Commerce Street, was decorated for a parade in downtown Houston given in December, 1893 for prospective out-of-town investors. The parade consisted of several streetcars decorated with green boughs and alternating white and red incandescent lights. At the front of the first car was a five-pointed star six feet across, also made of incandescent lights.  Between two decorated cars was an old mule-drawn streetcar, with the mule supplying the power. Each side was decorated with a sign saying "past". The second decorated car pulled an old mule-drawn car and from the inside, a small gray mule peeped out. On the sides of the mule-drawn car, a placard proclaimed, "I want a job." The first paid excursion on the streetcars to Houston Heights was taken by Car No. 2 on Sunday, October 23, 1892, at a cost of five cents. Every Sunday hence, streetcars took visitors to Houston Heights to view the wonders of the development. No matter how many cars were added to the trip, there never were enough cars to accommodate the curious visitors. On April 2,1893, trailers were added to the cars for the first time, but even then, people rode out to Houston Heights on the tops of the streetcars (Photograph courtesy of Houston Public Library, HMRC)

Seventeen houses were built by the Omaha and South Texas Land Company, primarily on Heights Boulevard and Harvard Street. Of these, five became homes for Carter and his associates, D. D. Cooley, G. B. Hengen, John Milroy and N. L. Mills. All were fine, elaborate homes built from the plans of George Franklin Barber, an early Knoxville, Tennessee architect, who designed house plans and published them for  sale through catalogues. He revolutionized the concept of house plans, giving individuals the ability to have a house designed by an architect without the cost of hiring one (in most cases and in many parts of the country, there were no architects to hire even if desired.) In fact, Barber did not just sell his plans "as is", but encouraged his clients to make suggestions, which he would incorporate into the plans they chose. All materials, including intricate millwork, could be ordered from the company and shipped via railroad. Shown here is the original home of N. L. Mills at 1530 Heights Boulevard, which later became the H. A. Paine residence in 1908.   According to Sister Agatha's History of Houston Heights this house was the most pretentious and highly decorative, with its intricate "gingerbread" fretwork. The house was razed in 1964.  Of the original 17 houses, only three remain standing today - 1802 Harvard Street, 443 Heights Boulevard and 1102 Heights Boulevard. (Photograph courtesy of Houston Public Library, HMRC;

history courtesy of Margaret Culbertson, librarian, Univ. of Houston, School of Architecture)

George Wickton Hawkins, who moved to Houston Heights in 1904, is shown here (seated on left) in Lansing, Michigan, where he traveled from Houston to purchase this 1902 Curved Dash Runabout. Known as the Oldsmobile, it was the world's first mass-produced automobile. Designed by Ransom Eli Olds, who founded the Olds Motor Works, the automobile was of a very short and simple buggy-type chassis with two long springs serving as auxiliary side-members, on which was mounted a single-cylinder 1.6 liter motor engine, with trembler coil ignition, a 2-speed epicycle transmission and central chain drive. The engine had an immense silencer and turned at 500 rpm - "one chug per telegraph pole." In 1902, G. W. Hawkins was to bring not one but many automobiles to Houston as president of the Hawkins Automobile and Gas Engine Co. The little Olds was an instant success - in 1902, U.S. sales totaled 2,100 units. Mr. Hawkins was issued Motor Vehicle License Plate No. 1. When James Ferguson became Governor of Texas in 1914, he insisted on having License Plate No, 1, so G. W. Hawkins relinquished that number and was issued License Plate No. 2. The tradition of governors having License Plate No. I has been continued since that time. Incidentally, Ferguson, while in office, created the Texas Highway Department. (Photograph courtesy of Mr. Grover C. Noonan Jr., grandson of G. W. Hawkins)

Correspondence dated December 9,1909, written by Mrs. G.H.B. of Houston Heights reads "here is a handful of white Wyndotts. Wish our little cow was in the picture." In the early days of Houston Heights, there were no restrictions against cattle grazing any place in the community - and of course, none against any other kind of livestock. That changed however, when a stock law was passed in 1911 to keep cows  from eating and trampling the more tender grass on the lawns of the fine homes. The law however, did not apply to chickens which could do almost as much damage to a flower or vegetable garden as even the wildest cow. As difficult as it was to pass the stock law, nothing could compare to what happened in 1913 when the residents forced owners to keep chickens in their coop. Robert C. Patterson, an attorney with  Baker, Botts, Parker and Garwood who lived at 1116 Columbia Street, resorted to his own method while waiting for the ordinance.  He threaded tags, on long strings, through fat kernels of corn. The tags read "keep your confounded chickens at home." The chickens would swallow the corn and then the string, but when they could not swallow the tag, they would return home, squawking and fluttering until freed from  the tags by their owners. Although some chickens' owners did not like the lesson taught, eventually, the chicken law passed.
(Photograph courtesy of Carter & Cooley Deli)

When the members of the Houston Heights Woman's Club decided to build a clubhouse on the lot donated to them by Mrs. Helen Cooley, the women held a carnival in 1911 to raise money for the building. The carnival was held on the Heights playground, now the site of Hamilton Junior High School. The club also held benefit the Heights' most beloved citizens, who graduated from her early home theatricals to become a  nationally famous actress. On September 13,1912, the Houston Heights Woman's Club met for the first time in their newly constructed clubhouse at 1846 Harvard Street. The club's first president was Mrs. W. A. Renn. Its opening celebration and dedication took place on October 18,1912 and the guests of honor were Mr. and Mrs. D. D. Cooley. Scarcely one year after the land was donated, the members of the club had managed to furnish the clubhouse and completely pay off the debt of $1,500 owed for its construction. The clubhouse has been used by its members continuously to the present time. Today, it is owned and maintained by the Houston Women's Cluband is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. (Photograph courtesy of Houston Public Library, Heights branch)

Built about 1896, the Heights Natatorium was located in the old Coombs Park at the end of Harvard Street at White Oak Bayou.  The building had open galleries two and a half stories tall that surrounded and overlooked the water. Dressing rooms were located on each floor. The entrance was flanked by a large round tower and two smaller turrets on which flags were mounted.  According to Sister Agatha's History of Houston Heights, the original building burned early on and a more modest structure was erected (pictured here.) When Coombs Park was dismantled, the Natatorium was also sold, eventually to the Vieweger family in 1907, who ran it for many years. Its last owners were Mrs. Beulah Dean and Charles H. Dean Jr., who operated it from 1929 until 1942. For years it was a drawing card to the Heights before swimming pools existed and was perhaps the most popular Heights attraction for young and old alike. This photograph was taken by Hawthorne Ramage about 1913. (Photograph donated by Ms. Verna Topkins to Heights Museum Collection)

Shown from left to right is Octavia Watts, William E. Watts Feed Store was located at 545 W. 19th Avenue) and Lee Watts, her husband, "Red" Follis, Bobby Reynolds, Espy Watts (son of Octavia and William Willingham. The Watts moved to Houston Heights in 1931 and were in partnership with A. L. Smalley at  the 19th Avenue Grain and Fuel Company. In 1945, the Watts opened their own store, which sold feed and supplies for cows, pigs and chickens to their many Heights customers. Because they sold "Egg-A-Day Feed" for chickens, the Houston company painted huge eggs all over the building to advertise their product. The Watts lost their lease in 1946 but moved their successful business to 620 W. 19th Avenue where they operated the store until the death of Mr. Watts in 1948. (Photograph courtesy of Octavia Watts Lemon)

Heights residents celebrate the Golden Jubilee in 1941, to honor Houston Heights' 50th anniversary. The event was held on the esplanade of Heights Boulevard at 13th Avenue. According to an article that appeared in the May 9th issue of the Heights Citizen, 20,000 people took part in the celebration which began with an afternoon parade and ended at 10:30 p.m. with a two-hour speakers program and crowning of a Golden Jubilee king and queen. Miss Gertrude Grant, an 18 year-old Reagan high school graduate, was crowned "Queen of Today" by Mrs. Inger Moller, 77, who was crowned "Queen of Yesteryear." Mrs. Moller, a native of Denmark, came to the Heights in 1891 when the area was first being developed.  Another Reagan graduate, Kenneth Walrod, was crowned "King of the Heights Golden Jubilee." (Article donated to Heights Museum Collection by C. W. Keith; Photograph courtesy of Houston Public Library, HMRC)