HomeMy WebLinkAboutArchitectural Tour 040804UR
STEPHEN
B
R
Y
A
N
The Bryan townsite was surveyedbyTheodore Kosse. engineer for the Houston & Texas
Central Railway, on a640-acre tract in Brazos County that the Brazoria County planter,
William J. Bryan, a nephew of F. Austin. had conveyed in 1860 for construction of the
railroad line. The Houston & Texas Central was built~o funnel the wealth of the Brazos River
valley, the foremost cotton production area in Texas in the mid 19th century, through Houston
The outbreak of the Civil War halted railroad construction at Millicam in the southern part of
Brazos County~ Re H&TC tracks did not reach Bryan until 1866-67. The passed
through the t0wnsite in a north~south t and Kosse oriented Bryan's gridiron street plan
accordingly. But he rotated the boundaries of the townsite 45 degrees off a north~south align-
ment, so that, in plan, the stree ppears to be inscribed in a diamond. There are shifts in
the street grid on all sides of the originaltownsite where it changes direction to conform to
older boundary alignments. The grid inscribed in a diamond was a pattern that Kosse repeated
for a number of the townsites he surveyed for the Houston & Texas Central between Houston
and Dallas. These inCluded Heame, Calvert, Bremond, Kosse, Thornton, ~ Mex~a~
Rice, and Ennis.
Main are only
on
head east~ and after a
[O
leads
end of the
to the
ar the
is the campus's only remaining historic building,
Memorial Hall
professor
one of
tract that has
the Ursuline
N.
been i~
tary at the U.S.
driveway
At
Osborn
of houses
generati~
ly,
known
tion.
the
Jr,, built this
(1952).
Mayfidd.
Ursuline
designed by
was
z in
'60s, at the end of the
Shop at
Bryan
refers
one
s Freedmen
where
at 500 E. Martin
has
1870,
Kosse's
original town plan was
the historically African-
504
at 808 N.
by College
the steeple
1998) at W. Martin
N. Randolph
Prison
2 BRYAN
its conclusion, past the
School (I
Kemp
one finds that the
rural" balance asserts
At 900N
Leonard House
with a kick roof ~
and preservationist
Parker
does
Main and
The Lawrence Shed of the
Bryan Compress and
Warehouse Co complex in
the 1000 block of N. Bryan
Avenue (c, 1930s) is one of
the most il
Bryan's identification,
cotton
with its saw-toothed
is strikin
repetition. Across t
duplex cottages
working
ed by the cotton s
the railroad tracks
the sheds
pair of 1950
tures, the
Station Drill Tower at
Marti
Associates
Next
mark,
N. Main
the Houston Ice
scalloped gable
down
to
_ At 219 N, Main Ave
the
panels
own
rust Co.
Main
of a
family bank; William J. B cendanrs are
still connected with
26th
in [o
despite its height.
The c
~ect Jack
27th
architect
busi
Main
the H&TC
( 1998
Thc
E.
;quare
was
city hall, whic
26th
leavin
David
ed
through the 1930s. The Masonic building was
of early 20th-
with
Bryan at 211
than
to the
~acks
Sunny
Shop at Wootwonh's
;patial
rather
St.
4)ar217W.
street at 216
1915, Oscar
the
Ave,
the
4 BRYAN
merit of the I&GN
back to ar
Parker House of
Congress and W.
Victorian villa,
with a cast iron
late
Millican to Bryan.
gate
cedar trees leading toward
the Parker House. I
block of S. Ran~
behind the cottage at
corrugated,
House that ¢
its pretensions
Side
vernacular
Swiss Avenue
Tucked within the
I&GN track at 203
the tiny
home
gregation
the
and his
next block, at ~06
is the much more
Anthony's
by
Sullivan ~
the
Michel¢
ruer site of St.
the moderni
at 308 W. 28th St. and S.
an early
now the dean
Moving
of the original t
tion mad{
blocks t
Bryan. Nearby at 1201 Ridgedale
in another
~ mod-
repu -
1950s, it
the
following a
equenr-
Main
and fire
&Harris,
Regent is
was
BRYAN 5
town Bryan.
ly
E. Bryan
of grid break,
(1929), designed
ten -
Bryan's
eFFI
side ot
with ]
tine,
been
tion (Jack.
buildings is
Williamson
E. 29th. ~
ored reflective glass.
Bryan's
the
Dallas Ave.
27th and E.
betweenS.
engineered so
name
Main
deter-
.~ Was
W.
Methodist
by Houston
Bodet, a stream-
Note the
near the top
focus
.= is that of Mrs.
of the Astin
Messer & Smith at
The W. Olin Sanders
, Jr. and is still
Edward
contributes
lrchi-
Baker. The
· the Dr.
.At
and
Ave.
712 E. ~
scaled C. E.
(1876)
Victorian
rehabilitated by A&M
and Mrs
Bryan's
pied the house
Members of
Phil]
by C. E. Jenkins is the
at 508 E. 30th St. and
W. Olin Sanden
his home territory. '
House at 600 E. 3
story French provincial
S, Ennis St. and E.
al style J.
partner J. B.
& Harris on
School (1939) at 801
Austin anchor~ the
Giesecke
Near it
Spanish styh
of the most i
trict is
E. 31 st and S. Haswell,
moved to this site in 1984
and restored by Dr. and
Mrs. J. Russell Bradley.
AtE. 31st '.
Texas Ave,
Clinic
Texas ~,v,e. is theJ. H, 5?nWay House, the last ot
the old 'College Avenue grand avenue houses.
one
highway
connects
iai-
the 1940s
is
House
lished in a
10 ~ Green
south to
; in
~aced
BRYANI 7
undeveloped territory on the southeastside of
town. This is the
makes S. T,
( t961
which is very
Matthews s~
and the
Home
Villa
B. Thompson of San
East
Height~
byl
Cavitt Estate
Hi
lng completion. It was the
first of the highwaY-related
Wayside
959)
Texas
Land Comm
D. Mayfield, Jr.).
four,
& Loan,
Chartier C
Associates,
8 BRYAN
roof in 1998. Partners
[ames H.
, Jr., of the same
tsible for
}19
c. 1956),
At S. Texas andMary Lake
, Scott &
clerestory band
overhangs.
1953,
) at 3500 S.
roof, framed
both sides of the street
are several duplex
and
this was the
M. Pefia lived here as
Tiny
ger
,pitched,
Station
W. Brookside Dr. is
~rcbitecture studio
roof deck.
Matthews's
~, andW.
; and
designed by Frederick
sor of landscap~
tect Hen
house at 100
was the chil
architect H. Davis
Brookside Dr. is an
Scott & Associates
House
dense
North (
The~
stone, wood, and
415E.
as the work of
May field.
modem house
slightl
Pearce House (1941 ) at
303 Crescent Dr. by
Houston architects MacKie
& Kamrath, The most stun-
ning modern house in North
Oakwood is the Clifton C,
Carter House at 411
Crescent Dr. (1956),
designed by
Carter. an LBJ
architectur~
Crescent Drive
(1946),
in North (
Oakwood
(c. 1952).
On the east side of
leads ti
and the Andrew L Ogg
House lc, 1954) at 801
Tanglewood by
Nash with Harry ~
which displays a
activated profile.
Across S. Texas Ave, from
North (
est in.
unassuming entrance
a line-up
: is the
a jot
Around the
Philip
Douglas
I~R YANI 9
TEXAS A
of
tO
!uture
of
as a disci-
~ On
in a de
A&:M.
Texas A&M got
wave
of
Giesecke.
:. P. Vosper, a
ize
campus since
in
University and
1960s and the
mid
of new acade~
mic buildings
and ~ cladding.
presence
glare space
perception
San
Ford.
Library
Sciences
Finn), a ~
linked
beneath its
especially
its crisp
.ost its
New
was only two
Industries
E. Giesecke
:lassical
even
movie palace.
interior
as a 1920s
· and
held on at the
is the
architects},
~ lawn
the
est tier~
Across
Campus,
ings that
appear m
major
of Dallas,
of Dallas,
g. L~
a
also
The
seem t
O
L L E G E M S T A T I O N
College Station was the name given to the H&TC train stop opposite the campus
of College. Until campus in an array of
. The campus was in the
In the early 1920s a
group College Park, south
of the in the early 1930s,
a subdivision at East Gateand the late 1930s, and institu-
tional and commercial developmentat North ongN. College Main St. In
1938, College Station wasincorporated asa by
A&M faculty members a
of architecture , head of the architectu
and
North Gate is the commercial and institutional area on
University Drive opposite the A&M campus, In the 1920s, it
was where different religious organizations began to build
chapels ministering to students, some quite substantial in size.
16 ~COLLEG~ ~,TATiON
ng
Lawyer, with Ernest
details complement
CRS-like use of hard red
treatment is
N. College
Thorpe.
North Gate is the
and
Ernest
with
and N. Church
s to
are not
11 Texas
· Park
d the
at Wolf
)err
archi-
970s.
401-405
the City
bil~tate North Gate.
University was
commerci~
Church (1946
principles.
COLLEGE ~T/tTION 17
G'esecke House
S. leads
Timber Lane leads through NewtOn. Adjoining is Canterbury House (1975) by David G,
poi was sub-
Brith Hillel
E. Dexter
&W,
mod~
s College Park,
1930s is
and
Cenb
nel
have been
Station, Bryan,
reha
bri/li~
~ was
who also designed
/ision. Among
cat
at 6OO
and the first
Couch}
SOU
E.~
screened
Lee in ~
La~
and
and
Ernest Langford House
(1929) at 602 W. Dexter.
At 606 Jersey Drive, on
the north side of the park,
is the compact modern
Richard E. Vrooman
House (1955) by architec*
at511
S,
on the west side of
tie, College Park launched
Professor Clark on a
tong career as one of
College Station's fore-
most residential real
estate developers.
18 COLLEGE STATION
Station
Rother's Bookstore ir
340 George
floer office
ul
enclave of C,
descends at 1206 Orr Dr.
the neighborhood, the
(1953,
on its site to
old
Knoll
of post oak woodland
The Knoll.
win-
the
Wes~
the house and its e
sive h
A&M,
Page
the
997) by
2509
Tin House
Foley's
hire Chmc
Post O;
(1982);
of
20 COLLEGE .~TATIO~