HomeMy WebLinkAboutBryan, CS, A&M: An Architectural Tour; guidebook (Spring 1998)AN ARC
TOUR
STEPHEN FOX
B
R Y A N
%
The Bryan townsite was surveyed by Theodore Kosse, engineerfor the Houston & Texas
Central Railway, on a 640-acre tract in Brazos County that the Brazoria County planter,
WilliamJ. Bryan, a of Stephen F. Austin, had conveyed in 1860 for construction of the
railroad line. The Houston & Texas Central was built to funnel the wealth of the Brazos River
valley, the foremost cottonproduction area in Texas in the mid 19th century, through Houston.
The outbreak of theCivil War halted railroad construction at Millican. in thesouthem part of
Brazos County. The H&TC tracks did not reachBryan until 1866-67. The railroad passed
through the t0wnsite in a north-south alignment and Kosse oriented Bryan's gridiron street plan
the street grid on all sides of the original townsite, where it changes direction to confOrm to
for a number of the townsites he surveyed for the Houston & Texas
and Dallas. These included Hearne, Calvert, Bremond, Kosse, Thornton, Groesbeck, Mexfa,
Rice, and Ennis.
thoroughfare is
faC-
fact o
] on
BRYAN
Exit the Highway 6 Bypass at Briarcrest Drive
head east and after a right on Boonville, proceed
to Copperfield Drive. This is where Bryan most
resembles College Station. A left onto Copperfield
leads past Sam Houston Elementary School to the
gated Courtlandt Place subdivision. On axis, at the
end of the entrance street, is the newest contender
for Bryan's grandest house, an enormous Highland
Park style French chateau by Dallas architect
Richard Drummond DaVis l t 999).
Return on Boonville Road to William Joel Bryan
Parkway, then turn right onto Boonville. At the
Boonville-Ursuline~Osbom intersection is a vacant
tract that has been the site of two of Bryan's most
architecturally significant buildings. Both were
destroyed by fire. The Villa Maria Ursuline
' · b
Academy (1902), a g~rls school estabhshed y
the Ursuline sisters of Galveston, occupied a
Victorian
N. J. Clayton of Gal
1929.
acquired by
the wholesale
been in the
taw at
York archi
corn
driveway
the only building in Texas by Delano & Aldrich.
At 95 Allen Forest Lane, off
Osborn, is the last in a series
of houses built by several
generations of the Allen fami-
ly who operated Bryan's best-
known 1
tion, Allen
famil
the
Jr. built this
1952
ma~
of
Mayfiek
at
toric Allen
Prison (
2 BRYAN
is the campus's only remaining historic building,
the Spanish Mediterranean swle Memorial Hall
( 1924), the work of A&M architecture professor
Henry N. June.
This is the
then tO
Hill, one of
neighbor-
writer,
in
at the end of the
neigh -
Bryan
up tables in
Nash refers
small-town
: that per[ains
not only to Candy Hill but
much of old Bryan.
Proceeding west on Martin
k~ther King leads one
Freedmen
where
3aptist Church
~ at 500 E. Martin
and N. Houston
congregation has
.' since 1870
northern tier of Kosse's
the historically AhScan-
nt sector of
live the
torch at 504
aspect.
~ at 808 N.
designed by College
G. Woodcock; the steeple
touch. Robert
at W. Martin
The complex
public
its conclusion, past the ex-Carver Elementary
School (1949, Norton & Mayfield) and the ex-
one finds that the 'rural of Sunny Nashs urban-
rural" balance asserts itself with suprising rapidity.
At
with a kick roof over the
20th and 22nd were once part of the G. $. Parker
the
the
on
loes
west-side
storefronts
in
have been
The Lawrence Shed of the
Bryan Compress and
Warehouse Co. complex in
the 1000 block of N. Bryan
Avenue (c. 193Os) is one of
the most intact reminders of
Bryan's identification with
cotton and the railroad. The
6-bay, metal surfaced shed
with its saw-toothed profiles
is striking in its simplicity
repetition.
duplex cottages, a
working landscape represent-
ed by the cotton sheds and
the railroad tracks. Adjoining
the sheds
pair of 1950
lures
Martin Luther
Associates des/
At 219 N.
streetscape of Main
25th
Next
mark, the
N. Main
the Houston
scalloped
down Main Avenm
the street.
;ector
Varisco, the
· Norton
;ible in
panels
: frets.
small-town
md
stitu~
ewel
& Trust Co.
200 N. Main
this
familybank; William J. Bryan's
still connected with it. At 100 N Main and W.
26th (1915)
Like the Varisco
despite
Malt
tect
27t1
Main Ave.
Street,
at
are due to
(1998
The bi
E. 26th to
town plan. this
that
bisected by the
this
lack of
city hall
26th ~
leavie
Group
David G.
d was
uare
on
Mathes
through the 1930s, The Masonic building was
designed by Flanders &
eady 20th-
but it was his son Charles
a streamlined
covered with porcelain
211
Hall in its
Note
: Grand
of
from
Brazos
the
t track.
~ line
to the
~ backs
a Woolworth's
to this spatial
heir business
shops, rather
.' of downtown is St.
~at217W.
build-
tower is
s Astin Memorial
~ Station archi-
street at 216
1915. Oscar
the
along
. The live oak
and adja-
Schulman
Masonic
Ave.
~ Street and N.
1922), designed by
foremost eclectic
ment of the I&GN tracks, harking
back to an earlier era,
Parker House
Congress and W. 27th, a
Victorian villa, its
with a cast
ora
late 1860s,
advance of the
Millic~
gate
cedar trees leading toward
the Parker
block of ~
behind the cottage at
corrugated,
House t
professor Gerald
its
Side
vernacular as ~
Swiss Avenue grand manner.
Tucked within the
I&GN track at 203 S
the tiny Tern
home to
gregation
the
and his
next block
is the much mor~
Anthony's Catholic
Sullivan as
the
Michele
mer site of St.
the
at 308 W. 28th St, and S.
an early
now the dean ~
Movin
tion made
Tin
one of the
another
A&M
reptl-
the
and other
territory
the
House (800
remodeled as
following a
Charles
(800 Beck
(a
with her
subsequent-
Jr.
had been
Earl Merrell, Jr.)
what was
BRYAN
town Bryan, the extensive.
ly altered Brazos
Scott
abandoner
Matthews's tribute to MacKie & Kamrath's St,
E. Bryan
designed
D&o style
9th cen-
mo
house in Te
Bryan's r
ern building.
side of
tine is fairly
centered wings
been subsumed
tlon
Mirroring
Bryan
concrete I
up to this
buildings
exhibits a~
ored reflective glass.
Today Texas Avenue divides downtown from
Bryan's east side neighborhoods as forcefully as
the H&TC tracks
Dallas Ave
the early 2
20th century,
27th an
grand avenue.
was re-
name of this
urban
into
was
t and
publisher George W
Ave. is the First Methodist
Houston
a stream.
1 with
near the top
direction on
East Side
a fOCUS
Bryan. Another
is that of Mrs.
of the Astin
;mith at
· was the home of
Jr,, and is still
The Edward
St, (1902) contributes
archi-
class
1910) at615 E.
29th St. and S, Baker. The
· of progressive
the Dr.
~dchardson
I 1 E. 29th. At
Coulter Drive and
E. 29th is the columned,
by William E,
6 BRYAN
Ave.
l~ssell I
712 E. 30th St.
scaled C. E.
The '~illtam R.
(1876)
Haswell is Bryan's most
all& of cedar
front walk. Both
and Mrs.
Bryan's ~
pied the house
Members
Phillips Addition
by C.
at 508 E 30th St, and S, Hill
W. Olin !
his
House at 600 E.
story French
S. Ennis St. and E
al style J,
partner J. B.
& Harris on the
School (1939) at 801
Austin
Giesecke
Near it,
of~
trict is the 1
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. i'
Clinic (1950),
Frank
Texas Ave. is the J, H. Conway House, the last of
the old"Coltege Avenue'' grand avenue houses.
one
are
&
tec -
&
studio
:, leads
1940s
gt is
House
Rowlett)
of Bryan archi-
tin a
jour-
the
~reen
and
by
1 to
the
faced
BRYAN 7
undeveloped territory On the southeastside of
town. This i~
makes
mate
( 1961
which
Corer,
Matthews & ~
and
Home for
Villa
B. Thompson of
McGinnis
Cavitt ]
Highway 6 ~now
lng com
first of the
subdivisions
Wayside Dr. is
1959) by
an especially
Ma
Lan¸
D. Mayfield, Jr,
four-story,
& Loan,
Chartier C.
turalb
998. Partners
~ and James H
Jr., of the same
across
2909-2919
:A956),
Clinic
· Scott &
clerestory hand
roof overhangs.
: (c. 1953,
at 3500 S.
its flat roof. framed
both sides of the street
builder, developer, and
this was the
2RS partners
as
J.
Olexa, Tiny
landscape
aed
area (no longer
.pitched
ge Station
Dr. is
architecture studio
roof deck.
in 1958, Matthews's
Bryan and
faculty
and W.
firm
designed by Frederick W.
sot of
house at 100 E. ]
was the
architect H. Davi
Brooksi,
Scott &
House ~
The combination of lime-
stone, wood, and brick iden-
tifies the contemporary style
Brazos A. Varisco House at
415 E. Brookside (c. 1952)
as the work of Norton &
Mayfidd. Bryan's first
modern house is the now
slightly altered Margaret
Pearce House (I941) 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 i
(I 946), the mo
{c. 1952),
On the,
leads to the
and the Andrew L. Ogg
House (c. 1954} at 801
Tanglewood by William E.
Nash with Harry S. Ransom,
which displays a sectionally
activated profile.
Across S. Texas Ave. from
North ~
unassuming entrance
strip shop-
of which
is the
726 N
the
in San
major
und the
Philip
modern
Associates
BRYAN 9
TEXAS A&M UNIVE
TY
a group of
of Bryan
In 1931,
access to
20th century. But tahey
stone, and metals.
In '
program of
a disci-
through
campus
on
most
role in a de
got
financed a wave
Philippe Cret of
Giesecke.
a
symbolize
since
~ detail in
University and
the
10
tec~s
department
To the
F.]
pro-
were
now
cam-
Abutting the
oration
presence
giate ~
col-
San Antonio,
Ford.
consumed
linked quadrangles
the west is a
Turning east
especially aware
Hensel's
lost its
Scoates Hall
with
Industries
Vosper's
appear
~ axis is
Hensel
mome palace.
~ is the
lawn
d Study
Fieldi
the
(1995
of Dallas,
of Dallas,
Dallas,
a
also
The
Houstorl
seem
C
O
L
L E G E
T A T I O N
A&M College. Until
group of faculty members
of the campus. It
a subdivision at East Gate and the new H
staff. From
opposite the campus
pus in an array of
The campus was in the
y 1920s a
south
late 1930s, and institu-
N. Main St. In
almost entirely by
Langford, professor
1929 until 1956,
it
to build
quite substantial in size.
the El
16 COLLEGE STATION
A&M
Lawyer, with Ernest
CRSqike use of hard
treatment is
tO
~John
Thorpe.
No~h Gate is the
and N. Coll~
with Milto~
and N. Church is
Texas
no the
brick,
401-405 University and
the City
bilitate North Gate.'
Universit~
commercialized. San
Timber Lane leads through Newton, Adjoining is CanterbUry House (1975) by David
Brith Hillel
and E, Dexter
~W,
and
Daniel
many
Simpson
Cent~
was
have been
Station,
ly stood
britliantl'
~re those
~oose
scree
Lee in a r
18 [CO
on
architec-
at 511
t 504 Park Place S.
~ of cat-
tie, College Park launched
Professor Clark on a
long career as one of
College Station's fore-
most residential real
estate developers.
Station architect Rodney C. Hill, Around the corner, above
Rother's Bookstore in the $Out~ide community Center at
340 George Bush Dr. and Montclair (c, 1938), is the Second-
floor office space where Bill Caudilt and john M ROwlett set
up what would become Caudil~ ~lOwlett Scott in 1947.
House (1957)is at 1200
enclave
descends at 1206
on its site to
Caudill House and it,,
nicate the
spli~level
angford,
past the
CRS.
The Knoll.
bythe
visible
from
COL£E6E ~TATI~ONI 19
sive house
A&M,
Tin H
(1989),
Foley's
Scott & W
lite Clinic
Post
20 COLLr~GE CoTATION