SELECTED VICTORIAN ARCHITECTURE IN TEXAS

SELECTED VICTORIAN ARCHITECTURE IN TEXAS

Are these buildings True to Nature? Are they True to Nature according to Ruskin? Can the influence of his essay be detected in these buildings? Can you find his six features of Gothic in them? What sentences are illustrated by what features? What sentences are contradicted by what features?

Albany: Shackelford Country Courthouse, Public Square, 1883, J E Flanders

Bay City: Bay City Bank (Rigeley Bldg), Avenue F and 7th, 1900

Boerne; Dienger Store Building, 1884

Bonham: the Brownlee house, 220 W 6th A B Scarborough house

Brenham: house at 515 Main Brownwood: St. Johns Episcopal Ch., Depot and Main, 1892, Lovell and Hood

Calvert: two wooden Victorian houses

Cameron: Baskin Bldg., First and Houston, 1891 Center: Shelby County Courthouse, Public Square, 1883, J. J. Gibson

Clarksville: Red River County Courthouse, 1884, W H Wilson; House at 407 E. Main Cuero: DeWitt County Courthouse, 307 N. Gonzales, 1894, A O Watson; The Clein House, 218 N. Terrell

Dallas: Dallas County Courthouse, Houston and Commerce, 1891, Orlopp and Kusener

Decatur: Wise County Courthouse, Public Square, 1895, J Riely Gordon; Waggoner house, 1884

Denton: Denton County Courthouse, Public Sq., 1895, W C Dodson

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Fort Worth:
  • First Baptist Church, 1888 Saint Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church, 1892 St. Ignatius Academy, 1889, J. J. Kane Fort Worth Union Station, 1899 Tarrant County Courthouse, Public Sq., 1893, Gunn and Curtiss William H. Eddleman house
    Fulton Beach: the George W. Fulton House, 1872

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  • Galveston

    "Towery city and branchy between towers,"
    (G. M. Hopkins, "Duns Scotus's Oxford" )

    Galveston shell symbolism

    Nicholas J. Clayton

  • Galveston Churches:

    St. Mary's Cathedral, 2011 Church St., 1847, T. E. Giraud, New Orleans architect; rear tower, N. J. Clayton, 1876; spires heightened, N. J. Clayton, 1884. "Gothic-derived pointed style of architecture" (14). "In his first original church design, Clayton turned to Pugin and the Gothicists, not Jones and Baldwin and the Presbyterians" (38).*

    Trinity Episcopal, 705 22nd St., 1855; John de Young, architect; 1900, reconstruction and alteration, N. J. Clayton.

    St. Joseph's, 2202 Ave. K, 1859; Carpenter Gothic; 1887 N. J. Clayton designed a new altar; destroyed by 1900 hurricane but rebuilt and enlarged by N. J. Clayton .

    B'nai Israel Synagogue, 816 22nd St., 1870; F. S. Steward, architect; rev. N. J. Clayton, 1887; later a Masonic Temple. "Another Gothic variant, the Saracenic, was developed for Jewish religious buildings" (31). Extant but extensively altered.

    FirstPresbyterian, 1903 Church, 1872; Jones and Baldwin, Memphis, N. J. Clayton sup. architect. "'Norman'" (36).

    St. Patrick's, 1013-27 34th St., 1874; N. J. Clayton. "At St. Patrick's, the brick interior and the dark woodwork lent this church a Victorian Gothic feeling (as opposed to neo-Gothic, which relies heavily on cut stone) (38-9). "Even though St. Patrick's was described in contemporary accountgs as a 'modern version of Celtic Gothic with French Gothic details', a more likely source is the late-thirteenth-century English church of St. Wulfram's at Grantham, Lincolnshire (ca. 1280-1300)" (39).

    Eaton Memorial Chapel, 710 22nd, 1878; N. J. Clayton; "'square sectioning'"  (42): "Eaton Memorial Chapel illustrates this proportional effect that James Renwick used in his Gothic design for the Smithsonian Institution (1846)... "reflecting the influence of English High Victorian architecture in the U.S. and, less directly, that of recent French architecture... An 1879 descriptive account of Eaton Chapel in the Galveston Daily News acknowledged several English architects and Viollet-le-Duc: 'An adaptation of moderfn French Gothic, based on the practice of such masters as Viollet-le-Duc, and Spiers, Waterhouse, Seddon, Barry and the younger Pugin of England. sure3ly Clayton himself provided this odd list of sources for Eaton Chapel. Of the English architects named, Sir Charles Barry (1795-1860) porbably was the best known to Americans. He won the design competition for the new Houses of Parliament on the Thames (1840-65) which he rendered with excessive, ecclesiastical Gothic motifs.... If Clayton's work relied on any English architects, George Edmund Street (1824-81) ... seem[s] far more likely" (40,46).

    Ursuline Academy, 2605-19 Ave N. Convent, 1854; John de Young, architect; 1876 conventual chapel, 1891 academy buildings, N. J. Clayton; demolished 1962; "A Venetian Gothic Masterpiece" (99).

    Sacred Heart Church, 1302 Broadway, 1903; "A prominent landmark in the city, it features ornate octagonal towers, flying butteresses, ... The design reflects influences of Moorish, Byzantine, Gothic, and Romanesque styles" (church sign); 1915 dome designed by N. J. Clayton (architect of the original 1892 church destroyed by the hurricane of 1900).

    Galveston Houses:
  • Ashton Villa (James Brown House), 2328 Broadway; 1858, J. M. Brown, architect. "Italianate" (15)
  • Gresham house (Bishop's Palace), 1402 Broadway, 1885-1892, Nicholas Clayton ; "Clayton's most radical and picturesque manipulation of the towered-villa type. Stylistically, the house could be characterized as 'chateauesque', referring to the French Revival inthe mid-nineteenth century of the style of Francois I, a style introduced to the U.S. in the 1880's...However, Clayton's freely eclectic use of depressed Tudo and rounded Romanesque arches....extend well beyond the standard French revivals....Clayton said 'The unusual massive construction, unique appearance and the majesty of expression conveyed by this type of building and the castellated effects of the picturesque stone walls recall ... the stately mansions of England and the chateaux of France...architectural ornament, floral details, ....all were executed by master sculptor John O'Brien" (65-66).
  • Lovenberg House, 1412 Market, 1877; N. J. Clayton. "a picturesque domestic example of Clayton's use of Gothic motifs" (40).
  • C. Fox house, 1704 Market St., 1885; additions 1887, N. J. Clayton.
  • Landes-McDonough House, 1604 Post Office, 1887; Dickey and Helmich, G.
  • Meyer House, 1202 21st St., 1886; N. J. Clayton; extant but altered.

    Jacob W. Sonnentheil House, 1826 Sealy, architect unknown, "although its ground plan resembled that of Clayton's Blum House (1884)" (161).

    Frederick W. Beissner House, 1702 Ball, 1887; architect, W. H. Roystone, who worked for N. J. Clayton, 1887-1888; "accounterments of the Queen Anne movement -- sunflower panels (framing the porch entry), a chamfered corner entrance, ......." (159).

    Sealy "Open Gates" house, 2424 Broadway, 1887; McKim, Mead and White architects (NYC), N. J. Clayton, supervising architect; stables by N. J. Clayton. "Because McKim, Mead and White eschewed light decorative ironwork or woodwork, the Sealy House exhibited a certain gravity not seen in more characteristic Galveston houses....Richardson's example provided the means for adapting monumental Queen Anne detail to a southern, semi-urban setting.
  • R. S. Willis House (Moody Mansion), 2816 Broadway, 1893; W. H. Tyndall, architect: "his own interpretation of Richardsonian Romanesque" (187). .
  • J. C. League house, 1710 Broadway, 1890; N. J. Clayton.
  • J C Trube house, 1627 Sealy, 1890. Alfred Muller, architect; "'Howard Barnstone called the Trube House 'the strangest house in a city of strange houses'....The top-heavy profiling and constructive Classical deteails are vintage Muller" (181). .
  • Sonnenthiel house, 1826 Ave. I, 1887; architect unknown.
  • Sealy Hutchings House, 2805 Ave O, 1895; G. B. Stowe, architect. Charles Clarke house, 1728 Sealy, 1899; G. B. Stowe.
  • Hutchings House, 2816 Ave. O; Italianate villa remodeled into a Richardsonian Romanesque house by N. J. Clayton, 1882-1892. .
  • Truchard House, 2223 Ave. K, 1898; N. J. Clayton

    Galveston Downtown:

    The Strand, the "Wall Street of the Southwest"

    Tremont Houses, 1839, 1871, 1965.

    Berlocher Row, 1858, 2309-15 Mechanic, Greek Revival style.

    Schneider Bldg., 2101-2107 Strand, 1877; N. J. Clayton; modified since. "Clayton's ability to manipulate detail using bands and molds.... Clayton suggested stylistic references by drawing extruded ornament across his facades.....pointed arches were Gothic" (40).

    Blum Store, 2300 Mechanic, 1879; E. T. Heiner, architect; 1884, 1887 alterations by N. J. Clayton; now part of the Tremont Hotel

    Greenleve Bldg., 2310-14 Strand, 1881; N. J. Clayton; 4th floor and parapet removed.

    Trueheart Bldg., 212 22nd St., 1881; N. J. Clayton

    Kauffman&Runge, 220 22nd St., 1881; E. T. Heiner.

    Moody Bldg., 2202-2206 Strand, 1882; N. J. Clayton

    Hutchings Sealy Bldg, 2326 Strand, 1895, Nicholas Clayton; "a more massive and substantial neo-Renaissance interpretation than he had rendered with other commercial projects in this genre. The heaviness and the textured polychromatic facade mark this building as High Victorian, despite its Classical vocabulary" (89).

    Clarke and Courts Bldg., 2402-06 Mechanic, 1890, N. J. Clayton; "an example of his free style, in which direct historical references are hard to identify" (90).

    Marx and Blum Bldg., 2325-27 Mechanic, 1890; N. J. Clayton; only the first floor survived the Great Storm of 1890.

    "Old Red"; Ashbel Smith Hall, U. T. School of Medicine, 914 Strand, 1889, Nicholas Clayton; "a masterpiece of High Victorian Romanesque style" (94). Now almost completely obscured by modernist box buildings.

  • Galveston News Bldg, 2108-2116 Mechanic, 1883, Nicholas Clayton; parapet and cornices missing. "The refinement of [this building] can be appreciated by comparing this structure with an engraving of an earlier scheme published by Viollet-le-Duc in Entretiens sur l'Architecture (1863, 1870; fig. 74). The muscularity and thrusting verticality of Clayton's rendition echoed Viollet-le-Duc's illustration..... Clayton's first serious (and successful) excursion into the Romanesque, a style he was to employ with consummate skill seven years later in 'Old Red', his grand building for the University of Texas Medical School" (61).

  • James Fadden Bldg., 2410-12 Strand, 1897; N. J. Clayton. "Clayton had, in the 1890s, begun to elaborate upon facade detail" (81).

    Star Drug Store, 512 Tremont, 1909; N. J. Clayton

    Galveston Statue:

    Texas Heroes Monument, Broadway at Rosenberg, 1897; Louis Amateis, sculptor.

     

  • 1911 : the shift from Victorian to Mediterranean architecture:

    Hotel Galvez

    *all quotations from Clayton's Galveston, B. Scardino and D. Turner (College Station: Texas A&M U P, 2000).

  • Gatesville: Coryell County Courthouse, Public Sq., 1897, W C Dodson

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    Glen Rose: First National Bank, Barnard and Elm Street, 1896; Somervell County Courthouse, 1893, John Cormack

    • Goliad: Goliad County Courthouse, Public Square, 1894, Alfred Giles?; A turreted Victorian house

    Gonzales: Gonzales County Courthouse, St. Joseph St, 1894, J Riely Gordon?; Kennard house, St. Lawrence and Hamilton

    Granbury: Hood County; Courthouse, Public Square, 1889, W C Dodson Hallettsville: Lavaca County Courthouse, Public Square, 1897, Eugene Heiner; Lay-Bozka House, Highway 90A, 1878, B Deitz

    Hillsboro: Hill County Courthouse, Public Square, 1889, W C Dodson

     

     

                              Houston's Forgotten Heritage

    Christ Church Cathedral, 1893

    Church of the Annunciation, Crawford and Texas, 1869, remodeled 1884 Nicholas Clayton; and Academy of the Incarnate Word

    Main Baptist Church

    First United Methodist Church

    St. Paul's Methodist Church

    Trinity Episcopal Church, Ralph Adams Cram, 1917 Gothic Revival style

     

     

    Huntsville: Main Bldg, Sam Houston State, 1888, Alfred Muller Jefferson: The Epperson House of the Seasons, Delta and Alley

     

     

    LaGrange: St. James Episcopal Ch., Monroe and Colorado, 1885, Richard Upjohn Fayette County Jail, S. Main and W. Crockett, 1881, A&J Wahrenberger Fayette County Courthouse, Public Square, 1890. J Riely Gordon

     

     

    Lampasas: Lampasas County Courthouse, Public Square, 1883, W C Dodson

     

     

    Laredo: San Augustin Catholic Ch., 214 San Augustin, 1872, Pierre Keralum Mason: Reynolds house, 1887

     

     

    Nacogdoches: The Ashford Jones house

     

     

    Marfa: Presidio County Courthouse, Public Square, 1886, Alfred Giles?

     

     

    Paint Rock: Concho County Courthouse, Public Square, 1885, F&O Ruffini

     

     

    Palestine: C. E. Dilley Building, 1882 N. R. Royall Bank, 1899 A L Bowers house, S. Magnolia and Gooch G E Dilley house, 805 S Sycamore, 1875

    San Antonio:

    San Fernando Cathedral, 115 Main, 1734-1873, Francis Giraud

    Alamo Baptist Church, 1891

    St. Josephs Catholic Church, 221 E. Commerce, 1868, G. Freisleben

    San Antonio National Bank, 213 W. Commerce, 1885, George W. Brackenridge

    Bexar County Courthouse, 20 Dolorosa, 1892, Gordon and Laub

    St. Marks Episcopal Ch., 307 E. Pecan, 1859-1875, Richard Upjohn

    Ursuline Academy, 300 Augusta, 1851-1900's, Jules Poisard, Francis Giraud

    The Eduard Steves House, 509 King William, 1876

    House at 425 King William, 1890s

    Ike West house, 422 King William, 1887-8

    House at 401 King William, 1876

    House at 335 King William, 1880

    House at 309 King William, 1883 House at 303 King William, 1881 House at 245 King William, 1881, 1892 House at 217 King William, 1881, Alfred Giles Pearl Brewery, 1890

    20th c. Gothic: the Emily Morgan Hotel

    Stephenville: First National Bank, South Belknap and West College, 1889 Crows Opera House, W. Washington and N. Belknap, 1890 Erath County Courthouse, Public Square, 1891, Gordon and Laub

     

    Sulphur Springs: Hopkins County Courthouse, Church and Jefferson, 1894, J Riely Gordon

     

     

    Victoria: Victoria County Courthouse, 101 N. Bridge, 1891, Gordon and Laub Yorktown: C. Eckhardt Bldg, 1895

     

     

    Uvalde: Grand Opera House, E. North and Getty, 1891

    Waco: Cottonland Castle, Castle Heights, 1890 William Cameron house, 1223 Austin Ave, 1879 Madison Cooper house, 1801 Austin Ave, date?
  • Collier house, 715 S. 4Th, 1867
    Waxahachie: Ellis County Courthouse, Public Square, 1894, J Riely Gordon