Sam Houston Park

In 1889, Mayor Brashear named this unique downtown park for the city's hero, Sam Houston. It was carved into a Victorian oasis of greenery with a stream, paths and an old mill.  During the 1950s when modern monuments of  concrete and steel began to surround the park, a select group of Houstonians banded together to form the Heritage Society. Their first project was restoring an 1847 building that had been one of Houston's earliest school houses.

After the schoolhouse was successfully saved, the Heritage Society turned their attention to other historic sites in the city. Irreplaceable treasures rescued and relocated to the park include a pre-Texas revolution cabin, an 1891 church built by German and Swiss immigrants and a 1905 mansion outfitted with electrical wiring and the high style of the day.

The Heritage Society provides guided tours and maintains the collection of buildings as a tangible time-line for generations to come.