Join authors Dorothy Knox Howe Houghton, Barrie Scardino Bradley and Katherine Howe as they celebrate the just-released reprint of their award-winning history book, Houston's Forgotten Heritage: Landscapes, Houses, Interiors, 1824–1914. First published in 1991 by Rice University Press, Houston's Forgotten Heritage traces the evolution of Harris County's landscapes, houses, interiors and domestic life from the early 1820s to 1914, when the opening of the Houston Ship Channel ushered in modern Houston.

Illustrated with 275 photographs of houses and gardens that have long since disappeared, the book depicts homes where the foundations were laid for much of the cultural life enjoyed in Houston today. The book received the Citation Award from the San Antonio Conservation Society in 1992. In this talk, Barrie Scardino Bradley traces the development of domestic architecture from the log cabins built along the bayous in the 1820s to the grand Neville house built at 11 Courtlandt Place. Katherine Howe focuses on the evolution of home interiors, describing how four-poster beds were used to support mosquito netting and likely had mattresses filled with Spanish moss. Dorothy Knox Howe Houghton addresses domestic life and its influence on the social and cultural fabric of the city, describing how schools, religious assemblies and even businesses evolved from the home.

A book signing follows.