Rail Station Mystery

Long lost piece of Houston history resurfaces after 50 years, finds itself onDallas auction block

The 1934 mural study by painter John McQuarrie for the city's Grand CentralDepot, was given to Sam Houston’s distant relatives by the former PacificRailroad Baggage Master in 1954 and languished in obscurity for nearly sixdecades. The piece will be sold at Heritage Auctions in Dallas on May 5.
A 1930s postcard depicting Houston's newly-built Grand Central Station, whichhoused John McQuarrie's mural of Sam Houston until 1960 when the rail depot wasdemolished.
Pete Dammon, who inheritated the painting from his father, spent years searchingfor the whereabouts of the original mural. A newsclipping from December, 29 1934finally sent him on the right path.
Set an a large frame, Dammon's mysterious painting remains in good condition.
Photo by Pete Dammon

After the 1960 demolition of Houston's Grand Central Station on Washington Avenue, two theories floated around the city's preservation circles about the fate of a pair of 1934 murals by San Francisco painter John McQuarrie.

The glass-half-empty theory was relatively straightforward, claiming that the art crumbled along with the original station when it was replaced by the current U.S. Post Office building. The half-full version left room for hope with a story about the murals' safe removal and placement into storage by the National Guard . . . which promptly lost them.

"Apparently, the father hated Sam Houston because of a misunderstanding about the statesman's first marriage," Phillips laughs. "He ended up sticking the piece in the laundry room."

Either way, the storied Depression-era murals — one of a heroic General Houston entering his eponymous city in 1837 and another depicting Stephen F. Austin and Baron de Bastrop — have been missing now for a more than half a century.

Just this past week, however, Texas' Heritage Auctions announced it unearthed a large study painting of the Sam Houston mural from a retired engineer in Louisiana named Pete Dammon. It will be auctioned in Dallas on Saturday at 11 a.m.

"He inherited the piece through his father," Atlee Phillips of Heritage Auctions tells CultureMap. "The painting was given to family in 1954 by a former Souther Pacific baggage handler who received the work from the artist himself in the '30s."

The rail worker, who lived next to the seller's brother in the San Francisco area, gave the painting to the Dammons after hearing they were distant relatives of the Houston family.

"Apparently, the father hated Sam Houston because of a misunderstanding about the statesman's first marriage," Phillips laughs. "He ended up sticking the piece in the laundry room."

The Discovery

Around 1985, Pete Dammon's mother palmed off the painting to her son, who spend years researching the mural's location with no luck. But then came the Internet.

"I got into the web in the late '90s," Dammon explains. "One day I searched for a picture of Sam Houston and there it was — the painting. My father always said the mural was in a rail station, but I could never find it. Turns out it was at the Houston Grand Central Station."

Unfortunately, the massive 17-by-16 foot mural was long gone.

"Grand Central is a perfect case of bad timing," says Douglas Weiskopf, a rail historian with the Houston Heritage Society and current candidate for state legislature. "There was a surge in rail traffic during the 1920s, but by the '50s there were only a few lines left. The station and the murals disappeared."

But the painting the mural was based on unexpectedly lives on.

"This is a piece with a tremendous amount of history," Phillips says. "McQuarrie is a known artist, but isn't particularly famous so right now we estimate the painting at about $4,000. Visually, though, it feels particularly modern to today's eyes with its rather sparse details.

"It's impossible to guess out what the market will decide on Saturday during the auction."

unspecified

Concert News

Goo Goo Dolls slide into Houston on 2025 tour with Dashboard Confessional

Photo courtesy of Goo Goo Dolls

undefined

The rock band Goo Goo Dolls will hit the road in 2025 with their Summer Anthem Tour, a 41-date trek that will include a stop at Smart Financial Centre in Sugar Land on Thursday, July 16.

The Houston-area date and one in Fort Worth on July 16 will be the second and third concerts on the tour after it kicks off in Phoenix, Arizona on July 13. The massive North American tour will continue through September 12.

The band, led by John Rzeznik and Robby Takac, will perform a career-encompassing set that will celebrate the 30th anniversary of their breakthrough 1995 album, A Boy Named Goo, and feature multiple songs from their 2022 album, Chaos in Bloom.

They'll be joined on all dates by special guest Dashboard Confessional.

Although generally considered a '90s band, Goo Goo Dolls actually released their first album in 1987. They waited eight years and five albums before their first major hit, "Name," which led the way toward songs like "Iris" and "Slide" becoming '90s anthems.

The band has released 14 studio albums in their career, and according to statement by Rzeznik, they are putting together a 15th release that may also be showcased during the tour.

A local pre-sale will be on Thursday, November 21 from 10 am to 10 pm before the public on-sale starts on Friday, November 22 at 10 am. Tickets can be purchased at googoodolls.com/tour.

Goo Goo Dolls will be partnering with Joe Torre Safe At Home for the tour, a nonprofit founded in 2002 by Ali and Joe Torre to provide healing and education services to youth who have been traumatized by exposure to violence including domestic violence, child abuse, teen dating abuse and sexual assault to help break the cycle of violence.

GOO GOO DOLLS LIVE

Saturday, July 13, 2025 - Phoenix, AZ - Arizona Financial Theatre
Wednesday, July 16, 2025 - Fort Worth, TX - Dickies Arena
Thursday, July 17, 2025 - Sugar Land, TX - Smart Financial Centre
Saturday, July 19, 2025 - Rogers, AR - Walmart AMP
Sunday, July 20, 2025 - Nashville, TN - Ascend Amphitheater
Tuesday, July 22, 2025 - Atlanta, GA - Cadence Bank Amphitheatre at Chastain Park
Wednesday, July 23, 2025 - St Augustine, FL - St. Augustine Amphitheatre
Friday, July 25, 2025 - Charlotte, NC - Skyla Credit Union Amphitheatre
Saturday, July 26, 2025 - Raleigh, NC - Red Hat Amphitheater
Sunday, July 27, 2025 - Vienna, VA - Wolf Trap - Filene Center
Tuesday, July 29, 2025 - Boston, MA - LeaderBank Pavilion
Wednesday, July 30, 2025 - Saratoga Springs, NY - Broadview Stage at SPAC
Friday, August 1, 2025 - Holmdel, NJ - PNC Bank Arts Center
Saturday, August 2, 2025 - Wantagh, NY - Northwell at Jones Beach Theater
Sunday, August 3, 2025 - Philadelphia, PA - The Mann Center
Tuesday, August 5, 2025 - Bangor, ME - Maine Savings Amphitheater
Wednesday, August 6, 2025 - Gilford, NH - BankNH Pavilion
Friday, August 8, 2025 - Bridgeport, CT - Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater
Saturday, August 9, 2025 - Buffalo, NY - KeyBank Center
Saturday, August 10, 2025 - Toronto, ON - Budweiser Stage
Tuesday, August 12, 2025 - Cuyahoga Falls, OH - Blossom Music Center
Wednesday, August 13, 2025 - Chicago, IL - Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island
Friday, August 15, 2025 - Indianapolis, IN - Everwise Amphitheater at White River State Park
Saturday, August 16, 2025 - Sterling Heights, MI - Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre
Monday, August 18, 2025 - Waite Park, MN - The Ledge Amphitheater
Tuesday, August 19, 2025 - La Vista, NE - The Astro
Thursday, August 21, 2025 - St. Louis, MO - Saint Louis Music Park
Friday, August 22, 2025 - Kansas City, MO - Starlight Theatre
Sunday, August 24, 2025 - Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Tuesday, August 26, 2025 - West Valley City, UT - Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre
Thursday, August 28, 2025 - Airway Heights, WA - Northern Quest Resort & Casino
Friday, August 29, 2025 - Bend, OR - Hayden Homes Amphitheater
Sunday, August 31, 2025 - Seattle, WA - Venue TBD
Monday, September 1, 2025 - Seattle, WA - Venue TBD
Thursday, September 4, 2025 - Berkeley, CA - Greek Theatre
Saturday, September 6, 2025 - Santa Barbara, CA - Santa Barbara Bowl
Sunday, September 7, 2025 - Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre
Tuesday, September 9, 2025 - Albuquerque, NM - Isleta Amphitheater
Thursday, September 11, 2025 - Oklahoma City, OK - The Zoo Amphitheatre
Friday, September 12, 2025 - Camdenton, MO - Ozark Amphitheater

concerts music goo goo dolls

Rail Station Mystery

Long lost piece of Houston history resurfaces after 50 years, finds itself onDallas auction block

Concert News

Goo Goo Dolls slide into Houston on 2025 tour with Dashboard Confessional

CultureMap Emails Are AwesomeGet Houston intel delivered daily.

We will not share or sell your email address.

CultureMap Emails Are Awesome
Get Houston intel delivered daily.