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Main Street Market Square Historic District is a historic district in
Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...
,
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
that includes the Market Square Park. It includes buildings nearby, as well as the square itself. It was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 1983.


Description


Boundaries

The Main Street Market Square District has irregular boundaries. The district includes all of the blocks between Travis and Main from Texas Street to the northern boundary of University of Houstown-Downtown. From the southern edge of Market Square at Preston Street, it captures all of the blocks northward until Buffalo Bayou. It includes three and a half blocks between Main and Fannin Streets, running south from Franklin Street. A wedge-shaped, partial block at Milam falls within the district, as well as a partial block east of Main Street at the base of the viaduct.


Features

The
University of Houston–Downtown The University of Houston–Downtown (UHD) is a public university in Houston, Texas. It is part of the University of Houston System and has a campus that spans in Downtown Houston with a satellite location, UHD-Northwest in Harris County. Fo ...
(UHD) is a four-year state university, located within the Main Street Market Square Historic District. Founded in 1974, it is one of four separate and distinct institutions in the University of Houston System. UHD has an enrollment of 12,900 students—making it the 13th largest public university in Texas and the second-largest university in the Houston area. One of the anchors of the district is Market Square Park, so-named because this site previously hosted four Houston City Halls and City Markets. Adjacent to the park are three nineteenth-century structures: the Fox-Kuhlman Building at 305-307 Travis, the Baker-Meyer Building at 315 Travis, and the Kennedy Bakery Building at 813 Congress. Like the Kennedy Bakery Building, the property at 214 Travis had been owned by Irish-born baker, John Kennedy. He started a building there in 1860. WL Foley Dry Goods commissioned
Eugene Heiner Eugene Thomas Heiner (August 20, 1852 – 1901) was an American architect who designed numerous courthouses, county jails, and other public buildings in Texas. He was born in New York City, apprenticed in Chicago, and studied further in Germany. ...
to enlarge the structure in 1889. Across the street at 201 Travis is the Houston National Bank, once owned by Ross S. Sterling. Houston Ice and Brewing Company built the Magnolia Brewery Building at 110 Milam and the Magnolia Ballroom an adjacent facility at 715 Franklin. Eugene Heiner designed two other buildings in the district: the 1882 Henry Brashear Building at 910 Prairie, and the Sweeney and Coombs Building at 310 Main. Other historic buildings in the district along Main Street include the
Rice Hotel The Rice, formerly the Rice Hotel, is an historic building at 909 Texas Avenue in Downtown Houston, Texas, United States. The current building is the third to occupy the site. It was completed in 1913 on the site of the former Capitol buildin ...
, the Barringer-Norton Building, the Scanlan Building (Houston), the adjacent Stuart and Sterne Buildings, the
Sweeney, Coombs, and Fredericks Building The Sweeney, Coombs, and Fredericks Building is a late Victorian commercial building with a 3-story corner turret and Eastlake decorative elements that was designed by George E. Dickey in 1889. The building is located at 301 Main Street in H ...
, and the Union National Bank Building.


Gallery

File:Main Street looking south from Dallas Avenue, Houston, Texas (1909).jpg, Main Street looking south from Dallas Avenue, Houston, Texas (postcard, circa 1909) File:Main Street looking south Houston Texas (1904).jpg, Main Street looking south Houston, Texas (postcard, circa 1904) File:Main Street looking south Houston Texas (1908).jpg, Main Street looking south, Houston, Texas (postcard, circa 1908) File:Main Street Viaduct and Ship Channel, Houston, Texas (1913).jpg, Main Street Viaduct and Ship Channel (postcard, circa 1913) File:Main Street, north from Preston Avenue, Houston, Texas.jpg, Main Street, north from Preston Avenue, Houston (postcard, circa 1905-1907) File:Morris building.jpeg, Morris building which was located on Main Street on the east side of the 300 block, c. 1869 File:Old Market Square, Houston.jpg, Market Square Park, SW corner of Congress @ Travis, 2012


See also

*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Harris County, Texas __NOTOC__ This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places in Harris County, Texas. It is intended to be a complete list of properties and districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Harris County, Texas, United S ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Main Street Market Square Historic District Downtown Houston Geography of Houston Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas Italianate architecture in Texas National Register of Historic Places in Houston