The Petroleum Club of Houston (PCOH) is a private social club located on the 35th floor in the

Total Plaza Total Plaza (formerly the Entex Building, Louisiana Place, and United Gas Building) is a tower in Downtown Houston, Texas, one block from the Allen Center complex. The building, managed by Brookfield Properties, opened in 1971. The 35-story build ...

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

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 in ...

. As of November 2014 the club had 1,200 members.Sarnoff, Nancy.
Bucks for the memories: Petroleum Club auctions off some of its relics
" ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...

''. November 13, 2014. Retrieved on March 9, 2015.

History

The club was founded in 1946. Several oil businesspersons who met at 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 ...

had established the club. It was originally housed on the top area of the Rice Hotel but it moved to the

ExxonMobil Building The ExxonMobil Building (formerly the Humble Building) was built in 1963 in Houston. At that time it was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River at , surpassing the Southland Center in Dallas (the previous record holder). It remained ...

in 1963 after an increase of membership. Previously the club occupied the top two floors of that building, numbers 43 and 44. The club was accessible through elevators on Bell Street.Contact
"
Archive
. Petroleum Club. Retrieved on June 4, 2014. Because of the sale and scheduled renovation of the ExxonMobil Building, the club was forced to find a new location. In 2014 the club was selling much of its possessions in an auction as part of the moving process. The club's ExxonMobil space was scheduled to close after January 10, 2015, and its new quarters in the Total Plaza were scheduled to open two weeks later.

Facilities

The club space at the Total Plaza has an

energy industry The energy industry is the totality of all of the industries involved in the production and sale of energy, including fuel extraction, manufacturing, refining and distribution. Modern society consumes large amounts of fuel, and the energy indu ...

theme as it uses gold, bronze, and metallic colors. Younger club members had requested a bar, so the new club has a bar with the view of the skyline of Houston.A look inside the new Petroleum Club

Archive
. ''

''. March 6, 2015. Retrieved on March 9, 2015. Kirksey, an architecture company based in Houston, designed the club space. Nancy Sarnoff of the ''

'' wrote that the space has a "more modern look" compared to the previous space at the ExxonMobil Building.

Events

Events hosted by the club include the Young Professionals Organization birthday party, as well as bar mitzvahs, birthday parties, wedding receptions, other social events, and business events.

References

External links

Petroleum Club of Houston
{{Authority control Clubs and societies in the United States Organizations based in Houston Gentlemen's clubs in the United States 1946 establishments in Texas Downtown Houston