Sweeney, Coombs & Fredericks Building - Houston, Texas
Posted by: 
JimmyEv
N 29° 45.723 W 095° 21.645
15R E 271736 N 3294754
One of the few Victorians left standing downtown, this narrow, three-story, built in 1889 and capped with a corner turret, was designed by George Dickey as the home of a jewelry firm.
Waymark Code: WMRF2
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 09/26/2006
Views: 60
Victorian architect George E Dickey was trained in Boston and had worked in Toronto. He relocated to Houston in 1878, where he became a prolific local architect, designing several buildings in Houston and Galveston. This is one of only two of his buildings surviving in Houston.
The building, with its elaborate Eastlake ornamentation, is thought to be a radical remodeling of the plain, 3-story 1861 brick Van Alstyne Building. When the jewelry firm of Sweeney, Coombs & Fredericks purchased the building, they added an additional seven feet to the floor space. The entire facade of the structure was altered to accommodate the new store and the additional space. The jewelry store was located at street level with workrooms above.
This one building, more than any other, crystallized efforts to preserve the Main Street/Market Square Historic District. In 1974, Harris County planned on demolishing the building for the erection of a nine-story County Administration Building. Community opposition forced the county to modify the plan. The Administration Building was still erected (it’s right across the courtyard), but the Sweeney, Coombs and Fredericks Building was preserved.
Main Street/Market Square Historic District
Next:
Scanlan Building
| Previous:
First National Bank
Source:
Texas Historical Commission, "Sweeney, Coombs & Fredericks Building," available at Texas Historical Atlas