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The Heritage Society has relocated nine of Houston’s oldest buildings to Sam Houston Park, amid the roar of traffic. Among the houses, assembled in the park over a period of many years, are the Yates House (1870), the home of a freed slave who became a prominent black preacher; the Old Place (1823), a log cabin brought in from Clear Creek; the Pillot House (1868), home to the Pillot family for 96 years; and the 1891 St. John’s Church, a favorite subject of photographers, transposing the image of the small, white country church with the towering skyline behind.
If you don’t feel like shelling out the $6 for touring the interiors of four of the houses (although it is well worth it), you can grab a free brochure from the Heritage Society and freely walk around Sam Houston Park, peeking in the windows. This is especially effective at dusk.
The park also features an Armillary Sphere. An Armillary Sphere shows the actual time of day as determined by the sun. Houston’s time, due to its longitudinal position, is 22 minutes past central standard time (the time in New Orleans). An explanatory plaque details how the armillary sphere works.
At the far end of the park is a small, landscaped pond featuring a statue, called The Spirit of the Confederacy donated by the Daughters of the Confederacy in 1906 and dedicated to “all heroes of the South who fought for the principles of states’ rights.” The statue is unique, in that most of Houston’s connection with the South and the Confederacy has been erased in the city’s quest to be perceived more as a ‘Western’ than a ‘Southern’ city. Due to freeway construction and frequent flooding, this statue is all that remains of the original city park, which also included a children’s petting zoo, wading pool and wooden bridges.
There is a somewhat hidden free parking lot off Clay St west of Bagby.
Additional waypoints:
- Parking lot: N29° 45.548 W95° 22.274
- Pond: N29° 45.614 W95° 22.369
- Pillot House: N29° 45.643 W95° 22.315
- San Felipe Cottage: N29° 45.633 W95° 22.307
- Staiti House: N29° 45.620 W95° 22.295
- Yates House: N29° 45.613 W95° 22.269
- The Old Place: N29° 45.569 W95° 22.288
- Nichols-Cherry-Rice House: N29° 45.554 W95° 22.306
- Kellum-Noble House: N29° 45.539 W95° 22.325
- Heritage Society: N29° 45.540 W095° 22.262
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The Spirit of the Confederacy
The original pond.
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