Steele House
a.k.a. Steele-van Wagner House
217 Brewer St., Navasota, TXThe A. G. Steele House is a well-preserved example of Eastlake-inspired late Victorian architecture built by a prominent Grimes County cotton farmer, A. G. Steele, in Navasota in 1896, and occupied continuously by his family until 1972. The house was designed and built by J. E. Watkins just across the street from the equally grand home of the brother A. G. Steele farmed with, Steele Steele. Joesvall to 10 e Grimes County was primarily a cotton farming area in the 1890s. Navasota, the largest town in the county, was the location of the H. Schumacher Oil Works. This was thought to be a factor in Mr. Steele's decision to build his home there.
A. G. Steele (born 1853-died August 30, 1900) and his brother were cotton farmers at Allen Farm, located on the Navasota River bottomland north of town. They used prison labor to work the fields. During the violent flood of 1900, A. G. Steele went to the farm to rescue his prison workers. Shortly thereafter he caught pneumonia and died.
After her husband's death, Mrs. Steele was left with five children to support: Eleanor, age 16; Kate, age 14; Isabel, age 12; Sam, age 8; and Ruth, age 5. She took in roomers and boarders to support her family, and was said to "set a beautiful table". Three of her daughters were married in the house.
Mrs. Steele lived in the house until her death in 1944. Her daughter, Kate, Kate's husband, Kenneth Bowen, Sam Steele, and his wife, Lillian Watkins, all lived in the house together and helped care for Mrs. Steele. Mr. and Mrs. Sam Steele occupied two of the rooms upstairs until his death in 1938. Kate and Kenneth Bowen remained in the house after Mrs. Steele's death. Kenneth Bowen died in 1955. After his death, Kate Steele Bowen and her housekeeper, Mrs. Mary Lee Wilson, occupied the house until Mrs. Bowen's death in 1970 at the age of 81. The house and property were willed to Kenneth Bowen, Jr. He sold it in November 1972, to Syd and Margaret van Wagner. Mr. and Mrs. van Wagner and their sons are living in the house while restoring it.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.