National Register Listing

Morgan's Point Historic District

a.k.a. Bayridge;See also:Sterling, Ross, S., House

89--835 Bayridge Rd. and 300--322 Vinsonia, Morgan's Point, TX

Prominently sited along a ridge above Galveston Bay, the Morgan's Point Historic District is one of Texas' most significant historic seaside residential developments and has been a visual landmark since its earliest days. The District encompasses excellent examples of residential architectural styles popular from 1890 to 1940 with a number designed by prominent Houston architects. The plan (c.1890) is unique among seaside residential communities in Texas as all houses face the bay front rather than running perpendicular or placing rear elevations to the bay. Accordingly, it meets National Register Criterion C in the areas of Architecture and Community Planning and Development at a local level. Morgan's Point has an unusual history in Texas, and in its heyday in the 1920s was the summer home of some of Houston's most prominent citizens. The Morgan's Point Historic District retains its architectural integrity.

The Morgan's Point community is unusual in Texas as the third settlement to occupy the same approximate location. The land was patented in 1822 in a grant from the Republic of Mexico to Johnson Hunter, and five years later was sold to Nicholas Clopper. In 1838, 1600 acres of the land on the peninsula at the confluence the San Jacinto River and Galveston Bay was sold to Colonel James Morgan (1786-1866), who established Orange Grove plantation and the New Washington settlement; his name is better known to posterity as the owner of a mulatto slave, Emily Morgan, believed by many to be the Yellow Rose of Texas. Miss Morgan is credited with distracting Mexican General Santa Anna at the outbreak of the nearby Battle of San Jacinto in 1836. The town of New Washington was burned by retreating Mexican forces. The peninsula largely reverted to agricultural use, although a later Morgan's Point settlement, named after Colonel James Morgan, blew away in the 1875 hurricane.

The peninsula was subsequently acquired by Captain Charles Morgan (1795-1878), (no relation to Colonel James Morgan), founder of the Morgan Lines, one of the major shipping lines of the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast. It was this Captain Charles Morgan who in the 1870s constructed at his own expense the first deepwater shipping channel on Buffalo Bayou connecting Houston and Galveston Bay. Improvements included bisecting the Morgan's Point peninsula with a canal. After tolls were collected, a large metal chain across the canal was lowered, permitting passage. Morgan's heirs sold both the canal and land after his death.

The present Morgan's Point community had its origins in the early 1890s. In spite of its strategic location, it was not destined to be an industrial city but rather a resort. In 1890 the city of Houston had a population of 27,000 and it was emerging as one of the major cities of the Southwest. It was a wealthy city, with High Victorian mansions lining Main Street. But even rich Houstonians were not spared the oppressive heat and humidity that characterize the locale.

Some families already sought refuge along the coast. Even at that time, Galveston was a favorite retreat for Houstonians and was linked to Houston with good rail service. Other families chose closer locales. Mrs. Roland Ring, Sr. described the beginnings of Bay Ridge:

"We spent several summers at Morgan's Point and enjoyed the cool air and saltwater bathing. We boarded with Mrs. Vinson, who lived along the bluff at Bay Ridge. We used to take long, exploring walks along the beach. There was no habitation between Vinson's house and Dr. Beasley's house in what is now LaPorte. There was sort of a wagon road along the beach, but no other road, and no way of getting to Houston except by boat. There were rumors that a good wagon road was to be built to Webster and that some Northern Syndicate was going to exploit LaPorte and plant orange groves. Mrs. Roland Ring, Notes.

The Rings explored the area and were particularly taken with an oak-covered bluff halfway between the channel and the newly founded LaPorte. The owner would only sell a 40-acre tract at a cost of $4000, and so, in 1890, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Franklin Ring held a meeting with eleven compatible families at their home at 1510 Crawford in Houston to discuss the creation of a summer settlement. The group was composed of well-to-do Houstonians with various professions including an attorney, the president of a savings and real estate investment company, the president of Stewart Abstract and Title Company, an officer of Bering-Cortes Hardware Company, and a general contractor.

The relatively high elevation of the Morgan's Point property made it less vulnerable to the hurricanes which devastated low-lying areas on the Gulf. It was arguably, however, the Galveston Bay breezes and bayfront that made Morgan's Point, especially appealing to Houstonians. The recreational potential of swimming, fishing and boating at the site further enhanced its allure. Accordingly, in 1890, the twelve prominent Houston families formed the Bay Ridge Park Association, which then acquired the 40-acre portion of the Johnson Hunter League favored by the Rings (Note: the association's name, Bay Ridge, was two words, while the present day road is one, Bayridge). (see Early Survey Map - Morgans Point ca. 1900) The Association sought to construct a resort community for like-minded Houstonians to live in the summer; it was formally incorporated and each member became a shareholder. It has been stated in various sources that the Bay Ridge Park Association was the first property owners' association in Texas, but queries and research have yielded no information on the development of similar groups.

The first summer was spent living in tents while a barn, lodge which included a dining room, pier and bathhouse were built. An artesian well was bored that same summer and a good supply of water was acquired. Men were employed to fill up gullies and terrace the bluff. Bermuda grass was planted on the slopes. A man and his wife were employed to care for the grounds and to serve meals for the Park Association owners. A cow owned by the Association furnished milk and butter and the bay furnished crabs and fish. Ice and food came down to Morgan's Point by boat.

Developers in Texas in the late 19th century evidently did not bring in trained planners, as we know them, until the new century when Julius Pitzmann was brought from St. Louis for the Westmoreland subdivision in Houston and Wilbur David Cook of Los Angeles for Dallas' Highland Park. Most likely, surveyors and owners drew site plans. Cities and developments tended to be on flat, unobstructed sites where a grid pattern development could be superimposed without difficulty. The Bay Ridge Park community site was initially more an association of friends than a formal development, and comfort and convenience were greater priorities than the profit motive. In planning this unusual community, there were special problems and sometimes innovative design solutions:

-The memory of the devastating 1886 hurricane that leveled the city of Indianola was still strong, and much of the Houston/Galveston area was low-lying. This was solved by choosing one of the highest points on Galveston Bay as a site for the settlement.

-Each family wanted the beachfront property, but the overall property was nearly square. This was solved by platting the land into relatively long, narrow strips, allowing each family beach frontage, noting that these closely platted lots produced for very physically close neighbors, which didn't seem to be a major concern. This technique had been used earlier in the creation of similarly configured plantations along the Mississippi River, each with its own river frontage. Lots at Bay Ridge Park Association were chosen by ballots, which again reflected how this was an association of friends.

- These isolated houses required support facilities - staff quarters, barns, small pastures, vegetable gardens, etc. which were normally sited to the rear of the principal residence. Obscuring either the bay front or the road was not desirable, so the properties were bisected by the road, allowing the property on the bay side for the primary residence and on the inland side of the road for support facilities. Both tracts were generally conveyed together until World War II. The road has to this day maintained the feeling of a country lane, still being only two lanes wide with drainage ditches to the sides. It also could be viewed as more a service-type road since the street-side elevations of the residences have always in essence been the rear of the house and of secondary importance in the design of the houses.

- Initially, the area was accessible only by water and horse trails. By 1897, however, the LaPorte & Houston (after 1899 the Galveston, Houston & Northern) Railroad (eventually absorbed by the Southern Pacific) with a Morgan's Point spur line linked the community with Houston (see Early Railroad Map - Trinity Bay (ca. 1903) and Early Plat for Bay Ridge Park Addition ca. 1900). This stop at Morgan's Point was accessed by a platform at the rear of the Bay Ridge Park Association subdivision. It was followed shortly afterward with a graded shell road from LaPorte. The Spencer Highway of the 1920s provided the most enduring transportation connection with Houston, until it was superseded by Hwy. 225.

- Located in an unincorporated, rural area and at a time before zoning was an option, owners needed protection from intrusions, which characterized central Houston neighborhoods at that time. The creation of the Bay Ridge Park Association set forth land use requirements, providing a degree of protection and ensuring that the single-family use would predominate.

The Bay Ridge Park Association platted the area facing Galveston Bay into long, relatively narrow lots with smaller, service areas on long narrow tracts of land across present-day Bayridge Road. These were originally used as pasture land for milk cows, chickens, and small gardens. Lot 6 of the Bay Ridge Park Association, where now is located at 731 Bayridge Road, had a club/dining hall and an octagonal gazebo as well as an Association pier extending out from this location. This tract was reserved as a private park until 1927 at which time the Bay Ridge Park Corporation sold and conveyed the land to a new owner. All rights of easement and passage to the pier were kept by the Corporation.

The first generation of houses were modest 1- and 2-story, frame dwellings with large, wrap-around verandas designed to catch the prevailing breezes. Most featured modest Eastlake and Queen Anne style detailing, and large roofs broken by gables or dormers. A few, such as the Kennedy and Gribble-Hofheinz Houses were more ornate; the Kennedy House originally featured eye-opening, polychromed tower roofs, while the Gribble House, noted as a "delightful Victorian cottage" by architectural historian Stephen Fox, retains its ornate, wrap-around verandas. The first houses did not have their own kitchens, for residents ate in a communal dining area, as mentioned earlier. The houses were oriented with their primary facades facing Galveston Bay, rather than the road, and that traditional reversal of public and private spaces has continued with later houses. While by no means unique to Morgan's Point, this phenomenon is a character-defining feature of the community.

In a 1983 article, Rice University architecture professor Gordon Wittenberg referred to the early Morgan's Point houses as "the best remaining examples of the Texas bay house" Texas Homes, July 1983 p.138), and noted characteristics of that category as being one-room deep to allow maximum cross-ventilation during the hot summer months, all rooms opening onto large, wrap-around verandas; rear kitchens and baths constructed later, exterior walls constructed of cypress clapboard usually painted, fitted with storm shutters, and an overall orientation toward the bay views and breezes. Neither wallpaper nor plaster was used on the interiors of the houses because of the heat and humidity so the houses were finished with pine beaded board paneling as well as board and batten paneling and were unpainted and very dark which helped provide a welcome retreat from the glaring summer sun. Examples approximating Wittenberg's description include houses at 91, 119, 427, 603, 811, 815 and 819 Bayridge Road. The unpainted wood interiors are still found at 91 and 835 Bayridge. Other similar houses are scattered elsewhere along the Texas coast, but few if any comparable concentrations have been documented.

The Bay Ridge Association addition was the first platted on the beachfront, but because of its success, several others followed immediately. These included the Lowrance (post-1895), the C.G. Woodbridge (ca. 1896), the Grandview (1896), the Edwards (1st plat missing, 2nd 1907) and the Vinson (refiled 1904) additions; all followed the same basic formula of the very long, narrow sites bisected by Bayridge Road (formerly Grandview Avenue) (see subdivision map). The most elaborate plat maps demonstrate that a full city was anticipated at the site, and a grid pattern of lots, blocks and named streets were depicted (see proposed plat map), although much of it remained pastureland owned by Gov. and Mrs. Sterling and later Boys Harbor. Of note is the fact that, while the inland lots of later subdivisions were not platted in the same manner as the original Bay Ridge Association tract, they appear to be used precisely the same way, with long narrow properties on both sides of the still-quiet lane. As earlier, large homes were on the bay side and service buildings inland, but after the turn of the century keeping livestock was discouraged and rear lots became shallower as evidenced in the subdivision map showing the later subdivisions with much smaller areas on the north side of Bayridge Road. Evidently, none had a property owners' association similar to that of Bay Ridge Park, but they did have similar deed restrictions similar to Bay Ridge Park (discussed later) to preserve the single-family character of the community.

Some of Texas' best-known, early 20th-century architects designed Morgan's Point houses. These include Sanguinet & Staats, who designed the 1911 Filson House; Alfred Finn, who extended the Filson House in 1927 and designed the monumental Ross Sterling Mansion and the A.W. Thompson House (1935; 807 B.R.) in Morgan's Point as well as the nearby San Jacinto Monument (National Historic Landmark) and the Gulf Building (National Register 1983) in Houston; John Staub, architect of Bayou Bend (National Register 1979) and numerous River Oaks houses in Houston, designed the Bullock House; and builder/architect Russell Brown, who designed the Kuldell House (703 B.R.) as well as the Sterling-Barry House (National Register 1983) in Houston. Joseph Finger, architect of National Register properties such as Temple Beth-El Synagogue (National Register 1984), the Citizens National Bank (National Register 1983) and the Houston City Hall (National Register 1991), built a handsome Mediterranean Revival villa for Wade and Mamie Irvin. Birdsall Briscoe, architect of the Clayton Summer House (National Register 1984) in River Oaks and houses in the Courtlandt Place Historic District (National Register 1980), designed a Colonial Revival house for the timber dynasty family, C. L. Carter in 1919.

The grandest house unquestionably was the monumental Ross Sterling Mansion. It is well-known for its similarity to the White House, but Howard Barnstone notes a closer precedent as Charles Adams Platt's Gwinn (Mather Estate) in Cleveland, Ohio. Other early 20th-century, architect-designed houses were generally not pretentious houses, but reflect the different talents of their architects. Barnstone noted that Staub used the shingled houses of Long Island for his inspiration for the Bullock house. The Mediterranean Revival style was rarely employed by Joseph Finger, but his Irvin villa is a handsome, well-detailed house that responds well to its setting and reflected the vogue for Spanish style architecture in Florida and California resorts in the 1920s, that Finger no doubt would have been aware of. Colonial Revival dwellings such as the Carter and Thompson Houses are relatively conventional, but their network of porches bespeak their coastal locale. Likely the Prairie School-inspired Filson and Mitchell Houses and the Kuldell House were considered progressive designs when built.

There are few if any direct parallels to Morgan's Point in Texas in architecture, planning or social history. There were numerous other coastal communities in Texas. There were full-fledged cities, such as Port Arthur, Galveston, Freeport and Corpus Christi, but they were large-scale, occupied year around, and catered to all economic groups. Other coastal towns such as Port Isabel, Port Aransas, Rockport and Palacios had large populations of summer residents with beachfront cottages. But these were later, much more modest and less cohesive than Morgan's Point and generally developed in a somewhat haphazard manner. On Galveston Bay were isolated fine houses, such as Deepdene (Casa Mare) north of Seabrook, but few if any were part of successful, planned, early developments. Sylvan Beach at nearby LaPorte was perhaps the major tourist resort on Galveston Bay, but its hotels, amusement parks, dance pavilions and modest cottages gave it at times more of a Coney Island, New York, than Newport, Rhode Island, ambience.

The Newport analogy, though often repeated over the decades, is one which must be taken with a grain of salt, for the size of Morgan's Point was diminutive and modest in comparison with the Rhode Island resort. Closer parallels might be found with The Hamptons on Long Island, where turn-of-the-century, waterfront estates and frame beach cottages remain within commuting distance of New York City. Another analogous community suggested by Nancy Volkman of Texas A.&M. University is Jekyll Island, where Horace W.S. Cleveland was commissioned to lay out the grounds which were on an island off Georgia's Atlantic coastline. His design incorporated both club grounds and building plots for members. That development was incorporated in 1886, eight years before the Bay Ridge Park Association was formed. Jekyll Island, like Bay Ridge Park, was a seasonal event, Jekyll Islanders escaping the cold of the Northeast and Bay Ridgers escaping the heat of Houston's pre-air-conditioned summers. Both catered to an elite clientele who built extravagant homes, although Morgan's Point was more modest on both counts.

Voter registration rolls from the 1930s indicate that very few of the summer residents considered Morgan's Point as their primary residence (an exception was Gov. Ross Sterling), and residents who commuted between Morgan's Point and Houston year around were rare until after World War II; accordingly it is not a suburb by the usual definition. The 1920s Revival architecture as noted relates somewhat to the American Country House Movement of that time, and the large lot size- typically 80 x 200' on the bay side of the road and as much if not more land opposite - and the largely rural surroundings beyond gave these properties a greater claim as bonafide country houses than contemporaneous residences in Houston's River Oaks or Dallas' Park Cities, which were largely built on ample but not large suburban lots. The absence of commercial establishments also separates it from most other Texas seaside resorts.

The 1920s were perhaps the halcyon days of Morgan's Point and required a new type of bay house, much larger and more elaborate than its cottage-scale predecessors. A number of substantial houses were constructed during that decade, the largest of which was the Ross Sterling Mansion, built on a 200-acre estate with a 60-acre pecan orchard; while that was one of the largest homes in the state at that time, original plans call for additional wings which would have made the rectangular building into a U-plan.

The prestige of Morgan's Point was also perhaps at its apex the Houston's society journal, The Gargoyle, regularly showed socialites and their families frolicking on the beach at Morgan's Point. Carters, Sterlings, McAshans, Sakowitzes and other wealthy and influential citizens enjoyed Morgan's Point. Fishing and crabbing were popular entertainment and many houses had piers extending as far as 500 feet into Galveston Bay and some like what was seen at the Irvings were complete with electricity, piped hot and cold water and gasoline. Weekend house parties were very common, and the railroad spur line to Morgan's Point enabled prosperous Houstonians to commute to their bayside homes during the summer months on a daily basis. It was common for a family to move from Houston to the bay shore in early summer; the husbands commuted into the city for the day and returned each evening.

The 1920s and 1930s Morgan's Point houses can be seen an a notable Texas manifestation of the American Country House movement. Much more visible is prosperous East Coast, Upper Midwest and West Coast suburbs and quasi-rural areas, Americans built architect-designed medium-sized to very large homes in popular eclectic architectural styles of the day. These ideally had ample, carefully landscaped grounds and appropriate outbuildings. In Texas, so-called "Country Houses" were usually built on standard suburban lots, but Morgan's Point houses, with exceptionally large bayside and streetside lawns, views and sloping sites, came much closer to the ideal, where handsome houses had worthy settings. It is interesting to note that, with the exception of the Sterling Mansion, few country houses by the 1920s would have had livestock, other than occasional horses for recreational riding, or crops. other than vegetable gardens. [One Morgan's Point resident, Wade Irvin, did have an elaborate private zoo, but that was an anomaly.]

It was during 1927, that the Bay Ridge Park Corporation was reorganized, and its new operating restrictions were indicative of changes not just in Morgan's Point but Houston and elsewhere as well. Each resident of the Bay Ridge Park Corporation residing in a single family dwelling was entitled to one share of stock which was passed with the sale of the land. Under Section 1 - General Provisions of the Miscellaneous Provisions of the Corporations stock issuing stated the following deed restrictions:

- All lots were to be used for single family residence purposes only;

- Only one single family residence constructed on each lot

-The term "residence purposes" was held and construed to exclude duplex houses and apartment houses and specifically excluded commercial and professional uses

-The word house of residence as it pertained to building lines included galleries, porches, porte-cocheres, steps, projections and every other permanent part of the improvements.

- Garages or out-buildings were not to be used as a residence or living quarters except by servants engaged on the premises.
-No livestock of any kind was allowed to be staked or pastured

- No signs, billboards, posters or advertising devices were allowed to erected without the written consent of the Board

- An easement was granted along the bay-side of the Bay Ridge Park Corporation subdivision extending for a distance from the top of the bluff to the waters edge as well as an alley easement extending from Bayridge Road to the water front on the northeast end of the Bay Ridge Park Subdivision.

The Stock Market Crash and the advent of the Great Depression did not radically change Morgan's Point. Houston continued to grow during the Depression, Ross Sterling's election as Governor of Texas in 1931 kept the area in the public eye, and other substantial houses continued to be constructed in the district, such as the A.W. Thompson House built in 1935 and the Monterey style house at 414 Bayridge, built by 1939.

Rather, other factors appear to have altered life at Morgan's Point, particularly in the 1940s. First, residential air conditioning made life in the city more bearable in the summer. Also, bas automobiles and airplanes replaced trains (the spur line to Morgan's Point was discontinued in 1932), summer resorts in other parts of the country became more accessible. Also, nearby cities Pasadena, Baytown and LaPorte became more industrialized, encouraged by their proximity to the Houston Ship Channel. In 1946 Ross and Maude Sterling gave their estate to the Optimists Club for Boy's Harbor, thus removing the community's renown resident and residence. [Three years later, colorful Houston Judge Roy Hofheinz acquired the Risdon and Adelaide Gribble House (811 B.R.), which he redesigned the interiors with spirited circus and other theme motifs and renamed Huckster House.]

The 1950s and 1960s saw major changes to the peninsula. The City of Morgan's Point was incorporated in 1949 to prevent annexation by neighboring LaPorte and zoning was initiated. Many inland service properties were sold.

Garage/staff quarters became single-family dwellings, with garage bays infilled. Hurricanes in 1943, 1967 (Carla) and 1983 (Alicia) and storms over the years did considerable damage to houses in the district; some were faithfully restored and others unsympathetically rebuilt. Finally, in the 1960s, the Houston Port Authority acquired considerable property on the northern part of the Morgan's Point community for the construction of a major port facility. While it was well outside the district, it resulted in the demolition of as much as 50% of the housing stock in the community, and, thirty years later, the threat of further expansion of the ship channel and Port Authority facilities at Barbour's Cut, into the existing district remains. Industrial and other pollution upstream have affected the water quality at Morgan's Point. While the beach and waterfront are still a source of beauty and enjoyment for residents and visitor, fishing and swimming at this time are not encouraged.

In spite of these vicissitudes, the Bayridge Road portion of Morgan's Point has undergone a renaissance in recent decades. A number of historic properties have been acquired and restored by sympathetic buyers, and in a few cases inland property alienated from their bayfront main houses has been reacquired. New construction has occurred regularly in the district. While some new residences are modern in design and others evoke traditional, Revival styles, they too conform to the single family historic use of the district and most preserve the scale, materials, orientation and massing of Contributing members of the district. The majority of the houses have become full time residences, with perhaps a quarter used on a weekend or seasonal basis. The Sterling Mansion, abandoned by Boys Harbor in 1969, has reverted to single family use. [It was for a time owned by a Count de Mallory de Bar.]

There are a variety of historic preservation related activities in the district. Historic sites surveys by Lou Fullen, Ph.D. in 1987 and Peter Flagg Maxson in 1990 have identified many architecturally and historically significant buildings. A homes tour, inclusion of Morgan's Point properties in both scholarly and popular publications have drawn attention to the district. Several houses are also designated Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks.

The district is nominated in the area of Architecture for its distinctive early bay cottages and fine Revival style, 20th century houses, and in Community Planning and Development for the unusual configuration, with bayfront and inland service components. The plan for Morgan's Point is unique among Texas seaside residential developments as the only one where houses were designed to face the bay front. This makes its planning and development a significant aspect of the community.
The area is likely rich in sites of historic and perhaps prehistoric archaeological interest, but to date no serious excavations have been done. It is possible that sites dating from the New Washington era exist. Certainly different layers remain of the post-1890 era, as replacement houses are common in the district.

A number of houses were occupied by persons of great importance. In the political realm, persons such as Gov. Ross Sterling, Mayor Baldwin Rice and Judge Roy Hofheinz had homes in the district; other persons of note include lumber barons C.L. Carter and Risdon Gribble, entrepreneurs Wade & Mamie Irvin, Shamrock Hotel builder Glenn McCarthy et al. However, while many of their homes may be individually eligible, occupations were varied enough historically that few would apply to the district as a whole; furthermore, many district residences were secondary homes and owners' town homes may have had longer and stronger associations.

The Period of Significance extends from 1890 to 1940. The earlier date references the organization of the Bay Ridge Park Association. It is possible the initial construction of buildings in the district predates 1890, but these would be structures built in the area known as the Flats and were moved to the district within the Association's first decade. The 1940 date approximates the construction of the last significant Revival house constructed before World War II. There are at least two houses which arguably are significant for associations beyond 1940. The Gribble-Hofheinz House (811 B.R.), much loved by its longtime owner Judge Roy Hofheinz, has the longest and strongest association with any residence of that politician and entrepreneur. Similarly, the Lee-McCarthy House (715 B.R.), is evidently the surviving property most closely associated with Glenn McCarthy, since his Braeswood mansion and Shamrock Hotel in Houston have both been razed. Neither property is nominated at present for their post-1940 ties however.

Local significance of the district:
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1994.