Kellum-Noble House

One of Houston's earliest residences, the Kellum-Noble House, stands on the original site of Nathaniel Kellum's 20-acre estate. Born in Virginia, Nathaniel Kellum came to Houston in the 1840s and began several business enterprises. Hera operated a brick kiln and yard, a sawmill, a lime plant, a leather tannery, a harness, boot, and shoe factory, and an iron foundry. Many of Houston's first brick rental and business buildings were constructed by Kellum. Following Kellum's marriage to Elmyra Cotton on January 23, 1843, he began plans to buy the land he had been leasing on Buffalo Bayou for his brick making, tannery, etc., plus some additional adjoining property, where he later built his home. Between March 20, 1847, and February 7, 1848, Kellum began construction on a two-story brick Greek Revival house, contracting with Francis McHugh for laying the bricks, baked in Kellum's kiln.

In 1850, Kellum bought some land with a natural spring in Grimes County, Texas, where he established a health resort, known as Kellum Springs. Upon leaving Houston, he sold the property in May 1850, to B.A. Shepherd, Houston's first banker, lived in the Kellum house briefly. In 1851 the property was purchased by Abram W. Noble. A widower with five children, Noble had married Mrs. Zerviah Metcalf Robinson Kelley, a widow with one daughter, in 1849. Following a divorce from Mr. Noble in 1865, Zerviah Kelley Noble retained ownership of the house and property. The Kellum-Noble home remained in her family until it was sold to the city of Houston on June 23, 1899, for a park. Zerviah Metcalf Robin- son was born in Connecticut and, unlike most young women of her day, was given the privilege of an education. In 1833 she married George S. Kelley and in 1834 their daughter, Catherine A. Kelley, was born. Between 1840-42 the Kelleys moved first to Richmond, Texas, and shortly afterward to Houston, where Mr. Kelley operated a general store in Houston's main commercial district until his death in 1846. When she and her new husband moved into the old Kellum home in 1851, Mrs. Noble advertised the opening of a school to teach languages, music, painting, and various other subjects. Her daughter Catherine Kelley assisted in conducting the school. The back ell of the house added c. 1857, housed her classroom. Mrs. Noble and her daughter, Catherine, were later instrumental in the establishment of public schools in Houston.

Catherine Kelley married Alexander Szabo in 1860 and their daughter, Eloise, was born in 1862. Four years later, Catherine Kelley Szabo died, leaving her young daughter to be raised and educated by Mrs. Noble. In the tradition of her family, Eloise made a contribution to public education in Houston and became one of Houston's first women principals in the public school system. After her marriage in 1890 to Otto Mcclellen Witte, Eloise, and her husband continued to live with Mrs. Noble. Eloise then inherited the house in 1894 when her grandmother died. In 1899 the Wittes sold the house and remaining acres to the city for its first public park, named in honor of Sam Houston.

For some 50 years, the old Kellum-Noble home served as a park office for the Houston Park Department and even housed the city's first zoo. The various outbuildings were used for the storage of park equipment but were ultimately demolished. Following a severe fire in the early 1950s, the city decided to demolish the abandoned Kellum-Noble home. To save the house from destruction a group of citizens organized the Harris County Heritage Society raised funds, and bought and restored the house. The house presently serves as a house museum and on the second floor of the back ell, where Mrs. Noble once conducted her classes, there is a "tough museum" for children. In addition, the Heritage Society uses the Kellum-Noble House for various social events.

The city eventually dedicated the remaining grounds of the historic Sam Houston Park as a site for other endangered homes restored by the Heritage Society to represent the various architectural styles of Houston's nineteenth-century homes. The Kellum-Noble house, still standing on its original site, is an important architectural and historic landmark for the city. The efforts to save this house created the need to establish the Harris County Heritage Society, the group active in encouraging historic preservation in Houston. Thus, the Kellum-Noble House also represents the initial awareness by Houstonians of their nineteenth-century heritage and their attempts to preserve it.