Allen Ranch
Pasadena, Harris County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This busy commercial area was once part of the Allen Ranch, one of the oldest and largest ranches in southeast Texas. A portion of the land was granted to Morris Callahan in 1824 by Mexico and inherited by his niece Rebecca Jane Thomas (d. 1919), who married Samuel William Allen (1826-1888) in 1844. Allen bought additional land, including a 1300-acre tract belonging to his friend Governor Francis R. Lubbock, and began operation of a prosperous cattle ranch. He helped organize the firm of Allen & Poole to ship cattle to eastern and foreign markets. Samuel Ezekiel Allen (1848-1913) took over operation of the ranch from his father in 1881. He and his wife Rosa Lum (d. 1931) built a large home near the junction of Buffalo Bayou and Sims Bayou (1 mi. N). Allen was a leading Houston businessman as well as a cattleman. At the time he died, Allen's property included 13,000 acres in Harris County and 10,000 acres in Brazoria County. In 1917, Rosa Allen sold 700 acres to the Sinclair Oil Company (now Atlantic Richfield Corporation) as a refinery site. The remaining land was later divided for industrial, commercial, and residential use. The ranch house was moved to Galveston Bay, where it became Camp Allen of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. (1976)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This busy commercial district was once the Allen Ranch, among the oldest and largest in southeast Texas, rooted in an 1824 Mexican land grant to Morris Callahan. Samuel William Allen and later his son Samuel Ezekiel Allen built it into a prosperous cattle operation of some 23,000 acres, shipping stock to eastern and foreign markets. In 1917 Rosa Allen sold 700 acres to Sinclair Oil for a refinery, and the ranch house was eventually moved to Galveston Bay to become an Episcopal camp.
Why it matters
The ranch charts the arc of Texas land from Mexican grant to cattle empire to oil refinery, mirroring the state's transformation from frontier to industrial powerhouse.
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Related people
- · Samuel William Allen
- · Samuel Ezekiel Allen
- · Francis R. Lubbock
Themes & tags
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