Howard L. Bass Home
Rio Grande City, Starr County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Built 1877 of lumber from sunken steamboat; mesquite block flooring; handmade brick. Home and business house of John Peter Kelsey, Starr County judge; large landowner who came from New York in 1848. Acquired by L. R. Brooks 1937; and by Howard L. Bass in 1954.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Built in 1877 from lumber salvaged off a sunken steamboat, with mesquite-block floors and handmade brick, this Rio Grande City house was the home and business of John Peter Kelsey, a New Yorker who came to the border in 1848 to become a Starr County judge and major landowner. Its very timbers speak to the steamboat commerce that once moved goods up the Rio Grande. Later owners carried the property into the twentieth century, and it took the name of Howard L. Bass, who acquired it in 1954.
Why it matters
The house is a tangible relic of the Rio Grande steamboat trade and the enterprising newcomers who built the border economy after the Mexican-American War.
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Related people
- · John Peter Kelsey
- · Howard L. Bass
Themes & tags
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