Waddell's House Furnishing Company Warehouse
Houston, Harris County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Irish immigrant Hugh Waddell (1842-1915) arrived in Houston in 1873 and by 1882 he established his own downtown retail business selling furniture, carpets, window dressings, refrigerators, and other goods. The business grew to contain multiple buildings, including a four-story warehouse on Sampson Street. Built in 1912 by the Dallas-based architectural firm C.D. Hill & Company, this rectangular plan, load-bearing, industrial-style masonry building with its flat roof behind a stepped parapet was intended to be the largest warehouse in Houston. Waddell's House Furnishing Company closed its doors in 1988 after more than a century in business. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2018
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Irish immigrant Hugh Waddell arrived in Houston in 1873 and by 1882 had built his own downtown retail business selling furniture, carpets, and household goods. His enterprise grew to fill multiple buildings, including this four-story masonry warehouse erected in 1912 and intended to be the largest in the city. Waddell's House Furnishing Company endured for more than a century before closing in 1988.
Why it matters
The warehouse stands for the immigrant merchant's rise in a booming Gulf Coast city, and for the commercial architecture that powered Houston's early-20th-century growth.
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Related people
- · Hugh Waddell
Themes & tags
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