At the turn of the 20th century, Buffalo Bayou was downtown Houston’s front door — a working waterfront crowded with wharves, warehouses, breweries, factories and produce houses. From the Port of Houston at Allen’s Landing to the commercial blocks that lined the bayou’s banks, this stretch was teeming with activity. The scene today is very different, but traces of that earlier, industrious landscape remain if you know where to look.
This 90-minute, docent-guided walking tour explores Buffalo Bayou’s crucial role in Houston’s development along a route from Allen’s Landing to Market Square, drawing attention to surviving fragments of the old downtown waterfront, including extant portions of the once-massive Houston Ice & Brewing Company complex, sites connected to Houston’s Civil War history, and the area once known as Vinegar Hill — one of the city’s most notorious early neighborhoods.
Things to remember:
This is an exterior architecture tour. It doesn't go inside any buildings.
There are no public restrooms along the tour route.
About the tour
Advance ticket purchase is required. Tickets are offered on a first-come, first-served basis, and walk-up registrations cannot be accommodated. Tour tickets are nonrefundable.
Registrants will receive parking and check-in information by e-mail in advance of the tour.
In the event of inclement weather that prevents the tour from being offered as planned, registrants will be notified as early as possible with options to attend a rescheduled tour or transfer their reservation to another Preservation Houston tour.
Do you have an Architecture Walks pass?
If you are a Preservation Houston member and have received a free Architecture Walks pass, you may redeem it for admission to this tour. E-mail tours@preservationhouston.org and we’ll be happy to assist.
Passes are redeemable subject to ticket availability.