The Heritage Society site weathered Hurricane Ike fairly well. There is no major damage to the historic structures but most will require some level of roof repairs. Two structures lost Lexan window covers but no windows were broken. Numerous other minor issues will need to be addressed as well.

Buffalo Bayou overflowed into lower Sam Houston Park but no structures experienced any flood damage.  

Our site, Sam Houston Park in downtown Houston, lost many trees and a number of fences were damaged. Power has been restored to the entire site.

The Museum and Long Row buildings pose our greatest challenges. The storm blew the walkway overhangs off both the buildings. The Museum’s overhang blew off completely and the Long Row’s overhang lost 12 of its 16 support columns. It will be demolished sometime within the next week. There appears to be no structural damage to either building. 

Although there is a lot to repair, we were incredibly fortunate!!! For now, we are closed to the public but we anticipate that we will re-open for tours by Tuesday, September 23.

The Hill/Finger Lecture scheduled for Thursday, September 18 has been canceled.

Today, as we enter the 21^st Century, The Heritage Society at Sam Houston Park continues to be a dynamic and vibrant part of the City of Houston and the great State of Texas. Sam Houston Park remains one of Houston's premier open green spaces.

The Heritage Society
The Heritage Society was founded in 1954 by renowned Houstonians Faith Bybee, Harvin Moore and Marie Phelps in order to save the 1847 Kellum-Noble House from demolition. They had one goal in mind: preserve the hastily disappearing past of this great city for the education of future generations.

The Heritage Society is the city's only outdoor, interactive historic museum and park. Nestled in 19 acres of beautiful green parkland in the heart of downtown Houston, The Heritage Society boasts 8 historic structures dating from 1823 to 1905. Each historic structure is authentically restored to reflect its original magnificence. Each year, The Heritage Society hosts countless school-aged children and visitors from around the world. Folks come from near and far to learn about the families and the lifestyles that inhabited these historic homes - what life was really like in frontier times for early settlers in Houston.  

The mission of the Heritage Society is to preserve the complete history of the community and region through preservation and restoration of historic structures, exhibition of historical artifacts and presentation of education programs which focus on Houston and Harris County's diverse past and its relationship to the present and future.  The Heritage Society was the first museum in Houston to be accredited by the American Association of Museums.