Marker Details

Cooley, Daniel Denton


1802 Heights Blvd

Houston , 77008

Notes:
Property now Marmion Park; note across from the park, southeast corner of 18th and Heights Blvd., is a version of the Cooley home; sponsors names listed on back of marker
Directions: In Marmion Park, marker near sidewalk on east side of Heights Blvd. & 19th

Key Time Period: 1877 - 1892 Post-Reconstruction

Corretions/New Research:

Marker Text: (April 15, 1850 - November 22, 1933)

A native of Binghampton, New York, D. D. Cooley moved to Omaha, Nebraska as a young man. In 1887 he joined the American Loan and Trust Company. The company bought a tract of land northwest of Houston in 1891 and sent Cooley and other representatives to oversee its development the following year.



As general manager of the Omaha and South Texas Land Company, formed by American Loan and Trust in 1892, Cooley had direct input into the design of the Houston Heights community. Known later as the "Father of the Houston Heights," he laid out the main street, Heights Boulevard, and built his home here in 1892-93. He continued to promote real estate in the area after the company was dissolved about 1895.



The first school in the neighborhood was named for Cooley, and he was a member of the school board. After Houston Heights was incorporated in 1896, he was elected an alderman. Cooley was a respected civic and business leader, whose interests included banking, insurance, railroads, real estate, and oil.



Married to Helen Grace Winfield (1860-1916) in 1883, Cooley was the father of three sons. He died n 1933 and is buried in Glenwood Cemetery. The Cooley home was razed in 1965. (1991)
Marker Type: Marker with Post
Historical Org: Texas Historical Commission (THC)

Key Map Information: 453 W

GPS Coordinates: 29 48.115, 95 23.866

Precinct No: 1

Marker No: 10640