Marker Details

Gulf Building

700 block between Main and Travis, at Rusk

Houston , 77002

Notes:

Not in HCHC database, added per THC Locations list # 89816 sent by Will Howard, entry on 1-6-2008; Building also displays 1936 DRT plaque (1, Main & Rusk) for Charlotte Allen's home (not original) ; National Register of Historic Places Plaques (2) and a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark plaque (1, Travis side only)

Directions: Gulf Building, two markers are in place on building, one on SE corner, Main at Rusk, and another near the entrance on the west side, Travis Street

Key Time Period: 1920 - 1940 Post-WW I & Depression

Corretions/New Research:

Marker Text: Prominent real estate developer, publisher, statesman and banker Jesse H. Jones opened the Gulf Building in 1929 with Gulf Oil, National Bank of Commerce, and Sakowitz Brothers as primary tenants. Alfred C. Finn designed the 430foot high Art Deco edifice with a six-story base topped by a tall tower that diminishes in size as it rises. The 37-floor, steel-frame structure remained Houston’s tallest skyscraper for 34 years. In 1986, the building, then owned by a successor bank, underwent a $50 million restoration. It was renamed the JPMorgan Chase Building in 2000 and continues to be a monument to the city’s growth, modernity and financial prosperity.

Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2007

Marker is property of the State of Texas

Marker Type: Marker with Post

Historical Org: Texas Historical Commission (THC)

Key Map Information: 493 L

GPS Coordinates: 29 45.545, 95 21.835

Precinct No: 1

Marker No: 14042