Allen's Landing Architecture Walk

Please note that advance ticket purchase is required for this tour.

Allen's Landing is sometimes called "Houston's Plymouth Rock," and with good reason: It is the spot where the city's founders, Augustus and John Kirby Allen, are said to have set foot on the land that would become Houston. Allen's Landing became the original site of the Port of Houston in 1840 and for many years was the center of trade in the city. The site fell into decline through the 20th century, but is now finding new life as a link in the system of parks being developed along Buffalo Bayou's banks.

Our 90-minute, docent-guided walking tour of the neighborhood tells the story of Allen's Landing and looks at historic buildings nearby, including turn-of-the-century warehouses, a former neighborhood saloon with a checkered past and the restored Willow Street Pump Station, the centerpiece of Houston's first sewer system. We'll also get a unique perspective on Allen's Landing as we walk across the historic Main Street Viaduct, one of the city's major public works projects of the 1910s.

This is an exterior architecture tour only. The tour will not go inside any buildings. There are no public restrooms along the tour route.

Photo: Allen's Landing in c. 1913 postcard / PH file

About the tour

Advance ticket purchase is required for the tour; tickets are offered on a first-come, first-served basis. We will not be able to accommodate walk-ups on the day of the tour. There are no refunds for tour tickets.

Registrants will receive parking and check-in information via e-mail.

In the event of inclement weather that prevents the tour from being offered as planned, we will notify registrants as far in advance as possible about their options to attend a rescheduled tour or transfer their reservations to another Preservation Houston tour.

Do you have an Architecture Walks pass?

If you have joined Preservation Houston and received a pass for a free Architecture Walk, you may redeem the pass for admission to this tour. E-mail tours@preservationhouston.org and we'll be happy to help.

Passes are redeemable subject to ticket availability.