It's Not Like She Didn't Warn Us

HOUSTON – (Commentary by Ralph Bivins, Founding Editor, Realty News Report) – Demolition machinery finished off Houston’s Kirby Mansion last week.

Beloved by many, the 36-room Tudor Revival Mansion, 2000 Smith Street near the Pierce Elevated, was owned for many years by lumber magnate John Henry Kirby.

Onlookers stood nearby as excavator’s claw began chewing away at the mansion that was first completed in 1894 and substantially expanded in 1928.

And the familiar refrain echoed from City Hall: “There’s nothing we can do.”

The mansion’s new owner, OB Texas Properties LLC, was intent on building a gas station and a convenience store on the property, 2000 Smith Street, preservationists said.

So, Houstonians heard it again: “There’s nothing we can do.”

The mansion’s destruction did not come as a surprise.

In an interview published in Realty News Report on Sept. 6, 2018, noted preservationist Minnette Boesel was concerned about a 36-room Tudor Revival mansion of the southern edge of Downtown Houston near the Pierce Elevated.

“A building in danger is the Kirby Mansion at 2000 Smith Street; one of Houston’s last historic “castle-like” homes,” Boesel said in 2018. “The building was actually built in the late 19th century and remodeled in the 1920s. The nearly 18,000-SF building was constructed for John Henry Kirby, a lumberman and entrepreneur from East Texas who was Houston’s first 20th century tycoon.”

Unfortunately, some 2,979 days after Realty News Report published Boesel’s warning, the Kirby Mansion was destroyed.

The preservationists tried to save it. A rally and a candlelight vigil was held outside the mansion the day before the bulldozer completed its task.

Protesters carried signs. Media asked questions. The great-grandsons of Mr. Kirby posed for pictures with unsmiling faces. Minnette Boesel was there with a framed photo of John Henry Kirby. (Yes, our Kirby Drive was named after Mr. Kirby.)

Houston, why did Boesel’s warning go unheeded? With 2,979 days to do something after her warning, it seems like there was plenty of time to save the Kirby Mansion.

Houston's historic Kirby Mansion, 2000 Smith Street, was demolished on Nov. 2, 2026. Photo: Courtesy Preservation Houston — The century-old Kirby Mansion on the edge of Houston’s downtown was demolished Nov. 2, 2026. Photo courtesy Preservation Houston.

Other cities protect their historic properties.

I can’t imagine that anyone could purchase a 200-year-old building on Bourbon Street in the New Orleans’ French Quarter and tear it down for a new McDonald’s or something. That’s because New Orleans, like many cities, protects its historic properties.

Houston has inadequate protection for our historic buildings. Something needs to change. We’re tired of seeing our history erased.

“Losing a building like this means losing history, craftsmanship and a sense of place,” said Jim Parsons of Preservation Houston. “Giving all that up for another gas station does not seem like a step toward building the kind of city that endures.”

Feature Boesel image: By Ken Fountain.

Mansion photo: Courtesy Preservation Houston

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