W. L. Foley Building, National Register of Historic Places building in Houston, United States.
The W. L. Foley Building at 214-218 Travis Street is a multi-story commercial structure with evenly spaced windows across its face and fine stonework forming the outer walls. The building displays typical features of American trading houses from that period with orderly rows of openings and surface details.
A fire in 1889 destroyed the original structure, and architect Eugene T. Heiner rebuilt it with its current design. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, recognizing its importance to Houston's downtown heritage.
The building shows how Houston grew as a trading city in the late 1800s, with its placement on Travis Street and sturdy stone and brick facade reflecting how merchants of that era housed their businesses in solid, visible structures. Its design choices demonstrate the confidence commercial owners had in the downtown area at that time.
The building sits in central Houston's historic business district along Travis Street and is easy to reach on foot. The best time to view and photograph the facade is during daylight hours when the stone details of the exterior are clearly visible.
The building survived a second fire in 1989 and was fully restored, returning to its historic appearance. This recovery demonstrates how committed the city has been to preserving these older structures in downtown Houston.
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