{"nrhp_refnum":"79002963","name":"Kennedy Bakery","other_names":["La Carafe"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"813 Congress St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Houston","county":"Harris County","state":"TX","lat":29.763074489000076,"lon":-95.36173224499998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-07-27","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A narrow, two-story brick commercial building at 813 Congress Street in downtown Houston, Texas, across from Market Square, built around 1860 for baker and merchant John Kennedy. It now houses a pub and restaurant known as La Carafe.","why_significant":"The nomination holds that it is generally acknowledged as the oldest structure in Houston still on its original site. It is also tied to John Kennedy, a respected pioneer baker and merchant who supported Houston's first Catholic church. It is described as a fine example of 19th-century commercial architecture with elaborate brick detailing at the cornice.","narrative":"Standing at 813 Congress Street across from Houston's original commercial district at Market Square, this narrow two-story brick building dates to about 1860 and is regarded as the oldest structure in Houston still on its original site. It was built for John Kennedy, an Irish-born baker who arrived in Houston in 1842 and became a prominent merchant. A fire in August 1860 destroyed his holdings, and the present building is believed to be part of his reconstruction. Legends say it served as a trading post, stage stop and slave market, but research indicates it housed his bakery. Its load-bearing brick facade has corbelled parapet detailing, wooden pilasters at the door and segmental arches above the upper windows. Later it held drug stores until 1932, then various businesses, and it stayed in the Kennedy family until 1970. Wrought iron grillwork added in the 1960s is removable. The building now operates as a pub.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":"Simple mid-19th century vernacular commercial building","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition is listed as good. The building is in use as a pub and restaurant, La Carafe, and was reinforced in the 1960s.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:18.969033-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/62/9724/40972462/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/79002963.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79002963/79b9f82e0d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79002963/79b9f82e0d-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Ed Uthman, Houston, Texas, USA","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kennedy_Bakery.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Ed Uthman, Houston, Texas, USA</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kennedy_Bakery.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"83004471","name":"Main Street/Market Square Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/texas/main-street-market-square-historic-district-83004471/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40972462","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennedy_Bakery","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19881202"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/harris-county/kennedy-bakery-79002963/"}