{"nrhp_refnum":"84001831","name":"Wilkins House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1541 Ashland St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Houston","county":"Harris County","state":"TX","lat":29.79944037200005,"lon":-95.40364799399998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-05-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A square, two-story frame house at 1541 Ashland in Houston Heights, Houston, Harris County, Texas, built about 1893-94 by carpenter Silas D. Wilkins.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it possibly the oldest existing residence in Houston Heights. It was built by a carpenter for the Omaha and South Texas Land Co. on the first lots sold by Carter in the new town. Wilkins later became the second postmaster of the Heights in 1897, and his wife was active in neighborhood ladies' clubs. The area of significance is given as community planning at the local level.","narrative":"Built around 1893-94 at 1541 Ashland in Houston Heights, this square, two-story frame house may be the oldest surviving residence in the neighborhood. Its builder, Silas D. Wilkins, was a carpenter working for the Omaha and South Texas Land Co., and he put the house on one of the first lots sold by Carter in the new town. Wilkins later became the Heights' second postmaster, in 1897, and his wife took part in the ladies' clubs of the neighborhood. The house has a hipped roof, clapboard walls, a composition roof, and an attached double gallery. The upper gallery has square wooden posts and a solid flat balustrade, while the ground-floor porch rests on four heavy brick piers, probably replaced in the early 1920s on the earlier spacing. Two front doors with transoms, one-over-one windows and an interior brick chimney complete the design. It remains a residence on its original site, and it was recognized for its role in the early community planning of Houston Heights.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Silas D. Wilkins","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition is described as fair; the house is still used as a residence. Alterations include changed doors and lower porch piers probably dating from the early 1920s.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.207439-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/24/9692/40969224/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/84001831.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84001831/c59cdb21b1-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84001831/c59cdb21b1-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Ed Uthman, Houston, Texas, USA","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1541_Ashland_(HDR).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:1541_Ashland_(HDR).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40969224","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110000979"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/harris-county/wilkins-house-84001831/"}