Morgan's Point Historic District
Also known as: Bayridge; See also:Sterling, Ross, S., House
Why it's listed
Along a quiet ridge above Galveston Bay, this district of single-family houses and their outbuildings grew between about 1890 and 1940, beginning with summer homes of the Bay Ridge Park Association. Most are frame buildings with long porches, built to face the water and catch the prevailing southeast breezes. Styles range from exuberant Eastlake and Queen Anne cottages of the 1890s to Craftsman and Foursquare houses, then Colonial, Georgian and Spanish Colonial Revival designs of the 1920s and 1930s. Landmarks include the masonry Georgian Revival Ross Sterling House, the Gribble-Hofheinz House built in 1896, the 1927 shingled Bullock House and the 1935 Thompson House designed by Houston architect Alfred C. Finn. Garages with staff quarters sit across the road on the inland side of lots. Hurricanes, air conditioning and later subdivision altered some properties, yet the district keeps its long lots, bay orientation and scale. It includes 46 contributing and 33 noncontributing buildings, and recent decades have brought renewed rehabilitation.
Significance in brief: The district is the most architecturally and historically significant part of the village of Morgan's Point. It preserves a fine collection of bayfront summer and year-round homes in Eastlake, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Georgian Revival, Spanish Colonial Revival and Craftsman/Foursquare styles. Its houses, oriented toward the bay and prevailing breezes, show the growth of the Bay Ridge Park Association community over about fifty years. Notable landmarks include the Ross Sterling House, listed separately in 1982.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 94001160, listed September 30, 1994. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 89--835 Bayridge Rd. and 300--322 Vinsonia, Morgan's Point |
|---|---|
| County | Harris County |
| Listed | September 30, 1994 |
| Reference number | 94001160 |
| Resource type | District |
| Architect / builder | Alfred C. Finn (Houston architect of the A. W. Thompson House, 807 Bayridge Road); J. M. Boyles (builder of 815 Bayridge Road) |
| Architectural style | Late Victorian: Eastlake; Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals: Colonial Revival; Bungalow/Craftsman |
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Community Planning and Development |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Virtually all properties retain single-family residential use; many houses have been rehabilitated, and post-1940 buildings are classed as noncontributing. |
| Acreage | 60 |
| Coordinates | 29.67152, -94.99248 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 94001160.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikidata Q109999542
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.