Houston Light Guard
{{Short description|Militia company}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name = Houston Light Guard Armory
| nrhp_type =
| image = Houston Light Guard Armory, home of the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum.jpg
| alt =
| caption = The building is home to the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum
| mapframe =
| mapframe-caption =
| coordinates = {{coord|29.7358|-95.3779|type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| location = 3820 Caroline Street, Houston
| built = 1925
| architect = Alfred C. Finn
| architecture = Late Renaissance Neo-Gothic
| added = 4 January, 2024
| designated_nrhp_type =
| refnum = 100009738
| website =
| mpsub =
| area = {{convert|23,000|sqft}}
}}
The Houston Light Guard was one of the oldest militia companies founded in Texas. Founded in 1873, it served as Company G of the 143rd Infantry Regiment during both World Wars{{Cite book |last=Becker |first=Ann Dunphy |title=The Houston Light Guard "Preliminary Analects for a Corporate Biography of the Houston Light Guard Particularly as Personified through the lives and letters of the Bringhurst Family" The Houston Light Guard Motto "Benevolent, Charitable, and Educational" |publisher=Harris County Historical Commission |year=2004 |location=Houston, TX}} [https://harriscountyhistory.org/contact.html Contact Info]{{cite web |last=Olson |first=Bruce A. |date=February 1, 1995 |title=Houston Light Guards |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/houston-light-guards |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213222149/https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/houston-light-guards |archive-date=February 13, 2024 |access-date=October 27, 2020 |website=Texas State Historical Association |publisher= |quote=}}{{Cite web |last=Texas Historical Commission |date=1982 |title=The Houston Light Guard, State Historical Marker # 10696 |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=119858 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220519181629/https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=119858 |archive-date=May 19, 2022 |website=THE HISTORICAL MARKER DATABASE}} and later as A co 2nd Battalion, 143rd Infantry after the Pentomic division system. It was a part of the National Guard's only Airborne Infantry Brigades, was a Ranger Company,{{Cite news |last=Bell |first=T.E. |date=November 10, 1985 |title=The Houston Light Guard - From flamboyant beginnings to World War II heroics |url=https://houstonchronicle.newsbank.com/doc/news/0ED7ABBA1E044503?search_terms=houston%2Blight%2Bguard&text=houston%20light%20guard&content_added=&date_from=&date_to=&pub%255B0%255D=HCBF&pdate=1985-11-10 |url-access=subscription |work=Houston Chronicle |pages=10}}{{Cite news |last=Golightly |first=Glen |date=April 25, 1994 |title=Old, young Light Guards recall soldiering memories |url=https://houstonchronicle.newsbank.com/doc/news/0ED7B35CF307288E?search_terms=houston%2Blight%2Bguard&text=houston%20light%20guard&content_added=&date_from=&date_to=&pub%255B0%255D=HCBF&pdate=1994-04-25 |url-access=subscription |work=Houston Chronicle |pages=9}} and a Long Range Surveillance Company.{{Cite web |date=September 27, 2002 |title=The Houston Light Guard |url=http://www.houstonlightguard.org/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031223095248/http://www.houstonlightguard.org/ |archive-date=December 23, 2003}}{{Cite web |last=Lemmer |first=Paul |date=August 18, 2001 |title=The Houston Light Guard, A Narrative |url=http://members.aol.com/cog143in/Narrative.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021022023125/http://members.aol.com/cog143in/Narrative.html |archive-date=October 22, 2002 |access-date= |website=Company G 143d Infantry (LRS)}}{{Cite web |last=Faulkner |first=Michael |date=July 7, 2000 |title=Co. G 143d Infantry (LRS) |url=http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/3143/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010424023504/http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/3143/ |archive-date=April 24, 2001 |access-date=February 9, 2024 |website=Unofficial Homepage for Co. G 143d Infantry (LRS)}}{{Cite news |last=Jacobs |first=Janet |date=August 13, 2001 |title=Paratroopers mark retirement of unit with one last jump |url=https://statesman.newspapers.com/image/356876676 |url-access=subscription |work=Austin American~Statesman |pages=B1, B5}} The Houston Light Guard moniker is an official US Army special designation.{{Cite web |title=Special Designations |url=https://history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/special_designations.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919115603/https://history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/special_designations.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 19, 2018 |website=US Army Center for Military History (CMH)}}
Armory
The original Houston Light Guard Armory was located on Texas St. and Fannin Ave. It designed by architect George Dickey and built in 1893 using cash prizes won by the Houston Light Guard in National drill competitions. In 1925 it was sold and the proceeds were used to build a new armory on Caroline St. The building was designed in 1925 by Alfred C. Finn, a local Houston architect. The privately owned property was denied a tax exemption causing the Houston Light Guard Association a financial burden for over the years before being transferred to the Texas National Guard in 1938, making it the first state owned armory in Texas. In 1991 the Houston Light Guards moved to Ellington Field and the property was purchased by Houston Community College to be repurposed as a library, but instead sat for decades in disrepair. Hopes were high when the Houston Hispanic Forum attempted to repurpose the property into a community center in early 2000. They approached the City of Houston's community development department to purchase the armory and offered to lease it from City. In late 2000 the city purchased the property and approved the lease; however, the Houston Hispanic Forum could not live up the city's agreement of raising $3 Million for renovations{{Cite news |last=Canon |first=Kim |date=January 10, 2001 |title=Hispanic Forum set for move Nonprofit to relocate to armory building |url=https://houstonchronicle.newsbank.com/doc/news/0EB4856E5EF7A204?search_terms=houston%2Blight%2Bguard&text=houston%20light%20guard&content_added=&date_from=&date_to=&pub%255B0%255D=HCBF&pdate=2001-01-10 |url-access=subscription |work=Houston Chronicle |pages=1}}{{Cite news |last=Walden |first=Jim |date=March 28, 2002 |title=Forum to restore historic armory Work to begin in mid-summer |url=https://houstonchronicle.newsbank.com/doc/news/0F29837858A5B0A4?search_terms=%22houston%2Blight%2Bguard%22&date_from=2001&date_to=2007&text=%22houston%20light%20guard%22&content_added=&pub%255B0%255D=HCBF&pdate=2002-03-28 |url-access=subscription |work=Houston Chronicle |pages=8}} and the Armory continued to sit in decay. Then in 2008 the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum, founded in 2000 and originally located on 1834 Southmore Blvd, began raising funds to purchase the Caroline St. Armory,{{Cite web |last=Hager |first=Jesse |date=March 6, 2009 |title=A Building Worth Saving: Houston Light Guard Armory |url=https://www.ricedesignalliance.org/houston-light-guard-armory-buffalo-soldiers |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220404210450/https://www.ricedesignalliance.org/houston-light-guard-armory-buffalo-soldiers |archive-date=April 4, 2022 |access-date=February 16, 2024 |website=Rice Design Alliance}} and In November 2012 the armory became home to the nations largest repository of African-American Military History.{{Cite news |last=Sewing |first=Joy |date=October 31, 2022 |title=Sewing: Buffalo Soldiers National Museum continues telling history, sharing a legacy |url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/lifestyle/article/Buffalo-soldiers-17537006.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221207074711/https://www.houstonchronicle.com/lifestyle/article/Buffalo-soldiers-17537006.php |archive-date=December 7, 2022 |website=Houston Chronicle}}{{cite web |last1=Bertrand |first1=Desmond |date=11 July 2017 |title=Buffalo Soldiers National Museum |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/buffalo-soldiers-national-museum |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213221739/https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/buffalo-soldiers-national-museum |archive-date=13 February 2024 |access-date=13 February 2024 |website=Texas State Historical Association |publisher=}}
It was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1992{{Cite web |last=Texas Historical Commission |title=Houston Light Guard Armory, State Historical Marker #10697 |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=119860 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526114729/https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=119860 |archive-date=May 26, 2022 |website=THE HISTORICAL MARKER DATABASE}} and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2024.{{Cite web |date=June 12, 2023 |title=National Register of Historic Places Registration Form (Draft), Houston Light Guard Armory |url=https://www.thc.texas.gov/public/upload/preserve/national_register/draft_nominations/Houston%2C%20Light%20Guard%20Armory%20SBR.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240216155957/https://www.thc.texas.gov/public/upload/preserve/national_register/draft_nominations/Houston%2C%20Light%20Guard%20Armory%20SBR.pdf |archive-date=February 16, 2024 |access-date=February 16, 2024 |website=Texas Historical Commission}}
{{Multiple image
| header =
| align = left
| direction =
| total_width = 650
| perrow = 3
| image1= HLG10696.jpg
| caption1 = Houston Light Guard Historical Marker
| image2= HLGcornerstone.jpg
| caption2 = Original Houston Light Guard Armory Cornerstone. Laid by Gray Lodge No. 329 AF&AM in 1891{{Cite news |date=May 24, 1891 |title=Houston Light Guard Corner Stone of the Armory Laid Yesterday |url=https://archive.org/details/the-galveston-daily-news-1891-05-24-page-3_202402 |work=The Galveston Daily News |pages=2}} on the original Texas St. Armory then relaid on Caroline St. Armory.{{Cite news |date=April 21, 1925 |title=Houston Light Guard to Dedicate Armory |url=https://archive.org/details/galveston-daily-news-april-21-1925-p-3 |work=Galveston Daily News |pages=3}} Many of the Houston Light Guards were also prominent Houston area Freemasons.
| image3 = Hlg original armory.jpg
| caption3 = The original Houston Light Guard Armory on Texas St and Fannin Ave. Built in 1893.
}}{{clear}}
References
{{Reflist}}
See also
External links
- {{cite web |last1=Olson |first1=Bruce |title=Houston Light Guards |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/houston-light-guards |website=Texas State Historical Association |access-date=13 February 2024 |date=1 February 1995}}
Category:Military units and formations in Texas