Built in 1880 as lodge hall. First floor soon became a dry goods and grocery store, and second was made into a fine theater by owner, John Henry (1828-97). Here traveling troupes played Shakespeare and dramas of the times. Famous magician Hermann the Great made Texas debut here; and Blind Tom, self-taught Negro piano virtuoso, once performed on this stage. After period as skating rink, opera house showed first motion picture in the city, about 1909. But with building of new theater, it closed and came again to be used for offices and stores.

Ancient Free & Accepted Masons of Texas. First Masonic Lodge in Texas. Organized in March 1835 at Brazoria. Set to work Dec. 27, 1835, under dispensation of Grand Lodge of Louisiana, for whose 1835-37 Grand Master, John Henry Holland, this lodge was named. Labors were interrupted in Feb. 1836, in Texas War for Independence, when lodge and records were destroyed by Mexican Army during march of Gen. Urrea to join forces with Dictator Santa Anna. The charter, however, was then in saddlebags of Dr. Anson Jones, Texas patriot and first worshipful master of Holland Lodge, who carried the sacred document into battle and victory at San Jacinto, April 21, 1836.

In Nov. 1837, Holland Lodge was reopened, in the Republic of Texas capitol (at site of present Rice Hotel), Houston.

On Dec. 20, 1837, Holland Lodge No. 36 (the original designation under Grand Lodge of Louisiana) met with the only other Masonic bodies then existent in Texas -- Milam Lodge No. 40 of Nacogdoches and McFarland Lodge No. 41 of San Augustine -- and organized the Grand Lodge of the Republic of Texas. Dr. Anson Jones, of this lodge, was elected first grand master of the Grand Lodge of the Republic of Texas, and Holland Lodge was assigned the No. 1 designation.

Erected in 1856 for businessman John Henry Hutchings and his new wife Minnie (Knox), this structure was designed to resemble an Italian villa. It was damaged in an 1885 storm, and noted architect Nicholas Clayton did the extensive repair and renovation work. By his design the house became a blend of the Romanesque and Renaissance revival styles. He replaced the south gallery with a single-story porch and the west porch with a two-story gabled portico. With the addition of a third floor and stucco applied to the house's brick walls, the building took on its historic appearance.

Four decades after joining in partnership, George Ball, John Henry Hutchings, and John Sealy employed prominent Galveston architect Nicholas J. Clayton to design office buildings for their Ball, Hutchings & Co. commission and banking operations. Built in 1895 as two individual but connected structures, these buildings complemented Galveston's Stand Avenue, known at the time as the "Wall Street of the Southwest."

The buildings' renaissance revival style is represented by the heavily rusticated stone arches featured on its entryways, terra cotta detailing on the parapets and entablatures, evenly spaced columns and pilasters, elaborate stone cornice, and arcading windows. The foundation walls are six feet wide at the base and made of pressed brick with ashlar patterned sandstone facing.

The corner building, which features the name "Hutching" on its entablature, was originally constructed for John H. Hutchings. The adjoining office building, featuring the name "Sealy" on its entablature, was built for John Sealy. These majestic buildings are reminders of a grand era in Galveston's history and the philanthropic legacy of these early businessmen.

James Henry Dishman was forced at the age of six to assume a man's role after his father's death in the Civil War in 1864. A native of Cherokee County in East Texas, he eventually moved to Kaufman County and developed a successful ranching operation. He sold his ranch in 1892 and headed to the South Texas Gulf Coast in search of lucrative ranching opportunities.

In 1893 James purchased a remote and undeveloped section of school land in this area of northern Cameron County. He built a homestead and by 1895 had established a working ranch. He increased his land holdings and within a short time gained a reputation for industriousness and uncommon generosity. He was gravely wounded by a cattle rustler in 1897. Aided by brothers Dr. Fred and Dr. Joe Combes of Brownsville, he was able to recover in six months.

In 1904 Dishman donated acreage for the railroad right-of-way that led to the creation of the town of Combes. In 1924 he donated over 5 acres to the Combes community as a site for a Baptist Church and cemetery. In 1928 he donated money and this site for the construction of an elementary school which when completed in 1930 was named for him. Dishman was buried beside his mother at Harlingen City Cemetery.

This was the home of John Henry Mayfield (1865-1954), his wife Ettie Monroe Alsobrook (1869-1957) and their three daughters. The Mayfields moved to Holland about 1908 where Mr. Mayfield owned and operated a local cotton gin. Local contractors Frank Wood & Sons built this house in 1914. This Craftsman-influenced Prairie School building features emphasized horizontal lines, a wraparound porch, double gallery, and fine interior woodwork and craftsmanship.

John Henry Brown 1820 - 1895. Frontier Indian fighter in Somervell Expedition 1842-43. Editor, author, Texas legislator 1855-57, 1873. Prominent secessionist. Major Confederate Army in Indian Territory, Missouri. Adjutant General in Texas. Commander Texas Third Frontier District 1863 created to protect frontier from Indian attack, renegades, deserters. Member of 1875 Texas Constitutional Convention to end Texas reconstruction era.

John Henry Kirby, son of John T. and Sarah Payne Kirby, was born in the village of Peachtree in North Tyler County, Texas, in 1860. A promising young student, he was encouraged to move to Woodville where he could attend schools with a more challenging curriculum. Kirby married Lelia Stewart in 1883 and afterward joined the staff of Texas State Senator and Attorney Samuel Cooper. He gained admittance to the Texas Bar in 1885 and became Cooper's law partner. After helping Boston investors form the Texas and Louisiana Land and Timber Company he formed his own Kirby Lumber Company in 1901. The company evolved into a regional economic powerhouse responsible for the creation of numerous lumbermill towns in southeast Texas with more than 16,000 employees and covering more than a million acres of timberland. Kirby amassed a lumber empire and became known as the "Prince of the Pines." Though immensely wealthy and a figure of national and state prominence, Kirby never forgot his Tyler County roots. Kirby's many philanthropic acts and gifts to churches, schools, parks, and organizations in East Texas included his donation of land and the funds to build "Kirby High School" at this site in 1928. The last Kirby High School class graduated in 1979.

Noted Indian fighter; Commander of the Texians at the Battle of Gonzales, October 2, 1835. Born in Tennessee August 13, 1800; died December 2,1880. His wife Eliza Moore, born April 23, 1809 died February 25, 1877.

Born in Virginia, John Henry Saunders (1850-1919) served in the Confederate Cavalry and came to Texas in 1870, via Tennessee and Indian Territory. He was the first teacher at Purgatory Springs (later called Hugo) where he married Calladonia Modeline Williamson (1855-1930) in 1872. He built a store west of this house, and served twice as Wimberley postmaster between 1890 and 1907; as County Commissioner; and as the first county school superintendent from 1907 to 1916. The Saunders lived in this (c.1870) house from 1888 to 1907, then moved to San Marcos. The house exhibits (c.1930) alterations.