Auditorium from Capitol Ave.

1 November 1910: The impressive Auditorium occupied the west half of the block, with various other smaller structures filling the adjoining lots. [See Also  Auditorium Entrance]. 1. 701-703 Texas (519-521 Louisiana): The neighborhood of western Texas Avenue was primarily residential in the first decade of the 20th century, but began to be more developed after the Auditorium began to draw crowds to the area. The northeast corner of Texas and Louisiana was the location of a boarding house until well into the 1920’s, occupied by numerous lodgers, including Antoine and Catherine Morano in 1911 when this postcard could have been available; 2. 702-710 Texas: The Houston Municipal Auditorium opened for audiences on November 1st, 1910 with a capacity of 7,000. Jesse Holman Jones was the driving force behind its erection, which he saw as instrumental in building Houston as a world class city with a performance space capable of drawing the best in the arts;
3. 713 Capitol: Another boarding house sat on the eastern half of the block, occupied (1910) by the Greek immigrant family of James Condos and his cousin Thomas (Anastasios Kontogeorgis) Condos, who worked as fruit sellers, soda and candy merchants, and who boarded recent Greek immigrants. Later the Christian Science Church was built there, with a cement garage on the north side to provide parking for the auditorium.  

24 Apr 2013: 1. 701 Texas: Lancaster Hotel, 12 floors, 1926 – Considered by many to be one of the finest hotels in the US; 2. 717 Texas: Calpine Center, 34 floors, 2003 – Houston’s largest private company, and America’s largest generator of electricity from natural gas and geothermal resources;
One of the largest power plant companies in Texas; 3. 615 Louisiana: Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts, 1966 - The capacity of 1800-2900 audience members is somewhat less than the Municipal Auditorium, but the backstage space permits elaborate productions, and the acoustics are among the best in America;  4. 600 Travis: JPMorgan Chase Tower (Texas Commerce), 75 floors, 1982, the tallest Houston structure since its completion.