Sam Houston Park in downtown Houston was the city’s first park, created in 1899 on a Victorian-style twenty-acre landscape that paired public green space with historic preservation. Designed by City Engineer John Maxey, it included paths, water features, and one early landmark, the Kellum-Noble House. Since 1954, the park has been home to the Heritage Society, which preserves Houston and Harris County history through restored buildings, artifacts, and educational programs. Its collection includes some of the region’s oldest surviving structures, among them the 1847 Kellum-Noble House and the Old Place, probably built around 1823, as well as homes, a church, and buildings tied to African American history.