Located within the Houston/Sugar Land/Baytown metropolitan area of Texas, Harris County is the most populous county in the state and the third most populous in the US. Founded in 1836, Harris County is named for John Richardson Harris, an early settler of the area. Its county seat is Houston.

Harris County is full of Texas history; well over 200 properties here are on the National Register of Historic Places. For instance, the 1884 Houston Cotton Exchange Building is evidence that before Houston was an oil town, it was a cotton town. The Classical Revival-style building was home to Houston’s cotton market for 40 years.

The historic Barker House at 121 East 16th Street was built in 1910 as the home of prominent business, civic, and political leader David Barker (1868-1962), former mayor of Houston Heights. The house is an outstanding example of American four-square style architecture.

The Hogg Building, located at 401 Louisiana Street, is an outstanding example of architecture from another era; the large windows on this unusual Art Deco building were designed in 1921 to showcase Ford motor vehicles. Located unobtrusively on the roof is an 18-room, Spanish Revival penthouse.

Houston Negro Hospital, on Ennis Street, was built in 1926. Next door is the Houston Negro Hospital School of Nursing Building, now vacant, actively utilized from 1926 to 1949.

Wunsche Brothers Saloon and Hotel, at 103 Midway Street, was built in 1902 and flourished until 1923 when the railroad relocated their base to Houston, followed by prohibition. Wunsche Brothers (now restored and reopened) was the last saloon in Harris County to close.