Rochow Street - A History of Development

by Louis F. Aulbach and Linda C. Gorski

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Beyond the Adath Yeshurun Cemetery, Buffalo Bayou curves slightly to the left. The imposing new residential tower on the corner of Allen Parkway and Rochow Street with its bonnet-like structure crowning the roof line rises high above the upper contour of the south bank. At thirty stories, it would be hard to miss even if it did not have a distinctive architectural design.

This prominent corner on Allen Parkway, however, is no stranger to architectural prominence. For nearly seventy-five years, the site was occupied by the elegant Spanish-Mediterranean style buildings of the Gulf Publishing Company.

Yet, as difficult as it may be to imagine today in this traffic-congested quadrant of Houston, as late as 1917, the tract was undeveloped farm land. Spurred by the development of the River Oaks Country Club Estates, the River Oaks Subdivision of Will Hogg, Hogg's promotion of the construction of Buffalo Drive as a major thoroughfare, and the development of a crafts and manufacturing district adjacent to the roadway, local developers in the mid-1920's began to subdivide tracts along West Dallas Avenue for new residential neighborhoods.

One such developer was the Rochow family who platted the Rochow Subdivision into five tracts from West Dallas Avenue to Allen Parkway with Rochow Street along the eastern boundary.

The Rochows were a third-generation, construction trades family who came to Houston about 1920 after a half century in the Midwest. Their story began when the thirty year old Carl Rochow, his wife Christina, age 32, daughter Augusta, age 6, and sons Charles, age 5, and the infant Robert immigrated from Germany in 1865. It is possible that he may have come from the village of Rochow, in modern Lithuania (pronounced "Rah'- kov"), but that is not conclusive. Ultimately, they settled in southeastern Illinois in the town of Saline Mines where Carl worked as a coal miner until at least the early 1870's. His son Otto was born there in 1867.

By 1900, Carl Rochow, now 65 years old, had established himself as a contractor in Indianapolis, Indiana. He and his wife Christina lived across the street from his son Robert and his family with whom he participated in the contractor's trade. Robert Rochow, by this time at age 36, had begun his own family. He and his wife Bertha, who had immigrated from Germany in 1885 at age 13, had two sons Carl and Max, ages 4 and 3, and an infant daughter Augusta.

Over the next decade, Robert Rochow continued in the general contracting business and, by 1910, had migrated some 80 miles west to Danville, Illinois. His father, Carl, now 75 years of age, had moved in with Robert and his family.

After the passing of the elder of the family, the Rochows sought other opportunities. They arrived in Houston around 1920 and initiated the development of the Rochow Subdivision with the construction of single family homes. The subdivision was drawn from West Dallas Avenue to Buffalo Drive (which later became Allen Parkway). The eastern boundary was a street named for themselves, Rochow Street, and the western edge of the subdivision lay east of Dunlavy Street. The subdivision was divided into five tracts, each separated by a one block street, Vick Avenue, D'Amico Avenue, Leonidas Avenue and Byrne Avenue (which now in called West Lamar Avenue). By 1924, there were five homes completed in Block 5, facing West Dallas Avenue. Four other homes were still under construction on the Byrne Avenue side of the block. Blocks 1 to 4 were, as yet, undeveloped.

The Rochow clan, headed by the patriarch Robert, positioned itself for the development of the subdivision. The three families lived along the north side of West Dallas Avenue, with Robert and son Carl living next door to each other in the 3400 block, while younger son Max and his family lived in the 3200 block near their contractor's yard, office and related buildings on the northwest corner at Rosine Street. Robert was the building contractor. Carl was a contractor and carpenter, while Max rounded out the trades as a plaster mason.

Commercial development on the site began in 1926 when Ray L. Dudley, founder of the Gulf Publishing Company, selected the 2.6 acre site on Block 1 at the northmost end of the subdivision for construction of a Spanish-Mediterranean style building. With a red tile roof, a stucco exterior, and heavy ornamentation carved from cast concrete, the structure, designed by Wyatt Hedrick of Hedrick & Gottlieb in 1927 and completed in 1928, was a prominent feature on Allen Parkway for the next seventy-five years.

While additional commercial construction was added to Block 2, such as the Parke Engraving Company Building in 1936 and various auxiliary buildings for the Gulf Publishing Company, the residential development continued as well. By 1943, the Rochow Subdivision was fully developed with approximately 46 single family homes on lots in Blocks 3, 4 and 5.

The waning years of the twentieth century brought changes to the Rochow Subdivision. The redevelopment of the areas within the Loop had gained momentum by this time, and the neighborhoods along West Dallas Avenue were no exception. By 2002, there remained only twenty-four single family homes in the subdivision. These were located on Block 5, near West Dallas Avenue, and more than half of these homes had been built since 1998. Block 3, bounded by Damico Avenue and Leonidas Avenue, is a multi-family residential property owned by the ERP Operating LTD Partnership of Chicago. Block 4, bounded by West Lamar Avenue and Leonidas Avenue, is vacant commercial property owned by the ERP Operating LTD Partnership.

On May 16, 2001, the white stucco walls and delicate ornamentation of the Gulf Publishing Company building were torn down to make way for a luxury apartment complex. Today, Allen Parkway Place, located at 3333 Allen Parkway, offers 250 units for lease on the thirty floors of the residential development owned by Simmons Vedder and Company and designed by the architectural firm of the Steinberg Collaborative.

Max P. Rochow, Jr. was born on August 12, 1923 as his father, Max, Sr., and others of the Rochow family began work on their subdivision. By the time that he had served in World War II as a 1st Lieutenant in the U. S. Army, Max saw the Rochow Subdivision flourish with commercial and residential development. Max, Jr., who passed away on August 29, 1983, found a permanent place in Houston and is buried in the Houston National Cemetery. He did not have to suffer the changes that have transformed the Rochow Subdivision.

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