Henry H. Houston

Career When Houston was 14, he became a clerk at John S. Futhey's mercantile house in Wrightsville, which supplied construction materials for a tow bridge, Susquehanna River dam, Tide-Water Canal, and Baltimore and Susquehanna Railroad. He worked at the job for five years.

He was the developer of Wissahickon Heights (now St. Martins area), an exclusive community in western Chestnut Hill, and built the original structures used by Chestnut Hill Academy and the Philadelphia Cricket Club.

Houston attended St. Peter's Church in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia.

Philanthropy

Houston was known for his generosity and charitable acts. He gave $500,000 to the University of Pennsylvania. He donated $100,000 for the construction of Houston Hall, a recreation hall for students, as a memorial to his son Henry H. Houston, Jr., who died while traveling in Europe after his college graduation. Houston's 1895 will was still contested until 1964, by that time the property he left in trust was worth approximately $145 million, leading to a decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The case is often taught in law school in property and probate law courses as it deals with the interpretation of future interests created in favor of Houston's grandchildren.

Legacy A statue at the Wissahickon Valley Park memorializes Houston's role as real estate developer, railroad magnate, and philanthropist. The statue, depicting Houston in top hat and tails and his Irish Wolfhound, is located at the southeast corner of Lincoln Drive and Harvey Street. John Massey Rhind, a Scottish-American sculptor, made the work of art for the City of Philadelphia Fairmount Park Commission that was installed in 1900.

Houston's Chestnut Hill mansion, Druim Moir (1886), still exists, having been converted to multiple residential units in 1980. Springside School occupies part of the former estate's grounds.

Houston is the namesake of the Henry H. Houston Elementary School in Mount Airy, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.