The Waldo Mansion

A Confederate veteran, J. P. Waldo (1839-1896) settled in Houston after the Civil War. He married Mary Virginia Gentry (1849-1922), daughter of railroad promoter Abram Gentry. Waldo soon became a prosperous railroad executive. In 1885 he built this house at the corner of Rusk and Caroline (2 mi. N). A Mansard roof and tower originally topped the mansion. Elegant millwork adorns the interior. In 1905 Waldo's son Wilmer (1876-1962) moved the house to this site, then a fashionable area on the edge of town. He rebuilt it without most of its Victorian detailing. The Waldo family lived here until 1966.