Houston Historic Tunnel Walking Tour

This is a great way to learn about the history of Houston and to get some exercise. We will enter buildings from the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1970s, 1980s, and 2020s. We will walk over 5,000 steps. This is a moderate walk on level ground in air-conditioned and heated tunnels. These are the most clean and pristine public tunnels in all of the US. We will be stopping about every 5 minutes to look at and go into different buildings. These are safe and well-illuminated. In the summer of 2023, Accuweather and the local Channel 13/ABC affiliate interviewed me about these tunnel tours for activities to do on hot and humid days when you do not want to be outside.

Meeting Point

Houston City Hall

901 Bagby St, Houston, TX 77002, USA

We meet inside the rotunda of the Houston City Hall at 901 Bagby Street, Houston, Texas 77002 on Monday through Friday. City Hall is closed on weekends. On weekends, we meet at a park bench on the east side of City Hall.

What to expect:

Duration: 3 hours

901 Bagby St

901 Bagby St, Houston, TX 77002, USA

The tunnels are only open on Monday through Friday. They are closed on weekends and holidays.
We begin the tour with:
1. a 30-minute introduction that tells the history and reasons for the creation of the tunnels and of the City Hall building, from where we begin. This include the appearances of racism, sexism, and anti-Semitism. We will have maps and and where there is an interest, photographs to share. City Hall opened in 1939.
2. The second half-hour is walking from City Hall to where we will enter the tunnels. Along the way, I will point out over 1 dozen other buildings and talk about the architecture, architects, histories, and building uses. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, we enter the 1924 Julia B. Ideson Library and look at its beautiful Spanish motif interior.
3. The rest of the tour goes through 4 tunnels and into 8 to 10 buildings. Tourists have the option of stopping for lunch at a food court.
Dress appropriately for the weather.

30 minutes

Julia Ideson Building

550 McKinney St, Houston, TX 77002, USA

The Julia B. Ideson Library is named for the head librarian of the Houston Public Library from 1903 to 1945 when she passed away. The architect was Ralph Adams Cram. Built in 1924, it has had multiple wings added over the years. Today, this is an archival library, where nothing is checked out. It has a beautiful Spanish terracotta roof. In the inside, a number of local New Deal female painters have murals that adorn the walls. I usually take guests to the second and sometimes to the third floors to look details in the ceiling and at a copy of the Venus de Milo on the second floor and to the cornerstone of the former 1904 library. On the ground level, we will study a 1924 photo of downtown Houston to see what is still standing, what is altered, and what is missing, and streetcars and vehicles.

15 minutes

Wells Fargo Plaza

1000 Louisiana St, Houston, 77002, Texas

We enter the tunnels from the Wells Fargo Plaza. Wells Fargo Plaza opened in 1983. It is the second tallest building in Texas with 71 floors. We also walk around the 1st floor to look at the approximately 3 foot/1 meter high Chess piece and the marble domino pieces. We also look at the concierge desk and a player piano. In the basement, we look at a shoe shine stand, a walk-in vault, and a full-size bar and restaurant. NO PHOTOS are allowed here.

5 minutes

One Shell Plaza Garage (Winpark)

910 Louisiana St Suite 5000, Houston, TX 77002, USA

The former One Shell Plaza was built in 1971 and was the tallest building in Texas from 1971 to 1980. It was our first building with 50 or more floors. It was the home of Shell Oil. However, most of the Shell departments and employees moved out to the Energy Corridor in 2020. Shell has a small presence here now. We see the shops beneath the former One Shell Plaza and sometimes we stop at a Starbucks. We take an escalator to the first floor to look at the interior and out the windows at City Hall, from where the tour began. Again, the building management does not allow photos here.

10 minutes

Mellie Esperson Building

Mellie Esperson Building, 815 Walker St, Houston, TX 77002, USA

The Mellie Esperson Building was erected in 1942. We look at the art-deco walls and elevators in the basement. We take the elevator to the first floor and continue seeing more variations on art deco on the front desk and doors. We will look at the stars of Texas in the floor. We will see a portrait of Mellie Esperson. From here, we will walk into the Niels Esperson Building.

5 minutes

Niels Esperson Building

808 Travis St STE 100, Houston, TX 77002, USA

The Niels Esperson Building was erected during the Roaring Twenties when money was flowing to build extravagant structures. It has the moniker of the Wedding Cake Building because of its tiered capital and colonnade to crown it where you might have statues of a bride and groom. The 32-floor office building opened in 1927 and was the tallest building in the state for 2 years. We will see more art-deco features, including another rounded reception desk and decorative brass medallions on the balustrades. The first floor also has a faux ceiling, chandeliers with cherubim, ornate elevator doors, Mexican style tiled floors, and a bust of Niels Esperson. We exit to look at the exterior of the building with its faux stone concrete, 7 and 9 foot/2 and 3 meter marble construction, Grecian archways, and Georgia O'Keefe inspired cow heads carved into the building.

10 minutes

800 Capitol St

800 Capitol St, Houston, TX 77002, USA

This is the Bank of America (BA) Building that opened in 2020. The first floor has mostly glass exterior walls that provide excellent views of surrounding areas. It has a fish type netting hanging from the ceiling as art. A food hall and a full-size bar and terraced area where one can sit and eat are in the basement called the Understory. The basement also has a fitness center, corn hole, ping pong tables, table shuffle board, foos ball, a basketball net, and a movie screening area for its employees. You can watch BA employees hard at work.

10 minutes

712 Main St

712 Main St, Houston, TX 77002, USA

Our next building that we enter is the former Gulf Oil Building, also known as the Texas Commerce Bank Building. Today, it is the J. P. Morgan Chase Bank Building, Built in 1929, it was the tallest building in Houston for 34 years, until 1963. It has 36 floors. It interior is exquisite. It has a 3 story stained-glass image of the Battle of San Jacinto. The main entrance is the equivalence of 5 stories tall. Six mural adorn the walls of the Main Street entrance that depict the exploration and settlement of Texas. It has a food hall on the first floor called Finn Hall, named for the architect of the building, Alfred Finn.

10 minutes

JPMorgan Chase Tower

600 Travis St, , Houston, 77002-3009, Texas

At 75-floors, this has been the tallest building in Texas since 1982. I. M. Pei was the architect. In terms of sheer size by height (1,002 feet/305 meters) and by it taking up a whole block, it is an impressive building. We will walk around the whole first floor. It used to have an observation deck open to the public on the 60th floor until 2016 when the management decided to close it.

10 minutes

Pennzoil Place

Pennzoil Place, Houston, TX 77002, USA

This 36-story trapezoidal building is the most award-winning building in Houston. Philip Johnson with John Burgee were the architects. It opened in 1975. Some people consider it the first post-modern building. From a distance, it looks as if it is one building, but in reality it is 2 buildings connected by an 8 story sloped pyramid. The basement has an excellent food court with several options and bathrooms. If guests want to stop for lunch, this is the site. On the first floor, we will see the many prisms of this virtually all glass building. We will utilize Star Trek-inspired round elevators that do not elevate to return to the tunnel level.

15 minutes

700 Louisiana St

700 Louisiana St, Houston, TX 77002, USA

This is the TC Energy Building. TC stands for Trans-Canada. This is the company behind the Keystone Pipeline. The formerly was the Republic Bank Building, Nations Bank, and Bank of America Building. Philip Johnson and John Burgee designed this structure, also. It opened in 1983. With 56 floors, it is the 4th tallest building in Houston. Johnson and Burgee designed it to look like a cathedral inside and out. I call it the Cathedral of Money. In the basement, you will see flood gates and area where water could enter and engulf the tunnel system. You will see its 52 spires, long Roman arched nave, transepts, 5 catwalks, and arches on top of arches to the right and left of the nave. This replica of a cathedral is an amazing commentary on what we value.

10 minutes