Showing posts with label The Bloors and Their House. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Bloors and Their House. Show all posts

August 16, 2025

THE BLOOR HOUSE, Alfred Sutton Bloor and Martha Wainwright Bloor

Who were Alfred and Martha Bloor and how could they build such an expensive home in Manor?

Bloor house - 709 Lexington Street, Manor, TX


Alfred Sutton Bloor
Alfred Sutton Bloor was born January 18, 1850, most likely in Clarion, Pennsylvania. The 1850 U.S. Census shows him as a 6 month old living in Clarion, PA. (about 60 miles NE of Pittsburgh) His father was James Holbrook Bloor and his mother was Harriet (Sutton) Bloor.

According to a family history, James H. Bloor is said to have disappeared sometime around 1863, however, there is no date or location given for his death or burial. Alfred's mother died June 20, 1864 and was buried in the Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh, PA. 

Due to the fact that Alfred was only 14 1/2 years old at that time, his mother's brother; Richard Bishop Sutton was appointed by the court to be guardian of Alfred, his brother, James and their sister, Theodosia. Alfred, James and Theodosia went to live with their grandmother, Ann Sutton, in Pittsburgh, PA.

During the March, 1867 term of the Allegheny County, PA. Orphans Court, Ann Sutton and Richard B. Sutton filed a petition to be allowed to sell all of the property owned by Harriet Bloor, deceased, and James H. Bloor, whereabouts unknown. Court records state the following; 

"But your petitioner further represents that Harriet Bloor was married on the 23rd day of September, A. D. 1847 to James H. Bloor and that said James H. Bloor had for nine years previous to the death of his wife willfully deserted his wife and children and neglected to provide in any manner for their support and that for five years previous to the death of Harriet Bloor his wife, no intelligence had been received of him, nor has any been received since by your petitioner, nor by any member of the decedents family."

The same year that his mother died, 1864, Alfred enrolled as a student at Pittsburgh Central High School. In the late 1860's he was apparently studying to be a lawyer. A publication titled "The Twentieth Century Bench and Bar of Pennsylvania" published in 1903, states: "Alfred Sutton Bloor was registered April 10, 1867, admitted February 25, 1871..."The Pittsburgh Legal Journal of May 31, 1871 shows Alfred Bloor involved in a divorce case at his office at 85 Grant Street in Pittsburgh.


Martha Wainwright Bloor
Alfred married Martha Wainwright - probably in 1873 - probably in Pittsburgh, PA. Martha was 
born July 28, 1849 in Pittsburgh, PA. (both were 23-24 years old) 

Martha was the daughter of Zachariah Wainwright and Elvira (Phillips) Wainwright. The Wainwrights would have been considered a rather wealthy family in that day and time and this is where Martha got much of her money. According to Martha Bloor's probate records, when she married Alfred she was given "a gift of a considerable sum of money" by her mother, Elvira Wainwright.

Zachariah Wainwright died in April, 1871 leaving quite a large estate to his widow and children. In addition to other properties, he owned a nine-acre parcel of land in Pittsburgh, which included Wainwright's Island in the Allegheny River. (noted as being the place George Washington spent one night in 1753)

In 1882, the Pittsburgh Junction Railway Company purchased a part of the Wainwright property 
for a total of $140,000 so the railroad could build a bridge across the Allegheny River.

When Elvira Wainwright wrote her will in March, 1902, she left $10,000 to each of her 12 
grandchildren, and $10,000 to her daughter Martha BIoor. All the rest of her estate was to be 
divided equally between Martha Bloor and her sister, Annie Abbott. An inventory of Elvira's estate 
after her death in 1904 valued it at $140,000.

David B. Sutton was Alfred Bloor's mother's uncle. He was never married and at the time of his 
death he had no surviving family members. He also had not written a will. When he died March 3, 
1895, his estate was valued at $1,034,903. In February, 1897, Alfred Bloor and his sister, Theodosia Bingham were each given $25,000 from David B. Sutton's estate. According to Martha's probate records, written by her son, Bertram H. Bloor, who was a lawyer in Austin, Sutton also left Alfred Bloor $130,988.39. Alfred gave Martha $75,000 of that money to be her separate property.

Alfred Bloor's grandmother, Ann Sutton, died May 12, 1889. She wrote her Last Will and Testament on August 2, 1883. In provision 3 of her will, she left him $2,000. All this indicates that Alfred and Martha Bloor both came from families of considerable wealth.

Deed records show that Alfred and Martha Bloor, John R. and Ella W. Cooper, as well as Elvira Wainwright were in Austn, TX as early as March, 1878. Records filed in Travis County, TX as well as Allegheny County, PA show Elvira Wainwright selling property in Pittsburgh, PA to Ella Cooper and her sister, Annie Abbott on March 25, 1878. Alfred and Martha Bloor were witnesses to the signing of those documents. 

Deed records also show that Alfred and Martha Bloor, along with John R. and Ella Wainwright Cooper, purchased 906 acres of land in Travis County on June 19, 1878 from George Armistead for
$4,094.90. This land was about 3 miles south of the town of Manor. Martha would end up buying
this land again about 17 years later, for an even higher price. Here's how that happened;

Ella Cooper was Martha Bloor's sister. John and Ella had a son, Paul Wainwright Cooper, who 
according to genealogical records, was born May 21, 1878. This would make him about 1 month 
old when the property in Travis County was first purchased in 1878. Ella died October 14, 1879 at the age of 21 or 22 years old, leaving John as administrator of her estate, and Paul, who was one and one half years old, as heir, along with his father, to one half of the 906 acres.

At some point, John Cooper went back to Pennsylvania. In January, 1895 Martha Bloor went to 
court in Travis County to get the 906 acres legally divided between the Bloors and the Coopers. 
The court appointed men called commissioners to examine the land and make a fair and even
division of the property. Unfortunately, those commissioners said that because the land was
irregular in shape and the surface was rough and unbroken, a division of the land was impractical.

The court ordered the Travis County Sheriff to seize the land and sell it to the highest bidder. William L. Abbott, guardian of Paul Cooper, was authorized by the Orphans Court to bit a maximum of $700 per acre, using monies from the estate of Paul Cooper.  The sale was held in February, 1895 with Martha Bloor being the highest bidder at $6,025.00. Paul W. Cooper who was still a minor at that time and living in Pennsylvania, would receive his share of the sale price which was controlled by his father who was administrator of Paul's estate. 

Back to 1878: Alfred and Martha, along with their two sons, David Sutton Bloor and Alfred 
Wainwright Bloor, moved into a log cabin on the banks of Gilleland Creek. They built another 
house a short distance away and lived there while four more sons were born, and then moved again 
when they built their new home on Lexington Street in Manor. 
Old Log Cabin - Bloor Ranch - 1878

It appears that Alfred had given up his law practice in favor of raising sheep and cattle on his 
newly acquired land in Texas. Travis County tax assessment records from 1891 show that he owned 700 sheep. News from Manor printed in the June 24,1892 edition of The Austin American newspaper said, "Mr. A. S. Bloor left yesterday for Chicago with two cars of sheep." 1893 Travis County tax assessment records show that he owned no sheep that year.

When the Bloor house was built in 1897, it was actually not in the town of Manor. A man named 
Addison Earldom Lane had purchased 38.75 acres of land from James Manor in 1879. In February, 1897 Martha Bloor bought a piece of this property 250 feet square from A. E. Lane. The purchase price of the land was $1,900. It was just outside of, but adjacent to the town of Manor, bordering on 
Rector Street. There were no streets north of Rector Street at that time. The deed record states that Mr. Lane agreed to lay out a street an the north side of the property that was 60 feet wide and also on the east and west sides of the property that were 80 feet wide.

When Mr. Lane officially added his 38.75 acres to the town of Manor in 1912, those east and west 
streets became extensions of the already existing Lexington and Caldwell Streets and the street on the north side of the property was named Lane Avenue.

The Austin Daily Statesman newspaper printed this on July 19, 1897; 
The Austin Weekly Statesman newspaper followed with this update on August 12, 1897;


A contract was signed with Charles P. Ledbetter and work was begun. While most of the homes in Manor were wood frame buildings, the Bloor house was covered in brick that was supplied by the Elgin Press Brick Company, just a few miles down the road in Elgin. The house had 4 chimneys and 7 fireplaces. (most other homes, including that of James Manor had only 1 chimney and 1 or 2 fireplaces, depending on whether they were one or two story buildings)

Bloor house - under construction, 1897
In addition to the main dwelling, three other buildings were constructed. One was a two-story frame house, 24x40 feet in area which was built as a gymnasium for the children in the family. This building is visible in the 1897 construction photo above. 

Bloor house - gymnasium at the corner of West Lane Avenue and North Caldwell Street

Another, 18x20 feet in area, was to be the carriage house. 

Bloor house - carriage house on the West Lane Avenue side of the property

The third was a 10x12 frame building used as a garden house. 

Bloor house - garden house at the rear of the main house
A total of 89,77O bricks were purchased for constructing the house - costing $748.10. How do we
know this? On February 24, 1898, Morgan F. Smith, who was Secretary & Treasurer of the Elgin Press Brick Company, filed a mechanics lien against Mr. A. Vogle. who was a sub contractor doing the brick work on the house. There was still an unpaid balance of $434.10 for the bricks used in building the house. (Travis County Deed Records - Mechanics Liens 123, pages 624-625) The mechanics lien erroneously shows the house to be located on "Livingston" street.

Apparently the past-due balance was paid at some time because the Bloor family moved into the
house in 1898. Unfortunately, Alfred Bloor enjoyed the new home only a short time, dying on November 24, 1899. He was buried in the Oakwood Cemetery in Austin.

A family genealogy website says that after Alfred died in 1899, the family returned to Pittsburgh
for a short period of time. The Galveston Daily News printed this on March 19, 1900; "Mrs. A. S.
Bloor and family left this week for Pittsburgh, PA. to spend the spring and summer..."The 1900 U.S.
Census, taken on June 5th, shows Martha and her four sons living at 219 Winebiddle Street, Pittsburgh, PA. This is the former home of Alfred's grandmother, Ann Sutton, where Alfred and his siblings went to live after the death of their parents in 1863-1864.

They had apparently returned to Manor by at least July 26, 1901 when their son, Grant, age 16, died and was buried in the Oakwood Cemetery Annex in Austin.

Bloor House, circa 1908
Martha continued to live in the home until her death on February 7, 1928. She was buried next to Alfred in the Oakwood Cemetery. According to her probate records, her estate was valued at 
$247,196.28. She owed debts of only $6,700.

Ownership of the house then passed to her son, Bertram H. Bloor; Sr. who was a lawyer in Austin.
The house was rented out to various local residents until 1951. At that time Lillian Shockley 
bought the house with a deed of trust made out to the Austin National Bank.

In late 1951, Lillian Shockley opened a rest home in the Bloor house. It was called,  "Shockley's 
Sheltering Arms". She operated the rest home until August, 1953, at which time she sold it to 
Chester Foster and it became known as Foster's Rest Home.

The Elgin Courier newspaper,
August 20, 1953
The Elgin Courier newspaper, 
August 28, 1952






















The dates are not exactly clear, but at some point the Bloor house was placed in trust with the
Austin National Bank and when Bertram H. Bloor, Sr. died November 18, 1953, the house was
inherited by his son and daughter, Bertram H. Bloor, Jr. and Anne Shryver. In 1960 they sold the
house to Thomas and Anne Bowdy. That ended the Bloor family connection to the house.

The Bowdy's sold the house to Sidney and Evelyn Donnell in 1977. In 1982, the Donnell's 
submitted an application to the Texas Historical Commission for a historical marker for the house. 
The application was approved on January 7, 1983. The marker is fastened to the outside wall near 
the front door. It says;



"Local rancher and farmer Alfred Sutton Bloor (1850-1899) and his wife Martha (Wainwright) (1849-1928), natives of Pennsylvania, built this home in 1897-1898. Constructed by the Elgin Press Brick Co., the house features characteristics of the Queen Anne and Colonial Revival styles. Outstanding features include the turreted corners and the massive portico. A landmark in the Manor community, the house remained in the ownership of the Bloor family until 1960."

Information on the historical marker is correct, but there are a number of details on the application that are not correct.

The application says; "The owners of the land upon which Bloor House was built were a few of  the outstanding citizens and pioneers of Travis County. These citizens and their land eventually became a part af the municipality of Manor, Texas founded in 1912".

(1) There were only 2 owners of the land before Martha Bloor - James Manor and A. E. Lane.
(2) Manor was founded in 1872 - A. E. Lane added his land to Manor in 1912.

The application says; "a resume of the owners of this land begins in 1844".
Actually the list of previous owners begins in 1838 when James Manor received his land grant for 
1280 acres and had the land surveyed on November 12, 1838.

The application says; "Judge Townes died in 1871 before all of his land title recards were
completed.'
" ----- Judge Townes actually died in 1864.

The application says; "The executor of Judge Eggleston's estate transferred the title....."
It should say Judge Towne's estate.

The application says; "Nelson Rector received title to part of the estate in 1873, and he sold 
this part to James Manor in 1877. This became part of the 'James Manor Headright Survey'." 

Nelson Rector never owned any part of this land. It had belonged to James Manor since 1838. 

The application says; M.C. (Martha Cousins) Townes purchased the property from the estate of
her deceased husband, Eggleston D. Townes in 1871 and the deed was recorded in "Volume 5, 
page 514
" of the Travis County Deed Recerds. Actually it was recorded in Volume V, page 514. 
They must have misinterpreted the "V" as a Roman numeral and converted it to the number 5.

The application says; "In 1881 James Manor sold 38.75 acres to A.E. Lane." The deed for the 
sale is dated November 29, 1879.

The application says;
Martha Bloor purchased the land where they built the house on "August 3,
1897". The deed was filed in the Travis County Clerk's office on August 3rd, but the deed itself does 
not give a month or day when it was signed, only the year of 1897. The Notary Public who verified 
the signing of the deed dated his record June 30, 1897. That's just over a month earlier than the 
application shows.

And there are several names that are misspelled. A. C. Caldwell's first name, Charles Chevaillier's 
last name, and Nathaniel Amory's last name are all misspelled.

These are some of the small errors in the application, but there is one huge error. The application
shows six owners of the land before James Manor. All of those transactions are from the A.C.
Caldwell land grant, not from the James Manor land. This means that the first six owners listed in the application had no connection whatsoever to the land where the Bloor House was built and should not have been included in the application. 


Bloor house - historical marker application, pages 14 & 15
Highlighted area should not have been part of the application.




Sources

Photographs of Alfred and Martha Bloor, and painting of the Old Bloor Cabin, graciously provided by Carol Schryver-Bloom, great granddaughter of Alfred and Martha Bloor

Bloor family genealogical information taken from "Our Genealogy" website -
https://www.laurellynn.com/genealogy/bloor/james_bloor____James_H.htm

Richard B. Sutton appointed guardian of minors - Allegheny County, PA. Orphans Court Docket, Book 19, page 185, March Term, 1864 - December Term, 1864 

Alfred S. Bloor enrolled in high school - My High School Days : Including a brief history of the Pittsburgh Central High School from 1855 to 1871 and addenda, / Geo. T. Fleming, 1904, page 130

James Holbrook Bloor's absence explained in Allegheny County, PA. Orphans Court Docket, Book 22, pages 161-163,  December Term, 1866 - September, 1867

Bloor family information from Pennsylvania taken from FamilySearch.org - Full Text experimental pages

Ann Sutton, Last Will and Testament, Allegheny County, PA., number 79 in Will Book 35, pages 156-161
handwritten will - https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9SW-Q3S9?view=fullText

Ann Sutton - application for Letters Testamentary by Theodosia Bloor, May 18, 1889, Allegheny County, PA. Death Record, Book 7, page 20

John R. Cooper, Ella W. Cooper and Elvira Wainwright in Austin, TX – March 25, 1878, Allegheny County, PA. Deed Book 388, page 335

John R. Cooper and Ella W. Cooper living in Austin, TX. - April 5, 1878 – Allegheny County, PA. Powers of Attorney, Book 11, pages 172-173  

William L. Abbott appointed guardian of Paul Cooper – January 10, 1880, Allegheny County, PA. Orphans Court Docket 1879-1880, Volume 42, page 240


Travis County Deed Records found online on The Portal to Texas History

Travis County Probate Records found online on The Portal to Texas History

The Elgin Courier newspaper found online on The Portal to Texas History

Bloor house historical marker application found online on The Portal to Texas History



July 01, 2023

THE BLOOR HOUSE - Historical Marker Application Errors


The Bloor house, located at 709 Lexington Street in Manor, was built in 1897-1898 by Alfred Sutton Bloor and Martha Wainwright Bloor. The house was recorded as a Texas Historic Landmark and received a Historical Marker in 1982.  


The application submitted for the historical marker traces the ownership of the land where the house sits to a beginning date of 1844 (should be 1841) when a land grant was said to have been issued to Ashbel (should be Asahel) Caldwell. More recent research indicates that ownership of the land can be verified to an earlier date of 1838. Even so, it appears that much of the information submitted in the original application is incorrect.

Text of the Historical Marker application,
page 1 of 15 from The Portal to Texas History
 
Texas General Land Office records show that “Survey 52”, recorded in Travis County Survey Records A, page 527, was made for one league and one labor of land on August 24, 1847 for Wm. H. Harris, based on duplicate certificate number 44 issued to Harris on December 17, 1841. Harris had appeared before the General Land Office in Austin, TX claiming to have lost certificate number 489 which granted one league and one labor of land to A. C. Caldwell. Harris further claimed that Caldwell had previously assigned the certificate to him. The GLO issued a duplicate certificate to William H. Harris as assignee of A. C. Caldwell.

In a statement dated October 7, 1848, A. C. Caldwell swore that he never assigned his land grant, made on March 31, 1838 and issued by the Board of Land Commissioners of Sabine County, TX, to William H. Harris, or to anyone else. Therefore, survey 52 legally belonged to A. C. Caldwell. For more information on this see Travis County Deed Record 67, pages 1-5. A trial held in 1857 found in favor of Caldwell and against Harris.
 
Duplicate certificate awarded to William H. Harris by the
Texas General Land Office, on December 17, 1841.
From Texas GLO website

Statement by A. C. Caldwell swearing he did not assign
ownership of his land grant to William H. Harris. 
From Texas GLO website

The historical marker application from 1982 says, “Mr. Caldwell sold this tract of land (one league and one labor) (4605 acres) to Charles Chavellier (should be Chevaillier) about four years later in March, 1849.” Travis County Deed record C, page 513 states this land is from “Survey 52” (the A. C. Caldwell league) and the deed is dated May 26, 1849.

The application says Charles Chavaellier (should be Chevaillier) sold 2750 acres from Survey 52 to Nathaniel Armory (should be Amory) on July 17, 1849. Travis County Deed Record book C, page 546 says the deed was signed June 28, 1849.

The application says, “Nathaniel Armory (should be Amory) sold the land to Judge Eggleston D. Townes of Tuscumbia, Franklin County, Alabama on January 20, 1854”. The deed record quoted for this sale is from book 40, page 164. It states that the 2750 acres sold was from the “A. C. Caldwell league.

The application says, “Judge Townes died in 1871 (should be August 31, 1864)… Then his 2750 acre tract of land was divided to various heirs. The executor of Judge Eggleston’s (should be Townes) estate transferred the title of 152 acres to M. C. Townes (his widow) in September 1871.”

The source quoted for this transaction as shown in the application is Travis County Deed Record 5, page 514 (should be record V, page 514). The amount of land should be 152 7/10 acres. The deed is dated September 8, 1871.

The application says, “Nelson Rector received title to part of the estate in 1873”. Travis County Deed Records book 26, page 366 is quoted in support of this transaction, however, book 26, page 366 is a deed dated November 18, 1873 from R. H. Leigh, executor of the E. D. Townes estate, to J. T. Gregg (not Nelson Rector). The land referenced here is from the “A. C. Caldwell league.” This deed record says that it was written to correct mistakes in the original deed written October 5, 1870 and recorded in Travis County Deed Records, book U, page 21.

What the application fails to include is the record from Travis County Deed Records, book 26, page 367 showing that J. T. Gregg sold the same land, described as “556 acres, more or less” from the “A.C. Caldwell league” to Nelson Rector on November 12, 1873. Included in this sale were a 50 acre tract and a 44 acre tract of land previously purchased by J. T. Gregg.

The application says, “Nelson Rector...sold this part to James Manor in 1877” and references Travis County Deed Records, book 38, page 120 to support this statement. This document is very light, very dim and hard to read which may account for some of the errors in the application. This deed record is for the sale of three different tracts of land, sold by N. S. Rector to James Manor, August 23, 1877.
  • 301 acres – part of the 562 7/10 acres from the “A. C. Caldwell league
  • 50 acres purchased from the heirs of Marcus Huling in 1875 or 1876. Travis County Deed Records, book 66, page 226 - part of the “A. C. Caldwell league
  • 44 acres minus 8 acres purchased from E. D. Townes estate by J.T. Gregg (part of the 562 acres)- book U, page 21 – part of the “A. C.Caldwell league”.
The application says, “this became a part of the James Manor headright survey.

Headright land grants were given to men (heads of families and single) who had arrived in Texas on certain dates. James Manor received 1280 acres of land as his headright grant on May 3, 1838. It was surveyed (survey number 40) and deeded to him on November 12, 1838. Other tracts of land were later purchased by James Manor but they were not, and could not become a part of his headright land grant.

Certificate 3164 issued by The Republic of Texas
to James Manor on May 3, 1838 for 1280 acres of land 
From Texas GLO website

The application says, “In 1881 James Manor sold 38.75 acres to A. E. Lane.” Travis County Deed record 46, page 181 is referenced to support this sale made on November 29, 1879. While the deed record itself doesn’t state that this land was part of the James Manor headright grant, it does state that is was part of "the James Manor survey". This can be verified by maps showing the original town of Manor and the A. E. Lane purchase which was added to the town of Manor in 1912. It was part of the James Manor 1280 acre headright land grant, but not a part of the A. C. Caldwell league which was about 2-3 miles east of that location.

1861 Travis County map from Texas GLO website
RED - A. C. Caldwell's survey 52
BLUE - James Manor's 1280 acre headright grant, survey 40
YELLOW - location of town of Manor

When the town of Manor was established, it originally consisted of 80 block divided into lots, half belonging to James Manor and half to the Houston and Texas Central Railroad. 

Plat map of the town of Manor made by the Houston and Texas Central Railroad in 1872.
Originally included in Travis County Deed Records, book V, page 796.
Now in a collection of Manor items at the Austin History Center

1940 Travis County aerial  photograph
BLUE - James Manor's 1280 acre headright land grant
RED - Original 80 blocks of the town of Manor

Travis County Clerk Records: Plat Records 1-2, page 223
showing 38.75 acres (20 blocks) added to the town of Manor by A. E. Lane.
From the Portal to Texas History

1940 Travis County aerial photograph. 
BLUE - James Manor's 1280 acre headright land grant
RED - Original 80 blocks of town of Manor
GREEN - 38.75 acres (20 blocks) added by A. E. Lane

Plat map showing 38.75 acres (20 blocks) added to the
original 80 blocks of town of Manor by A. E. Lane

Martha Wainright Bloor purchased the entire block (lots 1-10, block 8, A. E. Lane addition) where the Bloor house was constructed, and still sits, from A. E. Lane in February, 1897. (Travis County Deed Record 147, page 273)

Page 14 of the application for a historical marker is a list of the “supposed owners” of the land prior to the Bloors. Every one listed before James Manor appears to be in error and actually has no connection to the Bloor house due to the fact that all of them refer to land from the A. C. Caldwell land grant.


Page 14 of the Travis County Historical Marker application
YELLOW - these are all from the A. C. Caldwell league
and have no connection to the Bloor house land
GREEN - the only owners of the Bloor house land from 1838 to 1897

The land where the Bloor house was built was, always and only, owned, first by The Republic of Texas, then by James Manor, then by A. E. Lane and finally by Martha Bloor – no one else.

All of this is not intended to say that the Bloor house does not deserve a historical marker. It definitely does. At the time of its construction, it was described in the July 19, 1897 Austin American Statesman newspaper as "a fine two story brick residence which will surpass any yet built in Manor."

It’s just that the path that was followed showing ownership of the property prior to the purchase of the land by A. E. Lane and Martha Bloor is incorrect and should not have been included in the application for a historical marker.



November 18, 2018

THE BLOOR HOUSE, 709 Lexington Street, Manor, TX 78653


Alfred Sutton Bloor and Martha Wainwright Bloor, along with their two oldest sons, moved from Pennsylvania to Texas in 1878 and lived in a log cabin on Gilleland Creek. The Bloors later moved to a home they built a short distance west of the log cabin, where they lived while four more sons were born.

In February 1897, Martha Bloor negotiated with Addison E. Lane to purchase the lot where the Bloor House now sits. This piece of land wasn’t in the 80 blocks of the original town platt of Manor. It was a 250 feet square in block 8 of the new 20 block subdivision made by A. E. Lane on 38.75 acres of land that he purchased in 1881 from James Manor, which was added to the original town land in 1912.  Before this land was added, Rector Street was the northern limit of Manor, but in 1897 it was the first street south of the newly-purchased Bloor property.

A July 19, 1897 newspaper said, “Improvements in Manor still continue. Mr. A. S. Bloor will commence this week to build a fine two story brick residence, which will surpass any yet built in Manor.”

Alfred Bloor contracted with Elgin Press Brick Company to build the home.

On August 12th, the newspaper said, “Mr. A. S. Bloor of Manor is going to erect a fine and handsome residence, to cost about $10,000, and the contract has been let to Mr. Charles Ledbetter, a well-known and skilled mechanic of this city. He will begin work at once.”

An August 26th update read, “Work is being pushed on the excavation for the foundation of the Bloor residence, which is to cost $15,000 when completed

Construction was swift and by September 1st brick laying began around the framework of the house. On October 3rd, the newspaper reported; “Work on the Bloor residence is progressing rapidly.”


On November 11th, an article in the Houston Daily Post stated; “Contractor C. P. Ledbetter is pushing work on the A. S. Bloor building and has given labor to all who were loafing and wanted to work.”

The house was finished in what seems like record time and the Bloors moved into their new home sometime in 1898, along with 4 surviving sons.

The house originally had two identical chimneys on the north and south sides and was said to have seven original fireplaces, but at some time the south chimney, which provided fireplaces for the living room downstairs and the master bedroom upstairs, was removed. It is said that two fireplace mantels were traded to local residents - one for a horse.

In addition to the main dwelling, three other buildings were constructed. One was a 10x12 frame building used as a garden house. 

Another, 18x20 feet in area, was to be the carriage house. 


The third building was a two-story frame house, 24x40 feet in area which was built as a gymnasium for the children in the family. This building is visible in the 1897 construction photo above. 


 Alfred enjoyed the new home only a short time, passing away November 24, 1899, at the age of 49. On Saturday, November 25th, the newspaper reported; “A. S. Bloor died this morning at 8:30, and will be buried Sunday at 2 P.M."

Martha lived in the home until her death on February 7, 1928 at which time ownership passed to her youngest son, Bertram H. Bloor, Sr., who was a lawyer in Austin.


Both Alfred and Martha are buried in Oakwood Cemetery Annex in Austin, TX. 

The Bloor House was designated an Official Texas Historical Building in 1982 and received this marker.