George Allen

George was one of the four brothers who came to Texas with their parents and a sister early in 1837 to join Augustus C. and John K. Allen, and all six brothers became prominent in the state's economic life. The family firm donated many town blocks to churches and public bodies and, according to their bookkeeper William R. Baker, spent more than $3,000 a year lodging travelers free in the Allen home. Besides Houston the brothers held more than a hundred leagues of land and shares in the Galveston City Company.

What the plaque says

George Allen (April 12, 1812 - June 5, 1854) Texas War for Independence soldier; served also in Somervell Expedition against aggressors in Republic of Texas. Born in New York state. Came to Texas in 1830s. Settled 1838 in Houston, to help his brothers, Augustus C. and John Kirby Allen, establish city. George Allen in 1839 became first committeeman appointed to make improvements in shipping artery, Buffalo Bayou. He married Harriet E. Fenley of Nacogdoches; they had 3 sons. Recorded - 1973

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Sam Houston Park and the Heritage Society — 0.5 mi
  Ten historic buildings gathered in a downtown park below the skyscrapers, among them the 1870 house of the Reverend Jack Yates, built five years after emancipation.
• Buffalo Soldiers National Museum — 1.5 mi
  A museum in Houston's 1925 Light Guard Armory that tells the service of Black soldiers from the Revolutionary War onward, built from one veteran's thirty years of collecting.
• Rothko Chapel — 1.7 mi
  An octagonal chapel open to all faiths, built by the de Menils around fourteen dark canvases by Mark Rothko, with Barnett Newman's Broken Obelisk standing in the pool outside.
• Emancipation Park — 1.7 mi
  The Third Ward park that freedpeople bought for Juneteenth in 1872, rebuilt in 2017 on Emancipation Avenue and still the center of the city's June 19 celebration.

More markers nearby

• John Kirby Allen — steps away
• John W. Moore — steps away
• Robert Barr — steps away
• Gravesite of John Kirby Allen — steps away