Hill-O’Connor-Howard House
802 West Power Avenue

The Hill-O’Connor-Howard house is a beautiful example of the many fine old homes which still stand in Victoria. It is one of two remaining brick structures from the Victorian era still standing. The other is the Alexander H. Phillips House.

 

The house was built for Joe L. Hill during 1898 and 1899 by contractor John W. Henderson. The lot (Lot 1, Block 15) of the Original Townsite of Victoria, is located on the corner of Power Avenue and Washington
Street, and was part of the original Four League Grant from the Republic of Texas to the
Corporation of Victoria in 1841.

In 1905 Joe Hill sold the house to Mary Virginia Drake O’Connor and family for conveyance of certain houses and a lot in San Antonio, Texas. Mary Virginia O’Connor conveyed the house and lot to her son, Joseph O’Connor, in January 1908. During the O’Connors’ ownership of the house, none of them lived there; however, George Howard, employed as a bookkeeper for the O’Connors for many years, lived there with his wife, Elizabeth Doughty Howard, their son Edward, and their two granddaughters, Dorothy and Marjorie. The house became a gathering place for young people in Victoria during the years that Dorothy
and Marjorie were growing up. Dorothy Howard married William Henry Crain. Marjorie Howard married Frank Welder, Jr. Both men were from prominent Texas families, and both lived in the house at one time.

Joseph O’Connor died in 1932 and left the bulk of his estate, which included the Hill-O’Connor-Howard House, to his two brothers, Martin and Thomas. The O’Connor brothers sold the house November 11,
1933 to William Henry Crain, Jr., for $2,500.

​

You can learn more about this home and the families that have lived here in Volume I of Historic Homes of Victoria, available here online through our SHOP or at the Victoria Preservation, Inc. office.