Gulf Publishing buildings: Bigger and better with each move

From 1916 to 1927, Gulf Publishing Company was housed on the 6th floor of the Goggan building at the intersection of Main and Capitol streets in downtown Houston.

As fitting for a publishing company funded by Texas’ leading oilmen, Gulf Publishing Company occupied prime office space in Houston. The real estate needs of the company were also guided by the desire for vertical integration in the publishing business. GPC invested in printing and binding equipment since its early years. In 1928, Gulf Publishing built its own house on a hill atop what was then Buffalo Drive.

Foster building. In 1916, the first location for the Gulf Coast Oil News was the Foster Building in downtown Houston, where GPC President Joe Cathriner also served as the manager of the Houston Stock Exchange.

6th Floor, Goggan building. By the time the June 9, 1916 issue reached the readers, Gulf Publishing had moved to the sixth floor of the Goggan building at the intersection of Main and Capitol streets. The building was named after Thos. Goggan & Bro., a retail shop that sold Victrolas and records exclusively.  It was also known as the Great Jones building, because Houston business baron and President Jesse H. Jones had his office there, as work progressed on the adjacent Gulf building. It was subsequently called the Bankers Mortgage building.

1716 Dallas Street. In 1923, Gulf Publishing moved its offices to 1716 Dallas Street, adjacent to the printing plant. There is little information available for this location, where GPC was resident for six years.

3301 Buffalo Drive. In September 1927, GPC announced plans to build its own building on the scenic Buffalo Drive. The 7-acre site plot was to have 11,763 ft of office space. The first building was two stories in height, 166 ft long by 70 ft wide.

The magnificent Gulf Publishing building on 3301 Buffalo Drive (now Allen Parkway) was a Houston landmark for more than 70 years. The building overlooked Buffalo Bayou on the north and downtown Houston to the east.

The building’s Spanish-Mediterranean architecture was designed by Hedrick & Gottlieb. Architect Wyatt Hedrick was the son-in-law of Gov. Ross Sterling, who was one of the GPC founders.

Built of reinforced concrete, and tile throughout, the building was intended to be fireproof. The printing plant, located on the first floor, was spread across 32,148 sq ft. The first floor ceiling was 13 ft beneath beams.

Employees moved into the building by year-end 1927. An open house was held on Jan. 24, 1928, with an open invitation to advertisers and readers. Subsequently, the building also housed the Petroleum Industry Library, containing thousands of reference sources on oil and gas subjects, including bound volumes of the leading oil industry publications. 

About the Authors

Pramod Kulkarni

World Oil

Pramod Kulkarni pramod.kulkarni@worldoil.com