Historic Walker County

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Above: The Henry Opera House (last
building at the top of the block)
around 1909.
COURTESY OF THE HUNTSVILLE
ARTS COMMISSION.
Below: F. H. Foster and Company at
University Avenue and 12th Street.
COURTESY OF THE WALKER COUNTY
HISTORICAL COMMISSION.
the community. 57 With a growing list of
forbidden activities, students found an
increasing number of local venues to support—
this was the case for the Henry Opera House.
John Henry opened a dry goods and grocery
store in 1883. Soon after, he converted the
second floor into a theatre and hosted “traveling
musicians, theatrical arts, magicians, and other
performers” from around the country. In 1909,
it played the first motion picture to be shown in
the city of Huntsville. 58
Other business leaders and local politicians
made their mark in Walker County as well. The
grandsons of George Fitzhugh, author of
Sociology for the South, established a local
mercantile operation on the Huntsville Square
in 1893. 59 At the same time, Thomas Henry Ball,
a Huntsville native, graduated from Austin
College in 1871 and was the city’s mayor
from 1877 to 1892. In 1896, he was elected
to serve in the United States Congress and
helped secure “the first federal aid for
development of the Houston Ship Channel in
1899.” In 1907 the community of Peck, Texas—
northwest of Houston—changed its name to
Tomball in recognition of the congressman’s
representation and contribution to the state’s
economic development. 60
2 6 ✦ H I S T O R I C W A L K E R C O U N T Y