Historic Houston Salvage Warehouse Going Out of Business, Selling Everything at Auction

It looks like those last-ditch fundraising efforts that might have saved Historic Houston’s Salvage Warehouse from undergoing its own salvage operation weren’t enough. A local auction company will be selling all remaining inventory at the local building-parts-preservation group’s warehouse next week, in what the nonprofit is clearly labeling a “going out of business” sale. Everything at the 1307 W. Clay warehouse will be up for sale: doors, windows, flooring, lumber, plumbing fixtures, tools and equipment for DIY salvagers who’d like to carry on in Historic Houston’s 7-plus-year tradition, office furniture. And yes: Even the organization’s black and white twin Dodge trucks. A page on the website of Worstell Auction Company features photos of many of the vintage goodies, including a screaming “Eisenhower Wins in Landslide” cover from an old Houston Chronicle. (No R-value provided, though. You’ll need to test that out yourself.) Auction date: next Thursday, June 2, at 10 am on the warehouse grounds.

Photos: Historic Houston

7 Comment

  • what are they doing with all the donations sent, presumably, to keep the place open?

  • Can’t say it wasn’t going to happened. Since most of the pieces being sold were salvaged, they could have had lower prices.

    They could have made money on a large movement of goods versus charging prices based on age. Just because they are historic, doesn’t mean they are extremely valuable. If they were, it would have sold at the higher price.

    And before some idiot mentions that people in Houston just won’t buy these things because they don’t care about old stuff, the volume of customers that have gone there and left with nothing because of the prices should counter the argument. Why buy old sinks, door handles, doors, etc. when Home Depot and Lowe’s sells replicas for much cheaper?

  • some one has to get paid some how.

  • Oh man, what a shame! Loved the place…

  • As a neighbor living around the corner from this business, I always found their claim to aesthetic superiority while woefully under-maintaining their unattractive property quite irritating. I’ll be glad to be rid of this overgrown junk yard.

  • The sinks in the photo look like the crap I tear out of old apartments and pay someone to haul off. They were SELLING those things???

  • Way over priced. You could get a restored clawfoot tub over off 610 for the same price they where selling very rough incompletes for………. The place was a neat idea though. I give them credit for making it happen as long as they did.