Image 1 of 8
Image 2 of 8
Image 3 of 8
Image 4 of 8
Image 5 of 8
Image 6 of 8
Image 7 of 8
Image 8 of 8
➼ History & Context
William Baker, three-time Mayor of Houston and Texas Senator, was originally a New Yorker until seventeen when he left for the newly formed Republic of Texas in 1837. Bookkeeper for the Houston Town Company then manager of a general store, Baker tried his hand at a couple of different occupations before becoming the County Clerk of Harris County for sixteen years.
Secretary of the Texas Central Railroad from 1852, then Secretary of the Houston and Texas Central Railroad from 1856, Baker became its President in 1868. He was a railroad executive for over 25 years in total, until he sold up and invested in real estate.
First elected to the Texas Senate in 1874, just a few years before divesting from the railroad industry, he ran for Houston Mayor and served three terms from 1880 to 1886. He lost his fourth run by just four votes.
Baker died just four years later, and is buried in Houston’s Glenwood Cemetery.
