SPORTS + OUTDOORS

On the second Sunday of every month at 2 p.m. (6 p.m. June through September; there is no tour in December), GHPA presents a docent-guided walking tour of an architecturally and/or historically significant area of Houston.

February 13 : Courthouse District Walking Tour.

As large as Houston is, it shares a feature with some of Texas' smallest towns: a courthouse square. This walking tour will visit one of our oldest neighborhoods, which grew up around Houston's Courthouse Square beginning with the city's founding in 1836.

We'll learn the interesting and often amusing history of local government and hear the stories of Quality Hill, once Houston's finest residential district, which spread east and south from the courthouse starting in the 1840s. Some of downtown's oldest buildings still stand on the blocks surrounding the magnificent 1910 Harris County Courthouse; the people who built them have been topics on many of our other walking tours, and now we can learn about the restoration projects that have brought these buildings new life. We'll also see progress being made on the restoration of the historic county courthouse itself.

Tickets are $10 per person ($7 for students with valid ID and GHPA members). Children 11 years old and under are admitted free. Tickets may be charged to VISA, MasterCard or American Express. Tickets go on sale at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, February 13, in front of Christ Church Cathedral, 1117 Texas Avenue. The last tour group will leave at 2:10 p.m. Reservations are not required.

On-street parking is free downtown Sundays, and paid parking is available in nearby lots and garages. The tour starting point is also a short walk from MetroRail's Preston Station. Tour participants who walk, bike or use public transportation will receive a $2 discount.

If inclement weather threatens on the day of the tour, watch this page for up-to-the-minute updates of any tour changes. You can also follow GHPA on Twitter to receive tour updates.

Photo: Harris County Courthouse (1910, Charles E. Barglebaugh; detail of a photo by Jim Parsons)