HOUSTON – What was once a missing piece of Houston history is finally back where it belongs.
Just days after KPRC 2 first told you about a 100-year-old bronze plaque that disappeared from the former Houston Negro Hospital, an anonymous couple came forward and returned it to Harris County.
The plaque, originally installed in 1926 at the entrance of the hospital in Houston’s Third Ward, will be displayed Saturday during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the newly renovated Riverside General Hospital.
For historian Carlton Houston, who has spent years searching for the plaque, the moment is surreal.
“Good lord, this is amazing. I’ve been obsessing about this plaque, this building, for years.”
The Houston Negro Hospital first opened during segregation to serve Black patients who had nowhere else to go for medical care.
The bronze plaque, designed by the Tiffany Company, once greeted patients at the entrance and spelled out the hospital’s mission — dedicated to the American Negro “without regards to race, creed or religion.”
Over time, it vanished.
Houston says he once found it listed online by an antique dealer.
“When I started investigating, I was just Googling, and I stumbled on it, and it was on an antique dealer website, and it said $12,000, sold…I was just kind of like, it’s out there. Somebody’s got it.”
After KPRC 2 reporter Re’Chelle Turner aired the story about the missing plaque earlier this week, an anonymous couple contacted county officials.
They said they purchased the plaque in 2018 for around $4,000. After seeing the report, they decided to donate it back. It remains unclear where the couple originally purchased the plaque or how much it may be worth today.
Commissioner Rodney Ellis, who was born at the hospital when it was still known as the Houston Negro Hospital, is leading the restoration and expansion of the historic site.
He called the plaque’s return a meaningful moment.
“This plaque brings us full circle,” he said.
The plaque itself is heavy, physically and historically.
Installed nearly a century ago, it represents access to care during segregation and a chapter of Houston’s medical and civil rights history.
Houston says he’s grateful to the couple who preserved it and stepped forward.
“You know, to the people that held on to this and preserved it, I say thank you… you can’t ask for a more perfect ending" he said.
What was once considered lost history is now part of the building’s future.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held at the newly renovated Riverside General Hospital on Saturday from 10A.M. -12P.M.
Carlton Houston wrote a book called: The Houston Negro Hospital the untold legacy of Riverside General. It will come out in May ahead the Juneteenth centennial of the hospital.