The Stuart-Allen Collection is a compilation of correspondence, legal papers, maps, clippings, and financial accounts relating to the caer of Houston realtor Robert Cummings Stuart IV (d. 1976), grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Ezekiel Allen. These records reflect the activities of the Allen and Stuart families from the mid-nineteenth century to the 1970's, with particular emphasis on the period from 1920 to 1931. The collection was donated by Mrs. Philip Koelsch, daughter of Mr. Stuart.

The papers contain condiserable information on the Allen Ranch, one of the largest such estates in southeast Texas. From the late 1840's till the turn of the century, Samuel William Allen and his son Samuel Ezekiel exported cattle, tallow, and hides to eastern and foreign markets from their headquarters on the Sims bayou. Several years after Samuel Ezekiel's death in 1913, his widow Rosa C. Allen authorized her grandson Robert C. Stuart to sell the ranch, properties amounting to more than 23,000 acres in Harris and Brazoria counties alone. One 700 acre tract had already been earmarked in 1917 as the principal refinery site for the Sinclair Oil Company (now the Atlantic Richfield Corporation). During the 1920's, Stuart utilized additional land parcels to create the subdivisions Allendale, Allen Farms, and Lum Terrace.

The collection is particularly strong on materials from the 1920's reflecting the creation of these three southeastern suburbs. The papers throw light not only on the Allen estate, but on general trends in city growth and the role of the Houston realtor in an era of prosperity. Scholars may also glean biographical data on various members of the Stuart and Allen families, and to a lesser degree, insight on the cattle trade and ranch life of southeastern Texas in the latter part of the nineteenth century.