[1][2] In addition to his activities as a commission merchant, Hutchins invested in several infrastructure development companies.

[3][4][5] Around 1860, Hutchins started construction of a new four-story, brick building on the site of the old City Hotel (1837–1859).

Finally completed after the Civil War, the Hutchins House was open until it burned in the early 1900s.

[6] Hutchins served variously as a director, owner, and president of the Houston and Texas Central Railway.

[8] According to the 1860 Census, Hutchins estimated his assets at $700,000 (equivalent to $23.7 million today), the second largest estate in Houston.