Acres Homes, Houston
Acres Homes was established during World War I, when Houston landowners began selling homesites in the area that were large enough to contain small gardens and raise chickens or farm animals. These large areas were often divided by the acre and not by the plot, hence the name "Acres Homes". The farm capabilities of the home sites attracted many rural settlers, who dug their own wells, and built small, sanitary houses.[1] Kristen Mack of the Houston Chronicle said that Acres Homes was originally marketed as "a bit of genteel country with quick and easy access to the city." The community was also touted as a place where African Americans could own houses and land instead of being in more dense urban areas.[2] At one time it was the largest unincorporated African-American community in the Southern United States.[3]
As time went on, the conditions began declining due to several decades of neglect. As the rural settlers moved out of their dilapidated homes, realtors began marketing the area, largely to African Americans, as a suburban area which was not far from the city. In reality, it was a heavily wooded, sparsely settled slum without adequate transportation or educational facilities.[1] The City of Houston annexed about 725 acres (293 ha) of land in the Acres Homes area in 1967. In 1974 the city annexed another 1,469 acres (594 ha) of Acres Homes territory.[4] Mack said that the appeal of Acres Homes ended around the 1970s.[2]
Before it was annexed by the city of Houston, Acres Homes was considered to be the largest unincorporated African American community in the Southern United States. The area's location close to Garden Oaks - a primarily working-class white neighborhood in the 1960s and 1970s- birthed racial tensions in north Houston during the racial equality movement of the time.[citation needed] Annexation began in 1971.[2]
As black populations in predominately African-American neighborhoods in the Houston area declined between 1990 and 2000, Lori Rodriguez of the Houston Chronicle wrote that Acres Homes, along with the MacGregor-Riverside Terrace area, "barely held on to their historical population base."[5]
On August 30, 2007, the Houston Chronicle published an article about a syphilis outbreak in Houston. Marlene McNeese-Ward, the Houston Health Department chief of HIV/STD and Viral Hepatitis Prevention, stated "We're really looking at Acres Homes especially, and Sunnyside, but there's not too many ZIP codes... where we're not seeing any (cases)."[6]
A gated community in the area opened on 9 acres (3.6 ha) of land in 2008. La Sierra, a development on the same size of acreage and adjacent to the original one, was being developed as of 2017. Contempo Builders, operated by David Bohorquez,[7] a Venezuelan American, developed both properties.[8]
In 2016 the Highland Heights Annex Action Committee wrote a letter to their Houston City Council member, Jerry Davis, stating opposition to developments of new industrial facilities and townhouses.[9] Acres Homes is still a predominantly African American neighborhood.
Dennie Hodge, an Inwood Forest resident quoted in the Houston Chronicle, said that around three-fourths of the houses in her neighborhood flooded during Tropical Storm Allison. After Hurricane Katrina, evacuees from the hurricane poured into the Houston area. The occupancy rates of apartments around Inwood Forest increased from the 40 to 60 percent range to almost 100 percent.[1] Julie Grothues, president of the Inwood Forest Community Improvement Association, said in a 2008 Houston Chronicle article that she saw children playing in the streets of Inwood Forest while she did not see any in 1978.[4]
Throughout several years leading to 2011, the City of Houston had demolished older apartment complexes. In 2011 the city demolished the Gables Apartments.[2]
As time went on, the conditions began declining due to several decades of neglect. As the rural settlers moved out of their dilapidated homes, realtors began marketing the area, largely to African Americans, as a suburban area which was not far from the city. In reality, it was a heavily wooded, sparsely settled slum without adequate transportation or educational facilities.[1] The City of Houston annexed about 725 acres (293 ha) of land in the Acres Homes area in 1967. In 1974 the city annexed another 1,469 acres (594 ha) of Acres Homes territory.[4] Mack said that the appeal of Acres Homes ended around the 1970s.[2]
Before it was annexed by the city of Houston, Acres Homes was considered to be the largest unincorporated African American community in the Southern United States. The area's location close to Garden Oaks - a primarily working-class white neighborhood in the 1960s and 1970s- birthed racial tensions in north Houston during the racial equality movement of the time.[citation needed] Annexation began in 1971.[2]
As black populations in predominately African-American neighborhoods in the Houston area declined between 1990 and 2000, Lori Rodriguez of the Houston Chronicle wrote that Acres Homes, along with the MacGregor-Riverside Terrace area, "barely held on to their historical population base."[5]
On August 30, 2007, the Houston Chronicle published an article about a syphilis outbreak in Houston. Marlene McNeese-Ward, the Houston Health Department chief of HIV/STD and Viral Hepatitis Prevention, stated "We're really looking at Acres Homes especially, and Sunnyside, but there's not too many ZIP codes... where we're not seeing any (cases)."[6]
A gated community in the area opened on 9 acres (3.6 ha) of land in 2008. La Sierra, a development on the same size of acreage and adjacent to the original one, was being developed as of 2017. Contempo Builders, operated by David Bohorquez,[7] a Venezuelan American, developed both properties.[8]
In 2016 the Highland Heights Annex Action Committee wrote a letter to their Houston City Council member, Jerry Davis, stating opposition to developments of new industrial facilities and townhouses.[9] Acres Homes is still a predominantly African American neighborhood.
Dennie Hodge, an Inwood Forest resident quoted in the Houston Chronicle, said that around three-fourths of the houses in her neighborhood flooded during Tropical Storm Allison. After Hurricane Katrina, evacuees from the hurricane poured into the Houston area. The occupancy rates of apartments around Inwood Forest increased from the 40 to 60 percent range to almost 100 percent.[1] Julie Grothues, president of the Inwood Forest Community Improvement Association, said in a 2008 Houston Chronicle article that she saw children playing in the streets of Inwood Forest while she did not see any in 1978.[4]
Throughout several years leading to 2011, the City of Houston had demolished older apartment complexes. In 2011 the city demolished the Gables Apartments.[2]