Sharpstown, Houston, Texas
Encyclopedia
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
, United States. It was one of the first communities to be built as a master-planned, automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
centered community and the first in Houston. Frank Sharp
Frank Sharp
Frank Wesley Sharp was a land developer in Houston, Texas, United States who was responsible for creating several large post-World War II housing developments....
, the developer of the subdivision, made provisions not only for homes but also for schools, shopping and recreation areas. While this model has been duplicated countless times in the past fifty years, at the time it was quite revolutionary, attracting national media attention. The development was dedicated with much fanfare on March 13, 1955.
Overview
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
in Sharpstown consists of post–World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
bungalow
Bungalow
A bungalow is a type of house, with varying meanings across the world. Common features to many of these definitions include being detached, low-rise , and the use of verandahs...
s, modern and traditional homes. The materials used in building these homes were of sound quality and have withstood the wear and tear of the baby boomer
Baby boomer
A baby boomer is a person who was born during the demographic Post-World War II baby boom and who grew up during the period between 1946 and 1964. The term "baby boomer" is sometimes used in a cultural context. Therefore, it is impossible to achieve broad consensus of a precise definition, even...
generation as well as the test of time.
Robindell, a small neighborhood within Sharpstown is built of homes similar to that of Memorial Bend. Robindell also has an L-shaped neighborhood swimming pool. The first pool manager was a neighbor, J.W. Puryear. College men from Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
were recruited to take lifeguarding jobs at the pool each summer. The lifeguards trained the neighborhood children to be racing swimmers and took many ribbons at Houston swimming competitions.
History
Sharp donated a 300-foot-wide strip of land through the development to the state of Texas for construction of the Southwest Freeway (U.S. Highway 59). This routing ensured easy access from Downtown HoustonDowntown Houston
Downtown Houston is the largest business district of Houston, Texas, United States. Downtown Houston, the city's central business district, contains the headquarters of many prominent companies. There is an extensive network of pedestrian tunnels and skywalks connecting the buildings of the district...
to homes in the neighborhood, as well as to PlazAmericas (formerly Sharpstown Mall and Sharpstown Center) (1961), Houston's first air-conditioned
Air conditioning
An air conditioner is a home appliance, system, or mechanism designed to dehumidify and extract heat from an area. The cooling is done using a simple refrigeration cycle...
, enclosed shopping mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
.
From the 1980 U.S. Census to the 1990 Census, many African-Americans left traditional African-American neighborhoods and entered parts of Southwest Houston such as Sharpstown. The Hispanic population increased by an amount between 1,000 and 3,500 per square mile. Many Asian-Americans also moved into the Sharpstown area, creating one of the largest concentrations of Asian-Americans in Houston. Glenda Kay Joe, an Asian community leader, said in a 1991 Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle
The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...
article that the Sharpstown Civic Association and the Southwest Advocate newspaper opposed Asian-American settlement in Sharpstown. According to Joe, once Sharpstown residents became accustomed with Asian immigrants, the opposition disappeared.
Sharpstown was affected by the Sharpstown scandal
Sharpstown scandal
The Sharpstown scandal was a stock fraud scandal in the state of Texas in 1971 and 1972 involving the highest levels of the state government. The name came from the involvement of the Sharpstown area of Houston.-Background:...
. The scandal combined with a set of apartment complexes that became run-down ensured that Sharpstown became a neighborhood surrounded by crime
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
by the mid to late 1990s. A 1992 Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle
The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...
article described Sharpstown as "a racially mixed neighborhood with a strong Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
ese community."
With Sharpstown's close-in location, there is renewed interest in revitalizing the neighborhood. In 2005, median home prices in Sharpstown had roughly doubled since 2000.
The City of Houston instituted the current nine city council districts in 1979. Sharpstown has been districted in District F since 1980. District councilmembers elected to the Houston City Council have been past presidents of the Sharpstown Civic Association - John Goodner (1980–1993), Ray Driscoll (1994–1999), Mark Ellis (2000–2003), M.J. Khan (2004–2010), and Aloysius Hoang (2010–present).
In a 2007 Houston Press
Houston Press
The Houston Press is an alternative weekly newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in Downtown Houston....
article journalist John Nova Lomax said "residential Sharpstown never changes" and that "the houses are still decent and the apartments still rotten."
In 2010 Mary Ellen Carrol, an artist, announced plans to rotate a derelict house at 6513 Sharpview by 180 degrees, and therefore rotate the house's lot, to illustrate how Sharpstown has changed as it matured.
During the same year the Houston Press
Houston Press
The Houston Press is an alternative weekly newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in Downtown Houston....
named Sharpstown the 2010 "Best Hidden Neighborhood." The Houston Press stated that Sharpstown "is less a "hidden" neighborhood than it is one that's undervalued and underrated."
Cityscape
Sharpstown has a lot of mid-century style houses on large lots.Government and infrastructure
Houston Fire Department
City of Houston Fire Department is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for the city of Houston, Texas, United States, the fourth largest city in the United States...
operates the Fire Station 51 Sharpstown along Bellaire Boulevard
Bellaire Boulevard
Bellaire Boulevard is an arterial road in western Houston, Texas, United States. The street also goes through unincorporated areas in Harris County and the cities of Bellaire, Southside Place, and West University Place....
, a part of Fire District 68. Station 51 opened in 1962. Since then it had two facelifts and a renovation in the financial year of 1999.
The neighborhood is served by two Houston Police Department
Houston Police Department
The Houston Police Department is the primary law enforcement agency serving the City of Houston, Texas, United States and some surrounding areas. Its headquarters are in 1200 Travis in Downtown Houston....
patrol divisions. Areas north and west of U.S. Route 59
U.S. Route 59
U.S. Route 59 is a north–south United States highway . A latecomer to the U.S. numbered route system, U.S. 59 is now a border-to-border route, Part of NAFTA Corridor Highway System. It parallels U.S. Route 75 for nearly its entire route, never much more than away, until it veers southwest...
are served by the Midwest Patrol Division. Areas south and east of U.S. 59 are served by the Fondren Patrol Division. The portion that is now in the Midwest Patrol Division was formerly in the Westside Patrol Division.
Houston City Council
Houston City Council
The Houston City Council is a city council for the city of Houston in the U.S. state of Texas.Currently, there are fourteen members, nine elected from council districts and five at-large. The members of the Council are elected every two years, in odd-numbered years...
District J now covers Sharpstown. District J was created to allow Hispanics to more easily elect representatives who cater to them. Robert Jara, a political consultant of the group Campaign Strategies, drew the boundaries of District J in order to ensure that Sharpstown and Gulfton were together in one area. That way, the Hispanic residents could lobby for influence with their city council representative, whether he or she is of Hispanic origin or not. City Council District F previously covered Sharpstown. As of 2008 M. J. Khan represented the district.
In 1989, during a city council race, many in Sharpstown voted for Jim Westmoreland for an at-large position. In one precinct 68.5 percent of the voting residents voted for him. Westmoreland drew controversy after reports of a joke that was characterized as "racist" spread. Westmoreland was defeated in that race. In a 1989 Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle
The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...
article, Nancy Palm, a Republican Party activist from western Houston, said that the residents who voted for Westmoreland had social ties with them and did not see the controversy as significant. In the first 1991 Mayor of Houston election most Sharpstown voters voted for Bob Lanier
Bob Lanier (politician)
Bob Lanier is a businessman in the real estate industry who served as mayor of the city of Houston, Texas from 1992 to 1998...
. By December 3, 1991, increases in crime and changes of demographics in southwestern Houston neighborhoods lead to many challengers desiring to fill the city council seat of District F. In 2005 Khan promoted an anti-graffiti campaign in Sharpstown and other communities in his district.
Culture, parks, and recreation
The city operates Sharpstown Park and the Sharpstown Golf Course along Bellaire BoulevardBellaire Boulevard
Bellaire Boulevard is an arterial road in western Houston, Texas, United States. The street also goes through unincorporated areas in Harris County and the cities of Bellaire, Southside Place, and West University Place....
. The city operates the Sharpstown Green Park at 6300 Sharpview Drive. The city operates the Sharpstown Community Center at 6600 Harbor Town Drive.
Sharpstown Park Golf Course is located in Sharpstown. In 2003 Wendy Grossman of the Houston Press
Houston Press
The Houston Press is an alternative weekly newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in Downtown Houston....
said that the course "looks like a rundown city park with yellow paint chipping off the curb." The course has an on-site pro shop and an on-site restaurant behind the shop. An employee in the on-site pro shop stated that Sharpstown Park Golf Course was the flattest course in the city.
The golf course first opened in the 1950s as the Sharpstown Country Club Golf Course. At the time it housed fifty sand traps, five lakes, and a special kind of grass. The lakes had bass
Bass (fish)
Bass is a name shared by many different species of popular gamefish. The term encompasses both freshwater and marine species. All belong to the large order Perciformes, or perch-like fishes, and in fact the word bass comes from Middle English bars, meaning "perch."-Types of basses:*The temperate...
and perch. In 1964 the $50,000 Houston Golf Classic was at the golf course. In 1976, the owners of the course had not made a payment on their $5 million mortgage in five years, leading to the course's closure. The City of Houston proceeded to buy about two-thirds of the course two years later; real estate developers bought the rest of the course. The course is the home course of the Lee High School
Lee High School (Houston)
Lee High School, formerly Robert E. Lee High School, is a publicly funded secondary school located in Southwest Houston, Texas, United States 77057. The Houston Independent School District, the 7th largest school district in the United States, operates Lee, a public admission school that enrolls...
golf team; the school is about 4 miles (6.4 km) from the course.
Sharpstown has a little league
Little League
Little League Baseball and Softball is a non-profit organization in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, United States which organizes local youth baseball and softball leagues throughout the U.S...
called Sharpstown Little League that plays at Bayland Park.
In 2007, the group Neighborhood Centers Inc. announced that it would build the Gulfton Neighborhood Campus at the intersection of Rookin Street and High Star Drive when it raises $20 million. The Baker-Ripley Neighborhood Center opened in 2010 and now offers a wide range of services including after school programs, a medical clinic, financial center, fitness classes, and ESL.
Original sections
Sharpstown Sections 1, 1A, 2, 3, and 5 form the original sections of Sharpstown.Sharpstown Country Club Estates
Sharpstown Country Club Estates is a set of two sections in Sharpstown. It was developed in the late 1950s by the Sharpstown expansion west of the Southwest Freeway by Frank SharpFrank Sharp
Frank Wesley Sharp was a land developer in Houston, Texas, United States who was responsible for creating several large post-World War II housing developments....
. The neighboorhood is next to the Sharpstown Golf Course and west of PlazAmericas (formerly Sharpstown Center and Sharpstown Mall).
Sharpstown Country Club Estates was named after the Sharpstown Country Club
Country club
A country club is a private club, often with a closed membership, that typically offers a variety of recreational sports facilities and is located in city outskirts or rural areas. Activities may include, for example, any of golf, tennis, swimming or polo...
(now Sharpstown Park and Golf Course) that was east and west of the neighborhood after 1955, Sharpstown CCE surrounded the country club. The neighborhood is known as one of the quietest sections of Houston by its residents. The neighborhood is divided into two sections, Sharpstown Country Club Estates East and Sharpstown Country Club Estates West. Sharpstown Country Club Estates attracted middle to upper class citizens who were involved at the Sharpstown Country Club.
The sections are Country Club Estates 2 and Country Club Estates 3.
Sharpstown Country Club Terrace
Sharpstown Country Club Terrace includes Country Club Terrace 1, Country Club Terrace 2, and Country Club Terrace 3.Colleges and universities
Houston Community College SystemHouston Community College System
Houston Community College System is a community college system that operates community colleges in Houston, Missouri City, and Stafford in Texas....
serves Sharpstown. Houston Baptist University
Houston Baptist University
Houston Baptist University is a private Baptist institution founded in 1960. It is located in Greater Sharpstown in Houston, Texas near the Southwest Freeway.- History :...
, a private university, is located in Sharpstown.
Public schools
Houston Independent School District
The Houston Independent School District is the largest public school system in Texas and the seventh-largest in the United States. Houston ISD serves as a community school district for most of the city of Houston and several nearby and insular municipalities...
.
Sutton Elementary school serves original sections 1, 1A, and 2. Bonham Elementary School serves most of original section 3, while McNamara Elementary School, outside of Sharpstown, serves a portion of original section 3. Neff Elementary School serves original section 5, Estates 2, Terrace 1, most of Estates 3, and almost all of Terrace 2. White Elementary School serves Terrace 3 and a small portion of Terrace 2. Ralph Waldo Emerson Elementary School, outside of Sharpstown, serves sections of Estates 3.
Sands Point Elementary School, serving as a relief school, was named after Sands Point Drive in Sharpstown Country Club Estates.
Sharpstown International School in Sharpstown serves grades 6-12 for most Sharpstown subdivisions west of U.S. Route 59
U.S. Route 59
U.S. Route 59 is a north–south United States highway . A latecomer to the U.S. numbered route system, U.S. 59 is now a border-to-border route, Part of NAFTA Corridor Highway System. It parallels U.S. Route 75 for nearly its entire route, never much more than away, until it veers southwest...
, including original section 5, all three Terrace sections, Estates 2, and most of Estates 3.
Long Middle School in Sharpstown (any student zoned to Long may apply to Pin Oak Middle School
Pin Oak Middle School
Pin Oak Middle School is a secondary school that is located in Bellaire, Texas, United States. Pin Oak, which serves grades 6 through 8, is a part of the Houston Independent School District. It is located near the intersection of the 610 Loop and U.S. Route 59...
's regular program) serves original sections 1, 1A, and 2. Sugar Grove Middle School serves original section 3. Sharpstown High School
Sharpstown High School
Sharpstown High School is a secondary school located at 7504 Bissonnet Street in Greater Sharpstown, Houston, Texas, United States with a zip code of 77074. It serves grades 9 through 12 and is a part of the Houston Independent School District...
serves original sections 1, 1A, 2, and 3.
A portion of Sharpstown Country Club Estates 3 is zoned to Revere Middle School and Lee High School
Lee High School (Houston)
Lee High School, formerly Robert E. Lee High School, is a publicly funded secondary school located in Southwest Houston, Texas, United States 77057. The Houston Independent School District, the 7th largest school district in the United States, operates Lee, a public admission school that enrolls...
(with Lamar High School
Lamar High School (Houston)
Mirabeau B. Lamar Senior High School is a secondary school located at 3325 Westheimer Road in Houston, Texas, United States, with a zip code of 77098...
and Westside High School
Westside High School (Houston)
Westside High School is a secondary school in Houston, Texas, United States. It serves grades 9 through 12 and is part of the Houston Independent School District.The school is located at 14201 Briar Forest in Houston, Texas, in the 77077 zip code...
s as options.) serves a small portion of western Sharpstown.