Third Ward, Houston, Texas - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Third Ward is one of the six historic wards

The six wards of Houston

When the city of Houston was founded in 1836 and incorporated in 1837, its founders—John Kirby Allen and Augustus Chapman Allen—divided it into political geographic districts called "wards." The ward system, a precursor to today's City Council districts, was a common political tool of...

of Houston, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is located in the Southeast Houston

Southeast Houston

Southeast Houston is a district in Houston, Texas, United States. The Greater Southeast Management District manages the area. Communities within the district include the Third Ward, Texas Medical Center, Riverside Terrace, University Oaks, and Washington Terrace.-History:The Texas Legislature...

management district.

The Third Ward, located inside the 610 Loop is immediately southeast of Downtown Houston

Downtown 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...

and to the east of the Texas Medical Center

Texas Medical Center

The Texas Medical Center is the largest medical center in the world with one of the highest densities of clinical facilities for patient care, basic science, and translational research...

. The ward became the center of Houston's African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

community. In rap circles the Third Ward is referred to as "The Trey."

History

Soon after the 1836 establishment of Houston, the City Council established four wards as political subdivisions of the city. The original Third Ward district extended south of Congress Street and east of Main Street and ended at the north shore of the Brays Bayou; what was then the district includes what is today portions of Downtown Houston

Downtown Houston

and Midtown Houston in addition to residential African American area currently identified as the Third Ward, which is located southeast of Downtown Houston

Downtown Houston

. As of 2003 the usage of the land within the boundaries of the historic Third Ward is more diverse than the land usage in the current Third Ward.

In the 1800s much of what was the Third Ward, the present day east side of Downtown Houston

Downtown Houston

, was what Stephen Fox, an architectural historian who lectured at Rice University

Rice University

William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...

, referred to as "the elite neighborhood of late 19th-century Houston." Ralph Bivins of the 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...

said that Fox said that area was "a silk-stocking neighborhood of Victorian-era homes." Bivins said that the construction of Union Station, which occurred around 1910, caused the "residential character" of the area to "deteriorate." Hotels opened in the area to service travelers. Afterwards, according to Bivins, the area "began a long downward slide toward the skid row of the 1990s" and the hotels were changed into flophouses. Passenger trains stopped going to Union Station. The City of Houston abolished the ward system in the early 1900s, but the name "Third Ward" was continued to be used to refer to the territory that it used to cover.

Historically White people lived in the southern part of the Third Ward, while African Americans were economically segregated and lived north of Truxillo Street. By the 1930s the White and Black populations of the Third Ward were about even. After 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...

White residents and the Temple Beth Israel moved from the Third Ward to newly-developed suburbs on the southwest side, and the Third Ward became mostly African American. In the era of racial segregation, Almeda Road, a road located in the Third Ward area that at that time served as a corridor to Downtown Houston

Downtown Houston

, was a busy commercial corridor. The construction of Interstate 45

Interstate 45

Interstate 45 is an intrastate Interstate Highway located entirely within the U.S. state of Texas. It connects the cities of Dallas and Houston, continuing southeast from Houston to Galveston over the Galveston Causeway to the Gulf of Mexico...

in the 1950s separated portions of the historic Third Ward from the rest of the Third Ward and brought those portions into Downtown.

The People's Party II, a Black Panther

Black panther

A black panther is typically a melanistic color variant of any of several species of larger cat. Wild black panthers in Latin America are black jaguars , in Asia and Africa they are black leopards , and in North America they may be black jaguars or possibly black cougars A black panther is...

activist group led by Carl Hampton was organized in the Third Ward in the Spring of 1970 to address police brutality on Blacks in the community. Hampton died from gunshot wounds during that year. In the 1960s and 1970s many families in the Third Ward relocated to racially integrated suburbs; racial integration allowed many Blacks to move to the suburbs, therefore the Third Ward lost some of its population and economic traffic. Despite the relocations the Almeda Road commercial corridor remained busy. Kent Hadnot, the executive director of the Third Ward Redevelopment Council, said in a 2000 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 that blockbusting

Blockbusting

Blockbusting is a business practice of U.S. real estate agents and building developers meant to encourage white property owners to sell their houses at a loss, by implying that racial, ethnic, or religious minorities — Blacks, Hispanics, Jews et al. — were moving into their previously racially...

beginning in the 1970s began to drive homeowners and business owners away from the Third Ward and into suburbs such as Missouri City

Missouri City, Texas

Missouri City is a city located in the U.S. state of Texas within the metropolitan area. The city is mostly in Fort Bend County with a small portion within Harris County. As of the 2000 U.S...

. The construction of Texas State Highway 288, which offered a quicker alternative into Downtown, caused Almeda Road's commercial properties to decline. Many children of Third Ward area business owners, educated in universities, had no desire to work in their parents' businesses, reducing the employee base of the Third Ward businesses. The 1980s oil bust

1980s oil glut

The 1980s oil glut was a serious surplus of crude oil caused by falling demand following the 1970s Energy Crisis. The world price of oil, which had peaked in 1980 at over US$35 per barrel , fell in 1986 from $27 to below $10...

hurt the economy of the Third Ward and the nearby Almeda Road commercial corridor.

From the 1980 U.S. Census to the 1990 Census, many African Americans left traditional African American neighborhood

African American neighborhood

African-American neighborhoods or black neighborhoods are types of ethnic enclaves found in many cities in the United States. Generally, an African American neighborhood is one where the majority of the people who live there are African American. Some of the earliest African American...

s like the Third Ward and went into areas in Southwest Houston.

In 1987 Dr. Joyce Williams, the chairperson of the Southeast Area Council, an organization within the Mayor's Citizens Assistance Council, said that her group stopped referring to the area as the "Third Ward." The practice became official on Wednesday June 3, 1987 The group itself was formerly named the Third Ward Area Council. Williams said "The city has become a cosmopolitan city. The term ‘ward’ is stagnant, unsophisticated, and places areas in isolation." Williams hoped that fellow Houstonians would also stop referring to sections of the city as "wards." Kim Cobb of the 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...

explained that "She's particularly concerned about the Riverside-MacGregor area near the Medical Center

Texas Medical Center

The Texas Medical Center is the largest medical center in the world with one of the highest densities of clinical facilities for patient care, basic science, and translational research...

that her group represents. She thinks the term "Third Ward" implies an economic division that will get in the way of the benefits that will come to the rest of the city from the opening of the George Brown Convention Center." Betty Chapman, a historian, said in 2007 "The wards haven’t had any real meaning since 1905. But people are very interested in them. They’re an important part of our history."

In 1998, a report by the Third Ward Redevelopment Council concluded that the area had 55,000 residents. In addition, the report concluded that area shoppers and residents spend $345 million dollars outside of the Third Ward per year; the residents and shoppers spend the money in other areas such as The Galleria, Meyerland, Rice Village

Rice Village

Rice Village is a shopping district in Houston, Texas, United States.Rice Village is a collection of shops, restaurants and pubs, situated about a half-mile west of the center of Rice University's campus...

, and Sharpstown. By 2000 younger business owners began to increase activity in the Almeda Road corridor. Old Spanish Trail/Almeda TIRZ funded area businesses with collected property taxes and offered incentives to prospective business owners. The redevelopment council offered prospective entrepreneurs lists of contacts and other forms of assistance. Between 1990 and 2000 the Hispanic

Hispanic and Latino Americans

Hispanic or Latino Americans are Americans with origins in the Hispanic countries of Latin America or in Spain, and in general all persons in the United States who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino.1990 Census of Population and Housing: A self-designated classification for people whose origins...

population of the Third Ward increased by between 5 and 10 percent. In 2002 the City of Houston planned to build its olympic village in the Third Ward if its bid for the 2012 Olympic Games was successful; many Third Ward residents and activists stated that they needed to receive some form of economic benefit from the proposed facilities. Houston's bid was rejected later that year.

Around 1996 many artists began moving into the Third Ward. In 2011 Danyahel Norris, a Third Ward resident and a legal research instructor and attorney at Texas Southern University

Texas Southern University

Texas Southern University is a historically black university located in Houston, Texas, United States....

, said that he observed the first sign of gentrification in the Third Ward in 2000, when a crack house

Crack house

Crack house is a term mainly used in the United States used to describe an old, often abandoned or burnt-out building often in an inner-city neighborhood where drug dealers and drug users buy, sell, produce, and use illegal drugs, including, but not limited to, crack cocaine.In the 1980s, inner...

was converted into a high-end residence. By 2004, many wealthier African Americans and Whites began to move into the Third Ward area. Some activists in the Third Ward area created campaigns encouraging area residents to not sell their homes to new residents to avoid gentrification

Gentrification

Gentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with movement. Consequent to gentrification, the average income increases and average family size...

and re-development. By 2006 many townhouses appeared in the area across the freeway from the Third Ward, with childless couples, empty nesters, and yuppies occupying the movements. Garnet Coleman

Garnet Coleman

Garnet F. Coleman is a U.S. politician and a member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 147 since 1991. He is the son of John B. Coleman, M.D...

—a state representative from the area—expressed his opposition to gentrification and a desire to keep the original residents in the neighborhood. Coleman had some control over the Midtown Tax Increment Financing District, which bought land in the Third Ward and enacted deeds restricting what may be done with the land, so that the land could indefinitely be used to house low income residents. In 2009, Coleman said "We learned a lot from the debacle in the Fourth Ward. So it would be stupid not to respond to the negative byproducts of rapid development. We want to find people who will make this community better by becoming part of its fabric, not by changing its fabric." In 2010 Norris published an article in the Thurgood Marshall Law Review stating how existing Third Ward residents could continue to keep their properties, including enforcing deed restrictions; because the City of Houston does not have zoning, many Houston neighborhoods use deed restrictions to maintain their existing setups and atmospheres.

Cityscape

The Third Ward is north of the Riverside Terrace community, North MacGregor Boulevard, and South MacGregor Boulevard. The area is northeast of the Texas Medical Center

Texas Medical Center

The Texas Medical Center is the largest medical center in the world with one of the highest densities of clinical facilities for patient care, basic science, and translational research...

, Hermann Park

Hermann Park

Hermann Park is one of Houston's most-visited public parks. Situated between Fannin Street and Cambridge Street, it is within walking distance from the Texas Medical Center, Rice University, and the Museum District, and within a few miles of the Third Ward, the historic Astrodome and Reliant Stadium...

, and the Houston Museum District

Houston Museum District

The Houston Museum District commonly known as, “The Museum District,” is an association of museums, galleries, cultural centers and community organizations located in Houston, Texas, dedicated to promoting the arts, sciences, and cultural amenities of the area.The Houston Museum District currently...

, which are west of Texas State Highway 288.

Boundaries

Roger Wood, author of Down in Houston: Bayou City Blues, said that "determining exactly where to draw" the boundaries of the Third Ward "is not easily done" due to the variety of opinions about what the Third Ward is. The redevelopment council has a defined set of boundaries, with the Houston Belt & Terminal Railroad as the eastern boundary of the Third Ward area. Joe "Guitar" Hughes, a local musician, stated that the Third Ward's cultural southern boundary was Truxillo Street, regardless of any technical map divisions, due to the cultural division between the shotgun shack areas to the north and the houses to the south. According to Hughes, the eastern boundary is a low rent group of houses near Texas Southern University

Texas Southern University

Texas Southern University is a historically black university located in Houston, Texas, United States....

that he refers to as "Sugar Hill." Wood says that among area musicians, the Third Ward's boundaries are usually thought of as extending southward from the junction of Interstate 45

Interstate 45

(Gulf Freeway) and 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...

(Southwest Freeway) to the Brays Bayou, with Main Street forming the western boundary.

The definition of the Third Ward as of 2004 differs from the definition of the historical Third Ward political entity. Will Howard, an assistant manager of the Texas and local history department of the Houston Public Library

Houston Public Library

Houston Public Library is the public library system serving Houston, Texas, United States. The library system has its headquarters in the Marston Building in Neartown Houston.-History:It can trace its founding to the Houston Lyceum in 1854...

, said in 2004 "They are cultural entities today, not legal entities, and like any culture, they are almost obligated to change." Jeannie Kever of the 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...

said "That evolution allows people to designate the area around Texas Southern University

Texas Southern University

Texas Southern University is a historically black university located in Houston, Texas, United States....

the Third Ward, for example, even though the city limits stopped far short of there in the early 1900s."

Composition

In 1995 T. R. Witcher 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....

reported that the Third Ward, as defined by the Third Ward Redevelopment Council, "may be the most variegated community in Houston." Witcher described the area west of Texas Southern University

Texas Southern University

Texas Southern University is a historically black university located in Houston, Texas, United States....

, "the heart of the Third Ward," as having "blocks of sturdy, well-tended brick houses," and being the "home" to the "diminished but still-viable base of middle-class and working-class homeowners and renters" of the area. The brick houses, south of Truxillo are larger and, in the words of Roger Wood, author of Down in Houston: Bayou City Blues, "nicer" than the housing stock north of Truxillo. Throughout the history of the Third Ward, African Americans gradually occupied the brick houses. As of 2003 the brick houses are in varying conditions; Woods said that some are "beautifully renovated," some are "respectfully maintained," and some are "severely neglected."

Witcher described the northern part of the Third Ward, which in his view "more than any other in the Third Ward, call to mind the word 'ghetto,' Houston-style," as having "rows of shotgun shacks, worn frame houses and fraying apartments" owned by absentee landlords. The section included crime, families affected by welfare dependency, unemployment, and proliferation of recreational drugs. In the summer residents of that area who wanted to cool down from the summer heat sat on porches and visited friends on the streets. The Third Ward area included many churches of varying sizes; some churches still attracted members who lived in Missouri City

Missouri City, Texas

Missouri City is a city located in the U.S. state of Texas within the metropolitan area. The city is mostly in Fort Bend County with a small portion within Harris County. As of the 2000 U.S...

and other suburbs. The shotgun shacks, located north of Truxillo Street, are smaller and more cheaply built than the houses, and they have been historically occupied by working class African Americans. Some shotgun shacks have been continually occupied, and some shotgun shacks have been abandoned; some of the abandoned shotgun shacks have been boarded up.

Dowling Street has served as the main northeast to southeast artery of the Third Ward. The street intersects with Elgin, Holman, Southmore, and Wheeler. It was named after the Confederate soldier Dick Dowling

Richard W. Dowling

Richard William "Dick" Dowling was the victorious commander at the Second Battle of Sabine Pass in the American Civil War, and is considered Houston, Texas's first prominent citizen and hero.-Biography:...

. Roger Wood, author of Down in Houston: Bayou City Blues, said that the street is widely viewed as the center of Houston's blues music culture. Big Robert Smith, an area singer, called Dowling the "main street of black Houston." Witcher described the Dowling Street corridor, which once functioned as the main commercial area of the Third Ward, as still having "many thriving enterprises" while its blocks have "an unsettling profusion of empty, overgrown lots and dilapidated structures."

Local government

The 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....

's South Central Patrol Division, headquartered at 2022 St. Emanuel in the Third Ward, serves the neighborhood.

Fire and emergency medical services are provided by Houston Fire Department

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...

Station 25 Third Ward. The station is in Fire District 46. The station opened at the intersection of Blodgett and Velasco in 1928 and opened in its current location at Rosewood at Scott in 1979.

The city operates the Third Ward Multi-Service Center at 3611 Ennis Street. The city multi-service centers provide several services such as child care, programs for elderly residents, and rental space.

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 D includes the Third Ward. In the 2000s the Third Ward was split between districts D and I. In the 1990s it was split between districts D, E, and I.

In the 1991 Mayor of Houston election most Third Ward voters voted for Sylvester Turner.

The Houston Housing Authority operates Cuney Homes, a public housing complex. Cuney is across from Texas Southern University

Texas Southern University

Texas Southern University is a historically black university located in Houston, Texas, United States....

. It first opened in 1938, and it was modernized in 1997. It is named after Norris Wright Cuney, a Texas politician who assisted African-Americans during the Reconstruction.

The Upper Third Ward Civic Club is a civic club serving part of the community.

County, state, and federal representation

The Third Ward is in Texas's 18th congressional district

Texas's 18th congressional district

Texas District 18 of the United States House of Representatives is a Congressional district that serves much of inner city Houston and the surrounding area...

. Its representative as of 2008 is Sheila Jackson Lee

Sheila Jackson Lee

Sheila Jackson Lee is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1995. The district includes most of inner-city Houston. She is a member of the Democratic Party.-Early life and education:...

Colleges and universities

The historic Third Ward area has the campus of Texas Southern University

Texas Southern University

Texas Southern University is a historically black university located in Houston, Texas, United States....

. In addition, the University of Houston

University of Houston

The University of Houston is a state research university, and is the flagship institution of the University of Houston System. Founded in 1927, it is Texas's third-largest university with nearly 40,000 students. Its campus spans 667 acres in southeast Houston, and was known as University of...

is located within proximity of the area.

Public schools

Area students attend schools in the Houston Independent School District

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...

. The community is within Trustee District IV, represented by Paula M. Harris as of 2009.

Elementary schools serving sections of the Third Ward include Blackshear (located in the Third Ward), Dodson (located in East Downtown), and Lockart in Riverside Terrace, All area residents are zoned to Ryan Middle School

Ryan Middle School (Houston)

James D. Ryan Middle School is a secondary school located in Houston, Texas, United States.Ryan, which serves grades 6 through 8, is a part of the Houston Independent School District....

and Yates High School

Yates High School

Jack Yates Senior High School is a secondary school located at 3703 Sampson in the Third Ward in Houston, Texas with a zip code of 77004. Yates High School handles grades nine through twelve and is part of the Houston Independent School District ....

.

The Texas Southern University

Texas Southern University

Texas Southern University is a historically black university located in Houston, Texas, United States....

/Houston Independent School District Charter Laboratory School is in the Third Ward. The building housing the Contemporary Learning Center

Contemporary Learning Center

DeVry Advantage Academy and CLC at H.P. Carter, previously Contemporary Learning Center , is a secondary school located in Houston, Texas, United States...

and the Young Women's College Preparatory Academy

Young Women's College Preparatory Academy

Young Women's College Preparatory Academy is a university preparatory public secondary school for girls in Houston, Texas that is a part of the Houston Independent School District. It will open in 2011 in the former Contemporary Learning Center building.The school is located in the Third Ward area...

is in the Third Ward area. DeBakey High School is also in the Third Ward area.

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