Fourth Ward, Houston

The Italian Americans opened small businesses and, over a period of time, acquired more and more Fourth Ward property.

A narrative that accompanied the 1984 application of the Fourth Ward to become listed in the National Register of Historic Places, based on various historical documents and deed records, said that the crowded conditions and high rent prices may have led to a riot in 1917 when African-American soldiers stationed in the area attacked White people.

[1] The Fourth Ward lost prominence due to its inability to expand geographically, as other developments hemmed in the area.

[6] Located on the north side of the Fourth Ward, it originally was an all-White development that had the name San Felipe Courts.

After the civil rights reforms of the 1960s, black homeowners began leaving the Fourth Ward, leading to further decline.

[8] Starting in the 1970s the City of Houston wanted to demolish Allen Parkway Village while residents fought to have the entire structure remain.

"[9] The Handbook of Texas said "In the 1980s and 1990s the continued future of the Fourth Ward as a black community came under serious attack" due to plans to demolish Allen Parkway Village and replace the complex with housing for high income people and office buildings.

[12] In the 1990s a former city planning commission member founded Houston Renaissance, a nonprofit private charity sustained by federal and municipal funds.

[16] During the late 1990s the Fourth Ward Redevelopment Corporation was founded in order to preserve historical aspects of the community.

During that year Jeannie Kever of the Houston Chronicle said "many people claim it is too late" to salvage the historical aspects of the community.

"[17] Patricia Smith Prather, the executive director of the Texas Trailblazer Preservation Association, said in 2004 "The developers have literally stolen the Fourth Ward.

[46] The modern day area that is the Fourth Ward is west of Downtown Houston and extends roughly to Taft and Webster.

The former political district, when it was disestablished in 1906, extended south to Richmond Avenue and west to Montrose Boulevard, and included much of what is now Downtown today.

[2] Its boundaries included Congress Avenue to the north, Main Street to the East, and the Rice University area to the south.

[3] Initially the community was made up of 28 blocks west of the center of Houston, north of San Felipe Road and south of the Buffalo Bayou.

[50] Beginning 1908 the area "The Reservation" served as a red light district, but it was demolished by 1944 to make way for Allen Parkway Village.

Sherry Thomas of the USA Today stated that the lack of regulation construction in Houston has taken away from the historical landscape of the Fourth Ward.

[16] Almost all of the shotgun houses had large front porches; the narrative accompanying the 1984 National Register of Historic Places application said that the porches allowed the houses to cool down, and also allowed residents to talk to neighbors and watch children, who only had the streets as a viable place to play.

The area west of Buckner street has many two story suburban style houses on small lots, intended for lower income individuals.

Many longtime African-American residents who had lived in the neighborhood for long periods of time were unable to afford to qualify to pay for loans to buy the newer subsidized houses or the townhouses.

[11] Lisa Gray of the Houston Chronicle said that the ten shotgun houses on 1501 to 1519 Victor Street, in one row, "were apparently built in two phases.

Jill Jewett, the assistant for cultural affairs of Mayor of Houston Bill White, said that the city government wants the community to preserve the 1500 block of Victor houses.

"[16] That year, the owners of the ten houses, Kimsu and Kimberly Hoang, filed a demolition permit with the City of Houston.

Its president, Christine Diaz, said the organization is working to bridge the gap between the old and the new while Mayor of Houston Bill White said that he is trying to bring people together by making improvements to the Fourth Ward that most of its residents want.

[64] On March 21, 2002 the HISD board voted 5-3 to acquire a six block tract of land bounded by Andrews, Genesee, Taft, and West Gray, adjacent to Gregory Lincoln, for construction of a new school.

Anthony Pizzitola, an owner of one of the houses and a resident of Braeswood, started a campaign against the acquisition, arguing that the district was trying to take valuable real estate rather than genuinely trying to build new schools.

[65] In 2009 the HISD administration proposed relocating Carnegie Vanguard High School from a location near the Sunnyside neighborhood to the Fourth Ward.

[70] On Wednesday March 25, 2009 the City of Houston bought the remains of the Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, which received damage in a fire in 2005.

Antonio Tomasino Jr., a grocer, owned two buildings, built by black contractors, including the shotgun at 1514 Wilson and the workman's cottage at 1404 Victor.

[47] A White American filmmaker named James Blue directed a 1978 film called "Who Killed Fourth Ward?