Acres Homes is a neighborhood located in northwest Houston, Texas. The mile area is loosely bounded by the city limits and West Gulf Bank Road to the north; Pinemont Drive to the south; North Shepherd Drive to the east; and Alabonson Drive to the west. Historically, it has been predominantly African American.

Unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

for decades, it was annexed to Houston in 1967.

History

Acres Homes was established during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, 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. Kristen Mack of the ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With i ...

'' 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 American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

s could own houses and land instead of being in more dense urban areas.Mack, Kristen.
Living in Neglect / Decades of Disappointment / ORIGINALLY MARKETED AS A BIT OF GENTEEL COUNTRY WITH QUICK AND EASY ACCESS TO THE CITY, ACRES HOMES IS AS IMPOVERISHED TODAY AS IT WAS 10 YEARS AGO, RESIDENTS SAY
" ''

''. Sunday November 17, 2002. A20. Retrieved on February 19, 2010. At one time it was the largest

unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

community in the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

.Longoria, Rafael and Susan Rogers.
The Rurban Horseshoe
." ''Cite 73''. The Rice Design Alliance, (Northern Hemisphere) Winter 2008. Page 19. Retrieved on February 24, 2010. 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. The City of Houston annexed about of land in the Acres Homes area in 1967. In 1974 the city annexed another of Acres Homes territory.Lee, Renée C.

" ''

''. Sunday October 8, 2006. A21. Retrieved on July 6, 2011. Print version exclusively has the information cited; the information is ''not'' included in the online edition. Mack said that the appeal of Acres Homes ended around the 1970s. Before it was annexed by the city of Houston, Acres Homes was considered to be the largest unincorporated

community in the

. 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. Annexation began in 1971. As black populations in predominately African-American neighborhoods in the Houston area declined between 1990 and 2000, Lori Rodriguez of the ''

'' wrote that Acres Homes, along with the MacGregor- Riverside Terrace area, "barely held on to their historical population base." On August 30, 2007, the ''

'' published an article about a syphilis outbreak in Houston. Marlene McNeese-Ward, the Houston Health Department chief of

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

/ STD and Viral

Hepatitis Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes ( jaundice), poor appetite, vomiting, tiredness, abdominal ...

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)."Grant, Alexis.
Houston targets syphilis increase
" ''

'', August 29, 2007. B1 MetFront. A gated community in the area opened on 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, a Venezuelan American, developed both properties. In 2016 the Highland Heights Annex Action Committee wrote a letter to their

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 sixteen members, 11 elected from council districts and five at-large. The members of the Council are elected every four years, w ...

member, Jerry Davis, stating opposition to developments of new industrial facilities and townhouses. Acres Homes is still a predominantly African American neighborhood.

Cityscape

The community has of land, much of it in a pine forest. Not much of the land, as of 2002, is used for commercial or industrial purposes. Acres Homes had 8,548 housing units in 2002; 31% were rental units. Housing includes mostly smaller tract-style houses, many with wooden frames, with a smaller number of larger houses on lots with trees. Kristen Mack of the ''

'' stated in 2002 that the lots of the "comfortable" larger houses were "well-maintained" while the smaller houses, among them many

shotgun houses A shotgun house is a narrow rectangular domestic residence, usually no more than about wide, with rooms arranged one behind the other and doors at each end of the house. It was the most popular style of house in the Southern United States from t ...

were "ramshackle". Absentee landlords owned many of the smaller houses. Rafael Longoria and Susan Rogers of the Rice Design Alliance said that the layout of Acres Homes could be described as "rurban," a word coined in 1918 which describes an area with a mix of urban and rural characteristics.Longoria, Rafael and Susan Rogers.
The Rurban Horseshoe
." ''Cite 73''. The Rice Design Alliance, (Northern Hemisphere) Winter 2008. Pages 18-19. Retrieved on February 24, 2010. Undeveloped land permeates Acres Homes in a checkerboard-like pattern.Longoria, Rafael and Susan Rogers.
The Rurban Horseshoe
." ''Cite 73''. The Rice Design Alliance, (Northern Hemisphere) Winter 2008. Pages 21. Retrieved on February 24, 2010. In 2002 Mack stated "Fairly or not, Acres Homes has become synonymous with "

urban blight Urban decay (also known as urban rot, urban death or urban blight) is the sociological process by which a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude. There is no single process that leads to urban deca ...

" in Houston" and that Acres Homes "can best be described as a bit

schizophrenic Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdr ...

." Many acres of land in the community are empty. In 2002, many of the formerly large properties had been sectioned off, and

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

s were commonplace in the neighborhood. Most areas in Acres Homes had no curbs, no sidewalks, and no storm drains. Deep ditches lined many of the streets. As of 2008 Acres Homes has the largest concentration of closed

landfills A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...

in Houston, including permitted and unpermitted ones.Longoria, Rafael and Susan Rogers.
The Rurban Horseshoe
." ''Cite 73''. The Rice Design Alliance, (Northern Hemisphere) Winter 2008. Page 20. Retrieved on February 24, 2010.

Culture

According to Sammie Mae Ford, a resident of Acres Homes quoted in the ''

'', in the 1920s most of the residents had gardens in their yards and raised chickens and hogs. Ford described Acres Homes as "like it was the country" and "a place where people had to help each other." In rap media Acres Homes is nicknamed the "44," pronounced "fo-fo." The name originates from the #44

METRO Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urb ...

bus route that goes through Acres Homes.

Government and infrastructure

Local government

Acres Homes is in

District B. The area is served by the

Houston Police Department The Houston Police Department (HPD) is the primary law enforcement agency serving the City of Houston, Texas, United States and some surrounding areas. With approximately 5,300 officers and 1,200 civilian support personnel it is the fifth-largest ...

's North Divisio

The department previously operated the Acres Homes Storefront. The Houston Fire Department operates Station 67 Acres Homes, a part of Fire District 4. The station was built in 1971. Fire Station 67

The city operates the Acres Homes Multi-Service Center at 6719 West Montgomery Road. The city multi-service centers provide several services such as child care, programs for elderly residents, and rental space. Acres Homes is served by many

bus routes, most notably bus route #44 ("Acres Homes Limited"). After the city annexed portions of Acres Homes beginning in 1971, it began installing sewer and water lines. Some sparsely developed areas and some surrounding areas remained without city services; private companies install services in the surrounding areas. In February 2000 the Acres Homes Super Neighborhood was officially recognized. The boundaries of the Acres Homes Super Neighborhood are

Texas State Highway 249 State Highway 249 (SH 249), also known depending on its location as West Mount Houston Road, the Tomball Parkway, Tomball Tollway, MCTRA 249 Tollway, or the Aggie Expressway, is a generally north–south highway in Southeast Texas. The ...

, Pinemont, North Shepherd, and the

White Oak Bayou White Oak Bayou is a slow-moving river in Houston, Texas. A major tributary of the city's principal waterway, Buffalo Bayou, White Oak originates near the intersection of Texas State Highway 6 and U.S. Highway 290 (the Northwest Freeway) and mea ...

. Because the Acres Homes Citizens Council already existed, much of the groundwork for the Acres Homes Super Neighborhood had already been established before its formation. In 2000 Michael Thibodeaux, the president of the super neighborhood, said that the citizens council "is pretty much almost the super neighborhood." Beulah Shephard, described by Kristen Mack of the ''

'' as the "matriarch" of Acres Homes, said in 2002 that the Harris County, which provided services to residents before the Houston annexation, provided better services than the city. As of 2002 Acres Homes has 16 civic associations that serve portions of the community.

County representation

The

Harris County Hospital District The Harris Health System, previously the Harris County Hospital District (HCHD), is a governmental entity with taxing authority that owns and operates three hospitals and numerous clinics throughout Harris County, Texas, United States, includin ...

operates the Acres Home Health Center and the Acres Home Eligibility Center in Acres Homes. The health center opened on May 17, 1971. The designated public hospital is Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital in Northeast Houston.

Demographics

According to the 2000 census, the current population of Acres Homes Super Neighborhood #6 is 23,512.Super Neighborhood #6 Demographics
." City of Houston. Retrieved on February 20, 2010. In 1997 37% of the residents had an average annual household income below $15,000.

Media

The ''

'' is the citywide newspaper. The ''

African-American News and Issues ''African-American News and Issues'' (AANI) is a weekly African-American newspaper published in Houston, Texas. The newspaper is distributed to zip codes that have the largest concentrations of African Americans within the state of Texas. Circulat ...

'' was established in 1996 as a community newspaper for Acres Homes.

Education

Primary and secondary schools

Houston Independent School District

The eastern part of the community is located in the

Houston Independent School District The Houston Independent School District (HISD) is the largest public school system in Texas, and the eighth-largest in the United States. Houston ISD serves as a community school district for most of the city of Houston and several nearby and ...

(HISD). The HISD portion is divided by Highland Heights, Wesley, and Osborne Elementary schools. All HISD Acres Homes residents are zoned to Williams Middle School in Acres Homes.Acres Homes Coalition Schools
" ''

''. October 30, 2001. Retrieved on May 6, 2009. All HISD area residents are served by Booker T. Washington High School in the Independence Heights community. Prior to Houston ISD's 2005 reorganization, the Acres homes Administrative Division, headquartered in Wesley Elementary School, helped manage the area elementary and middle schools. In February 2010 HISD opened the High School Ahead Academy (HSAA) in Acres Homes. It is a school which allows over-age middle school students to rapidly accelerate through school so they can catch up. It is located in the former Hohl Elementary School campus.School Histories: the Stories Behind the Names
"
Archive

. Retrieved on June 30, 2011. In summer 1991 the principal of Wesley, Thaddeus Lott, received media attention, and that fall the school grew by 250 students as area parents, including some from other school districts, wished to enroll their children in Wesley.

Aldine Independent School District

The western part of Acres Homes is in the

Aldine Independent School District The Aldine Independent School District is a public school district based in unincorporated Harris County, Texas, United States. It serves portions of Houston and unincorporated Harris County. Aldine ISD serves the communities of Aldine, most of ...

. A portion of the Aldine ISD section of Acres Homes is zoned to Carver High School, while the other portion is served by Eisenhower High School. In 1977 the

Federal Government of the United States The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fe ...

placed on Aldine ISD, asking it to desegregate several majority Black schools. Enacted in 1978, the plan required Aldine ISD to redraw the attendance boundaries of its schools so that no more than 30% of the students of each school were African-American. As a result, three schools in Acres Homes became 5-6 grade schools. Carver High School was no longer a zoned school and became a magnet school.

Klein Independent School District

A portion of the northern part of Acres Homes is within the

Klein Independent School District Klein Independent School District (Klein ISD) is a school district that covers in Harris County, Texas, United States. It became an independent school district in 1938. Almost all of the territory is unincorporated; a small portion of Houston i ...

and is served by

Klein Forest High School Klein Forest High School is a public senior high school in unincorporated Harris County, Texas, near Houston. It is a part of the Klein Independent School District. It was the second high school built in Klein ISD. Opening in the Fall of 1979, ...

Private schools

Houston Sudbury School is in Acres homes.

Community colleges

The

Houston Community College Houston Community College (HCC), also known as Houston Community College System (HCCS) is a public community college system that operates community colleges in Houston, Missouri City, Greater Katy, and Stafford in Texas. It is notable for active ...

serves the portions in Houston ISD.Sec. 130.182. HOUSTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM DISTRICT SERVICE AREA. Sec. 130.191. LONE STAR COLLEGE SYSTEM DISTRICT SERVICE AREA.
/ref>

Lone Star College System Lone Star College (LSC) is a public community college system serving the northern portions of the Greater Houston, Texas, area. In 2017 it enrolled about 95,000 students. The headquarters of the Lone Star College System are located in The Woo ...

(formerly the North Harris Montgomery Community College District) serves the Aldine ISD portion. In 1972 residents of Aldine ISD and two other K-12 school districts voted to create the North Harris County College. The community college district began operations in the northern hemisphere fall of 1973. The Victory Center of Lone Star College–North Harris is located in Acres Homes.

Public libraries

The area is served by the Acres Homes Neighborhood Library of the

Houston Public Library Houston Public Library is the public library system serving Houston, Texas, United States. History Houston Lyceum and the Carnegie Library The Houston Public Library system traces its founding to the creation of the second Houston Lyceum in 1 ...

Notable residents

* C.N. Love, newspaper publisher and civil rights activist is buried at Paradise Cemetery in Acres Homes *

Sylvester Turner Sylvester Turner (born September 27, 1954) is an American attorney and politician who is serving as the 62nd mayor of Houston, Texas. A member of the Democratic Party, Turner was a member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1989 until 201 ...

, elected Mayor of Houston in 2016 and former Texas House of Representatives member and Chairman of Budget and Oversight of the Regulated Industries Committee, grew up in Acres Homes and attended

Klein High School Klein High School is a public high school located in Klein, Texas, United States, located approximately from Downtown Houston. It serves grades 9– 12 in the Klein Independent School District. The current principal of Klein High School is Bran ...

, graduating as Valedictorian of his senior class. *Actress

Loretta Devine Loretta Devine (born August 21, 1949) is an American actress, singer and voice actor. She is known for numerous roles across stage and screen. Her most high profile roles include Lorrell Robinson in the original Broadway production of '' Dreamg ...

grew up and attended grade school in Acres Homes. *Rappers

Riff Raff (rapper) Horst Christian Simco (born January 29, 1982), better known by his stage name Riff Raff (often stylized as RiFF RAFF), is an American rapper. He was originally managed by Swishahouse co-founder OG Ron C. After being associated with rapper and ...

, Chamillionaire,

Paul Wall Paul Michael Slayton (born March 11, 1981), better known by his stage name Paul Wall, is an American rapper and DJ. He has spent much of his career affiliated with Swishahouse Records, and has released several albums under the label and collabor ...

and

Slim Thug Stayve Jerome Thomas (born September 8, 1980), better known by his stage name Slim Thug, is an American rapper. He initially gained mainstream attention for his contribution to the hit single by rapper Mike Jones, " Still Tippin'". In July 2005, ...

grew up or lived in Acres Homes; singer/songwriter Johnny "Guitar" Watson lived in Acres Homes. *

Carl Crawford Carl Demonte Crawford (born August 5, 1981), nicknamed "The Perfect Storm", is an American former professional baseball left fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Rays, Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers. He ba ...

has a home in Acres Homes. * Thaddeus S. Lott Sr. (National Renown Educator) Born and worked as revolutionary educator in Acres Homes.