Denver Harbor is a historic community located in eastern

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

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near the

Houston Ship Channel The Houston Ship Channel, in Houston, Texas, is part of the Port of Houston, one of the busiest seaports in the world. The channel is the conduit for ocean-going vessels between Houston-area terminals and the Gulf of Mexico, and it serves a ...

. The community, bounded by Wallisville Road, the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

, and the Port Terminal Railroad Association, was first settled in the 1890s and

platted In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Surveys to show the distance and bear ...

in 1911 and 1913. The community includes many historic bungalow and cottage homes.Denver Harbor
" ''Houston Hope Homes''. Retrieved on May 2, 2009. Denver Harbor is a mostly Hispanic community.
" ''Denver Harbor/Port Houston Super Neighborhood Community Health Assessment Report''. ''City of Houston Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Surveillance and Public Health Preparedness.

History

Denver Harbor was first settled in the 1890s and

in 1911 and 1913. The four original subdivisions were: Denver, Harbor, Harbordale, and Liberty Heights. The names "Denver" and "Harbor" merged and became the name "Denver Harbor," which describes the entire community.Babineck, Mark, Alysha N. Hernandez, and the Austin Bureau.
A Houstonian has persuaded the state House to make his boyhood neighborhood an `official mythical town' / Podunk, Texas - not far away, really
" ''

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 ...

''. Thursday May 10, 2007. B1 MetFront. Retrieved on April 4, 2009. Many early residents of Denver Harbor were Texans who left farms for the city neighborhood to make a better life for themselves and their families. These residents found work on the railroads and industrial companies that were established along the Houston Ship Channel.

Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, ot ...

Italians , flag = , flag_caption = The national flag of Italy , population = , regions = Italy 55,551,000 , region1 = Brazil , pop1 = 25–33 million , ref1 = , region2 ...

, and

Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in ...

settled Denver Harbor.Berryhill, Michael. "What's Wrong With Wheatley?." ''

Houston Press The ''Houston Press'' is an online newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in the Midtown area. It was also a weekly print newspaper until November 2017. The publication is supported entirely by advertising ...

''. April 17, 1997.
3
Retrieved on March 31, 2009. The City of Houston annexed the Denver Harbor and Houston Harbor communities in 1929, adding of land to the city limits.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. On June 1, 1939, the word "Podunk" was mysteriously written on the side of the local water tower. The city tried repeatedly to cover over the word, however the name would always reappear within days. Inspired by the defiance of the sign's unknown painter, area residents soon began to identify as Podunkers. The names was adopted by a local youth basketball team known as the ''Podunk Skunks''. The names, used in the 1930s and 1940s, was in reference to how Denver Harbor was considered to be "out-of-the-way." The slang became known after area children painted the word on a water tower.Babineck, Mark.
"Podunk" loses shot at mythic status
' ''

''. June 9, 2007. Retrieved on March 31, 2009. Jay Grady, an area resident, stated in a 2007 ''

'' article that residents felt proud of the nickname since back then Denver Harbor was barely in the eastern city limits of Houston and that "it was kind of like living in the country rather than being in the city." Grady added that the community was "always been kind of a stepchild to the city of Houston, kind of a hardscrabble community, mostly blue-collar workers on the eastern edge of the city limits. We felt like we lived in the country rather than in town." As the population transitioned from working-class

White American White Americans are Americans who identify as and are perceived to be white people. This group constitutes the majority of the people in the United States. As of the 2020 Census, 61.6%, or 204,277,273 people, were white alone. This represented ...

s to

Hispanic American Hispanic and Latino Americans ( es, Estadounidenses hispanos y latinos; pt, Estadunidenses hispânicos e latinos) are Americans of Spanish and/or Latin American ancestry. More broadly, these demographics include all Americans who identify a ...

s the nickname was no longer used. Dr. Jay Grady self-published 2,000 copies of his book ''Where the Hell is Podunk, Texas?'', which is about Denver Harbor. In addition he lobbied to have Denver Harbor declared as the "official mythical town of Texas" due to the "Podunk" nickname. A

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abo ...

resolution that would have declared this was passed by the House and then rejected by most of the members of the

Texas Senate The Texas Senate ( es, Senado de Texas) is the upper house of the Texas State Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing single-member districts across the U.S. state of Texas, with populations of approximately 806,000 per co ...

, including

Mario Gallegos Mario Valentin Gallegos Jr. (September 8, 1950 – October 16, 2012) was an American Democratic politician in the U.S. state of Texas. He was the senator from District 6 in the Texas Senate, which serves a portion of Harris County. Politic ...

, a Texas senator whose district includes Denver Harbor. In August 2007 Tropical Storm Erin flooded streets and houses in Denver Harbor. By 2008 residents from the area vocally opposed a perceived increase in crime.

Government and infrastructure

The city operates the Denver Harbor Multi-Service Center at 6402 Market Street. The city multi-service centers provide several services such as child care, programs for elderly residents, and rental space. HFDStation27

It is a part of Houston City Council District H. The City of Houston operates Fire Station 27. As

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

began, the city government was working on plans for Station 27. It opened at the intersection of Kress Street and Lyons Avenue in 1941. In November 2002 the groundbreaking for the current Station 27, larger than the previous one, occurred. A Community Development Block Grant funded the new station. It opened at its current location, 6515 Lyons Avenue, in May 2004. The

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the ...

operates the Denver Harbor Post Office at 5901 Market Street. In July 2011 the USPS announced that the post office may close. Some area residents criticized the proposed closure.Horswell, Cindy and Megan Ryan.
South Texas post office closures 'heart breaking' for many
" ''

''. July 26, 2011. Retrieved on July 27, 2011.

Parks and recreation

The City of Houston operates the Selena Quintanilla Perez Park-Denver Harbor, named after

Selena Quintanilla-Pérez Selena Quintanilla Pérez (; April 16, 1971 – March 31, 1995), known mononymously as Selena, was an American Tejano singer. Called the " Queen of Tejano music", her contributions to music and fashion made her one of the most celebrated Mexi ...

, at 6402 Market Street. The park has a 0.87 mile hiking and bicycle trail, a volleyball court, a swimming pool, a playground, and a lighted sports field. The city operates the Selena Quintanilla Perez Community Center, which has a weight room, and indoor gymnasium, and meeting rooms, at the same address.Selena Quintanilla Perez Community Center
" ''City of Houston''. Retrieved on January 3, 2009. Cliff Tuttle Park is located at 6200 Lyons Avenue. Santos & Esther Nieto Park is located at 500 Port Street.

Culture

The north-south

railroad tracks separate Denver Harbor from the Fifth Ward. David Benson, an assistant to former Harris County Commissioner El Franco Lee, described the railroad line as "a semi-permeable membrane." In the 1990s many Fifth Ward African-Americans went into Denver Harbor to shop at the area supermarket and stores, while the Denver Harbor Hispanics rarely entered the Fifth Ward.

Education

Primary and secondary schools

Residents attend 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 ...

. Denver Harbor is in Trustee District VIII, represented by Diana Dávila as of 2009. Zoned elementary schools serving sections of the neighborhood include Charles Eliot Elementary School, Raul C. Martínez Elementary School, Pugh Elementary School, and Scroggins Elementary School. Pugh Elementary is in the Denver Annex area Block 6. Eliot Elementary is in Harbor Homesite. Scroggins Elementary School is in Houston Harbor Block 37 and Houston Harbor Annex Block 10. R. Martínez Elementary is in Houston Harbor blocks 77, 81, and 85. All areas in Denver Harbor are zoned to McReynolds Middle School and Wheatley High School. McReynolds is in Denver Addition Blocks 10-11, 14-15, and 34-35. Wheatley is outside of Denver Harbor, in the Fifth Ward. Eliot opened in 1926. Pugh received its name in 1952. McReynolds opened in 1957. Scroggins opened in 1968.School Histories: the Stories Behind the Names
." ''

''. Retrieved on September 24, 2008. Wheatley High School, in the Fifth Ward, was desegregated, Houston ISD rezoned Denver Harbor, which at that time had few White residents of school age and was predominantly Hispanic, to Wheatley. Many area Hispanic students preferred to attend Austin High School and

Furr High School Ebbert L. Furr High School is a secondary school located in Houston, Texas, United States. Furr, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Houston Independent School District. Furr is adjacent to Hermann Brown Park and the Songwood subdi ...

as they became the majority population at those schools. Even though Denver Harbor and the Fifth Ward are both zoned to Wheatley, the two areas are represented by different board members. Martínez opened in 1994. The

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

operates Resurrection School, a 3K-8 coeducational

Roman Catholic school Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syst ...

, at 916 Majestic Street, in Denver Addition Block 26. In summer 1937 its first building was built. From the 2011-2012 to 2012-2013 school years enrollment was projected to increase by 55%. - The source states Resurrection School is in the East End, but it is i
Denver Harbor
which is not in th
East End district

Community college

Residents are within the

Houston Community College System Houston Community College (HCC), also known as Houston Community College System (HCCS) is a Public college, public community college system that operates community colleges in Houston, Texas, Houston, Missouri City, Texas, Missouri City, Greater ...

boundaries.

Public libraries

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 ...

operates the Cliff Tuttle Neighborhood Library at 702 Kress Street.

Notable residents

* Ben Reyes (former politician and felon)Rodriguez, Lori.
Ben Reyes: His old friends hardly know him anymore
" ''

''. June 2, 1991. A1. *

A. J. Foyt Anthony Joseph Foyt Jr. (born January 16, 1935) is an American retired auto racing driver who has raced in numerous genres of motorsports. His open wheel racing includes United States Automobile Club Champ cars, sprint cars, and midget cars. H ...

, race car driver

References

External links

Denver Harbor Civic Club
*
The Denver Harbor Collaborative
" ''St. Luke's Episcopal Health Charities''.
Where the Hell is Podunk, Texas?
{{Houston, Texas Neighborhoods in Houston