Shaun Vembutty | Houston Heights | The Heights I
Established prior to the turn of the century in 1891, The “Houston Heights” was realized by the construction of streets, schools, public parks, and utility services put in place by the South Texas Land Company. According to Ashton Gray Development, it was one of the first planned communities in Texas, and was spearheaded by the affluent and wealthy millionaire, Oscar Martin Carter.
At that time, Shaun Vembutty says that the development cost a total of $500,000 and it was marketed to those who were hoping to escape the crowded inner city of Houston. Currently, the district that is commonly referred to as “The Heights” includes more recently added neighborhoods that lie adjacent to the original development of the “Houston Heights”. The Heights were initially an independent Municipality but were brought into the greater City of Houston by 1919. Industrial parties utilized this Northwest Central region of Houston during the post WWII era, but residentially speaking, the neighborhood had become synonymously associated with low-income housing and crime by the 1970s.
The seedy and dangerous personality of the Heights became infamously linked with the likes of Dean Corll, the serial killer known for coaxing young male teens into dwellings he lived in around the area. With the promise of parties, he would abduct them for rape and torture, and then eventually kill them with two teenage male accomplices. This grisly string of murders where at least 28 boys died of either strangulation or a .22 caliber pistol became known as the Houston Mass Child Murders and spanned in a timeframe between 1970–1973. Corll was referred to in law enforcement circles as “The Candyman” or “The Pied Piper” because his family was known in the community as the owners of a local candy store and Dean was remembered as a smiling face that would often hand out free candy to the neighborhood children.
During the decade between 1980 and 1990, the population of the Heights plummeted over one thousand people per square mile, as it seemed few wanted to live in the locale associated with what was known during the time as one of the most awful cases of serial killings in American History. But as previously exhibited by Shaun Vembutty with Ashton Gray Development, time can heal many wounds with regards to Real Estate property values, and the location of the Heights within the coveted 6–10 loop of Houston, a dated taboo on an ideally situated neighborhood is bound to fade. Today the district has been revived with young professionals moving to the area, many of whom enjoy prestigious employment in Downtown Houston and the culture of the Heights has improved in both its image and with what it has to offer both the visitor and the resident. Much like Bellaire, it has been redefined in a modernized affect all the while maintaining much of its historical concept through the refurbishing of original architecture. Although many of the retro homes have been demolished, the landscape of this region of Houston is a bit paradoxical with its exhibition of newly built boutiques alongside still standing homes that were constructed in the early 1900s.
