Mapping Houston Heights — Houston’s First Suburb

Houston Heights was one of the first planned communities in Texas and Houston’s first suburb. The development promised to be “a new field of enterprise worthy of close cultivation by the Home-seeker and Capitalist,” and a community where residents could live and work in health and safety.[1] The suburb takes its name from its location — it was built on land situated sixty-two feet above sea level and 23 feet higher than downtown Houston. The elevation was helpful to avoid the flooding and yellow fever epidemics that plagued the city at the time.[2] The land was heavily timbered with pine, sweetgum, and oak trees.[3] Bordered to the south by the White Oak Bayou, it is identified as being only 1.5 miles from Houston’s Grand Central Depot on the Missouri-Kansas-Texas (MKT) line.[4] A map showcasing Houston Heights was created to display its most prominent features and attract residents and businesses to the new neighborhood.

[left] Map of Houston Heights, Harris County, Texas owned by the Omaha & South Texas Land Co., Houston, Texas, Boston: Forbes Co., 1891, Map #94458, Map Collection, Archives and Records Program, Texas General Land Office, Austin, TX. [right] Inside cover of the pamphlet that accompanied the map.

The Omaha & South Texas Land Company,[5] a subsidiary of the American Loan and Trust Company and the original owners and developers of Houston Heights, purchased the land where the new community would be located on May 5, 1891. The company was led by O.M. Carter, President; C.S. Montgomery, Vice President; Philip Potter, Secretary; Daniel Denton Cooley,[6] Treasurer; N.L. Mills, Superintendent of the Real Estate Department; W.J. Connery; and F.E. Clarke.

Cooley, known as the “Father of Houston Heights,” was instrumental in the formation of the community, and invested handsomely in his vision on behalf of the Omaha & South Texas Land Company.[7] Perhaps nothing was as grand as Heights Boulevard, the main thoroughfare for the community. “He was very stubborn, I’m told, about those two bridges,” said Dr. Denton Cooley, the grandson of Daniel, and famed Houston heart surgeon. “He wanted to make the Heights Boulevard elegant.”[8]

An inset that shows how the grand Heights Boulevard would be situated.

Cooley modeled the street after Boston’s Commonwealth Boulevard and planned to feature this tree-lined road prominently with attention to aesthetics, both on the map and on the ground.[9] The 150-foot wide boulevard consisted of a 60-foot wide esplanade with native trees and grass in the middle, two 30-foot wide streets on either side, 15-foot wide sidewalks paved with shell, and an electric street railway.[10] Cross streets were 70 feet wide, with the dimensions noted on an inset in the lower-left corner of the map. Streets that ran east and west were numbered 1st — 29th Avenues, while streets that ran north and south were named for American colleges and universities. A 1955 Houston Chronicle article described Heights Boulevard as “the most gracious street in all of heavenly Houston.”[11]

This map shows the extent of planning necessary to create an appealing and functional community. In addition to the features resulting from Cooley’s influence, Houston Heights included a steam railroad that connected the community to the twelve railroad depots in the city proper, as well as residences, businesses, and other buildings upon the 1,756 acres of land purchased for the venture. Construction began in 1892, taking only six weeks for 200 workers to cut down trees and build and grade 28.5 miles of streets, 36% of the total roads constructed. Workers used lumber that was manufactured from the townsite to construct homes and other buildings.

The Galveston Daily News indicates that approximately $1 million had been spent on developing Houston Heights by the Omaha & South Texas Land Company.

These efforts combined “to make up the grand sum total of the choicest and most desirable real estate ever put on the market in the Southwest,” according to a promotional pamphlet. The company advertised graded and paved streets with “artificial stone curbings and sidewalks,” as well as its own artesian waterworks system and electric light and power plant, and boasted of being sewer-drained throughout. Additionally, schools and parks were included in the company’s investment. The Omaha & South Texas Land Company invested approximately $1,000,000 for improvements and had a weekly payroll of $1,000 for employees as of June 1892.[12]

Denton Cooley’s home is featured alongside other residences on the left side of the map.

Cooley’s home, which is featured on an inset on the center-left portion of the map, along with two others, was one of the first houses built in the new community in 1893 and served as an example of the type of house to be constructed on Heights Boulevard.[13] Ornate Victorian-style homes made of cypress, a termite deterrent, lined the boulevard. Cooley’s home set a standard of sophistication with huge chandeliers, inlaid wood floors, a marble wash basin in each bedroom, primitive intercom systems, and large oval stained-glass windows, including one with a rare ruby red Tiffany glass with a rose design.[14] Other Victorian homes featured on the map belonged to G.B. Hengen, Esq., and N.L. Mills, Esq. Unfortunately, Cooley’s home was demolished in 1968. There is a Texas Historical Commission marker at the site of the home, erected in 1991.[15]

The map features several factories to indicate the successful businesses that called Houston Heights home. This was a way to appeal to workers, as well as promote the community to other businesses that might be interested in relocating.

Additional buildings featured on the map include red-brick structures, indicating the industrial and commercial appeal of the neighborhood. The Electric Light and Power Company is shown on the left. On the right, from top to bottom, are the Houston Heights Brick & Tile Works, a basket factory, a furniture factory, and the Houston Heights Sash Door & Blind Factory. On the bottom left is a massive structure identified as the Car Works, which manufactured railroad cars.

In addition to Cooley’s vision on the ground, the Omaha & South Texas Land Company had true heavyweights of industry leading the company according to local newspapers issued throughout 1892. On June 19, the Galveston Daily News reported the company was actively entertaining outside investors “so that they might see how a modern town is built.” Location visits were elaborately planned for their guests: wives were included on the site tour, meals were served on fine white hotel china, and ice cream was provided for dessert. A huge bell was rung at lunchtime to feed workers “both black and white,” including tree cutters, road workers, teamsters, brickmakers, and laborers. [16]

A detail shows the Houston Heights Car Works, which manufactured railroad cars.

Published in the September 17 issue of the Galveston Daily News, a telegraph received from Omaha & South Texas Land Company President O.M. Carter reported that he closed a deal with capitalists and manufacturers in the eastern U.S. to build a streetcar factory in Houston Heights. Carter’s reputation was that of an incredibly persuasive and influential businessman. “Mr. Carter’s standing abroad is such that business men and capitalists who know him are willing to take hold of almost any business project upon his representation, because they are satisfied there will be nothing misleading in anything he would say.” The car factory was planned to be built on blocks 40 and 41, and the south half of blocks 30 and 31. [17]

Indicative of how quickly projects were accomplished, there were reports of the first two bright yellow streetcars produced in Houston Heights taking to the streets only two months later. It was hoped that the streetcars would be a “great convenience to the sightseers.”[18]

The Houston Heights Hotel provided glamorous contrast to the surrounding factories.

Three months later, on December 10, the same newspaper reported that the Omaha and South Texas Land Company signed a contract to bring the Omaha Basket Company to Houston Heights. The president of the basket company cited the superior advantages of Houston Heights as a manufacturing center as the reasoning behind bringing his company — along with a capital investment of $500,000 — to the area.[19] In glamorous contrast to the factories shown on the map is the three-story Houston Heights Hotel in the lower right corner. The hotel’s construction was reported to have cost $100,000, and it opened November 1, 1892. It had a unique architectural style; a crescent-shaped building with every room front-facing, and fine Mexican onyx throughout.

Considering the elegance of the houses along Heights Boulevard, especially the opulence of Cooley’s home, housing was relatively inexpensive. Lots were platted in a variety of sizes so that people of all economic levels could afford to move into the neighborhood. The typical residential block contains 24 residential lots, each 50-feet wide. Corner lots and lots allocated for churches, schools, or important houses on or near Heights Boulevard were often larger in size.[20]

An 1893 advertisement for Houston Heights in the Galveston Daily News promoting $250 lots, and the neighborhood as a residential and industrial suburb with many manufacturing enterprises in operation and under construction.

Individual lots started at $250 and were marketed to blue-collar workers and the middle class who worked in downtown Houston.[21] Residents’ occupational diversity included professions such as bookkeeping, dentistry, painting, yard maintenance, printing, bartending, and everything in between.[22] There was even a small Mexican community that grew up at Factory Village around the Oriental Textile Mills, where workers made cloth from camel hair.[23]

Houston Heights made history as one of the first planned communities in Texas, and the first suburb of Houston. Developers invested heavily to build the community rapidly. The town was incorporated in 1896, and the population reached 830 four years later. By 1908, it had grown to 6,000. In 1918 residents voted for annexation to the city of Houston. After World War II, Houston Heights struggled to maintain its status as a modern community, and many original structures were repurposed or torn down. It wasn’t until 1991 that the neighborhood began to rebound from its postwar decline.

Blocks are were laid out in an orderly grid and subdivided into individual lots.

The Texas Historical Commission established a historical marker on Heights Boulevard detailing the neighborhood’s history, and more than 100 Houston Heights structures were listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The suburb is also a member of the Texas Urban Main Street program, which sought to revitalize the area. Today, Houston Heights has regained its popularity as an ideal spot for the citizens of Houston to work and play.

Reproductions of this map can be purchased from the GLO’s website.

[1] Cover of pamphlet associated with Map of Houston Heights, Harris County, Texas owned by the Omaha & South Texas Land Co., Houston, Texas, Boston: Forbes Co., 1891, Map #94458, Map Collection, Archives and Records Program, Texas General Land Office, Austin, TX.

[2] “History.” Houston Heights Association. Accessed May 15, 2018. http://www.houstonheights.org/about/history/.

[3] Handbook of Texas Online, Diana J. Kleiner, “Houston Heights, TX,” accessed May 11, 2018, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hvhab. Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Modified on March 23, 2017. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.

[4] Handbook of Texas Online, Donovan L. Hofsommer, “Missouri-Kansas-texas Railroad,” accessed May 15, 2018, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/eqm08. Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.

[5] For more information on the Omaha & South Texas Land Company, consult the John A. Milroy Collection and the McKinney Papers. MSS 169. Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Houston Public Library.

[6] Daniel Denton Cooley is the grandfather of Dr. Denton Arthur Cooley, the founder of the Texas Heart Institute, and one of the most influential heart surgeons in history.

[7] Handbook of Texas Online, Gayle Davies, “Cooley, Daniel Denton,” accessed May 11, 2018, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fcomd. Uploaded on June 12, 2010. Modified on December 12, 2016. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.

[8] Rahman, Fauzeya, “In the Heights, the past is not that far off,” Houston Chronicle, May 19, 2016. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/local/history/article/In-the-Heights-the-past-is-not-that-far-off-7723357.php. Accessed May 11, 2018.

[9] Houston Heights West, East and South. Historic Preservation Manual: City of Houston Planning & Development Department. City of Houston. 2013. https://www.houstontx.gov/planning/HistoricPres/HistoricPreservationManual/historic_districts/heights_history.html. (Accessed on May 21, 2018).

[10] Protected Landmark Designation Report — Houston Heights Water Works. Archaeological & Historical Commission, City of Houston Planning and Development Department. https://www.houstontx.gov/planning/HistoricPres/landmarks/15PL123_Heights_Water_Works.pdf (Accessed on May 11, 2018).

[11] Rahman, “In the Heights, the past is not that far off.”

[12] The Galveston Daily News. (Galveston, Tex.), Vol. 51, №87, Ed. 1 Sunday, June 19, 1892, newspaper, June 19, 1892; Galveston, Texas. (texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth469037/m1/5/?q=cooley%20%22houston%20heights%22: accessed May 14, 2018), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Library Consortium.

[13] Carter & Cooley put Heights on the Map, The Leader, July 30, 2017. http://theleadernews.com/carter-cooley-put-heights-on-the-map/. Accessed on May 11, 2018.

[14] Texas State Historical Association. The Junior Historian, Volume 25, Number 1, September 1964, periodical, September 1964; Austin, Texas. (texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth391335/m1/16/?q=%22DANIEL%20DENTON%20COOLEY%22%20houston%20heights: accessed May 11, 2018), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.

[15] Daniel Denton Cooley Historical Marker. Atlas Number 5201010640. Texas Historical Commission. https://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/Details/5201010640/print. (Accessed May 21, 2018).

[16] The Galveston Daily News. (Galveston, Tex.), Vol. 51, №87, Ed. 1 Sunday, June 19, 1892, newspaper, June 19, 1892; Galveston, Texas. (texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth469037/m1/5/?q=cooley%20%22houston%20heights%22: accessed May 14, 2018), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Library Consortium.

[17] The Galveston Daily News. (Galveston, Tex.), Vol. 51, №177, Ed. 1 Saturday, September 17, 1892, newspaper, September 17, 1892; Galveston, Texas. (texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth468579/m1/3/?q=cooley%20%22houston%20heights%22: accessed May 14, 2018), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Library Consortium.

[18] The Galveston Daily News. (Galveston, Tex.), Vol. 51, №244, Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 23, 1892, newspaper, November 23, 1892; Galveston, Texas. (texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth466333/m1/3/?q=cooley%20%22houston%20heights%22: accessed May 14, 2018), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Library Consortium.

[19] The Galveston Daily News. (Galveston, Tex.), Vol. 51, №261, Ed. 1 Saturday, December 10, 1892, newspaper, December 10, 1892; Galveston, Texas. (texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth467700/m1/3/?q=cooley%20%22houston%20heights%22: accessed May 14, 2018), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Library Consortium.

[20] Houston Heights West, East and South. Historic Preservation Manual: City of Houston Planning & Development Department. City of Houston. 2013. https://www.houstontx.gov/planning/HistoricPres/HistoricPreservationManual/historic_districts/heights.html. (Accessed on May 21, 2018).

[21] The Galveston Daily News. (Galveston, Tex.), Vol. 51, №318, Ed. 1 Sunday, February 5, 1893, newspaper, February 5, 1893; Galveston, Texas. (texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth467276/m1/4/?q=%22houston%20heights%22%20%22spring%20bed%20and%20mattress%20factory%22: accessed May 11, 2018), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Library Consortium.

[22] Year: 1910; Census Place: Houston Heights Ward 3, Harris, Texas; Roll: T624_1561; Page: 16A; Enumeration District: 0045; FHL microfilm: 1375574

[23] Kleiner, “Houston Heights, TX.”