Houston Heritage
The photograph of San Jacinto Street in 1927 shows traffic moving past the
Texas Co. building (on the left) and its neighbor across the street, the U. S.
post office. Looming over the scene is a large billboard advertising a new
subdivision called Garden Villas. Placing the word, "garden," in the
name of his suburban real estate venture was not a casual act by developer W.T.
Carter. It was planned to have lots large enough to hold vegetable gardens,
fruit orchards and chicken coops. Garden Villas was intended to replicate a
rural atmosphere on the edge of a fast-growing urban area.
The history of the property can be traced back to 1833 when Henry B.
Prentiss, a colonist from Massachusetts, received his land grant from Stephen
F. Austin. His prairie land covered almost 3,200 acres near Sims Bayou.
Prentiss never used the land and it passed through several owners over the next
50 years, having once been sold for $2.75 in delinquent taxes. Not until Samuel
Ezekial Allen purchased it in 1882 was the land developed by its owner. (For
the record, Allen paid $4,000 for the acreage.)
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Allen had inherited his father's cattle ranch, which he expanded to 13,000
acres. Allen's operation was so vast that he had his own boat landing and
railway loading pens. The Allens also had orchards and vegetable gardens,
features that would be promoted in the 20th century development of the
property. An Allen descendant has confirmed that in the 1850s camels grazed on
this land, as well as that of Francis R. Lubbock, whose ranch was just east of
Allen's ranch. This was an experiment of the United States Army where North
African camels were used to carry mail and small equipment through regions of
Texas. Although the plan failed because the animals were difficult to handle,
the sight of camels meandering on the outskirts of Houston caused quite a stir
when seen by travelers.
By the early 20th century as residential development moved southeast of the
city, lumberman W.T. Carter eyed this area for potential development. In
November 1924 the Allen Trust sold 875 acres of the family's property to the
W.T. Carter Lumber and Building Co. for $142,480. The land was platted with
lots that covered 70 percent of an acre. An early sales brochure boasted that
the income produced by selling home-laid eggs and home-harvested produce
"will be about enough to pay for the house."
In spite of its rural ambiance, the subdivision was laid out just west of
Telephone Road in a formal pattern with its curving streets focused on a
"civic center" near Sims Bayou. Hundreds of pecan trees were planted
on both sides of every street with the hope that they would mature to become a
canopy for the entire neighborhood.
Edward Wilkinson, a young Englishman who had studied at Rice Institute, was
staff architect for Carter's company. He employed a variety of styles for the
residences. One of the houses was advertised as a "ranch house type,"
the first known use of that term in Houston and quite appropriate for a former
ranch setting. Wilkinson placed the Garden Villas Elementary School at the head
of his town plan.
While Garden Villas seemed quite removed from the bustling city, Carter
ensured that it would be close to a most modern development when he built an
airfield nearby, where in 1928 air mail delivery was instituted. In 1937 Carter
sold his family-owned facility to the City of Houston, which built a passenger
terminal and hangar complex to accommodate the public's growing interest in air
travel. (This terminal was replaced in 1954 by a larger one for Houston
International Airport, now William P. Hobby Airport. The older terminal is
being restored as an aeronautical museum.)
Construction continued in Garden Villas through the 1950s. Today there are
more than 1,000 homes in the once-remote neighborhood. Yet it still seems very
much on the edge of the city with its curbless streets lined with pecan trees,
rambling wooden houses and open yards. If a neighborhood can be both urban and
suburban, Garden Villas fits the description. And those who call it home like
it just that way