2 Early Houston History
2.1 The Texas Revolution in Houston - a brief narrative excerpted from The Book, covering historic Texas Revolution locations in Houston for cyclists
Henry Karnes (street name) and Deaf Smith (historical marker) were both important players in the Texas Revolution and also served as Texas Rangers.
Texas independence followed Mexican independence. On September 16, 1810, celebrated as Mexico independence day,Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a Catholic priest, made the first cry for independence, followed by a large, unruly, hodgepodge army that included women, children, grandparents, and livestock. Untrained and difficult to control, it was eventually defeated, with many of its members going back home to harvest their fields. Hidalgo was defrocked as a priest by the Spanish Inquisition, and was later beheaded by the civil government as punishment for revolting, and his head was displayed in Guanajuato, where he and his army were charged with causing a massacre. Ten years later, in 1821, Mexican finally achieved independence from Spain, followed by Texas independence from Mexico in 1836. A superb statue of Hidalgo Y Costilla, possibly the finest statue in Houston, can be visited on a bicycle at Hidalgo park at Avenue Q and 71st street.
2.2 Charlotte Baldwin Allen, the true story
Wife of Houston co-founder Augustus C. Allen and a prominent long-lived Houston citizen in her own right, there are incorrect stories about Charlotte Allen in many histories.
2.3 Texas' long-lived legacies from Richard Coke
Richard Coke, mentioned briefly in The Book, and more at length here, was the first governor of Texas after Reconstruction, the post Civil War military occupation of the South. As his legacy, he left Texas with 100 years of Jim Crow laws and with Texas A&M University. Coke Street in Houston is probably named for him.
2.4 The Civil War and its Aftermath in Houston
This narrative, an excerpt from The Book, includes related historic locations in Houston for cyclists, among them
- Houston street names, school names and statues commemorating Confederate military and political leaders. Some street names and school names have been changed due to objections to honoring the Confederacy, but many such names remain, as described in section 2.4 below.
- Houston buildings and fortifications playing a role in the Civil War
- Graves of Confederate soldiers and spies, which are marked with "CSA" (Confederate States of America) and have a uniquely shaped gravestone
Of the street names and school names mentioned in the linked writeup, the following have been changed since publication of The Book due to public objections to honoring these Confederate figures;
Jefferson Davis High School at Quitman and Tackaberry was named for the president of the Confederacy. It was renamed Northside High School in 2016.
Dowling Street and Dowling Middle School were named for Dick Dowling, Texas Civil War victor at Sabine Pass. Dowling street was renamed Emancipation Avenue. Dowling Middle school was renamed Audrey H Lawson Middle School.
Stonewall Jackson middle school, at Polk and Altic, was named for a Confederate general. It was renamed Yolanda Black Navarro Middle School of Excellence in 2016.
Robert E. Lee elementary school was named for the head of the Confederate army. It was restored and converted to the Leonel Castillo community center.
Reagan High School was named for John Henninger Reagan, postmaster general of the Confederacy. It was renamed Heights High School in 2016.
The statue "the Spirit of the Confederacy" was removed from Sam Houston park and the statue of Dick Dowling on Cambridge street was removed.
Additions and corrections to the Book excerpt covering the Civil War in Houston
Correction to the book excerpt - location of the Civil War armory in downtown Houston
The location of the Civil War armory was described in the book as the building that currently holds the Hearsay-Gastro lounge. It was actually in an adjacent building abutting the south side of the Hearsay-Gastro lounge building, on the northeast corner of Travis and Congress, which is now a vacant lot.
Additions to the book excerpt
Available are a tour map of downtown Houston Civil War sights and an accompanying photo album.
Houston had two foundries during the Civil War,
- the Cushman foundry, on the south side of the west end of the Preston Avenue bridge, which made small artillery and ammunition
- the McGowan foundry, on the east side of White Oak Bayou just off Buffalo Bayou, which made household goods and railroad supplies before and during the war.
As mentioned in The Book, warehouses in Houston were temporarily used as a Civil War prison, where the University of Houston Downtown stands today at Main Street and Buffalo Bayou. A historical marker for the prison stands on the west side of the Jesse Jones Student Life center on Girard Street just west of Main Street.
2.5 Slavery, the Confederacy, Reconstruction, Jim Crow and Civil Rights on the streets of Houston
Note : the Confederate statues mentioned here, "Dick Dowling" and "The Spirit of the Confederacy", have been taken down as of June 18, 2020.
With the rapidly declining acceptance of public commemorations of the Confederacy in the Civil War, some of the numerous commemorative street names, school names, statues and the tiny Confederate flags at cemeteries on Memorial Day have disappeared. Names have been changed for some Houston schools named for Confederate leaders and at least one street named for a Confederate officer from Houston, artillery commander Dick Dowling. However, many, many more items remain on the streets of Houston whose names or origins stem from slavery, the Civil War, Reconstruction and Jim Crow laws, as well as many sites associated with the Civil Rights movement. This writeup is a start at listing and describing these items. All of these can be seen on a bicycle in Houston. Much of this material is covered in the previous writeup and in The Book. New items include origin of some street names, Civil Rights artwork on the Metro Purple Line, and the short biography of Mack Hannah. It is likely that this writeup only scratches the surface and other items may be added to this writeup from time to time. An interesting place for cyclists to see a broad panorama of Houston's Black community history is the artwork at all the MetroRail stations on the purple line (cycling route map, cycling route photo album , Metro Purple Line artwork article , Metro Purple line route map )
A number of the sites listed in this writeup appear in the National Register of Historic Places, which recognizes places of historical significance but does not provide any protection for these places. An important historic Houston Black neighborhood in the Register is the National Register Historic District of Freedmen's Town in the 4th Ward, the first independent Black neighborhood in Houston after the Civil War. The origins, growth, decline, gentrification and historic preservation of this district is described in this fascinating background paper. Remaining historic sites there are shown in a map of historic sites in the district and a photo album of historic sites on the map. Included in the map and photos are two houses in nearby Sam Houston Park that came from this district, and three downtown buildings, described later in this section, that supported the community that lived in the historic district; Antioch Baptist Church (the only one remaining, also in the Register), the Old Colored High School and the Colored Carnegie Library.
2.6 How many flags over Texas?
There have been at least 14 different flags over Texas. If all 19 versions of the US flag and 9 versions of the confederate flag are counted, the total is 38 flags. You can see them all here.