Hiram Clarke, Houston
Encyclopedia
Hiram Clarke is a community in Houston, Texas
, United States, southwest of Reliant Park
.
In 1998 the area advocacy group South Houston Concerned Citizens Coalition received nonprofit status, so it could apply for grants to fund neighborhood projects and organize homebuyer fairs and community festivals.
In 2006 a parade honoring Vince Young
occurred in Hiram Clarke.
The ZIP code
77085, which covers an area similar to a triangle, roughly bounded by U.S. Highway 90A (South Main), Hiram Clarke Road, and Beltway 8 (Sam Houston Tollway), saw the number of population rise to over 200% of its original population, between 2000 and 2010. Carol Christian of the Houston Chronicle
said that the Windsor Village United Methodist Church was a primary factor.
said "Even with dues of $50 a year, enforcing restrictions with letters from attorneys or lawsuits can quickly drain resources." One of the subdivisions it represents is Brentwood
.
Other subdivisions in the Hiram Clarke area include:
and Reliant Park
, about a 13 minute commute. Most of the houses in the wider area were developed in the 1960s.
As of 2002 some areas in the Cambridge Village subdivision do not have sidewalks.
District K. Previously it was served by District D.
Residents are a part of the City of Houston Central Southwest Super Neighborhood, which has a coverage area of 12760 acres (5,163.8 ha). Its boundaries are U.S. Route 90A and Holmes Road on the north, Beltway 8 on the south, Texas State Highway 288 to the east, and Holmes Road to the west. It became a super neighborhood around 1999. It has forty separate neighborhoods.
The Houston Police Department
serves Hiram Clarke through the Southwest Patrol Division. The Hiram Clarke Storefront is a part of the Southwest Patrol District. The South Houston Concerned Citizens Coalition had lobbied for the city to add a substation.
The City of Houston operates the Hiram Clarke Multi Service Center. The 42000 square foot facility is located on an 8 acres (3.2 ha) site. Originally named the South Post Oak Multi-Service Center, it had a price tag of $10 million. It was scheduled to open at the end of 2008. Mayor of Houston Bill White
, other city politicians, and other community figures attended the groundbreaking ceremony on Friday October 12, 2007. It was the City of Houston General Services Department's pilot project in combining several municipal functions in one site, lowering construction, design, and land acquisition expenses.
The city government designed the facility so it would get Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
(LEED) certification. To do this, the city installed low flow plumbing, roof overhangs, a metal roof, and high performance windows. The windows reduce heat absorption and allow natural light to enter the building. The complex includes a library facility, the Vinson library, a Head Start Center, office space for nonprofit organizations, an auditorium, youth program areas, elderly program areas, and a resource room. Sheila Savannah, the bureau chief of the City of Houston Department of Health and Human Services, said that the demographics of Hiram Clarke, with its mix of families and older, long-time inhabitants, made the community well-suited for a multi-service center.
METRO also operates the Hiram Clarke Transit Center. Several intersecting routes meet at the transit center. The METRO hired Del E. Webb Construction Services, a Phoenix, Arizona
-based company to build the transit center. In the northern hemisphere spring of 1983, the staff of METRO examined the plans for the construction, then in-progress, and recommended a series of changes. METRO said that its recommendations would, over a period of 30 years, save $6 million. But because METRO demanded the changes, Webb had to perform work out of sequence, costing the company time and money. Webb said that the move forced $3.2 million in additional expenses on the company. About $700,000 of that figure would have gone to subcontractors working for Webb. METRO and Webb entered a legal dispute, which lasted three years until 1986, when METRO paid a $1.8 million settlement to Webb. In 1986, due to financial issues, METRO said that it was scaling back its plans for the transit center, then a planned project, due to financial issues at METRO.
, an American football
player, described the area as "a real foul neighborhood." Chip Brown of The Dallas Morning News
described the area as being the "mean streets." Dick Weiss of the New York Daily News
described Hiram Clarke as "run-down" and "drug-infested". Jennifer Floyd Engel of the Fort Worth Star Telegram referred to Weiss's assessment and added that Hiram Clarke was "written off as ghetto by almost everybody else." Jessica Garrison of CSTV said that Hiram Clarke was "one of Houston's toughest neighborhoods."
Vince Young added that "There may have been gangs, drugs and crime in my neighborhood. But we all had each other's back. It was always Hiram Clarke versus somebody else. When I was younger, it was either, 'You gonna hang with the guys or we're going to beat you every day.' That made me the physical guy I am now."
name for Hiram Clarke is "the Clarke".
Around 1989 a haircut popular among youths in the area was called the "Hiram Clarke," after Hiram Clarke Road. The haircut features a narrow path etched on the head in a long, straight line. Ananiaz Johnson, a 1989 graduate of James Madison High School quoted in a Houston Chronicle
article, said that "It's named after our area because it's popular here. Generally people from this neighborhood have that part. It probably originated here, and Shuntel popularized it." Johnson referred to Shuntel Coco, a Houston Community College School of Cosmetology student. Shea Serrano of the Houston Press
said that the rapper Big Mello
was famous for "repping Hiram Clarke in the 90's[...]"
operates district public schools.
Elementary schools serving portions of the Hiram Clarke area include Grissom Elementary School, Hobby Elementary School, and Jean Hines-Caldwell Elementary School.
Dick Dowling Middle School is located in the Hiram Clarke area. As of 2009, 99% of the student body consists of racial and ethnic minorities. Madison High School is located in Hiram Clarke and serves residents of the Hiram Clarke area.
Before the opening of Hines-Caldwell, Red Elementary School served a section of the Hiram Clarke area.
Residents are also zoned to the Houston Community College system.
The Houston Public Library
operates the Vinson Neighborhood Library at the Hiram Clarke Multi-Service Center. The library has traditional library services, a public reading room, an internet café
, and HPL Express library services. The library was originally located at 3100 Fuqua; the city relocated it to the multi service center, where the library space had doubled in size from its previous location.
W.L. Davis District
.
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, United States, southwest of Reliant Park
Reliant Park
Reliant Park is a complex in Houston, Texas, USA, named after the energy company Reliant Energy. It is located on Kirby Drive at the 610 Loop...
.
History
Hiram Clarke Road was named after Hiram Clarke, a Houston Lighting & Power Co. assistant general manager and executive vice president.In 1998 the area advocacy group South Houston Concerned Citizens Coalition received nonprofit status, so it could apply for grants to fund neighborhood projects and organize homebuyer fairs and community festivals.
In 2006 a parade honoring Vince Young
Vince Young
Vincent Paul Young, Jr. , nicknamed "VY", is an American football quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League . He spent the first five seasons of his career with the Tennessee Titans. Young was the third overall draft pick in the 2006 NFL Draft. He played college...
occurred in Hiram Clarke.
The ZIP code
ZIP Code
ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...
77085, which covers an area similar to a triangle, roughly bounded by U.S. Highway 90A (South Main), Hiram Clarke Road, and Beltway 8 (Sam Houston Tollway), saw the number of population rise to over 200% of its original population, between 2000 and 2010. Carol Christian of the Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle
The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...
said that the Windsor Village United Methodist Church was a primary factor.
Communities
The Hiram Clarke Civic Club serves portions of the area. The group's boundaries are West Airport Boulevard, Hiram Clarke Road, Landmark Street, and West Orem Drive. It has two subdivisions, with almost 1,200 households living in them. As of 2003 it had 175 members who paid dues. Matt Schwartz of the Houston ChronicleHouston Chronicle
The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...
said "Even with dues of $50 a year, enforcing restrictions with letters from attorneys or lawsuits can quickly drain resources." One of the subdivisions it represents is Brentwood
Brentwood, Houston
Brentwood is a residential subdivision in the Hiram Clarke community, in Southwest Houston, Texas. Jennifer Frey of The Washington Post said in 2001 that Brentwood was "a medium-size, lower-middle class neighborhood[...]"-History:...
.
Other subdivisions in the Hiram Clarke area include:
- Cambridge Village
- Keswick Place
- Ramblewood
Cityscape
Hiram Clarke is 5 miles (8 km) southwest of Reliant StadiumReliant Stadium
Reliant Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium, in Houston, Texas, USA. Reliant Stadium has a seating capacity of 71,500, a total square footage of with of natural grass playing surface....
and Reliant Park
Reliant Park
Reliant Park is a complex in Houston, Texas, USA, named after the energy company Reliant Energy. It is located on Kirby Drive at the 610 Loop...
, about a 13 minute commute. Most of the houses in the wider area were developed in the 1960s.
As of 2002 some areas in the Cambridge Village subdivision do not have sidewalks.
Local government
As of 2011 Hiram Clarke is a part of Houston City CouncilHouston City Council
The Houston City Council is a city council for the city of Houston in the U.S. state of Texas.Currently, there are fourteen members, nine elected from council districts and five at-large. The members of the Council are elected every two years, in odd-numbered years...
District K. Previously it was served by District D.
Residents are a part of the City of Houston Central Southwest Super Neighborhood, which has a coverage area of 12760 acres (5,163.8 ha). Its boundaries are U.S. Route 90A and Holmes Road on the north, Beltway 8 on the south, Texas State Highway 288 to the east, and Holmes Road to the west. It became a super neighborhood around 1999. It has forty separate neighborhoods.
The Houston Police Department
Houston Police Department
The Houston Police Department is the primary law enforcement agency serving the City of Houston, Texas, United States and some surrounding areas. Its headquarters are in 1200 Travis in Downtown Houston....
serves Hiram Clarke through the Southwest Patrol Division. The Hiram Clarke Storefront is a part of the Southwest Patrol District. The South Houston Concerned Citizens Coalition had lobbied for the city to add a substation.
The City of Houston operates the Hiram Clarke Multi Service Center. The 42000 square foot facility is located on an 8 acres (3.2 ha) site. Originally named the South Post Oak Multi-Service Center, it had a price tag of $10 million. It was scheduled to open at the end of 2008. Mayor of Houston Bill White
Bill White (mayor)
William Howard "Bill" White is an American politician, member of the national and state Democratic Party, and former mayor of Houston, and was an unsuccessful candidate in the 2010 Texas gubernatorial election, losing to incumbent Republican Rick Perry. Before serving as mayor, White was a lawyer...
, other city politicians, and other community figures attended the groundbreaking ceremony on Friday October 12, 2007. It was the City of Houston General Services Department's pilot project in combining several municipal functions in one site, lowering construction, design, and land acquisition expenses.
The city government designed the facility so it would get Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design consists of a suite of rating systems for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings, homes and neighborhoods....
(LEED) certification. To do this, the city installed low flow plumbing, roof overhangs, a metal roof, and high performance windows. The windows reduce heat absorption and allow natural light to enter the building. The complex includes a library facility, the Vinson library, a Head Start Center, office space for nonprofit organizations, an auditorium, youth program areas, elderly program areas, and a resource room. Sheila Savannah, the bureau chief of the City of Houston Department of Health and Human Services, said that the demographics of Hiram Clarke, with its mix of families and older, long-time inhabitants, made the community well-suited for a multi-service center.
Transportation
Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO) operates the Hiram Clarke Bus Operating Facility. When METRO received a $15.5 federal fund package for transit upgrade, METRO announced that it will spend $8 million to complete renovations on the Hiram Clarke and Kashmere bus operating facilities.METRO also operates the Hiram Clarke Transit Center. Several intersecting routes meet at the transit center. The METRO hired Del E. Webb Construction Services, a Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
-based company to build the transit center. In the northern hemisphere spring of 1983, the staff of METRO examined the plans for the construction, then in-progress, and recommended a series of changes. METRO said that its recommendations would, over a period of 30 years, save $6 million. But because METRO demanded the changes, Webb had to perform work out of sequence, costing the company time and money. Webb said that the move forced $3.2 million in additional expenses on the company. About $700,000 of that figure would have gone to subcontractors working for Webb. METRO and Webb entered a legal dispute, which lasted three years until 1986, when METRO paid a $1.8 million settlement to Webb. In 1986, due to financial issues, METRO said that it was scaling back its plans for the transit center, then a planned project, due to financial issues at METRO.
Crime
Vince YoungVince Young
Vincent Paul Young, Jr. , nicknamed "VY", is an American football quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League . He spent the first five seasons of his career with the Tennessee Titans. Young was the third overall draft pick in the 2006 NFL Draft. He played college...
, an American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player, described the area as "a real foul neighborhood." Chip Brown of The Dallas Morning News
The Dallas Morning News
The Dallas Morning News is the major daily newspaper serving the Dallas, Texas area, with a circulation of 264,459 subscribers, the Audit Bureau of Circulations reported in September 2010...
described the area as being the "mean streets." Dick Weiss of the New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
described Hiram Clarke as "run-down" and "drug-infested". Jennifer Floyd Engel of the Fort Worth Star Telegram referred to Weiss's assessment and added that Hiram Clarke was "written off as ghetto by almost everybody else." Jessica Garrison of CSTV said that Hiram Clarke was "one of Houston's toughest neighborhoods."
Vince Young added that "There may have been gangs, drugs and crime in my neighborhood. But we all had each other's back. It was always Hiram Clarke versus somebody else. When I was younger, it was either, 'You gonna hang with the guys or we're going to beat you every day.' That made me the physical guy I am now."
Culture
The local hip hopHip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
name for Hiram Clarke is "the Clarke".
Around 1989 a haircut popular among youths in the area was called the "Hiram Clarke," after Hiram Clarke Road. The haircut features a narrow path etched on the head in a long, straight line. Ananiaz Johnson, a 1989 graduate of James Madison High School quoted in a Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle
The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...
article, said that "It's named after our area because it's popular here. Generally people from this neighborhood have that part. It probably originated here, and Shuntel popularized it." Johnson referred to Shuntel Coco, a Houston Community College School of Cosmetology student. Shea Serrano of the Houston Press
Houston Press
The Houston Press is an alternative weekly newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in Downtown Houston....
said that the rapper Big Mello
Big Mello
Curtis Donnell Davis , better known by his stage name Big Mello, was an American rapper from Houston, Texas...
was famous for "repping Hiram Clarke in the 90's[...]"
Education
The Houston Independent School DistrictHouston Independent School District
The Houston Independent School District is the largest public school system in Texas and the seventh-largest in the United States. Houston ISD serves as a community school district for most of the city of Houston and several nearby and insular municipalities...
operates district public schools.
Elementary schools serving portions of the Hiram Clarke area include Grissom Elementary School, Hobby Elementary School, and Jean Hines-Caldwell Elementary School.
Dick Dowling Middle School is located in the Hiram Clarke area. As of 2009, 99% of the student body consists of racial and ethnic minorities. Madison High School is located in Hiram Clarke and serves residents of the Hiram Clarke area.
Before the opening of Hines-Caldwell, Red Elementary School served a section of the Hiram Clarke area.
Residents are also zoned to the Houston Community College system.
The Houston Public Library
Houston Public Library
Houston Public Library is the public library system serving Houston, Texas, United States. The library system has its headquarters in the Marston Building in Neartown Houston.-History:It can trace its founding to the Houston Lyceum in 1854...
operates the Vinson Neighborhood Library at the Hiram Clarke Multi-Service Center. The library has traditional library services, a public reading room, an internet café
Internet cafe
An Internet café or cybercafé is a place which provides internet access to the public, usually for a fee. These businesses usually provide snacks and drinks, hence the café in the name...
, and HPL Express library services. The library was originally located at 3100 Fuqua; the city relocated it to the multi service center, where the library space had doubled in size from its previous location.
Parks and recreation
Hiram Clarke is included in the service area of the Sam Houston Area Council Boy ScoutsBoy Scouts
A Boy Scout is a member of a Scouting organization. There are thousands of national Scouting organizations or federations; these are grouped into six international Scouting associations with some non-aligned organizations....
W.L. Davis District
Scouting in Texas
Scouting in Texas has a long history, from the 1910s to the present day, serving thousands of youth in programs that suit the environment in which they live...
.
Notable residents
- Wanda Adams (member of the Houston City CouncilHouston City CouncilThe Houston City Council is a city council for the city of Houston in the U.S. state of Texas.Currently, there are fourteen members, nine elected from council districts and five at-large. The members of the Council are elected every two years, in odd-numbered years...
) - Lawrence Allen (member of the Texas Board of Education, son of Texas House of RepresentativesTexas House of RepresentativesThe Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Texas Legislature. The House is composed of 150 members elected from single-member districts across the state. The average district has about 150,000 people. Representatives are elected to two-year terms with no term limits...
member Alma AllenAlma AllenAlma Allen was a member of the Danish Resistance against the Nazis in World War II in the early 1940s. She personally led men and women on a dozen missions against the Nazis. She eventually joined British intelligence....
) - Vince YoungVince YoungVincent Paul Young, Jr. , nicknamed "VY", is an American football quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League . He spent the first five seasons of his career with the Tennessee Titans. Young was the third overall draft pick in the 2006 NFL Draft. He played college...