The First Ward of Houston, which is located inside the 610 Loop, is one of the city's historic wards. It was originally the center of the business district for the city, and was strategically located at the intersection of Buffalo Bayou and White Oak Bayou, near an area now known as Allen's Landing. It was one of the original four wards in Houston when it was created in 1840. It was defined as all area within the city limits of Houston (which was much smaller at the time) north of Congress Street and west of Main Street.[1]
In 1866 First Ward land to the north and east of White Oak Bayou and Little White Oak Bayou was split off to create part of the Fifth Ward. Just prior to the abolition of the ward system in 1915 the Woodland Heights neighborhood was constructed in what was then the northwest corner of the ward, just north of White Oak Bayou.
In 1987, Kim Cobb of the Houston Chronicle said "It's hard to find any vestige of the old First Ward, since it's covered by downtown office buildings."[2] In 2006, the last remaining houses of a former residential neighborhood were vacated and bulldozed, replaced by the 23-acre (9.3 ha) Sawyer Heights Village, a shopping center that includes a Target.[3] Part of the remaining 19th and 20th century bungalows and cottages was named the High First Ward Historic District in 2014.[4] The rest of the residential sections of the ward have seen construction of numerous lofts and townhomes in the 21st century.
- ^ Plocek, Keith. "How Houston's Neighborhoods Got Their Names." Mentalfloss. Retrieved on September 21, 2016.
- ^ Cobb, Kim. "Move afoot to train Houstonians to erase `ward' from vocabularies." Houston Chronicle. Saturday June 6, 1987. Section 1, Page 27. Retrieved on October 20, 2011.
- ^ Spivak, Todd. "Brave New World: A Heights family is targeted in the name of progress." Houston Press. April 13, 2006. Retrieved on February 12, 2013.
- ^ "High First Ward Historic District established." Houston Archaeological and Historical Commission. Retrieved September 21, 2016.