The GO Archives / Houston, Texas
Independence
Heights.
The Story.
By David Goswick
A personal history
Two neighborhoods.
Two miles apart.
In 1907, my great grandfather William Abner Wilson, a Houston developer, broke ground on a master planned community named Woodland Heights located just a few miles from downtown Houston. His development plan included modern infrastructure and technologies such as underground utilities that would change the way communities would be developed for the next century. The community even included its own streetcar (trolley rail) connecting Woodland Heights to downtown Houston. The community covenants were very restrictive, defining the size and specifications for the homes.
Unfortunately, he overstepped the boundaries of a visionary developer by placing restrictive covenants that not only influenced how people would live, but also who could live in Woodland Heights: only whites; he excluded blacks and other ethnic groups. It was a time of prevalent racial segregation throughout Texas.
In 1908, black families began to move to an area two miles from Woodland Heights. They appropriately named the community Independence Heights. In 1915, the community incorporated, making history as the first African American municipality in the state. The citizens of Independence Heights voted in 1929 to dissolve their city in order to become a part of Houston in hopes of receiving more services such as paved roads and better plumbing.
The result was a divided Houston, two neighborhoods separated by only two physical miles in distance, but which were worlds apart. There was the white community with its modern infrastructure (people that “have”) and the black community without it (people that “have-not”). These communities remained divided for the next century by unequal infrastructure and services.
The family archive / Woodland Heights
The promise of a home.
Historical materials from the William A. Wilson Company. Select any image to view it at full size.
2012 / Community & innovation
A new chapter
for Independence Heights.
Over 100 years after Houston’s Independence Heights first made history, it was selected as the pilot community to create a prototype affordable community. Houston Mayor Parker, in partnership with the Independence Heights community leaders, the home builders and leading tech companies, unveiled the next generation initiative in late 2012. Prior to the launch of this program, Independence Heights had been neglected for over 50 years. The consortium of stakeholders collaborated and communicated with elected officials, community leaders, teachers, students, residents, and religious leaders to shape the program and earn their support.
The schools within Independence Heights (elementary, middle, high school, and STEM) created their own “Zero Energy Week” to expand the program. The Independence Heights initiative has earned major media coverage including a major news feature on Bloomberg TV spotlighting this unique public-private-partnership.
