Acres Homes was established during
World War I, when Houston landowners began selling homesites in the area that were large enough to contain small gardens and raise chickens or farm animals. These large areas were often divided by the acre and not by the plot, hence the name "Acres Homes". The farm capabilities of the home sites attracted many rural settlers, who dug their own wells, and built small, sanitary houses. Kristen Mack of the
Houston Chronicle said that Acres Homes was originally marketed as "a bit of genteel country with quick and easy access to the city." The community was also touted as a place where
African Americans could own houses and land instead of being in more dense urban areas. At one time, it was the largest
unincorporated African-American community in the
Southern United States. As time went on, the conditions began declining due to several decades of neglect. As the rural settlers moved out of their dilapidated homes, realtors began marketing the area, largely to African Americans, as a suburban area which was not far from the city. In reality, it was a heavily wooded, sparsely settled slum without adequate transportation or educational facilities. Mack said that the appeal of Acres Homes ended around the 1970s. He made the speech with
Mayor of Houston Kathy Whitmire while at one of the rallies from the group. As black populations in predominately African-American neighborhoods in the Houston area declined between 1990 and 2000, Lori Rodriguez of the
Houston Chronicle wrote that Acres Homes, along with the MacGregor-
Riverside Terrace area, "barely held on to their historical population base." On August 30, 2007, the
Houston Chronicle published an article about a
syphilis outbreak in Houston. Marlene McNeese-Ward, the Houston Health Department chief of
HIV/
STD and Viral
Hepatitis Prevention, stated "We're really looking at Acres Homes especially, and
Sunnyside, but there's not too many ZIP codes... where we're not seeing any (cases)." A gated community in the area opened on of land in 2008. La Sierra, a development on the same size of acreage and adjacent to the original one, was being developed as of 2017. Contempo Builders, operated by David Bohorquez, a
Venezuelan American, developed both properties. In 2016, the Highland Heights Annex Action Committee wrote a letter to their
Houston City Council member, Jerry Davis, stating opposition to developments of new industrial facilities and townhouses. Acres Homes is still a predominantly African American neighborhood. ==Cityscape==