Riverside Terrace, Houston

Development of Riverside Terrace began in 1924, and it was initially done by the president of Guardian Trust Company, Clarence Malone, who had cofounded the company. Guardian provided the financing, and the first section to open was the portion between Almeda Road, Blodgett Street, Live Oak Street, and Oakdale Street. The brochures highlighted the location of Riverside Terrace, which was considered favorable at the time. Riverside Terrace was designed for wealthier families. In 1927 it was annexed by the City of Houston. Jewish families moved to Riverside Terrace in the 1920s and 1930s since they were not allowed to settle in other wealthy Houston neighborhoods, Therefore it became known as the "Jewish River Oaks". At the time most residents of Riverside Terrace were Christian. Allison Wollam of the Houston Business Journal stated that Riverside Terrace "was once on the same affluent level as the swanky River Oaks area." During that period the neighborhood hosted the houses of the prominent Weingarten, Finger, and McGregor families. Many White families left Riverside Terrace and settled in suburbs. In the 1960s some white residents who wanted the neighborhood to stabilize as an integrated neighborhood posted signs stating "This Is Our Home It Is Not For Sale." In response to the influx of black residents and spurred on by unscrupulous real estate agents instigating anxieties about falling home values, many white residents sold their homes and moved to other areas of the city. The community gradually transitioned into being majority black and with both affluent African Americans and lower socioeconomic residents. Riverside continued to be shaped by forces including the departure of area businesses, the growth of UH and TSU campuses, construction of Highway 288, and the decision to locate a county psychiatric hospital in the neighborhood. As time progressed foreclosure and white flight lead to neglect of several mansions. By the 1980s area residents were concerned that gentrification from white people and property acquisitions from area universities and the Texas Medical Center may affect their community. In 2021 a historic district was proposed. After an initial failed attempt, as the majority of the residents in the original area voted it down, the proposal was scaled down to include 18 houses, and the people in that territory voted in favor. The passing threshold of each vote was 66%. Some area residents oppose the proposal for fear it could increase prices of housing. Citing that there were not enough people in Riverside Terrace wanting the historic designation, in June 2022 Mayor of Houston Sylvester Turner announced that he nixed the plan. ==Composition==

Riverside Terrace is in proximity to the intersection of South MacGregor Way and Texas State Highway 288. Riverside Terrace is about from Downtown Houston. Shad Bogany of Bogany Properties said in 2002 that the proximity to major landmarks such as tertiary educational institutions, the Texas Medical Center, the Houston Astrodome, and museums is "What sells Riverside Terrace". Laura Michaelides of Houston House and Home stated that the "gracious" houses on large lots, "large overhanging trees", and a "remarkably hilly" terrain make the area "truly picturesque". Lawrence Wright of Texas Monthly, in 1982, described Macgregor Way, a major road through Riverside Terrace, as "the center of the Black moneyed elite, one of the wealthiest minority neighborhoods in the country" and that it has "central boulevards and bravura mansions" which means the road "recalls—in quite deliberate fashion—the shoulder-to-shoulder palaces of River Oaks." Riverside Terrace has 1,315 houses, which range from to . Riverside Terrace, like The Heights and other inner-loop communities, is experiencing gentrification, with more white people moving into the neighborhood. There are emerging issues of displacing African American residents due to rising property taxes and dismissing the rich culture of the community. In 2017, The Houston Forward Times penned the article, "The Disrespect of Gentrification" ==Demographics==

Riverside Terrace had 7,635 residents in 1950. It was initially a majority white community, as 97% of its residents in 1950 were white; the remaining black population was mostly domestic servants living with their employers. It had 10,027 residents and was 25% white in 1960; 11% of the residents had lived in Riverside Terrace in 1955, and of the population that did not, 78% previously lived in central Houston. Riverside Terrace had 12,519 residents and was 5% white in 1970. ==Government and infrastructure==

In the 1991 Houston mayoral race (see Mayor of Houston), most Riverside Terrace voters voted for Sylvester Turner; the voter turnout for Riverside Terrace was almost 50 percent. Houston City Council District D covers Riverside Terrace. As of 2020, Carolyn Evans-Shabazz represents the district. Harris Health System (formerly Harris County Hospital District) operates the Quentin Mease Health Facility (formerly Quentin Mease Community Hospital) within Riverside Terrace. The designated Harris Health System public clinic is the Martin Luther King Health Center. At one point, the MLK health center was located on the first and third floors of Quentin Mease. On May 14, 2010, MLK relocated to a site in southern Houston, on Swingle Road. The designated public hospital is Ben Taub General Hospital in the Texas Medical Center. serves a community in the Riverside Terrace area. Another area civic associations include Riverside Civic Association, which is bounded by Highway 288, Blodgett, the Columbia Tap Biking Trail and North MacGregor. It includes Riverside Terrace Sections 1-5. West MacGregor Home Owners Association also includes Riverside Terrace sections. ==Education==

Colleges and Universities Riverside Terrance is less than a mile away from Texas Southern University and the University of Houston. Riverside Terrance is also close to Rice University, University of Saint Thomas, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, University of Houston–Downtown, and Houston Community College - Central. Primary and secondary schools As of 2002 many residents attend magnet programs in public schools and private schools. Zoned elementary schools serving portions of Riverside Terrace include Lockhart in Riverside Terrace, Thompson, MacGregor, and Poe outside of Riverside Terrace. All area residents are zoned to Cullen Middle School. Most residents are zoned to Yates High School in the Third Ward, while some are zoned to Lamar High School in Upper Kirby. Beginning in 2018 the magnet middle school Baylor College of Medicine Academy at Ryan also serves as a boundary option for students zoned to Blackshear, Lockhart, and MacGregor elementary schools. The magnet school Energy Institute High School is in the area. The original section of Riverside Terrace was several blocks away from South End Junior High School, and the first Riverside Terrace section was in proximity to Southmore Elementary School (now MacGregor Elementary). The original brochure for Riverside Terrace from the 1920s highlighted the proximities of the schools. Turner, a school which was in Riverside Terrace, closed in 2009 and was consolidated into Lockhart. By Spring 2011 a new campus was scheduled to be built on the Turner site. In 2009 Turner, which occupied a building from the 1920s, had 259 students. The HISD board had approved the consolidation on November 12, 2008 despite the opposition of Sheila Jackson Lee and Sammye Prince Hughes, the head of the Turner parent-teacher organization and the president of the Southwood Civic Club. The current Lockhart building was dedicated on August 22, 2013. it closed in 2013 with students reassigned to Cullen Middle. Private schools The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Houston operates area Roman Catholic private schools. There is one Catholic school in the area, St. Mary of the Purification School (Kindergarten through grade 5). St. Mary, located in the Riverside Terrace area, opened in a temporary building on September 8, 1930. The building was blessed on October 27. The Sisters of Dominic operated the school until it closed in 1967. The school reopened in 1980 as a Montessori school. Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church operates Wheeler Avenue Christian Academy which currently serves students in Kindergarten through grade 5. St. Peter the Apostle Middle School was formerly in the area. St. Peter the Apostle in the Third Ward, before its closure, was a PreK-8 school. Its peak enrollment was about 600 students in the 1960s. Prior to 2009 St. Peter was a middle school with grades 6-8; that year St. Philip Neri School merged into St. Peter, making it PK-8. From 2014 to 2019 enrollment declined by 70%. In 2019 St. Peter the Apostle had 33 students; in May 2019 the Archdiocese announced that it was going to close. Debra Haney, the superintendent of schools of the Galveston-Houston diocese, stated that the enrollment decreased due to the proliferation of charter schools. ==Parks and recreation==

MacGregor Park, Riverside Park, Mills Bennett Park, and Parkwood Park are located in the area as well as the Brays Bayou Greenway Trail and the Columbia Tap Trail. Riverside Park is in Riverside Terrace Section 5. Parkwood Park is in Section 10. The original 1920s brochure emphasized the community's proximity to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and Hermann Park. ==Notable residents==

• Debbie Allen - American actress, dancer, choreographer, singer • John S. Chase – first Black architect in Texas • Beyoncé and Solange Knowles – singer-songwriters • Fredell Lack - American violinist • Sheila Jackson Lee – U.S. Representative and resident since 1979 • Phylicia Rashad - American actress • Stephen Susman – plaintiffs' attorney and founding partner of Susman Godfrey (childhood neighborhood) • Wesley West - noted Texas oilman, rancher, and philanthropist • Lynn Wyatt - Houston Socialite and philanthropist • Hazel Hainsworth Young - Houston educator ==See also==