Historic Houston Streets

by Marks Hinton

  OENTURION: A military title during the Roman Empire, this officer commanded a troop of 100 legionaries. 48

  CESAR OHAVEZ: Born during the Great Depression and raised in migrant farm labor camps in California, he experienced first hand the plight of American and Mexican farm workers. He was driven by this experience to form the National Farm Workers Association to unionize the pickers. He fought bitterly but successfully with California grape, lettuce and citrus farmers for better pay and improved working conditions for the members. 49

  CESSNA: Clyde Cessna was an aviation pioneer. In 1927 he unveiled a monoplane with a full cantilever wing (one without supporting struts or braces) that forever changed the way aircraft were designed. Since then the Cessna Aircraft Company of Wichita, Kansas has produced multi-engine aircraft, gliders for use during World War II as well a turbo-prop airplanes and business jets. 50

  OHAFFIN: James A. – This gentleman is another veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto. He had only been in the state a short time, arriving in 1835, when he enlisted in the Texas Army. He fought in the company of Captain William Kimbro. After the war he moved to San Augustine where he operated a saloon. 51

  CHAGALL: Marc – This Russian born artist is best remembered for his works about Jewish life and folklore. Although he spent most of his life in France, his works are on display around the world. His dreamlike, fantasy style and use of bright colors make his paintings distinctive. 52, 53

  CHALLENGER SEVEN: On January 28, 1986, America’s space program suffered one of its most tragic disasters. That morning the Space Shuttle Challenger Seven exploded shortly after takeoff, killing the crew of seven astronauts. These heroic Americans are honored by this Jacinto City street. “

  CHALMETTE: See sidebar Laissez les bon temps roulez (Let the good times roll), page 188.

  CHANCELLORSVILLE: This was the site of the South’s most costly victory in the War Between the States. Although General Lee’s 53,000 rebels routed General Hooker’s 120,000 federals, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, one of the Confederates’ greatest military geniuses, was seriously wounded by a South Carolina regiment that accidentally fired on him on the night of May 2, 1863. The next morning surgeons were forced to amputate Jackson’s arm in an attempt to save his life. However, he died on May 10 at a farmhouse in Fairfield, Virginia and was taken to Lexington for burial. A strange twist of events caused his arm to not make that trip. Jackson’s chaplain, Reverend B. Tucker Lacy, found the arm at the field hospital and took it to his brother’s plantation, Elmwood, where it was buried in the family cemetery. Today it lies in peace under a tombstone with the epitaph “Arm of Stonewall Jackson - May 3, 1863,” buried seven days before its owner expired. 54

  » CHANCELLORSVILLE: Tombstone of Stonewall Jackson’s arm

  CHANDLER: W. E. – See sidebar Houston Streets Named for Men Killed During World War I, page 22.

  CHANEY COURT & CHANEY LANE: These two streets are named for Chaney Junction, a stop on the Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio Railroad that operated in the 1880s and early 1900s. 55

  CHANNEL CITY: In the 1920s this road led to Channel, Texas, a small community on the Houston Ship Channel. Today docks owned by Tenneco, Georgia Pacific and Ethyl are on the site. Channel was also known as Houston Terminals, not the most charming name for a residential neighborhood. 56

  OHANNELVIEW: Both the street and this Houston refinery suburb are named because of the location on the north side of the Houston Ship Channel. When founded at the turn of the 20th century the town was perched on the banks of Buffalo Bayou and the nascent shipping channel there. 57

  CHANTILLY: In 1947 real estate developer Frank Sharp began construction of the Oak Forest Addition in Houston. Many of the houses were sold to returning veterans of WWII for $8,000-$10,000, one of whom was Harold P. Hill. He was hired by Sharp as an office manager. This street was named for Hill’s wife’s silver pattern. It is produced by Gorham, a company that began in Germany in 1813. Chantilly was first made in 1895 and became the most popular sterling silverware pattern of the 20th century. (See Nina Lee and Frank Sharp.) 58

  CHARING CROSS: This is a neighborhood in London where the grieving Edward I erected the last of 12 crosses marking the locations where his wife Eleanor of Castile’s funeral procession camped between Nottinghamshire and London in 1290. 59

  CHARLES E. SELEOMAN: He was chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer of Input/Output, a seismic acquisition imaging technology company for land and marine oil and gas exploration headquartered in Stafford. 60

  CHARPIOT: In the 1800s this family settled in north Harris County where this street is located. Fifteen members of the family were buried in Teeter Cemetery, north of Bush Intercontinental Airport. The most beautiful tombstone in that burying ground is that of Rebecca Jane Charpiot (1835-1896). She was the wife of Severin Charpiot. (See Teeter Cemetery.) 61

  CHARRO: In Mexico they use this word to describe a cowboy or cowboy associated objects such as frijoles ala charro or cowboy beans. 62

  CHARTRES: When this street first appeared on a Houston city map in 1839 it was spelled Chartre and then Charter. Its current name appeared on the 1866 map. The best guess as to the provenance of this street is that A. Girard, most probably a Frenchman, could have been from the French town of Chartres (although the town name was misspelled on the 1839 map) or it honors the beautiful Chartres Cathedral. Girard may not have been around by the time the map was printed to call attention to the error. Read about Girard Street to see possibly why he was nowhere to be found. (See Girard.) 63

  CHATTANOOGA: A Civil War battle took place at Chattanooga, Tennessee on November 24-27, 1863. The Confederate Army of the West was dug in on Lookout Mountain when the Union forces attacked. Because of the thick ground fog this skirmish earned the nickname of “The Battle Above the Clouds.” Northerners chalked up one in the win column here. 64

  CHAUCER: Geoffrey – He was one of the first great English poets. His writings did much to establish English as a literary language. Chaucer’s most famous work is The Canterbury Tales. 65

  CHEMICAL: So named as it leads to the manufacturing facilities of Dixie Chemical and Carpenter Chemical in the Bayport Industrial Complex. (See Bayport.) 66

  CHENANGO PLANTATION: This antebellum plantation was named for a town in New York. It was originally part of William Smith’s 1,300 acre land grant. Later 3,000 additional acres were added to it when land belonging to Richardson and Joshua Abbot were merged into Chenango. The property passed through many hands until it was acquired by the Texas Department of Corrections who made it into the Ramsey Prison Farm near Angleton. 67

  CHENEVERT: This street appears on the second map of Houston drawn in 1839. The map was produced by A. Girard, most likely a Frenchman who immigrated to Texas prior to the Texas Revolution in 1836. He probably named the street for the thick forest that existed in the Houston area then. In French chene means oak and veret is green. (See Girard.) 68

  CHENNAULT: Clare Lee – A fighter pilot through and through, Chennault fought in WW I. He went to China in 1937 to assist Chiang Kai-shek in building an air defense against the Japanese invaders. He founded the famed American volunteer force, the Flying Tigers, in 1941. In 1942 Chennault was named commander of the U. S. air operations in China. 69

  CHERRYHURST: The addition and street of the same name are on property that was owned by D. B. and H.H. Cherry in 1906. The 45-acre neighborhood was platted on the city map in 1908. Mirabeau B. Lamar, the second President of the Republic of Texas, once owned this acreage. His home was rumored to have been near the intersection of Commonwealth and Hyde Park. The neighborhood was principally developed by Edward Lillo Crane Sr. beginning in 1921 following his purchase of the land from the Cherrys. (See Edloe.) 70

  CHEVRON OIL FIELD: This Fort Bend road recalls a historic oil company. Chevron traces its roots to an 1879 oil discovery north of Los Angeles. The firm was then named Standard Oil Co. of California. The moniker was changed to Chevron when they acquired Gul
f Oil Corporation in 1984. In 2001 the company merged with Texaco and purchased Unocal Corporation in 2005. Today it is one of the world’s largest integrated energy firms. 71

  CHEVY CHASE: This street is named for the famous Chevy Chase Club in the Maryland town of the same name in Houston’s River Oaks. The Club was incorporated in 1895. Its famous golf course dates back to 1910. 72

  CHICAGO BRIDGE-IRON: It is named for the Chicago Bridge & Iron Company, a 136-year old construction firm. Today CB & I is best known for manufacturing bulk liquid terminals, storage terminals and process vessels. 73

  CHICKAMAUGA: A Civil War battle occurred here in Georgia on September 19 and 20, 1863. On these days the Confederates were victorious with General Bragg forcing Union General Rosecrans to retire to Chattanooga. 74

  CHICORA WOOD: See sidebar the Antebellum Streets of River Plantation, page 122.

  CHILTON: George W. – Chilton fought with John C. “Jack” Hays’ Texas Rangers in the Mexican-American War in 1846-48. He was a member of the Texas State Legislature and later a colonel in the Confederate Army. Following the War Between the States he was elected a U.S. Representative. However, it was payback time for the Union and the Reconstructionists in Congress denied the Texans their House seats. 75

  CHIMNEY ROCK: The Farringtons, developers of the posh southwest Houston neighborhood of Tanglewood, named this street as well as Huckleberry, Sugar Hill, Lynbrook, Candlewood and Russet as “picturesque regional identifications.” 76

  CHINA GROVE: Albert Sidney Johnson was born in Kentucky in 1803. Shortly after graduating from the U. S. Military Academy he fought in the Black Hawk War. In 1836 he moved to Texas and enlisted in the Texas Army where he earned the rank of brigadier general. Two years later he was appointed Secretary of War for the Republic of Texas. He settled in Brazoria County and developed China Grove Plantation. Johnson fought in the Mexican War (1846-8). Jefferson Davis appointed him a general in the Confederate Army. He saw action at Nashville, Tennessee, Corinth Mississippi and was killed at the Battle of Shiloh on August 6, 1862. 77

  “PARENTS OFFERED NAMES FOR CHILDREN FROM CITY STREET “SURPLUS” LISTS”

  This unusual headline appeared in the Houston Chronicle. In the 1930s Houston had numerous streets with duplicate names. This problem made mail delivery extremely difficult. In various sections of the city there were numerical streets, alphabetical streets, streets named for ladies, streets honoring historical figures, etc. This often meant the postman would have to take a letter to as many as five different houses on streets with the same names in different parts of the city to finally make delivery to the correct person. To solve this dilemma the Engineering Department assigned two engineers, Jack Tooke and Jack Graham, to rename the duplicate thoroughfares. They selected 241 street names, a number that well exceeded the number actually needed. So it was decided “Proud parents who find it difficult to select an appropriate name for their new arrivals might do well to confer with Tooke and Graham.” “We have a lot of names left over, too” said Tooke. “They’d fit children, dogs, cats, streets or anything.” It is not known if any of our indecisive citizens availed themselves of this generous offer. 11

  » CHINQUA PIN SCHOOL: Bob and Maxine Moore

  CHINQUAPIN SCHOOL: Robert and Maxine Moore founded this college preparatory academy in 1969. Its mission is to provide intelligent but low-income children an opportunity to receive a first class education. The first class consisted of 16 students. Today enrollment tops 120. Your author had the pleasure of knowing Bob and Maxine well. I was lucky enough to study English at St. John’s School while Bob taught there during his 19-year tenure. They named the school after Chinquapin Creek near their summer home in Palestine, Texas as well as for the chinquapin oak tree. Bob and Maxine passed away in 1999.

  CHISHOLM TRAIL: This famous cattle drive trail was named for Jesse Chisholm. In the 1860s and 1870s millions of longhorn cattle were herded from as far south as the Rio Grand, through Texas to Wichita, Kansas. 78

  CHISUM: See sidebar Texas Heroes’ Names for Houston Streets Urged in 72 Proposed Changes, page 96.

  CHOATE: Moses L. – This gentleman settled in the La Porte area in 1822 and is thought to be, along with William Pettus, the city’s first citizens. Choate was a sizable landowner in east Texas. He platted a town there called Springfield in 1839. When Polk County was created the politicians wanted the county seat closer to the geographic center of the county. The site they wanted happened to be near Springfield. Choate gave them 100 acres for the new county seat provided they would name it Livingston after his hometown in Tennessee. 79

  CHOCOLATE BAYOU: This bayou rises north of Manvel and flows 30 miles to its mouth on Chocolate Bay. It was the eastern boundary of Stephen F. Austin’s first colony. The ghost town of Chocolate Bayou was located nearby on the Austin-Perry land grant. It came into being in the early 1900s. Emily Perry, Austin’s sister, ran a plantation here known as Peach Point. She raised cotton and sugar cane. 80

  CHOKE CANYON: See sidebar The Most Scenic Spots in Texas, page 310.

  CHOPIN: Frederic Francois – He was a Polish composer who wrote primarily piano solos. 81

  CHORALE: See sidebar It’s Music to My Ears, page 218.

  CHRIESMAN: Horatio – This Virginian who was born in 1792, arrived in Texas in 1821 to lead Stephen F. Austin’s corps of surveyors. He settled in Fort Bend County. Chriesman is a member of the Old 300. 82

  CHRISTOPHER WREN: He was unquestionably England’s greatest architect. Wren was chosen as the man to oversee the rebuilding of London following the Great Fire of 1666. His strong suit was places of worship. He designed 52 of them including his masterpiece, St. Paul’s Cathedral. 83

  CHURCHILL DOWNS: This thoroughbred racehorse track is the home of the “most exciting two minutes in sports” – the Kentucky Derby. It opened in 1875 and since that time 135 Derbies have been run here, with the winners passing into horse racing history. With its famous twin white spires that are copyrighted, this Louisville, Kentucky track is among the most architecturally appealing racecourses in the world. If you are ever given the opportunity, don’t fail to be trackside on the first Saturday in May for the “Run for the Roses.” It is the thrill of a lifetime. 84

  CINCO RANCH: This 7,500 acre planned community is located in Katy. Its master plan offers single-family, custom, estate and low-maintenance housing. 85

  CINDERELLA: She was the fairy tale maiden who escaped a life of oppression under her stepmother and stepsisters to marry a prince and live happily ever after.

  CIRCLE WAY: (See Center Way.)

  CITATION: The 1948 Triple Crown winner, this thoroughbred won at distances ranging from five furlongs to two miles. His trainer once said, “He could catch any horse he could see.” He had one of the greatest seasons any three-year-old horse ever had winning 15 straight races after the Derby and posting a record of 19 wins in 20 starts in 1948. (See Triple Crown.) 86

  CITY CLUB: Located in Greenway Plaza, Houston City Club is a private business, tennis and athletic facility. Founded in 1979 the club has 10 indoor, climate-controlled tennis courts, exercise facilities, indoor running track, racquetball courts and locker rooms. It also offers food and beverage service as well as meeting rooms. 87

  CLAIBORNE: See sidebar Laissez les bon temps roulez (Let the good times roll), page 188.

  CLAREMONT: This is another River Oaks street with the moniker of a famous American country club. This Oakland, California golf club was founded in 1904. The course was designed by architect Jim Smith. “Slammin” Sammy Sneed won the U. S. Open here in 1937. 88

  CLARION: See sidebar It’s Music to My Ears, page 218.

  CLARK: W. Floyd – Located in the village of Spring Valley, it is possible this street is named for one of that municipality’s first aldermen. He was sworn into office on June 30, 1955. 89

  CLAY: Clarence and Rebecca – A west Houston road, it is named after this brother and sister who were residents of the Memorial area. 90

  CLAY: Henry �
� This downtown Houston street was named for a Kentucky politician who, during his distinguished career in the U.S. Congress (both as a Congressman and a Senator) was considered a friend of Texas. Clay opposed the Transcontinental Treaty of 1819 with Spain that would have given up America’s claim over Texas. He later was a supporter of Texas annexation. Clay was a major factor in the Compromise of 1850 that wiped out the state’s debt and adjusted the boundary with New Mexico in Texas’ favor. 91

  CLEAR CREEK: This League City street is named for one of the longest creeks in our area. The watercourse headwaters are in northeast Fort Bend County. The creek runs 41 miles east, forming the border between Harris, Brazoria and Galveston counties before reaching its mouth in Galveston Bay. 92

  CLEAR LAKE CITY: This boulevard leads to a real estate development named for a large coastal body of brackish water called Clear Lake. Originally part of the 30,000-acre James West Ranch, the land was sold to Humble Oil & Refining Company (now Exxon Mobil) in 1938. In 1961 the National Aeronautics & Space Administration purchased 1,000 acres from Humble to build the Manned Spacecraft Center. To house all of the rocket scientists and their families, Humble partnered with Del E. Webb Corporation to build a residential development nearby. Clear Lake City formally opened on September 15, 1963. 93

  CLEAR LAKE: This lake separates Harris County from Galveston County and connects Clear Creek to Galveston Bay. A considerable amount of recreational activity occurs here including boating, sailing, water skiing, etc. (See Clear Creek.) 94