by Marks Hinton
IRONCLAD: This is an 18th century warship whose wooden infrastructure is covered with armored metal plates. A number of these ships fought in the War Between the States. The most famous were the Monitor and the Merrimack. (See Merrimack.)10
ISAACKS: Samuel – Born in Tennessee in 1804 he may be the first Jewish settler in Texas, arriving before Stephen F. Austin. He settled somewhere along the Brazos River. When Austin met Isaacks he was short of the full 300 families he promised would colonize Texas. Thus he talked Isaacks into joining the Old 300. In 1824 Austin awarded him a land grant across the Brazos from present day Rosenberg. Isaacks fought in the Texas Revolution. In 1855 he moved to Houston and finally to Seabrook where he died in 1878.11
ISAACKS: This Humble, Texas street recalls a family who settled in the area in the late 1880s.12
ISABELLA: Frank J. DeMeritt was a real estate developer in Houston in the 1920s. Most of his projects were in what we call Midtown today, i.e. between downtown and Rice University. He named this street for his wife Isabella MacGregor DeMeritt. One of our city’s architectural jewels, Isabella Court (W. D. Bordeaux, 1929), is located on the northwest corner of Isabella and Main. 13
ISETTA: Italian motorcycle designer Renzo Rivolta of Iso Rivolta began manufacturing this tiny vehicle in 1952. Meaning “Little Iso” this car was truth in advertising as it measured only 90” by 54” and had a top speed of 53 MPH. BMW obtained a license to manufacture them in Germany and produced 160,000 between 1955 and 1962. (See Corvette.)14
» ISETTA: They really were small
ISOLDE: Named for the heroine of a medieval love story, Isolde the Fair is the lover of Sir Tristram. Following an estrangement, Tristram is wounded in battle. He sends for Isolde but dies of despair when he believes she is not coming. Of course Isolde arrives, finds Tristram dead and dies of a broken heart. 15
IVANHOE: He is a knight in Sir Walter Scott’s romantic novel of the same name set in 12th century England.
IWO JIMA: This is a volcanic island in the western Pacific Ocean. During WW II there was a large Japanese air base here. The battle was one of the bloodiest of the Pacific campaign. The United States Marine Corps captured the island following a two-month (February-March, 1945) siege. Five marines placed an American flag on its highest point, Mount Suribachi, following the victory. Photographer Joe Rosenthal captured the moment on film. This Pulitzer Prize winning photograph is one of the most famous images of the War. 16
“BOULEVARD OF HUNDREDS OF BENEFITS”
During the 1990s as Houston’s Asian population increased dramatically, City Council voted to allow street signs in Chinese and Vietnamese to be placed on poles underneath the street’s English name. (For unknown reasons a 2001 proposal to allow Koreatown to do the same was denied.) The purpose was to assist this influx of immigrants to find their way around. The rule was the Asian word had to be close to either the meaning of the existing street name or phonetically sound like the English street. So if you are driving in Chinatown or Little Saigon look for these signs:
Bellaire – Bai Li – Boulevard of Hundreds of Benefits
Harwin – Hao Yun – Good Luck
Clarewood – Wu De – Martial Arts
Wilcrest – Wei Dao – Traditional Moral Principles
Milam – Nguyen Hue – Vietnamese king symbolizing patriotism
West Gray – Hai Ba Trung – Vietnamese queens, Trung sisters, who defeated the Chinese in the 1st century A. D.
Anita – An Loc – Battlefield site during Viet Nam War
Elgin – Yen Do – Academic Excellence
Holman – Hung Vuong – First King of Viet Nam
Travis – Tu Do – Freedom 29
J
J. B. LEFEVRE: He held the positions of City Manager and Finance Director of Baytown. 1
J. R. TOWLES: Justin Richard Towles was born in Crosby, Texas, a small community east of Lake Houston. A talented baseball player he was drafted by the Houston Astros in 2004. He worked his was up through the Houston farm system and made his major league debut as a catcher on September 5, 2007. Fifteen days later he chalked up 8 runs batted in, a new Astro record. The street, Sunnyview Way, that ran in front of his childhood home, was renamed in his honor in 2007. 2
JACINTOPORT: At the end of this street is a 62-acre terminal facility fronting on the Houston Ship Channel and operating under the Port of Houston Authority. It is a cargo handling and stevedoring firm.
JACK JOHNSON: Arthur John “Jack” Johnson was the best heavyweight boxer of his generation and the first black heavyweight champion. His record was 73-13-9-9 (wins, losses, draws and no decisions). Born in Galveston in 1878, he entered the ring as a young man and by 1902 had won 50 fights. He won the heavyweight belt in 1908, knocking out Tommy Burns, a white man, in a 14 round fight in Australia. To say the least this did not sit well with the white population in the pre-civil rights era. Like many athletes today his flamboyant lifestyle got him in trouble with the law. In his case, violating the Mann Act (transporting women across state lines for immoral purposed). He served a prison term for this. Johnson lost his title in a bout with white challenger, Jess Willard, in 1915. He was killed in a car wreck in 1946. 3
JACK LONDON: He was an American who wrote novels and short stories whose main theme was the 1849 Yukon gold rush. His real name was John Griffith. Among his greatest and most readable works are Call of the Wild and White Fang.4
JACK: Baytown developer W. E Defee named three streets for his children: Jack, James and Murrill. (See Defee.)5
JACKSON BAYOU: This street and the 3.5 mile watercourse that meanders through Crosby, Texas are named for Humphrey Jackson. An Irish lawyer, he came to America in 1808 and settled on a sugar plantation in Louisiana. He fought at the Battle of New Orleans. Jackson moved to Texas in 1823 to join Stephen F. Austin’s colony. Because of his legal background he became active in local government. He was killed by a falling tree while clearing his land in 1833. 6, 7
JACKSON: Abner – This Virginian and his business partner, James Hamilton, a former governor of Virginia, came to Texas in 1838 after suffering some business reversals in their home state. In 1844 the partners started Retrieve Plantation in Brazoria County. Jackson built Darrington Plantation nearby and founded the town of Lake Jackson. Things were going well until the War Between the States brought disaster to the plantation economy. He died in 1861 a broken man. 8
» JACKSON: Abner Jackson Plantation House
JACKSON: This is one of several area streets we have named for a U.S. President. Andrew Jackson was the 7th American to hold the nation’s highest office. 9
JACKSON: This road is named for another lumber town in Montgomery County that faded away as the timber industry diminished in that area. Located on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, Jackson received a post office in 1910 but saw it closed 15 years later. By 1946 it was a ghost town. 10
JAMES BOWIE: Jim Bowie is revered by Texans for his heroic death at the Battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836. He is eulogized by the Kingston Trio in their moving 1959 rendition of Texan Jane Bower’s song Remember the Alamo: “Jim Bowie lay dying but his powder was ready and dry/Flat on his back Bowie killed him a few in reply.” He is also remembered for his invention of the famous Bowie Knife. When he first arrived in Texas he searched futilely for lost treasure near the San Saba River, seeking what is known today as the Lost Bowie Mine.11
JAMES: (See Jack.)
JANE LONG: She is known as the “Mother of Texas” because she bore the first child of Anglo descent on Texas soil. Long was also a member of Stephen F. Austin’s Old Three Hundred.12
JARDIN: One of developer Edward Crain’s favorite places in the world was the Tuileries Gardens in Paris, France. They are probably the finest existing example of formal French gardens. Landscape architect Andre Le Notre designed them in the 1600s as part of the grounds of a palace for Catherine de Medici. Crain used the French word for garden to name this Southside Place street to remind him of this beautiful place.13
>
JARRARD: Ed J. – This gentleman was a real estate developer in West University Place in the 1920s. His partner was Preston R. Plumb. (See Plumb.)14
JEAN LAFITTE: Called everything from a bloody buccaneer to a gentleman privateer, Lafitte is one of Texas’ more colorful characters. In fact no one knew the truth about the man called the “Prince of Pirates.” His early life is a mystery but we do know he led a group of smugglers stationed at his stronghold in Barataria, south of New Orleans, from 1810 until 1814. In 1814 he and his men joined with General Andrew Jackson to defeat the British army at the Battle of New Orleans, allowing the Americans to win the War of 1812. For his valorous actions President James Madison pardoned him and his sailors of all crimes they had been accused of committing. In 1817 Lafitte moved his operations to Galveston Island. Unfortunately, some of his subordinates attacked American ships and the government put a price on his head. Not wanting a confrontation with the U. S. Navy, Lafitte enlisted his best men and sailed off in his flagship the Pride, never to be heard from again. (See Maison Rouge.)15
» JEAN LAFITTE: Sketch of the swashbuckling pirate Jean Lafitte
JEANETTA: In 1886 the San Antonio & Aransas Pass Railroad completed its track into the Houston area. Management named a station, in what is now southwest Houston, Jeanetta.16
JEB STUART: James Ewell Brown Stuart was a cavalry commander in the Confederate Army during the War Between the States. He performed heroically at the two Battles of Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Brandy Station. He was killed at Yellow Tavern on May 11, 1864. His death ranks with that of Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson as a major blow to the Confederate cause.17
JEBBIA: James – This gentleman operated a general store in Stafford in the early 1900s. (See Stafford.)18
JEFF DAVIS: Jefferson Finis Davis was an American politician born in 1808. A West Point graduate, he fought in the Mexican-American War (1846-8). While serving as a U. S. senator from Mississippi that state seceded from the Union and Davis was elected president of the Confederate States of America. He was captured after the war in 1865 and charged with treason. However, he was never tried. Davis died in 1889.19
JEFFERS: Leroy – This man was an early resident and landowner in Piney Point Village. 20, 21
JEFFERSON: See sidebar America the Beautiful, page 176.
JEFFERSON: While there is a remote probability that this street was named for President Thomas Jefferson, Planning and Development feels it is more likely named for Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America, as an act of retribution against the oppressive Reconstructionist government. In 1870 these radical forces greatly expanded Houston’s city limits to include much rural farmland. This allowed the military government to extract tithes of agricultural goods from the farmers. In 1874 when the Reconstruction government was overthrown, City Council pulled the city limits back dramatically. However, those boundaries would have included the area around Jefferson Street. Just to tweak the noses of the Yankees it is possible city officials decided to honor the fallen president of the CSA.22
JENSEN: Lawrence C. – See sidebar: Houston Streets Named for Men Killed During WW1, page 22.
JERSEY: This is the main street of the bedroom community of Jersey Village located west of town on the Hempstead Highway. Developed in 1953 on Jersey Lake by real estate promoters Clark W. Henry and N. E. Kennedy, the story goes that the latter gentleman once operated a dairy in the area and named the neighborhood after his Jersey cows.23
JESSICA: (See Bhandara.)
JETERO PLAZA: In the mid-1960s Houston began to outgrow William P. Hobby Airport, a facility constructed in 1937. A new airfield was planned north of the city. The original name was to be “Jetera Intercontinental Airport.” However, a transcription error occurred and the name in the contract officially became “Jetero.” Eventually “Houston” was substituted. Today we know the facility as the “George Bush Intercontinental Airport.”24
JEWETT: This small central Texas town was an important railway center in the early 1900s. It was a station on the Houston & Texas Central Railroad. It is named for Henry J. Jewett, an early settler and attorney in Leon County. 25
JIM HOGG: James Stephen Hogg was born near Rusk, Texas in 1851. While living in Quitman and assisting the sheriff, Hogg was shot in the back by a band of outlaws. Surviving the ambush, he earned a law degree. He ran for Attorney General of Texas in 1886 and won. In 1891 Hogg was elected governor of the state. An important law he passed was creation of the Railroad Commission. In 1895 Hogg returned to private practice and was able to build a substantial fortune from his profession and sage investments in real estate and oil and gas. He died in 1906. 26
JIM WEST: This real estate developer named a number of streets in Bellaire including this one for himself. He is responsible for all of the female street names there such as Edith and Vivian to mention two. (See sidebar The Bellaire Streets Named for Women, page 20.)27
JOAN OF ARC: She was a French peasant girl who was instructed by mysterious voices to take up arms and liberate France from the English during the Hundred Years War. Although victorious at Orleans, she failed to take Paris. Joan was captured, tried for treason and burned at the stake in 1431. She was canonized in 1920. 28
JOE LOUIS: He was one of the greatest heavyweight champions in the history of boxing. Called the “Brown Bomber” by his fans, Louis became heavyweight champion in 1937 with a knockout of James Braddock, the only fighter to have beaten Louis up until then. Louis held the title from 1937 until 1949. Of his 66 victories, 49 were by knockout (10 of those in round one). Unfortunately, he tried a comeback in 1951 but was annihilated by Rocky Marciano in the aging champ’s last fight. Because of his service in the U. S. Army during World War II Louis is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. 29
JOERGER: F. X. – He was a judge in Fort Bend in the 1920s who was very interested in improving the road system there. At that time there were no paved roads connecting Rosenberg, Needville and Guy. Joerger was instrumental in correcting this situation. He also paved the road to Powell Point and assisted on the construction of FM 1093 linking Houston, Clodine, Fulshear and Simonton. 30
JOHLKE: These German immigrants arrived in the area northwest of Houston in the 1800s. Like many of their European neighbors they acquired acreage here and probably operated a farm. They were members of the Salem Lutheran Church and many of these early settlers are buried in the Salem Lutheran Cemetery just south of where this street is located. (See Lutheran Cityemetery.)31
JOHN A.: His surname was Old and he was a chemist employed by the Humble Oil & Refining Company’s huge facility in Baytown. He must have been a talented fellow as he blew glass into items used in the laboratory and built an organ for his church.32
JOHN COOPER: This Woodlands street leads to the 40-acre wooded campus of John Cooper School, a well regarded college preparatory academy. Founded in 1988 it is a co-ed institution with just under 1,000 students.33
JOHN DAVIS: See sidebar Pirates of the Caribbean, page 280.
JOHN F. KENNEDY: When Intercontinental Airport was being built, City Council decided to change the name of its major thoroughfare to honor the 35th President of the United States. However there was a minor problem. The road was named for the Drummett family who were large landowners in the area. They were perfectly happy with the name and prevented the city from changing it. So Council named the street on airport property JFK. Not long after, a developer to the south of Intercontinental named a street that connected to Drummett and JFK for the President. After Mr. Drummett passed away, the middle section was renamed.34
JOHN FREEMAN: A founding partner, along with John Crooker and R. C. Fulbright, of the law firm that today is called Fulbright & Jaworski, Freeman was a major force in the building of the Texas Medical Center. As a trustee of the M. D. Anderson Foundation, his vision and determination carried on after Anderson’s death. (See M.D. Anderson.)35
JOHN HANCOCK: American patriot, merchant, delegate to the
second Continental Congress and first governor of Massachusetts he is best remembered for his prominent signature on the Declaration of Independence. He was the first delegate to sign this historic American document. Because of his grand signature we today use the expression “John Hancock” to indicate anyone’s signature.36
JOHN MARTIN: This Baytown resident was a Harris County Commissioner. Dr. Harvey Whiting was a famous forefather of Martin. (See Whiting.)37
JOHN SILVER: See sidebar Pirates of the Caribbean, page 280.
JOHNSON: G. E. – He was the first railroad station agent in Tomball (then called Peck). He worked for the Trinity & Brazos Valley Railway. The station was a depot, telegraph office, water station and a five stall round house for the locomotives. (See Tomball.)38
JOHNSON: Ralph A. – See sidebar Houston Streets Named for Men Killed During World War I, page 22.
JOHNSON: Richard J. V. – The Texas Medical Center honored this well-known Houstonian with a street. In addition to serving as Chairman of the Board of that august organization, he was also Chairman of the Houston Chronicle Publishing Company. Born in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, Johnson attended the University of Texas. Following World War II he entered the newspaper business. He joined the Chronicle in 1957 as a copywriter. He spent the next 45 years of his career serving in numerous executive positions with that newspaper, being named Chairman and Publisher in 1990. Well known for his civic and charitable endeavors one colleague recalled, “Dick has probably attended more rubber chicken dinners than anyone else in Houston, but he always does it with a smile and a conviction to support worthwhile causes.”39
JOHNSON: William – This Pasadena street is named for one of the area’s earliest settlers. 40
JOHNSON’S LANDING: This Galena Park street recalls a long gone dock on the Houston Ship Channel. In the late 1800s a merchant named H.H. Graff, who would later become the first mayor of that city, opened a grocery store here. 41