Montrose is a neighborhood located in the Neartown area of Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1911, the neighborhood is considered one of the demographically diverse areas of Houston with renovated mansions, bungalows with wide porches, and cottages located along tree-lined boulevards. Montrose is one of the more pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods in Houston, and the area has a strong identity built up over its long history.
History
The area of what is Montrose today was originally envisioned as a planned community and streetcar suburb dating back to the early 20th century before the development of River Oaks. Developer J. W. Link and his Houston Land Corporation envisioned a great residential addition according to the neighborhood's original sales brochure. Link's planning details for the area included four wide boulevards with the best curbing and extensive landscaping. Link built his own home in Montrose, known as the Link-Lee Mansion, which is now part of the University of St. Thomas campus. A streetcar, the Montrose Line, ran through the neighborhood. In the brochure, Link wrote what now seems like a huge understatement: Houston has to grow. Montrose is going to lead the procession. It did, and the procession eventually continued far beyond the neighborhood. Montrose was first platted in 1911.
In 1926, the Plaza Apartment Hotel, Houston’s first apartment hotel opened on Montrose Boulevard. The hotel was home to many of Houston’s leaders, including Dr. Edgar Odell Lovett, the first president of Rice University. Modeled after the Ritz-Carlton in New York, the hotel cost over one million dollars to construct.
During the 1960s and 1970s, Neartown was known for its Bohemian flavor—this would spawn both the Westheimer Colony Art Festival in 1971 and the subsequent street fair in 1973, which would become known as the Westheimer Street Festival. Also starting around the 1970s the area became known as the center for the gay and lesbian community of Houston.
During the 1990s through to recent times, this area has become increasingly gentrified with a trend towards remodeled and new homes, high rents, upmarket boutiques and restaurants. Neartown has become an eclectic niche market for office buildings in Houston, with both new development and redeveloped older buildings dotting Montrose Boulevard.
In 2009 the American Planning Association named Montrose as one of the ten "great neighborhoods" in the United States.
Culture
In recent decades, the area hosts a number of communities, most notably, the LGBT community, along with artists, hippies, goths, hipsters, and punk rockers, as well as a vibrant thrift, vintage, and second-hand shopping area. Gay bars, shopping, and restaurants are all found here, including after-hours nightclub South Beach, which was voted Houston's Best Gay Bar in 2007 by AOL City Guide .
Several music venues are found in the Montrose area. Anderson Fair is one of the oldest folk and original music venues in continuous operation in the United States.
On Montrose Boulevard and Westheimer Road, there are a few original homes remaining—a majority have been converted to businesses and/or restaurants since 1936. Many examples of Houston's historic residential architecture can be found in the tree-lined streets off Montrose and Westheimer where many century-old bungalows and mansions can be found.
Notable residents
The former home of Howard Hughes on Yoakum Street is now part of the University of St. Thomas. East of Montrose Boulevard on Westmoreland Ave. is the Waldo Mansion, known as the oldest occupied house in Houston. Lyndon Johnson lived on Hawthorne Street when he taught high school in the 1930s.
The Mansion (pictured right) of Ross S. Sterling, originally located in Downtown Houston, was moved into the Neighborhood.
Daniel Quinn, author of Ishmael and other books, lives and works in Montrose.
Museums
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston are located in southern Montrose. The Menil Collection, on Sul Ross Street between Alabama Street and Richmond Avenue, is a free museum founded by John and Dominique de Menil, Houston philanthropists.
Chapel
The Rothko Chapel is a non-denominational chapel located one block from The Menil Museum. Both were founded by John and Dominique de Menil. The interior serves not only as a chapel, but also as a major work of modern art. On its walls are fourteen black but color hued paintings by Mark Rothko. The shape and design of the chapel was largely influenced by the artist.
Infrastructure and government
Local government
The community is within the Houston Police Department's Central Patrol Division, headquartered at 61 Riesner. The Neartown Storefront Station is located at 802 Westheimer Road. The City of Houston purchased the building used for the storefront with federal community development funds. By September 20 , 1990 the Neartown Business Alliance spent around $4,000 United States dollars (1990 value) per year to maintain the storefront. Houston Fire Department Fire Station 16 Montrose serves the community. The fire station is in Fire District 6.
In a 1989 Houston Chronicle article Alan Bernstein described political support for Jim Westmoreland, an incumbent in an at-large position, in Montrose as "relatively weak." In one precinct 35.2 percent of the voting residents voted for him. Westmoreland drew controversy after reports of a joke that was characterized as "racist" spread. Beverley Clark, the opponent and a Black teacher, defeated Westmoreland in that race. Bernstein said that the significant racial minority groups and the "social tolerance" trait may have contributed to backlash against Westmoreland. Sarah Brunon, a Montrose resident and the president of the Neartown Association, said in a 1989 Houston Chronicle article that the "general comments" she heard after the Westmoreland remark was circulated throughout the press were "people's sense of amazement that someone would make such a remark such as that, even joking, in this day and age." Brunon added that Westmoreland did not often associate with the Neartown Association, unlike other at-large council members like Eleanor Tinsley, so many association members had little context in which to reference Westmoreland's remark.
The Montrose area held the core of Mayor of Houston Kathy Whitmire's political support in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In the 1991 Mayor of Houston election the sole area where a plurality of residents voted for Whitmire was Montrose; she took 40% of the vote in Montrose precincts..
County, state, and federal representation
Harris County Precinct One, as of 2008 headed by El Franco Lee, serves Neartown. The county operates the Neartown Office at 1413 Westheimer Road.
Montrose is located in District 134 of the Texas House of Representatives. As of 2008 Ellen Cohen represents the district. Montrose is located in District 13 of the Texas Senate. As of 2008 its representative is Rodney Ellis.
The community is within Texas's 7th congressional district. As of 2008 the representative is John Culberson. The United States Postal Service operates the University Station at 1319 Richmond Avenue, adjacent to Montrose.
City of Houston Designated Historic Districts
As of February, 2009, The Montrose was home to five of the twelve designated Historic Districts in the city of Houston. . These are Audubon Place, Avondale East, Avodale West, Courtland Place, and Westmoreland .
Consulates
The Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in Houston is at 3417 Montrose Boulevard in Montrose.
Parks and recreation
The Houston Greek Festival is a major event that is held at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral complex at 3511 Yoakum Boulevard, usually on the first week of October. The festival has been there for over four decades and is a popular event in the city.
The Montrose Crawl is a pub crawl that takes place along Westheimer Road in Montrose on Halloween night. A portion of all beverage sales made during the crawl are donated to charity.
Ervan Chew Park, located at 4502 Dunlavy, is a Montrose neighborhood park that allows dogs off-leash in a designated area.
Education
Colleges and universities
Montrose is home to the University of Saint Thomas.
Montrose is also in close proximity to Rice University, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, the University of Houston, Texas Southern University, Houston Community College Central, and University of Houston–Downtown.
Primary and se
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