Riverside Terrace is a neighborhood in Houston, Texas, United States. It is along Texas State Highway 288 and north of the Texas Medical Center and located near Texas Southern University and University of Houston. There about 20 sections of Riverside Terrace that span across North and South MacGregor. The community, formerly a Jewish neighborhood, became a community for African Americans in the 1950s and '60s. It is still predominantly African-American neighborhood with different income levels. It has been undergoing a gradual change in demographics and aesthetics due to gentrification efforts since the early 2000s.
Some articles of the Houston Chronicle describe it as within Third Ward, while some articles discuss Riverside Terrace as being a separate community. [Riverside Terrace is south of the core of Third Ward]
History 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.Michaelides, p. 72. 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.Kaplan, Barry J. (University of Houston). "Race, Income, and Ethnicity: Residential Change in a Houston Community, 1920-1970." The Houston Review. Winter 1981. pp. 178-202. CITED: p. 183. Riverside Terrace was designed for wealthier families.Kaplan, Barry J. (University of Houston). "Race, Income, and Ethnicity: Residential Change in a Houston Community, 1920-1970." The Houston Review. Winter 1981. pp. 178-202. CITED: p. 184. In 1927 it was annexed by the City of Houston.Kaplan, Barry J. (University of Houston). "Race, Income, and Ethnicity: Residential Change in a Houston Community, 1920-1970." The Houston Review. Winter 1981. pp. 178-202. CITED: p. 186.
Jewish families moved to Riverside Terrace in the 1920s and 1930s since they were not allowed to settle in other wealthy Houston neighborhoods, including River Oaks.Feser, Katherine. "Much history flows through Riverside." Houston Chronicle. July 9, 2002. Retrieved on April 18, 2009. "It's a great neighborhood for children," says Lee, who is raising two children there. Many attend private schools or public schools with magnet programs. " and "Schools: Southland Elementary, Cullen Middle School, Yates High School " 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."Wollam, Allison. "Riverside Terrace bucks housing slowdown." Houston Business Journal. August 15, 2008. Retrieved on April 18, 2009. "It’s becoming common practice for homes in the Riverside Terrace area — a historic Inner-Loop neighborhood bounded by Scott, North MacGregor, Almeda and Wheeler[...]" During that period the neighborhood hosted the houses of the prominent Weingarten, Finger, and McGregor families. By the 1950s initial development finished.
In 1952, a wealthy African-American cattleman named Jack Caesar moved to the neighborhood. He stayed despite the fact that a bomb detonated on his front porch. Several Riverside Terrace residents opposed the growth of the community's black population, with some not wishing for racial-based violence to occur in the community and with some on the grounds that property values could decline. In 1959, land clearance began for the construction of the new Texas State Highway 288 freeway, destroying several Riverside Terrace houses. Although Caesar's home was in the path of the freeway, it was moved to another location south of Houston.Schilcutt, Katharine. "Houston 101: The Forgotten Mansions of Riverside Terrace." Houston Press. Friday August 28, 2009. Retrieved on September 8, 2009. Many White families left Riverside Terrace and settled in suburbs. The percentage of the population being white declined from 97% in 1950 to 5% in 1970. The population during that period increased due to the subdivision of former mansions and houses into smaller housing units and the establishment of apartments, going from 7,635 in 1950 to 12,519 in 1970.Kaplan, Barry J. (University of Houston). "Race, Income, and Ethnicity: Residential Change in a Houston Community, 1920-1970." The Houston Review. Winter 1981. pp. 178-202. CITED: p. 193.
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. In the spring of 1963 the South Macgregor Promotion Committee formed. It says that it placed the "not for sale" not because it was against African Americans moving in, but because it wanted to prevent block busting. African-American and civil rights figures backed the "not for sale" campaign. In 1963 the community had 175 African American families. The South Macgregor group, which had no black members in 1963, and African-American leaders met and decided that a ratio of between 65-85% White and 15-35% Black would be beneficial to members of both racial groups.Morgan, Frank. "Houston Whites Act To Avoid Selling Panic As as(sic) Area Integrates. The Wall Street Journal. August 19, 1964. Retrieved on November 27, 2011.
The community gradually transitioned into being majority black and with both affluent African Americans and lower socioeconomic residents. Wealthy African-American doctors, lawyers, politicians, and university professors moved into Riverside Terrace. Houston Chronicle columnist Joy Sewing, who was born and raised in Riverside Terrace, wrote, "Even the more affluent Riverside Terrace area, which was once considered the 'Jewish River Oaks' and loosely part of Third Ward, has never been given its respect. When Black professionals began moving into the area in the 1950s and '60s, white folks got scared and moved out. A few history reports say it became 'Black River Oaks,' and it did."
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. Due to lack of zoning, many large single family houses were converted into apartments, and additional low income apartment blocks were built in the area. Other large houses were converted into housing for fraternities and sororities. Many area businesses catering to the wealthy closed, and nightclubs moved in their place. Jon Schwartz, creator of the 1985 documentary, This Is Our Home It Is Not For Sale, a film documenting Riverside Terrace, states that the neighborhood stabilized after 1970. Circa 1981 the Houston Planning Commission, in Kaplan's words, gave Riverside Terrace a "fair" rating and stated that it continued to be a "viable community that is generally well maintained" although the northern portion was "in a stage of incipient decline" and that overall "continued decline was likely."Kaplan, Barry J. (University of Houston). "Race, Income, and Ethnicity: Residential Change in a Houston Community, 1920-1970." The Houston Review. Winter 1981. pp. 178-202. CITED: p. 196. 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.
Riverside Terrace house sales did not follow the general housing slump in the United States of the late 2000s. The late 2000s has also seen couples and families moving into Riverside Terrace to improve formerly derelict mansions, though some houses remained neglected and abandoned. By 2008 some older properties were demolished and replaced with newer housing. Lisa Gray of the Houston Chronicle stated that this too was a gradual process. Recent improvements include re-development of hike and bike trails along Braes Bayou, aesthetic improvements to Almeda Road (including brick pavement and decorative street lighting), as well as renovation and modernization of some notable older homes.
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. Erica Greider of the Houston Chronicle argued against trying to immediately make a concerted push for a historic district. 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. It is east of the Texas Medical Center and Hermann Park, and south of Interstate 45 (Gulf Freeway).Kearney, Syd. A Marmac Guide to Houston and Galveston. Pelican Publishing, March 1, 2009. p. 222. Retrieved from Google Books on October 21, 2012. , 9781589805484. "South of the Gulf Freeway is Riverside Terrace, with both Texas Southern University and the University of Houston at its door. It borders still another recreational facility at MacGregor Park." 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". Allison Wollam of the Houston Business Journal stated that Riverside Terrace is bounded by Scott Street, North MacGregor, Almeda Road, and Wheeler Street. Laura Michaelides of Houston House and Home stated that the boundaries were Almeda and Calhoun on the west and eastern ends, and that Riverside Terrace was on both sides of the Brays Bayou.Michaelides, p. 72-73.
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".Michaelides, p. 73. 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."