Bellaire is a city in southwestern Harris County, Texas, United States, within the metropolitan area.. Retrieved on January 24, 2010. As of the 2020 census, Bellaire had a population of 17,202. It is surrounded by the cities of Houston and West University Place. Bellaire is known as the "City of Homes", owing to its mostly residential character;Mayor Cindy Siegel's State of the City Address . City of Bellaire. Retrieved on November 14, 2008. but it has offices along the I-610 Loop within the city limits. Bellaire has two public elementary schools, one public middle school, one public high school, and one public library in the city limits, as well as three private K-12 schools. The municipality also has a bus transit center and multiple public bus routes; formerly it was on a streetcar line.
History
Bellaire was founded in 1908 by William Wright Baldwin, who was the president of the South End Land Company. Baldwin, a native of Iowa, was well known as the vice president of the Burlington Railroad. Bellaire was created on what was part of William Marsh Rice's ranch. Baldwin surveyed the eastern of the ranch into small truck farms. He named them "Westmoreland Farms". Baldwin started Bellaire in the middle of "Westmoreland Farms" to serve as a residential neighborhood and an agricultural trading center. South End Land Company advertised to farmers in the Midwestern United States. Baldwin stated that the town was named "Bellaire", or "Good Air" for its breezes. Bellaire may have been named after Bellaire, Ohio, a town served by one of Baldwin's rail lines.
Six miles of prairie were a buffer zone between Houston and Bellaire. Originally, the town was bounded by Palmetto, First, Jessamine, and Sixth (now Ferris) Streets. In 1910, Edward Teas, a horticulturist, moved his nursery to Bellaire from Missouri so he could implement Sid Hare's landscaping plans. Bellaire was incorporated as a city with a general charter in 1918, 10 years after its founding. Bellaire had a population of 200 at the time. Because of the 1918 incorporation, Houston did not incorporate Bellaire's territory into its city limits, while annexing surrounding areas that were unincorporated.Lee, Renée C. "Annexed Kingwood split on effects ." Houston Chronicle. Sunday October 8, 2006. A21. Retrieved on July 6, 2011. "Some of the area communities that incorporated as cities and escaped annexation by Houston:" Print version exclusively has the information cited; the information is not included in the online edition.
Bellaire's population had reached 1,124 in 1940. After 1940, Bellaire had a rapid population explosion in the post-World War II building boom. On December 31, 1948, the city of Houston had annexed the land around the city of Bellaire, stopping the city of Bellaire's land growth. Bellaire remained independent of Houston, and adopted a home rule charter with a council-manager government in April 1949. By 1950, the city's residents had numbered 10,173, with 3,186 houses. Each subsequent year for the next two years, though, an additional 600 to 700 new houses were added. Due to the resulting population increase, several schools, including Bellaire High School, Marian High School, and two elementary schools, were established in that period, and Condit Elementary received a new addition. In the 1960s, 250 houses in Bellaire were demolished to make way for the right-of-way of the I-610 Loop, which bisected the city.
According to a Bellaire resident quoted in the Houston Post, prior to 1992, the tax base of the city of Bellaire had been decreasing. After neighbor West University Place eased restrictions on developers, new houses were constructed in West University Place, and the city gained a larger tax base. Bellaire decided to also liberalize its development restrictions to allow for new development by streamlining its no-growth building permit process. According to Karl Lewis, a vice president and sales manager at John Daugherty Realtors, when the prices of West University Place land reached about $20/sq ft, area home buyers began to consider Bellaire, which had an average price of $10–12/sq ft. Don Stowers of the Houston Press said that Bellaire and West University Place had "comparable" attributes such as independent fire and police departments, zoning, recreation facilities and parks, and schools "among the best in Houston." Michael Blum, president of Blum & Associates Realty, said "Bellaire is a bargain." Blum added that Bellaire was affordable compared to similar American neighborhoods and that Bellaire had proximity to business districts, "excellent" municipal services, and "superior" schools.Stowers, Don. "Bellaire small-town flavor, big-city convenience." Houston Post. April 26, 1992. L section. Available from the microfilm desk at the Jesse H. Jones Building of the Houston Public Library Central Library. Affluent families increasingly moved to Bellaire. The price of an average house in Bellaire increased from $75,000 to $500,000 from 1986 to 2006.Swartz, Mimi. "The Gangstas of Godwin Park." (Alt ) Texas Monthly. June 1, 2006. Retrieved on November 2, 2011.
In 2002, the City of Bellaire attempted to acquire all or part of the Teas Nursery, Bellaire's oldest business and the oldest nursery in Greater Houston, for park development. The company fought the city's take-over attempt. During that year the owners of Teas sold at the rear of the property to Lovett Homes, a home developer. Frank Liu, the owner of Lovett Homes, said that it had an option to buy the remaining . When the City of Bellaire denied a replat application sent by Teas Nursery, in June 2002 the nursery filed a lawsuit against the city and its zoning commission. In 2005 the lawsuit was settled out of court.
During the Hurricane Rita evacuation, a bus filled with residents from Brighton Gardens, a nursing home in Bellaire, caught on fire and exploded in the city of Wilmer. The September 23, 2005, explosion killed 24 of the 38 residents and employees on the bus."Bus Explosion Kills 24 in Dallas ." Associated Press at Fox News. Friday September 23, 2005. Retrieved on June 4, 2009.Belli, Anne and Lisa Falkenberg. 24 nursing home evacuees die in bus fire . Houston Chronicle. September 24, 2005. The resulting lawsuit was settled in June 2009.Langford, Terri. "Families settle for $80 million in Rita bus fire case ." Houston Chronicle. June 4, 2009. Retrieved on June 4, 2009. On March 23, 2008, a tour bus carrying Tejano singer Emilio Navaira crashed in Bellaire.Rendon, Ruth and Ramiro Burr. Doctors begin raising Navaira's body temperature . Houston Chronicle. March 25, 2008.Tejano star still critical . KTRK-TV. Monday March 24, 2008.Grammy winner Emilio 'may not make it' . CNN. Monday March 24, 2008. By 2008, an increasing number of houses sold for over $1,000,000.Sarnoff, Nancy. More are willing to spend $1 million on a home . Houston Chronicle. April 14, 2008. Accessed on November 19, 2008.
On December 31, 2008, Bellaire police officers confronted Robbie Tolan, the son of former Major League Baseball player Bobby Tolan, in the driveway of his house at the 800 block of Woodstock.Turner, Allan. Officer charged with shooting Bellaire ball player . Houston Chronicle. April 6, 2009. Retrieved on April 6, 2009. Officers suspected Tolan, who was unarmed, of stealing a sports utility vehicle in the driveway and shot Tolan in the chest; Tolan's family owned the vehicle. Tolan was hospitalized with injuries to one lung and his liver. The incident sparked allegations of racial profiling. Members of minority groups reported that Bellaire police racially profiled people. In 2002, José Cruz Jr., son of baseball player José Cruz, was stopped since his vehicle was missing a front license plate. He was arrested by Bellaire police and spent one night in jail after Bellaire law enforcement told him that he had a warrant for his arrest. The Houston Chronicle said that the Bellaire police decision to arrest Cruz was a mistake. In January 2009, Cruz accused the police of racial profiling. Mayor Cindy Siegel said that she was unaware of racial profiling by police.Tolson, Mike. Resident minorities say police have a habit of focusing on them / Bellaire shooting unearths unease . Houston Chronicle. January 11, 2009. A1. Retrieved on January 11, 2009. Siegel announced that the city would investigate racial profiling and hire an independent consultant to look at traffic stop data.Gomez Dong, Alana. Bellaire Mayor To Investigate Racial Profiling Allegations . KPRC-TV at MSNBC. Thursday February 5, 2009. Retrieved on February 5, 2009. The local National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) branch said that it had established a pact with the City of Bellaire; people may report civil rights violations from Bellaire Police to the branch if they do not wish to contact the City of Bellaire.Tolson, Mike. NAACP, Bellaire establish pact for reporting complaints . Houston Chronicle. February 10, 2009. Retrieved on February 10, 2009. However, the NAACP branch has not yet provided the city with any civil rights violations.
On April 6, 2009, a Harris County grand jury indicted Sergeant Jeffrey Cotton, the police officer, for aggravated assault by a public servant. If convicted, Cotton could face up to life in prison. In addition, the family sued the police department and the police officer.Khanna, Roma. Tolans sue Bellaire officials, officer in shooting . Houston Chronicle. May 1, 2009. Retrieved on May 1, 2009. The trial in Harris County District Court on criminal felony charges against Cotton began on January 25, 2010.. Bellaire Examiner. January 6, 2010. Retrieved on May 1, 2009. Jury selection was scheduled to begin on May 3, 2010.Rogers, Brian. "Bellaire police officer's trial begins in driveway shooting ." Houston Chronicle. May 3, 2010. Retrieved on May 4, 2010. The officer was found not guilty in his criminal trial in May 2010.Connelly, Richard. "Bellaire Cop Found Not Guilty In Robbie Tolan Shooting ." Houston Press. Tuesday May 11, 2010. Retrieved on May 12, 2010.Houston Chronicle. April 2, 2012.In Federal Judge Harmon ruling stated the Tolans' allegations on race were based on their "personal beliefs." "There is simply no admissible evidence ... that either officer was motivated to act due to the race of any of the plaintiffs," she wrote. She also found that Cotton acted reasonably and like any other officer would have when he shot Tolan, who reached for his waist where the officer feared he had a gun hidden. "Sergeant Cotton misinterpreted Robbie Tolan's intended actions," she wrote, "but his firing on Robbie Tolan did not violate Robbie Tolan's constitutional rights because Sergeant Cotton feared for his life and could reasonably have believed the shooting was necessary under the totality of the factual circumstances evidenced by the summary judgment record."