Settegast, Houston facts for kids
Settegast is a neighborhood in northeast Houston with a person/acre average between 1–5. The community is bordered by the 610 Loop, the Union Pacific Railroad Settegast Yard, and the old Beaumont Highway. The community has many small wood-frame houses and empty lots. Habitat for Humanity has a prominent stake in the area, and a community garden is underway. There are few commercial and industrial uses within Settegast. Also, contemporary housing has started to show itself within new construction in the area. The City of Houston designated Settegast as a Houston HOPE neighborhood.
History
Settegast was first developed in 1892 by German immigrants William J and Julius J. Settegast, who had become interested in land speculation back in 1872.
Settegast was further developed as a planned community in the 1940s, had streets and lots that were platted during the same decade. Settegast was settled by African Americans seeking land in the northeast side of Houston.
The City of Houston annexed Settegast in 1949 and began providing sewer trunk lines in 1965.
Cityscape
Settegast is bounded to the south by the 610 Loop and the Beaumont Freeway, and to the west by a Union Pacific Railroad switching yard.
Rafael Longoria and Susan Rogers of the Rice Design Alliance said that Settegast could be described as "rurban," a word coined in 1918 which describes an area with a mix of urban and rural characteristics. Longoria and Rogers said that the original frame houses, described by the two as "modest," are "sparsely" distributed throughout Settegast. As of 2008 much of the area remained undeveloped, and guinea hens and horses graze on the open fields. Many churches are located in the neighborhood; as of 2008 there is one church per 60 residents.
Parks and recreation
The City of Houston operates the Settegast Park.
The Northeast Family YMCA serves residents of Settegast.
The former Lakewood Church is in the northeast portion of Settegast. It was established in a converted feed store. On July 16, 2005, the church moved into the former Houston Summit.
Economy
Union Pacific operates the Settegast Yard, an intermodal terminal. The large terminal bounds Settegast to the west.
Education
The area is within the Houston Independent School District. Residents are zoned to Bennie Carl Elmore Elementary School, Key Middle School, and Kashmere High School.
Elmore Elementary School has thirty-nine teachers with an average of four years experience, also the school has all four performance index indicators with one distinction designator, "Top 25% Student Progress."
Key Middle School has forty-five teachers with an average of three years of experience, also the school has three-out-of-four performance index indicators with no distinction designators.
Kashmere High School has thirty-nine teachers with an average of nine years, also the school has two-out-of-four performance index indicators with no distinction designators.
History of education
Prior to July 1, 2013, the North Forest Independent School District (originally Northeast Houston Independent School District) served the community.
When Northeast Houston ISD was segregated, Settegast had its own high school. A grade 1-8 school called Settegast High School opened in 1951 to serve black students. It had a student body of 300. B.C. Elmore High School opened in 1957. After Elmore High's opening, Settegast School and Hilliard School served as the community grade schools. Elmore High was converted into a junior high school on when Forest Brook High School opened in 1972. The building was razed and replaced with a new middle school structure in 1999.
The new Elmore Middle school building opened in 2000. The 40 classroom, 130,000 square feet (12,000 m2) facility had a multi-million dollar cost.
As of 2010[update] as an NFISD territory Settegast was zoned to Hilliard Elementary School, B. C. Elmore Middle School, and North Forest High School. The Elmore campus joined HISD and was converted into an elementary school during the merger of North Forest ISD into HISD on July 1, 2013.
