Spring Branch, Houston facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Spring Branch East/West
Houston, Texas, neighborhood
Elevation	26 m (85 ft)
Population
• Total	134,225
Time zone	UTC-6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP codes	77080, 77041, 77043, 77055

Spring Branch is a district in west-northwest Harris County, Texas, United States, roughly bordered by Tanner Road and Hempstead Road to the north, Beltway 8 to the west, Interstate 10 to the south, and the 610 Loop to the east; it is almost entirely within the city of Houston. Established by the Texas Legislature, the Spring Branch Management District exercises jurisdiction over the area.

Several minor bayous run through the community, including Brickhouse Gully, Spring Branch (the neighborhood namesake), and Briar Branch, which drain into Buffalo Bayou in central Houston. Spring Lake is a large pond near the center of the neighborhood.

Spring Branch includes significant immigrant Korean American and Hispanic American communities, and was established in the 1800s as a rural German American community. As of 2020 Spring Branch East/West population has grown by 7,298 residents and over 400 new construction homes built.

History

The historic St. Peter's United Church

The 1,400 square feet (130 m²) plot pictured here has the graves of nineteen members of the Hillendahl family, including one who was interred in 1854. A descendant of the family sold all of the land around the grave site, but refused to move the actual graves.

Spring Branch began as a religious German farmer settlement; many of the farmers owned dairies. Karl Kolbe, who arrived in Texas from Germany in 1830, was Spring Branch's earliest settler. The Germans opened sawmills to cut area timber. In 1848, St. Peter's United (Lutheran) Church opened on a site donated from the Bauer family; the lumber used in the construction originated from one of the local sawmills. The Spring Branch School Society, sponsored by the church in 1856, eventually became the Spring Branch Independent School District.

The early settlers all had roads named after their families – Gessner, Conrad Sauer, Witte, Wirt, Blalock, Campbell, Hillendahl, Bauer, Fries, and Neuens.

After World War II James E. Lyon served as a developer in Spring Branch.

The eastern part of Spring Branch was annexed by the City of Houston in the 1940s while thewestern part was annexed in the 1950s. In the mid-1950s, efforts to create a Spring Branch municipality failed. Following this, the Memorial villages, a group of six independent municipalities, formed. Houston annexed the rest of the Spring Branch area. In the mid-to-late 20th century, Spring Branch had a rural suburban character with dirt roads and horses in the area. Spring Branch Elementary School, one of several area elementary schools, was an all-White elementary school.

Apartment complexes opened in the Spring Branch area around the 1970s. In 1982, the City of Houston Housing Authority proposed a $3.8 million U.S. dollar public housing unit at Emnora Lane. The city encountered strong opposition from civic clubs, city council members, and state representatives, so the city housing officials canceled the project.

By the 1980s, Houston's economy had collapsed and occupancy rates declined. Many apartment complexes faced foreclosure, bankruptcy, and changes in ownership. Bill Zermeno, a city electrical inspector, said in a 1988 Houston Chronicle article that many of the apartments with some of the strongest violations against maintenance-related city laws were in Spring Branch. Kim Cobb, the author of the 1988 Houston Chronicle article, said that many of the poorly maintained complexes were located next to well-maintained single family subdivisions.

From the 1980 U.S. Census to the 1990 Census, many Hispanics settled in parts of Spring Branch; in pockets of Spring Branch almost all of the immigration was from Central American countries. The Hispanic population increased by an amount between 1,000 and 3,500 per square mile. In 1997 S.D. Kim, the Houston bureau chief of The Korea Times, said that Koreatown, the Korean community in Spring Branch, grew because of inexpensive housing and the zoning to the Spring Branch Independent School District. In 1998 and again in 2001, a proposal to place Korean language street signs in Koreatown lead to political controversy; the reaction against the proposal lead to the withdrawal of the proposal. By 2006, Spring Branch Elementary School was mostly Hispanic, reflecting demographic changes in the Spring Branch area. By 2007 several older houses were torn down and replaced with newer houses; new homeowners came to Spring Branch to buy larger lots, to buy in an area cheaper than neighborhoods bordering Downtown Houston. New residents came due to the proximity to Downtown, Uptown, and the Energy Corridor.

In May 2011 the Spring Branch Central Super Neighborhood campaigned against having federal funds used to improve older apartment complexes in the area.

In 2013 Houstonia magazine stated that Spring Branch, including the adjacent cities of Hillshire Village and Spring Valley Village, was one of the "25 Hottest Neighborhoods" of Houston.

On May 5, 2016, a four alarm fire occurred on May 5, 2016 in Spring Branch, Texas

Cityscape

The intersection of Blalock and Westview, with Spring Branch street signs

Spring Branch is generally bounded by Beltway 8 on the western end, the 610 Loop on the eastern end, Interstate 10 on the southern end, and U.S. Highway 290 and Tanner Road to the north.

The district has access to Interstate 10, the 610 Loop, Beltway 8, and the Hempstead Highway. The district is in proximity to Downtown Houston, the Energy Corridor, the Memorial City District (including Memorial City Mall and the Memorial Hermann Hospital Memorial City), the Texas Medical Center, Uptown Houston (including The Galleria), and Westchase.

Terrence McCoy of the Houston Press said in 2012 that in Spring Branch "[a]venues lined with orderly yards and American flags buttress shopping centers where Spanish dominates."

As of 2012 there are different varieties of housing in Spring Branch. Spring Branch West includes many 1960s ranch-style houses. The central portion of Spring Branch has houses which are worth about $500,000 as of 2012. The eastern portion of Spring Branch, which is blue collar, has many bungalow houses with wood siding. Houstonia wrote that "Up until [the 2000s] or so, much of Spring Branch had a rural feel. It wasn’t uncommon to see pastures full of horses, relics of its past life as farmland tilled by generations of German immigrants".

In 1983 there were a travel agent, an optical shop, multiple restaurants, a newsstand, a bookstore, a pharmacy, and a furniture store in Spring Branch catering to Koreans.

Economy

John Nova Lomax of the Houston Press said that Spring Branch has many "old-school ethnic eateries" and described Long Point Road, Spring Branch's main road, as "thrift store nirvana". The journalist added that Long Point has few chain businesses and stores. The Koreatown portion has various Korean restaurants.

La Michoacana Meat Market has its headquarters in Spring Branch and in Houston. BJ Services Company has its headquarters in the Spring Branch district and in unincorporated Harris County. Tesco Corporation has its headquarters in the Spring Branch district and in Houston. Cameron International Corporation's Drilling and Production Systems center is in the Westway Business Park in Spring Branch and in an unincorporated area.

Previously, Igloo Corporation had a manufacturing facility in Spring Branch. The Spring Branch location also housed the company headquarters. In 2004, Igloo announced that it was consolidating to a location in unincorporated Waller County, Texas, near Katy.

Before its dissolution, Weiner's had its headquarters in Spring Branch and in Houston. At one time, AppleTree Markets had its headquarters in Spring Branch and in Houston.

By 2008 a Super H Mart supermarket, a part of a Korean American chain, opened. Purva Patel of the Houston Chronicle wrote that this supermarket attracted development to the area.

Diplomatic missions

Consulate-General of El Salvador in Houston

The Consulate-General of El Salvador in Houston resides at 1720 Hillendahl Boulevard in Spring Branch.

Demographics

Between the 1990 U.S. Census and the 2000 U.S. Census, as Spring Branch gained many Hispanic and Korean residents, many white residents left. Nestor Rodriguez, an immigration expert from the University of Houston, said that the white population of Spring Branch implied that many were leaving not because of racial differences but because the new residents were not middle class. Rodriguez said, "They don't say they're not middle-class, but they say, well, look at them, they're out on the street corners looking for work; we're not used to that. But those are characteristics of working-class or lower working-class people."

In 2000, the City of Houston's Super Neighborhoods located all or in part within Spring Branch reported the following population statistics:

Education

Primary and secondary schools

Public schools

Northbrook High School

Spring Branch Independent School District serves most of the areas within the Spring Branch Management District, all of the Memorial area in Houston, and several small cities.

Middle schools in Spring Branch ISD serving the Spring Branch area include Landrum Middle School, Northbrook Middle School, Spring Oaks Middle School, and Spring Woods Middle School. In addition Spring Forest Middle School in the Memorial community of Houston and Spring Branch Middle School in the City of Hedwig Village serve sections of Spring Branch.

Spring Woods High School

Most SBISD areas in the Spring Branch District are within the separate attendance boundaries of Spring Woods High School and Northbrook High School in Spring Branch. The southern portions of west Spring Branch have students zoned to Stratford High School in the Memorial area of Houston. Some areas of Spring Branch along Westview and Interstate 10 have students zoned to Memorial High School in the City of Hedwig Village.

Some areas within the district are within the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District. The area is divided between the attendance zones of Bane Elementary School in Houston, Kirk Elementary School in unincorporated Harris County, and Lee Elementary School in unincorporated Harris County. The area is divided between the attendance zones of Dean Middle School in Houston and Truitt Middle School in unincorporated Harris County. All residents of that area are zoned to Cypress Ridge High School in unincorporated Harris County.

There is a small segment of land in the Spring Branch district that is within the Houston Independent School District. The land in this segment is used for industrial, commercial, and transportation/utility reasons.

Private schools

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston operates The Regis School of the Sacred Heart, a K-8 school for boys, and St. Jerome School, a coeducational K-8 school, in Spring Branch. For the high school levels, Saint John XXIII High School (formerly Pope John XXIII High School) in western Harris County, within Greater Katy, is in proximity to Spring Branch.

Other private schools located in Spring Branch include The Awty International School, Houston Christian High School, Fair Haven Day Methodist School, Houston Sudbury School, ILM Academy (Islamic Education Institute of Texas a.k.a. Darul Arqam) at Spring Branch Islamic Center, St. Mark Lutheran School, and The Monarch School. Originally the Monarch School had a campus in Spring Branch and a campus in Hilshire Village. In Spring 2009 all programs of The Monarch School moved to a new campus on Kempwood Drive in Spring Branch. The Parish School is located in a plot of land bordering the Spring Branch District. The Parish School moved from its former campus, now the site of The Rainard School, to the new campus in 2005. Western Academy, a 3-8 boys private school, is in Spring Branch.

School of the Woods is a college prep Montessori School for early childhood through grade 12 in nearby Hilshire Village; some of the school property is in Houston.

Community colleges

Houston Community College System (HCC) serves Spring Branch ISD. Lone Star College serves Cy-Fair ISD.

HCC operates the Spring Branch Center, a part of the Northwest College, in Memorial City. The facility was known as the Town and Country Campus until 2009. The college is inside the former Town and Country Mall. In 1999 a former 112,000-square-foot (10,400 m²) AMC Theatres and KMart building in Town and Country was re-tenanted to HCC. HCC signed its lease to occupy portions of the Town & Country Square Shopping Center in 1999. During that year the owners of the Town & Country Square Shopping Center filed a lawsuit against HCC for trying to stop a Barnes & Noble from opening in the shopping center premises.

Public libraries

Elizabeth L. Ring Neighborhood Library

The Houston Public Library operates the Arnold L. Hillendahl Neighborhood Library at 2436 Gessner Road and the Elizabeth L. Ring Neighborhood Library at 8835 Long Point Road. The Harris County Public Library (HCPL) system operates the Spring Branch Memorial Branch at 930 Corbindale Road in the City of Hedwig Village. The 10,500-square-foot (980 m²) branch opened in 1975.

Parks and recreation

Agnes Moffit Park

The district includes parks operated by the city government and the county government.

The Houston Parks and Recreation Department operates municipal parks within the Spring Branch Management District. Agnes Moffit Park, located at 10645 Hammerly Boulevard, has a swimming pool and a golf course. The R.L. and Cora Johnson Park is located at 9791 Tanner Road. The adjacent R. L. and Cora Johnson Community Center, located at 9801 Tanner Road, has a 0.25 mile hike and bicycle trail, a playground, an outdoor basketball pavilion, and lighted tennis courts. The park was originally known as the Carverdale Park; it was renamed in January 2009 after some civic leaders. Freed Park and Community Center is located at 7020 Shadyvilla Lane. The park has an indoor gymnasium, a .35 mile hike and bicycle trail, a playground, a lighted sports field. Schwartz Park is located at 8203 Vogue.

Harris County Precinct 3 operates the county parks. The 13-acre (53,000 m²) Nob Hill Park, located at 10300 Timber Oak Drive, has a 0.59-mile (950 m) walking trail, a picnic, a playground, a gazebo, and a softball field. The 1-acre (4,000 m²) Spring Branch Pocket Park, located at 1700 Campbell Road at Spring Branch Drive, has a 0.057-mile (92 m) trail, a playground, and a gazebo. The 1-acre (4,000 m²) Housman Pocket Park, located at 6705 Housman Street, has a 0.12-mile (190 m) trail, a playground, and a gazebo. The 1-acre (4,000 m²) Moritz Pech Family Park, located at 1493½ Moritz Drive, has two playgrounds and a 0.22-mile (350 m) granite jogging trail. The 1-acre (4,000 m²) Creek Pocket Park, located at 1701 Creek Drive, has a 0.068-mile (0.109 km) trail. The 0.21-acre (850 m²) Bracher Pocket Park, located at 1507½ Bracher Street, has a 0.057-mile (92 m) gravel trail, a playground, and a gazebo. The 0.65-acre (2,600 m²) Bauer Pocket Park, located at 2201 Bauer Road, has a 0.1-mile (160 m) trail. The 1-acre (4,000 m²) Gessner Pocket Park, located at 1610½ Gessner Drive, has a 0.025-mile (40 m) trail and a playground.

Culture

St. Andrew Kim Catholic Church (Korean: 휴스턴한인천주교회)

The Spring Branch Family Development Center, a 501(c)(3) organization, opened in 2001 to provide educational, recreational, health and social services to residents of Spring Branch.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston operates area Catholic churches. St. Andrew Kim Catholic Church (Korean: 휴스턴한인천주교회), named after Andrew Kim Taegon, is in Spring Branch. It serves ethnic Koreans and Korean speakers in the archdiocese. The area has a Polish American house of worship, Our Lady of Czestochowa Roman Catholic Parish, established in the 1980s. At the time Polish immigrants who resisted Communist rule in that country arrived in Houston. Other Spring Branch Catholic churches include Our Lady of Walsingham Church, St. Catherine of Siena Church, and St. Jerome Church.

The Islamic Society of Greater Houston (ISGH) operates an area house of worship for Muslims, the Spring Branch Islamic Center. It houses the Islamic primary school ILM Academy.

Notable residents

• Helena Brown (former member of the Houston City Council in District A)

See also

In Spanish: Spring Branch (Houston) para niños