by Marks Hinton
Banks – Sir Joseph Banks was one of England’s greatest naturalists. A very wealthy man, he financed and sailed with Captain James Cook on his first voyage aboard the famous sailing ship, Endeavor. Upon his death in 1820 the British Museum was the bequeathee of Banks’ huge collection of botanical specimens and books.
Bartlett – Although John Bartlett was an American and is best remembered as the creator of Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations (first published in 1855), his New and Complete Concordance of Shakespeare surpasses all other collections of citations of the Bard’s writings.
Bolsover – This charming village grew up around a castle that existed prior to 1099. This area of England has produced some of the earliest traces of civilization in the Isles. Ice age sites here have been carbon dated to 45,000 to 12,000 B. C.
Dunstan – St. Dunstan is one of the main English saints. Born in 909 near Glastonbury, he was named abbot of the famous monastic school there when he was just 34 years old. His high principles often placed him in conflict with the ruling powers but somehow he always prevailed. In 959 he was elected Archbishop of Canterbury.
Hazard – John Warren Hazard was one of the developers of Southampton. Coincidently, in the United Kingdom, hazard was a popular dice game played for very high stakes in the parlors along St. James and Pall Mall. It later became popular in the United States and we know it here today as craps.
Milford – Once a small hamlet in the midst of a deer forest, its ample water supply allowed Jedediah Strutt to erect a water-powered cotton mill here in the 1700s and the town boomed. Eventually the mill closed and was torn down in the 1960s. Milford once again became a quiet little village.
Northampton – This country town has been famous since the 17th century for high quality boots and shoes produced here. The Norman castle has been the site of many battles as well as the meeting place of the English Parliament during the 12th to 14th centuries.
Quenby – This High Jacobean country house in Leicestershire is one of England’s finest. George Ashby built it in 1627. It is most famous for its kitchen as it was there that Stilton cheese was first produced making the culinary world a much better place. After all what did we have to eat with port wine before Stilton?
Robinhood – (See Robin Hood)
Southampton – It was from this English Channel seaport that the great White Star Line ocean liner RMS Titanic departed on her fateful voyage on April 10, 1912. On Sunday April 14 at 11:40 PM the ship collided with a massive iceberg. The Titanic was mortally wounded. At 2:20 AM on Monday she broke in two and slipped beneath the icy waters of the North Atlantic carrying 1,500 souls to their deaths.
Wilton – There are two possibilities for this street name. First is that it recalls an English bone china pattern of the same name manufactured by several top-of-the-line producers including Haviland and Royal Doulton. Or it could be named after the famous Wilton carpets that are manufactured in the market town of Wilton in Wiltshire.
Wroxton – This Oxfordshire village is located in the county where the greatest of England’s institutions of higher learning have held sway since the 1100s. The most famous of these is Oxford University. Its earliest colleges can be traced back to 1163. 40
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QUADE: This family came to Texas in the late 1870s from Germany and settled in Cypress. (See Koch.) 1
QUAIL VALLEY: This large subdivision was the first of this type of mega project in Missouri City. Development began in 1969. 2
QUAKER: Located in Friendswood, a community founded by the Society of Friends in the 1890s, this street is named for members of that religious sect. The term Quaker is derived from an early leader’s admonishment to “tremble at the word of the Lord.” 3
QUEEN VICTORIA: Arguably one of the greatest rulers to grace the English throne, she ruled the British Empire from 1837 to 1901. A very strong-willed woman she stood up against Lord Palmerston and his aggressive foreign policy, despised liberal Prime Minister William Gladstone and adored PM Benjamin Disraeli, one of Britain’s most capable statesmen. 4
QUEEN’S CLUB: This private sporting club in West Kensington, London was founded in 1886. It was the world’s first multipurpose sports complex. It is named for Queen Victoria, its first patron. It hosts the prestigious grass court Queen’s Club Tennis Championships each year. 5
QUENBY: See Southampton’s English Streets, page 255.
QUINN: T. H. – See sidebar Houston Streets Named for Men Killed During World War I, page 22.
QUINTANA: Named for Mexican General Andres Quintana, it became an important seaport for early Texas. Its strategic location on the Gulf of Mexico earned it bombardment by Union ships during the War Between the States. Up until the war it was the only shipyard west of New Orleans. Quintana was destroyed by the Great Storm of 1900. Rebuilt, it is now a quiet resort and fishing center. 6
QUITMAN: John A. – It is possible that Houston Mayor Andrew Briscoe may have named this north side street in honor of his mentor. General Quitman was a Mississippi attorney who allowed Briscoe to study law in his Jackson office. 7
BRAZORIA COUNTY’S OLD PLANTATION STREETS AND ROADS
Brazoria County is one of the oldest and most historic in Texas. Anglo settlement began here as early as 1820. Stephen F. Austin gave land grants in 1824. Many communities (Velasco, East & West Columbia, Brazoria, Quintana and Liverpool) were thriving by 1832. The rich soil, plentiful water supply and long growing season made the area an ideal location for plantations. These historic plantations are long gone but not forgotten because of the streets and roads named for them. 41
Bryan – Moses Austin Bryan, a nephew of Stephen F. Austin, owned this cotton plantation. It was near Velasco. Bryan fought in the Battle of San Jacinto. He acted as General Sam Houston’s interpreter when Santa Anna was captured.
Duranzo – This plantation was the home of W. Joel Bryan, a nephew of Stephen F. Austin. The principal crops here were cotton and sugarcane.
McCormick – J. M. McCormick owned this cotton plantation. It was located on a beautiful bend in the San Bernard River. McCormick fought in Captain William H. Patton’s Company during the Battle of San Jacinto. The family was active in Texas affairs for many years.
Patton – William H. Patton came from Mississippi and started this sugar plantation. He was Captain of a company and an aide-de-camp at San Jacinto Battleground. It was his duty to guard General Santa Anna while he was held captive at the Phelps Plantation. Governor James Stephan Hogg bought the place from Patton and told his heirs to hold it 20 years because oil would be discovered here. He was correct and the Hogg family became very wealthy.
Phelps – This cotton plantation was owned by Dr. J. A. E. Phelps. It is most famous as being the place where General Santa Anna was held captive after the Battle of San Jacinto. The doctor treated Santa Anna well. The General never forgot that and when Phelps son, Orlando, was captured in Mexico after the ill founded Mier Expedition, Santa Anna saved the young man from the firing squad.
Spencer – A gentleman known as Captain Spencer raised cotton on this plantation that was just outside of Brazoria.
Waldeck – Morgan L. Smith came to Texas from Massachusetts. Stories say this was one of the finest of the sugar plantations and the first to have a sugar refinery. Prince Waldeck, a cousin of Queen Victoria of England, was visiting Smith and was so impressed with the property he purchased it. Smith returned to Boston and later committed suicide.
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R. W. J.: The R. W. Johnson Construction Company owns the RWJ Airpark where this street is located. The facility serves private aircraft in the Baytown and Chambers County area. 1
RABB RIDGE: This deep seated salt dome is in the Thompson Oilfield near Rosenberg. In 1931 Hugh Cullen and his partner Jim West of the Cullen & West Oil Company discovered oil at 9,314 feet along the flanks of the dome. They eventually sold their interest to Humble Oil & Refining Company for a gigantic profit. (See Cullen and Jim West.) 2
RABB: John – This Indian fighter was given
a league of land in what would become Fort Bend County in 1824. 3
RADIO: KFRD Radio was originally located on Avenue H in Rosenberg. When it outgrew that space and moved the new street leading to it was named Radio. (See Junker.) 4
RAILHEAD: This northwest Harris County street leads to the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad yard where locomotives are matched with trains cars and dispatched on their routes. 5
RAILROAD: The Union Pacific rail line in Baytown parallels this street. 6
RAILROAD: This street runs along the Southern Pacific Railroad line that parallels the La Porte Highway. 7
RAILSPUR: This short branch of rail line leads to the main Union Pacific track in east Harris County. 8
RAINS: See sidebar Texas Heroes’ Names for Houston Streets Urged in 72 Proposed Changes, page 96.
RAMPART: See sidebar Laissez les bon temps roulez (Let the good times roll), page 188.
RANCHO BAUER: Located in Montgomery County, this road is named for descendents of early pioneer Carl Siegsmund Bauer. (See Bauer.) 9
RANDON SCHOOL: John and David Randon were members of Stephen F. Austin’s Old 300. The town was built in 1898 with the arrival of the Texas & New Orleans Railroad. In 1921 the rural Randon School had one teacher and 21 students. It closed in the 1930s. 10
RANKIN: George Clark – An ordained Methodist minister, Rankin was transferred to the Shearn Church in Houston in 1892. Known for his “hell, fire and brimstone” sermons, he toured the saloons, fleshpots and gambling halls of the city in disguise. Then on Sunday evenings he would call down damnation on customers and the establishments. It was said the church was packed from “the vestibule to amen corner” with the faithful, anxious to hear of the gambling, drinking, womanizing and other unspeakable obscenities committed by fellow Houstonians. He claimed over 500 prostitutes were in the city and many lived near Shearn Church. In the end, despite his harangues, little changed. In 1896 Rankin was called by the First Methodist Church of Dallas. Houston was left to wallow in its sodomic practices. 11
RANSOM: R. J. or Henry Lee – R. J. was born in Mississippi in 1835 and arrived in Texas in 1859. He managed a plantation for Colonel B. F. Terry. Following the War Between the States, R. J. was in charge of the Harlem Plantation. At that time the State of Texas leased convicts to plantation owners to work the fields. In 1886 the State bought Harlem and turned it into the first prison farm and the leasing of convicts ended. Henry was a native of Brenham, he was born in 1870. He came to Fort Bend County in 1889. Ransom joined the army during the Spanish-American War (1898) and was the only person in the county to serve in that brief engagement. His military records state he was of “good character” and “honest and faithful.” After the war he joined the sheriff’s department. (See B. F. Terry.) 12
RAOUL WALLENBERG: He was a Swedish diplomat during the middle of the 20th century. Wallenberg is best remembered for his work in Hungary following World War II. The Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law at Lund University in Sweden was founded and named in his honor in 1984. 13
RAPIDAN: See sidebar the Antebellum Streets of River Plantation, page 122.
RAPIDO: In this bloody World War II river crossing, hubris won out over reason and the result was a slaughter of American troops. In Italy’s Liri Valley in January 1944 the Texas 36th Infantry Division was ordered to cross the freezing Rapido river at night in rubber boats under withering German fire. The result was a slaughter with 2,877 casualties including 1,681 killed. One soldier said, “If you didn’t get wounded, if you didn’t get killed, if you didn’t get captured, you weren’t at the river.” 14
RAYBURN: L. N. – This man was the commander of Company E of Terry’s Texas Rangers during the War Between the States. Wounded at the Battle of Shiloh, he recovered and saw action at Murfreesboro. 15
RAYFORD: In the early 1900s this road led to the small town of Rayford, which no longer exists. It was a stop on the International-Great Northern Railroad. The Rayford Forest and Spring Hill North neighborhoods now sit on the former town site. 16
REAGAN: John Henninger – He was born in rural Tennessee in 1818. Like many of our ancestors Reagan’s talents seem unlimited. He was a lawyer, postmaster general and treasurer of the Confederate States of America, U. S. Representative, U. S. Senator (1887-91) where he earned the nickname “the Old Roman” and first chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission. He died in Palestine, Texas in 1905 and is buried there in East Hill Cemetery. In addition to this Houston Heights area street, Reagan County and John H. Reagan Senior High School (1927 - William Ward Watkin, Architect) are also named in his honor. 17
REBA: River Oaks developer Will Hogg named this street for his friend Rebecca Meyer who lived in the area. The park in the middle of the 3200 block is named for her also. 18
REBECCA BURWELL: Located in Williamsburg Settlement, a west Houston neighborhood with many early American street names, she was the first great love of Thomas Jefferson. It is believed he proposed to her in 1764 when Rebecca was 17 but she must have said no. She later married Jacquelin Ambler with whom she had six children. 19
RED BLUFF: – This small Galveston Bay town was founded in about 1880. It has since been absorbed into Seabrook. 20
RED-N-GOLD: The powers that be took the opportunity to name the streets around the Stafford Municipal School District property for things relating to the schools. The school’s colors are red and gold. Spartan is named for the team mascot. The third street is Stafford Pride. (See Stafford.) 21
REHAB: So named because it leads to the Harris County Prison Center where hopefully some rehabilitation occurs. This could be a street with two different names depending on the direction of the traveler. For those going north or out it is Rehab but for the miscreants who are returning or going south it could be Recidivism Road. 22
REID: W. R. – When this gentleman developed Lindale Park in the 1930s it was outside of the city limits but did have all the city conveniences. It would eventually contain over 1,800 homes. 23
REIDEL: Otto – This early Spring Valley resident was a farmer. 24
REID’S PRAIRIE: This village was organized in the 1800s west of Houston. The Reid’s Prairie Baptist Church was established in 1890. The congregation erected a sanctuary in 1895. 25
REINERMAN: John – It is not unusual for streets in Houston to be named after the surveyor who surveyed the plat. In this case the street is the surname of the man chosen, in 1847, to record this property that today would be bounded by Loop 610 on the west, Crestwood on the east, I-10 on the north and Buffalo Bayou to the south. Much of this land was occupied by Camp Logan during the early 1900s and is Memorial Park today. (See Logan.) 26
REINICKE: Ben – He was County Commissioner Precinct 4. Reinicke was credited with much of the city’s street construction. He once stated his goal as, “I want the most up to date system of roads in the county for my precinct.” 27
REMEGAN: This is another of our misspelled street names. The correct spelling is Remagen. It is a town in Germany on the Rhine River. As the Allied forces were closing the noose on Nazi Germany, Adolph Hitler ordered all the bridges crossing that estuary to be demolished to slow the advancing armies. In May 1945 the 9th Armored Division of the 1st U.S. Army captured the Ludendorff railroad bridge at Remagen, minutes before the German demolition team was to blow it up. Troops and supplies poured into the Rhineland over this span in their drive toward Berlin. Hitler was so infuriated with the team’s failure he had all of them executed by firing squad. 28
REMINGTON: Frederic – This American painter and sculptor is famous for his Old West subjects such as cowboys, Indians, buffalos, the U.S. Cavalry, cattle drives, etc. He was the favorite artist of the developer of Shadyside, J. S. Cullinan. 29
REMLAP: This is Palmer spelled backwards. (See Lemac.) 30
RENNER: Joseph – He was a landowner in the Sixth Ward prior to the War Between the States. 31
RENOIR: Pierre – He was one of the most influential of the French Impression
ists of the late 19th century. Although an excellent painter of landscapes, still life and flowers, he excelled at nudes such as his famous Bathers. 32
RENSHAW: A. D. – This soldier fought with Walker’s Texas Division during the Civil War. He was captain of Company E of the 22nd Texas Volunteer Infantry. 33
RENTAL CAR: This short street leads to the automobile rental companies (Hertz, Avis, Budget, etc.) at George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
REO: See sidebar Fairbanks Could Have Its Own Concours d’ Elegance and Road Rally, page 140.
REPUBLIC: This Baytown street recalls the old Republic Oil Company that operated in the numerous fields around Baytown. 34
RESEARCH POINT: The Shell Westhollow Research facility is at the end of this lane. The staff here is involved in research, process and product development, manufacturing support and technical support. Fields of study include chemistry, physics, mechanical and electrical engineering, materials science engineering, polymer science and engineering, environmental engineering and metallurgy. 35
HOWDY TEX
In 1956 Eastex Oaks was platted near the newly constructed Eastex Freeway. The developer decided to combine an arboreal theme with the suffix “tex.” As a result the neighborhood has such oddly named streets as Elmtex, Pinetex, Willowtex, Hickorytex, Leaftex, Plumtex, Peartex, Peachtex, Mosstex, Pecantex and Ashtex. Why Sweet Gum did not get a “tex’ added is a mystery. 42
RESERVE: On the original plat of the Freeland Addition this street was named Reserved. It is possible that developers Prentiss Granberry and Walter and Mary Freeland had plans to call it something else but failed to do so. When it was recorded at the Houston Planning and Development Department is was mistranslated and has remained so ever since. (See Granberry and Frasier.) 36
