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BERNAL-THESIS-2020.Pdf (5.477Mb) BROWNWOOD: BAYTOWN’S MOST HISTORIC NEIGHBORHOOD by Laura Bernal A thesis submitted to the History Department, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in History Chair of Committee: Dr. Monica Perales Committee Member: Dr. Mark Goldberg Committee Member: Dr. Kristin Wintersteen University of Houston May 2020 Copyright 2020, Laura Bernal “A land without ruins is a land without memories – a land without memories is a land without history.” -Father Abram Joseph Ryan, “A Land Without Ruins” iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First, and foremost, I want to thank God for guiding me on this journey. Thank you to my family for their unwavering support, especially to my parents and sisters. Thank you for listening to me every time I needed to work out an idea and for staying up late with me as I worked on this project. More importantly, thank you for accompanying me to the Baytown Nature Center hoping to find more house foundations. I am very grateful to the professors who helped me. Dr. Monica Perales, my advisor, thank you for your patience and your guidance as I worked on this project. Thank you to my defense committee, Dr. Kristin Wintersteen and Dr. Goldberg. Your advice helped make this my best work. Additionally, I would like to thank Dr. Debbie Harwell, who encouraged me to pursue this project, even when I doubted it its impact. Thank you to the friends and co-workers who listened to my opinions and encouraged me to not give up. Lastly, I would like to thank the people I interviewed. Your oral histories will be important components to Baytown’s history. Thank you to the ones who recorded the oral histories I was able to use for this project. I hope that this project helps remember the story of the Brownwood subdivision and its residents. iv ABSTRACT This thesis argues for the need for a historical marker for the Baytown Nature Center in Baytown, Texas. Before the City of Baytown made the decision to transform this site into a nature preserve, it was the Brownwood subdivision. Brownwood was created by Humble Oil & Refining Company executives in 1937 hoping to build an exclusive waterfront neighborhood along the Burnet, Crystal, and Scott Bays for their families. These Humble Oil executives designed the neighborhood, but the residents were the ones who made it a community. After Hurricane Carla in 1961, residents noticed that their yards were sinking and the bay waters invading their backyards. They soon learned that their neighborhood was sinking. For years, Humble Oil and the surrounding municipalities were extracting excessive amounts of groundwater to sustain their growth. This withdrawal caused the clay layers underneath to collapse, which caused the surface to sink. Even worse, the subsidence made the subdivision vulnerable to flooding from tropical storms, hurricanes, torrential flooding, and eventually, high tides. When Hurricane Alicia made landfall in 1983, the subdivision had sunk about ten feet. Therefore, the hurricane completely destroyed it. Local and federal governments were tired of chronic flooding and flood insurance payouts, so they made the decision to buy out the property. Residents had to leave the subdivision, but some resisted the buyout process. They protested, filed lawsuits against the city, and remained in the subdivision as city officials finalized their plans to transform the site into a nature park. With the help of the French Limited Task Fund, the city was able to begin this project. State and federal departments, along with local companies, also helped transformed the former subdivision into the Baytown Nature Center. v Regardless of its transformation into a nature preserve, the site still holds artifacts and vegetation pertaining to the former subdivision. However, most visitors simply know it as a natural preserve for fishing, kayaking, and walking. This study recommends a historical marker for the site to preserve its history and acknowledge it as Baytown’s most historical neighborhood. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION/EPIGRAPH ..................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................... iv ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................. v LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................... ix INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1 Historiography ............................................................................................................ 7 Sources ..................................................................................................................... 24 Chapter Organization ................................................................................................ 27 CHAPTER 1: BUILDING BROWNWOOD ........................................................... 33 Humble Oil and its Surrounding Communities ........................................................ 38 Making the Subdivision Home ................................................................................. 61 The Homes ................................................................................................................ 66 Linwood Park ........................................................................................................... 77 Vegetation ................................................................................................................. 78 Residents’ Occupations ............................................................................................ 81 Small Businesses ...................................................................................................... 84 The Brownwood Civic Association (BCA) .............................................................. 87 Growing Up in Brownwood ..................................................................................... 88 Hurricanes Before Subsidence ................................................................................. 98 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 101 CHAPTER 2: SURVIVING BROWNWOOD ...................................................... 103 Subsidence .............................................................................................................. 105 Hurricane Carla ...................................................................................................... 115 Chronic Flooding .................................................................................................... 127 Learning to Survive ................................................................................................ 146 Governmental Solutions ......................................................................................... 156 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 163 CHAPTER 3: LOSING BROWNWOOD .............................................................. 165 Hurricane Alicia ..................................................................................................... 168 Deciding the Subdivision’s Future ......................................................................... 180 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 212 CHAPTER 4: TRANSFORMING BROWNWOOD ............................................ 214 Phase I .................................................................................................................... 216 Phase II ................................................................................................................... 227 The Baytown Nature Center Reopening/Brownwood Homecoming ..................... 236 Community’s Reactions ......................................................................................... 240 Author’s Observations ............................................................................................ 245 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 283 CONCLUSION: REMEMBERING BROWNWOOD ......................................... 285 vii Suggested Marker Engraving: The Brownwood Subdivision ................................ 302 APPENDICES A. BROWNWOOD SUBDIVISION FLOODING EVENTS ................................... 304 B. FLOOD THREATS TO BROWNWOOD SUBDIVISION.................................. 305 C. BAYTOWN NATURE CENTER WRITING PROMPT #1 ................................ 306 D. BAYTOWN NATURE CENTER WRITING PROMPT #2 ................................ 307 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................... 308 viii LIST OF FIGURES 1.1 Aerial View of Baytown Nature Center .............................................................6 2.1 View of Fred Hartman Bridge..........................................................................37 2.2 Handmade Streets Map ....................................................................................69 2.3 Gillum Home on Bayshore Drive ....................................................................73 2.4 Another View of the Gillum Home
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