Thomas

I am one of millions who moved to Houston for a temporary reason (a good admiralty/maritime law program at my law school) and decided to stay (since 1979), but not practicing that kind of law. I love this city; I love Texas history; and I love the First Ward. Here I am running, but not along the MKT hike/bike trail.

Please help me put together a portfolio of historic First Ward photographs ... please send yours to TomRadosevich@comcast.net, with an explanation and credit information ... thanks!

James

My family lived in First Ward during the Depression in the early 1930s. I even entered myself at Crockett School when I discovered that I had no one to play with because everyone had gone to school. They placed me in Low 1B.

I used to light the stove on Sabbath Saturdays for the Tappiks who lived next door.

Once, a downtown theater line went completely around the block. My friends and I stopped by Nekoshia's Beauty Shop where my mother worked, and asked her for money to see the picture show. She grabbed me by the ear and put me on the trolley, telling the conductor "Don't let him off until you get to Crockett Street!"

One day, my mother heard children crying down the street and asked what was wrong. She was told they were hungry. This was during the Depression and many people had little means of buying food. She immediately cooked a big batch of soup and took it to the hungry family. When my brother found $10, we packed everything on a cart and moved back to East Texas.

Patrick

How many places in Houston can you live that has been actively "Creating Community and Commerce since the 1840"? I can walk or ride a bicycle to downtown Houston, Texas (the soon to be third largest city in the U.S. of A). I love living in "The Arts District of Houston". Have you seen the cityscape from our Community Garden? Well if not you will be totally surprised at its' beauty. I can enjoy one of our several city parks located here in our neighborhood. Our very own Crockett Elementary School (once construction is finished) will be designated an HISD Arts Magnet School. I really enjoy being part of the Renaissance of the First Ward.

What we are undertaking here will preserve and restore First Ward to a leadership position in bringing recognition to our city. I can jog or walk to a great city park that has one of the best views of Downtown - Stude Park just over I-10 via Houston Avenue. We are home to David Adicks "Mount Rush Hour" and to Winter Street Studios and more artist's studios and galleries than any of part of Houston.

And because of our wonderful great diverse make-up of cultures, heritage and people - "We are great, we are special and we are a Welcoming Neighborhood and my home". And I am not finished but I will stop. Ask me for more reasons why I love, enjoy, and live in First Ward and I will tell you. Come on ask......

Janice

When I first decided to build a home in the First Ward, I did so with location in mind. First Ward’s proximity to downtown, Heights, and Montrose and all their attractions made it the ideal place to live. Also, First Ward is situated between White Oak Bayou and Buffalo Bayou and offer expansive green space with plenty of trails for walking and biking. After living here for over 8 years, I have come to understand that my neighbors are the real attraction within the First Ward. My neighbors, whether long time residents or newcomers, from all different backgrounds and economic levels, make the First Ward a true neighborhood.

Tammy

I lived in Houston for 12 years and it wasn't until we moved to the First Ward that I finally felt like I lived in a true community - a REAL neighborhood. I not only know my neighbors, but I truly love and enjoy them. There is a quirkiness to the neighborhood that so appealing. You'll find David Addicks' huge sculptures, one of the best theaters in Houston (Theater Lab Houston), one of the best restaurants in the city (Dharma Cafe), the city bike trails, a wonderful garden to volunteer for, and many art studios to visit. The First Ward is a great place to live and it has been exciting watching the neighborhood revitalize. Come check us out!

Jeanette

First Ward was my introduction to a part of Houston that was a chunk of coal working on becoming a diamond. Diamonds are classified with the 4 C’s— Carat, clarity, color, and cut.

Carats are divisible into 100 points—so anything that is one hundred in my mind is solid. Clarity is the vision I had when what I loved the most in my life, ART, was centered in the first ward. Color, was all about the first ward. The diversity of its residents and their environment gave it color and texture beyond a painting. Cut, was the life that the pioneers such as my artists friends and colleagues had chosen to make in the first ward. Diamonds are made purely of carbon atoms arranged in an isometric-hexoctahedral crystal lattice. Our location is the lattice and the residents are the carbon atoms. With that being said it has all the elements it only needs the right compression to complete the process.