Editing Spring Branch, Houston (section)

== History ==
[[File:StPetersUnitedChurchHoustonTX.JPG|thumb|The historic St. Peter's United Church]]
[[File:Historical Marker at St. Peter's Church Cemetery in the Spring Branch area of Houston, TX.jpg|thumb|Historical marker at St. Peter's United Church including the names of the German families who both settled the area and are interred in the Church's cemetery.]]
[[File:HillendahlGraveHoustonTX.JPG|thumb|The {{convert|1400|sqft|sqm}} Hillendahl Cemetery, a designated Texas Historical Cemetery now within a shopping center parking lot, contains the graves of 19 members of the Hillendahl family, including one buried in 1854. The surrounding family land was sold off.<ref name="SeoulofHouston"/><ref>De la Rosa, Gabi. "[https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/houston-cemetery-parking-lot-19515091.php This cemetery with 19 graves shares a parking lot with an auto shop]." ''Chron.com'' June 16, 2024.</ref>]]
Spring Branch began as a religious [[Germany|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.<ref name="HandbookSB">{{cite web |last=Kleiner |first=Diana J. |url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hrsrj |title=Spring Branch, TX (Harris County) |website=[[Handbook of Texas|Handbook of Texas Online]] |date=June 15, 2010 |access-date=February 14, 2014}}</ref><ref name="CityOfHoustonSN85">{{cite web |url=http://www.houstontx.gov/superneighborhoods/profiles/SN_85.htm |title=Super Neighborhood 85 - Spring Branch Central |website=City of Houston |access-date=February 14, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221060910/http://www.houstontx.gov/superneighborhoods/profiles/SN_85.htm |archive-date=2014-02-21 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Germans opened sawmills to cut area timber.<ref name="HuntersCreekHandb">{{cite web |last=Kleiner |first=Diana J. |url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hgh11 |title=Hunter's Creek Village, TX |website=[[Handbook of Texas|Handbook of Texas Online]] |date=June 15, 2010 |access-date=February 14, 2014}}</ref> 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]].<ref name="HandbookSB"/>

[[Yellow fever]] outbreaks in 1859 and 1867 killed many residents.<ref name=GrayStPeterReborn>{{cite news|author=Gray, Lisa|url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/life/houston-belief/article/St-Peter-reborn-A-gay-black-preacher-and-his-13774744.php|title=St. Peter reborn: A gay black preacher and his diverse congregation merge with one of Houston's oldest white churches|newspaper=[[Houston Chronicle]]|date=2019-04-17|access-date=2019-04-18}}</ref>

The early settlers all had roads named after their families – Gessner, Conrad Sauer, Witte, Wirt, Blalock, Campbell, Hillendahl, Bauer, Fries, and Neuens.{{citation needed|date=November 2015}}

After [[World War II]] [[James E. Lyon]] served as a developer in Spring Branch.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl/1993_1126926/rites-set-for-developer-banker-james-e-lyon.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130119055326/http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl/1993_1126926/rites-set-for-developer-banker-james-e-lyon.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 19, 2013 |last=Staff |title=Rites set for developer, banker James E. Lyon |newspaper=[[Houston Chronicle]] |date=May 2, 1993 |page=A27 |access-date=December 27, 2012}}  - Available from the [[Houston Public Library]] website, newspapers sectiom. Accessible with an HPL library card and its PIN.</ref>

The eastern part of Spring Branch was annexed by the City of Houston in the 1940s while the western part was annexed in the 1950s.<ref>"[https://www.houstontx.gov/planning/Annexation/docs_pdfs/HoustonAnnexationHistory.pdf Annexations in Houston Or How we grew to 667 square miles in 175 years]." City of Houston Planning and Development Department. p. 27 and 32 of 62. Retrieved on February 21, 2017.</ref> In the mid-1950s, efforts to create a Spring Branch municipality failed. Following this, the Memorial villages, a group of six independent municipalities, formed.<ref name="HandbookSB"/> Houston annexed the rest of the Spring Branch area.<ref name="SeoulofHouston"/> 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.<ref name="CynthiaGarzaLeonor">Garza, Cynthia Leonor. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20110604202300/http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2006_4099227 Views are as diverse as city / Day-to-day life shapes residents' stances on illegal immigration]." ''[[Houston Chronicle]]''. April 16, 2006. B1 MetFront.</ref>

Apartment complexes opened in the Spring Branch area around the 1970s.<ref name="Drugsneglectslums">Cobb, Kim. "[https://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=1988_556944 Drugs, neglect transform 'single scene' to slums]." ''[[Houston Chronicle]]''. July 17, 1988. Section 3, Page 1.</ref> In 1982, the City of Houston Housing Authority proposed a $3.8 million [[U.S. dollar]] [[Public housing in the United States and Canada|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. The sign used by the city to indicate the proposed site repeatedly received spray paint graffiti stating "no [[nigger]]s."<ref>Rodriguez, Lori. "[https://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=1989_599213 $5.7 million to go toward public housing]." ''[[Houston Chronicle]]''. January 24, 1989. A1.</ref>

By the 1980s, Houston's [[1980s oil glut|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.<ref name="Drugsneglectslums"/>

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 America]]n countries. The Hispanic population increased by an amount between 1,000 and 3,500 per square mile.<ref>Rodriguez, Lori. "[https://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=1991_768298 Census tracks rapid growth of suburbia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121009192956/http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=1991_768298 |date=2012-10-09 }}." ''[[Houston Chronicle]]''. March 10, 1991. Section A, Page 1.</ref> 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]].<ref>Nichols, Bruce. "[http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DM&p_theme=dm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0ED3D9267709D576&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM TAKING OFF Houston's Asian communities growing rapidly]." ''[[The Dallas Morning News]]''. June 29, 1997.</ref> 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.<ref>"[http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SAEC&p_theme=saec&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0ED6D26A24E93EAB&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM Korean street sign flap revisited]." ''[[Associated Press]]''. July 22, 2001.</ref><ref>Lartigue, Casey. "[http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=5056 Signs of Insecurity]." ''[[Cato Institute]]''. June 19, 1999.</ref> By 2006, Spring Branch Elementary School was mostly Hispanic, reflecting demographic changes in the Spring Branch area.<ref name="CynthiaGarzaLeonor"/> 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 Houston|Uptown]], and the [[Energy Corridor]].<ref>Jackson, Kim. "[https://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2007_4391156 Spring Branch enjoys growth / New, larger homes replace decades-old structures]." ''[[Houston Chronicle]]''. July 26, 2007. ThisWeek 10. Retrieved on March 28, 2009.</ref>

In May 2011 the Spring Branch Central Super Neighborhood campaigned against having federal funds used to improve older apartment complexes in the area.<ref>Fehling, Dave. "[http://www.khou.com/news/local/NEIGHBORHOODS-FIGHT-FEDERAL-HELP-FOR-OLD-APARTMENTS-122347684.html Spring Branch-area homeowners fight federal help for old apartments] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331142255/http://www.khou.com/news/local/NEIGHBORHOODS-FIGHT-FEDERAL-HELP-FOR-OLD-APARTMENTS-122347684.html |date=2012-03-31 }}." ''[[KHOU]]''. May 23, 2011. Retrieved on May 28, 2011.</ref>

In 2013 ''[[Houstonia (magazine)|Houstonia]]'' magazine stated that Spring Branch, including the adjacent cities of [[Hillshire Village, Texas|Hillshire Village]] and [[Spring Valley Village, Houston|Spring Valley Village]], was one of the "25 Hottest Neighborhoods" of Houston.<ref name=HoustoniaHottestNeighborhoods>Holley, Peter, John Lomax, and Todd Spoth. "[http://www.houstoniamag.com/articles/2013/6/1/25-hottest-neighborhoods-2013 25 Hottest Neighborhoods]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20151018155138/http://www.houstoniamag.com/articles/2013/6/1/25-hottest-neighborhoods-2013 Archive]). ''[[Houstonia (magazine)|Houstonia]]''. June 1, 2013. Retrieved on November 2, 2015.</ref>

On May 5, 2016, a [[2016 Houston fire|four alarm fire]] occurred on May 5, 2016, in Houston's Spring Branch area, not to be confused with the municipality of Spring Branch, TX, north of San Antonio [[Texas]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/four-alarm-fire-burns-at-business-in-west-houston/ar-BBsGaHn |title=Four-alarm fire burns at business in west Houston |website=[[MSN]] |access-date=2020-02-20 |archive-date=2016-08-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160808020149/http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/four-alarm-fire-burns-at-business-in-west-houston/ar-BBsGaHn |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/alarm-fire-ravages-west-houston-warehouse-complex/story?id=38901447|title=4-Alarm Fire Ravages West Houston Warehouse Complex|website=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]}}</ref>

On November 24, 2022, a gunman opened fire and shot four people, two fatally during Thanksgiving in the Spring Branch neighborhood.<ref>{{Cite news |url= https://www.khou.com/article/news/crime/baggett-lane-spring-branch-houston-deadly-shooting/285-a51e109c-e63c-49d3-aa56-c24fb4f8f7f9 |title=2 dead, 2 critically injured in Spring Branch shooting, police say. |website=KHOU 11 |language=en-US}}</ref>