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By Thom Marshall / Houston Chronicle

Years before the city of Houston existed, a small clutch of simple homes sprouted beside Buffalo Bayou near the site where the Astros now play in a modern, air-conditioned ballpark.

The community known as Frost Town eventually faded into history, swallowed up long ago by downtown Houston. Traces of it emerged from beneath the soil last week, however, thanks to a state project to replace a bridge.

An archaeological dig beneath the Elysian Viaduct unearthed parts of Frost Town, which got its start early in the 19th century. The village covered about 15 acres on the south side of Buffalo Bayou, little more than a stone

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Hey all,

I think that the below project, the unearthing of Frost Town and hopefully a restoration of sorts, can be used to create a historical district. I have always wanted Houston to have sort of a historical and international district where we would combine buildings from China, Europe, Mexico, etc with say light rail and large gardens/parks and homes/townhomes to create a tribute to Houston's diversity. I think that this project is essential to creating such a district along the East End. Finally, I would love to see Rice or another University eventually pop up in this area as well.

Sept. 25, 2004, 2:33AM

Dig unearths parts of Frost Town

A settlement with about 20 residents in 1826 was swallowed up long ago by downtown Houston

By THOM MARSHALL

Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

Years before the city of Houston existed, a small clutch of simple homes sprouted beside Buffalo Bayou near the site where the Astros now play in a modern, air-conditioned ballpark.

The community known as Frost Town eventually faded into history, swallowed up long ago by downtown Houston. Traces of it emerged from beneath the soil last week, however, thanks to a state project to replace a bridge.

An archaeological dig beneath the Elysian Viaduct unearthed parts of Frost Town, which got its start early in the 19th century.

The village covered about 15 acres on the south side of Buffalo Bayou, little more than a stone's throw from Minute Maid Park.

Cisterns, privies and footings for buildings were uncovered last week in what Texas Department of Transportation archaeologist Allen Bettis called "a preliminary investigation" in the plan to replace the viaduct.

"We've determined that there are archaeological, historic properties to be considered," Bettis said.

Engineers will keep that in mind when designing the new viaduct, he said, and if the construction does not affect the property, no further archaeological work will be required to meet TxDOT obligations.

But a more thorough study of the site still may be done.

Kirk Farris, who heads Art and Environmental Architecture Inc., which is developing a park on the site, said he has conducted extensive Frost Town research during the past two decades and was not surprised by the discoveries.

"The TxDOT dig has simply verified what we already knew to be important, and we are hoping to rally forces and pay for our own archaeological investigation of the site," Farris said. "The goal is to do a really top-flight dig to find out what is there and then display some of that in a proper fashion ... and then go into the next phase of developing the garden around it."

Farris' plans include a floating boat dock in Buffalo Bayou where visitors could rent canoes and embark on boat rides, a small building for artists and gardeners, historic signage, an interpretive center, an area for outdoor concerts and performances and botanical gardens.

Early written references do not provide an exact date of Frost Town's origin, but in a paper that Farris considers the best historical account, author Fannie Mae Wead wrote that it was there as early as 1826, with 20 residents.

By 1836, she wrote, the population had grown to 50, most of them German immigrants. That was a busy year in these parts: Texas won its independence from Mexico and the city of Houston was established.

Wead wrote that the name Frost Town probably was adopted after "Jonathan B. Frost purchased from A.C. and J.K. Allen, proprietors of the town of Houston, 15 acres of land adjoining the town proper, on April 13, 1837."

The author was 18 when she wrote her research paper in 1936 as a graduation requirement at Incarnate Word Academy, said her nephew, Jimmy Wead of Houston. He said his aunt, whose name now is Fannie Mae Fortenberry, lives in the North Texas town of Mabank.

Wead and Fortenberry are descendants of the Klee family, who lived in Frost Town.

"As far as appearance is concerned," the student wrote 68 years ago, "Frost Town must have been a beautiful little settlement, for, as we have learned from some of its early residents, nearly all the families there had small gardens which were always well cared for ... The streets of Frost Town were very narrow, in fact, today we would call them alleys."

Cisterns, such as those uncovered in the TxDOT dig, added considerably to the value of real estate at the time.

"The property in Frost Town was not expensive," Fannie Mae Wead wrote, "for Mr. John T. Browne said he moved to Frost Town in 1871, and bought a house, lot and underground cistern for $500. The cistern alone was worth nearly $100."

Browne served as Houston's mayor from 1892 to 1896.

"Frost Town is really a wonderful story," Jimmy Wead said, "and I'm so happy that they're finally putting this together."

Sincerely,

caevans3

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Very interesting post, caevans3, and welcome to the forum.

I had never heard of Frost Town; from the description, it sounds as if it was a bit upstream from Harrisburg. Wonder of what material the foundations and cisterns were constructed? There is no native stone, so I assume they must have been brick or concrete. If so, was there a kiln there as well? or would they have brought building materials with them?

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  • 4 weeks later...
Hey all,

    I think that the below project, the unearthing of Frost Town and hopefully a restoration of sorts, can be used to create a historical district. I have always wanted Houston to have sort of a historical and international district where we would combine buildings from China, Europe, Mexico, etc with say light rail and large gardens/parks and homes/townhomes to create a tribute to Houston's diversity. I think that this project is essential to creating such a district along the East End. Finally, I would love to see Rice or another University eventually pop up in this area as well.

Sept. 25, 2004, 2:33AM

Dig unearths parts of Frost Town

A settlement with about 20 residents in 1826 was swallowed up long ago by downtown Houston

By THOM MARSHALL

Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

Years before the city of Houston existed, a small clutch of simple homes sprouted beside Buffalo Bayou near the site where the Astros now play in a modern, air-conditioned ballpark.

The community known as Frost Town eventually faded into history, swallowed up long ago by downtown Houston. Traces of it emerged from beneath the soil last week, however, thanks to a state project to replace a bridge.

An archaeological dig beneath the Elysian Viaduct unearthed parts of Frost Town, which got its start early in the 19th century.

The village covered about 15 acres on the south side of Buffalo Bayou, little more than a stone's throw from Minute Maid Park.

Cisterns, privies and footings for buildings were uncovered last week in what Texas Department of Transportation archaeologist Allen Bettis called "a preliminary investigation" in the plan to replace the viaduct.

"We've determined that there are archaeological, historic properties to be considered," Bettis said.

Engineers will keep that in mind when designing the new viaduct, he said, and if the construction does not affect the property, no further archaeological work will be required to meet TxDOT obligations.

But a more thorough study of the site still may be done.

Kirk Farris, who heads Art and Environmental Architecture Inc., which is developing a park on the site, said he has conducted extensive Frost Town research during the past two decades and was not surprised by the discoveries.

"The TxDOT dig has simply verified what we already knew to be important, and we are hoping to rally forces and pay for our own archaeological investigation of the site," Farris said. "The goal is to do a really top-flight dig to find out what is there and then display some of that in a proper fashion ... and then go into the next phase of developing the garden around it."

Farris' plans include a floating boat dock in Buffalo Bayou where visitors could rent canoes and embark on boat rides, a small building for artists and gardeners, historic signage, an interpretive center, an area for outdoor concerts and performances and botanical gardens.

Early written references do not provide an exact date of Frost Town's origin, but in a paper that Farris considers the best historical account, author Fannie Mae Wead wrote that it was there as early as 1826, with 20 residents.

By 1836, she wrote, the population had grown to 50, most of them German immigrants. That was a busy year in these parts: Texas won its independence from Mexico and the city of Houston was established.

Wead wrote that the name Frost Town probably was adopted after "Jonathan B. Frost purchased from A.C. and J.K. Allen, proprietors of the town of Houston, 15 acres of land adjoining the town proper, on April 13, 1837."

The author was 18 when she wrote her research paper in 1936 as a graduation requirement at Incarnate Word Academy, said her nephew, Jimmy Wead of Houston. He said his aunt, whose name now is Fannie Mae Fortenberry, lives in the North Texas town of Mabank.

Wead and Fortenberry are descendants of the Klee family, who lived in Frost Town.

"As far as appearance is concerned," the student wrote 68 years ago, "Frost Town must have been a beautiful little settlement, for, as we have learned from some of its early residents, nearly all the families there had small gardens which were always well cared for ... The streets of Frost Town were very narrow, in fact, today we would call them alleys."

Cisterns, such as those uncovered in the TxDOT dig, added considerably to the value of real estate at the time.

"The property in Frost Town was not expensive," Fannie Mae Wead wrote, "for Mr. John T. Browne said he moved to Frost Town in 1871, and bought a house, lot and underground cistern for $500. The cistern alone was worth nearly $100."

Browne served as Houston's mayor from 1892 to 1896.

"Frost Town is really a wonderful story," Jimmy Wead said, "and I'm so happy that they're finally putting this together."

Sincerely,

    caevans3

Reply to Caevans3....I think the use of Rice to help with the research and design of frost town historic site and gardens is a good idea...however our concept will be to convert the foot print of Frost Addition into a botanical garden which also will reveal the historic nature of the culture of the site.

Let me know if the architecture community wants to help me complete my program.

we are a non-profit and own the majority of the site as charitabe property.

www.frosttownhistoricsite.org

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Very interesting post, caevans3, and welcome to the forum.

I had never heard of Frost Town; from the description, it sounds as if it was a bit upstream from Harrisburg. Wonder of what material the foundations and cisterns were constructed? There is no native stone, so I assume they must have been brick or concrete. If so, was there a kiln there as well? or would they have brought building materials with them?

greetings...the cisterns are of brick and concrete...in tact and could be very interesting to dig out. Some privys and building footings are found.

www.frosttownhistoricsite.org

feel free to contact me. kf

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I did some research on Frost Town a couple of years ago, and found out that Houston's first mayor was from there. It was also named, not surprisingly, for the Frost family who settled there. At first I assumed it was "Frost" as in Frost Bank, but it wasn't. It was other Frosts who were into cattle ranching.

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  • 3 months later...
I did some research on Frost Town a couple of years ago, and found out that Houston's first mayor was from there.  It was also named, not surprisingly, for the Frost family who settled there.  At first I assumed it was "Frost" as in Frost Bank, but it wasn't.  It was other Frosts who were into cattle ranching.

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I don't understand. I thought Houston had already swallowed the Frost Town area and Frost Town was just a memory by the 1930's????? Please respond.

Frost Town had been absorbed into Houston by the 1930s, but it was still a "neighborhood" just northeast of downtown. And judging from that photo, it wasn't what you would call a "high rent" neighborhood. That photo looks like Catfish Row in Porgy and Bess.

Frost Town was clearly a low income area with shotgun houses and unpaved streets, and it probably didn't have running water, storm sewers or sanitary sewers either. Earlier generations of city leaders had a way of ignoring minority neighborhoods. Come to think of it, they still do.

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I don't understand. I thought Houston had already swallowed the Frost Town area and Frost Town was just a memory by the 1930's????? Please respond.

It was. Frost Town existed only in name at that point, its heyday long ago. Remember, most of that area still existed when it was cleared to construct U.S. 59 in the 1950s.

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Frost Town was clearly a low income area with shotgun houses and unpaved streets, and it probably didn't have running water, storm sewers or sanitary sewers either.

In the 1930's and 1940's, Schrimpf Alley was known as a wild and lawless slum area connected to vice, gambling, and prostitution. By the 1950's, it was considered the worst slum in the city.

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  • 2 years later...

Frost Town Historic Site, SS Buffalo Bayou at McKee Street to have new Historic Marker installed...hope soon..Sylvia Garcia has the marker at Washburn Tunnel and I hope we get this in the ground and have an event...when...we cool down some.

The Brown Foundation donated a Kelly Amen Bench and we've put in a prototype granite marker for Spruce and Race..a center point of the old community ....one of our first neighborhoods and the only one from the 1836 period to have archeological features in place.

Art & Environmental Architecture, Inc.

www.frosttownhistoricsite.org

post-4910-12485743047613_thumb.jpg

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Got an e-mail today from Kirk Farris with a video from KTBU about Frost Town.

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Linky: http://www.myhoustons55.com/_Frost-Town-A-Neighborhood-in-Transition/video/774315/38668.html

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Thanks for that link. I've read a lot about Frost Town, but hadn't previously come across some of the information presented. There were also some map notations and a number of photos that I hadn't seen before. I think the people who put together the piece did a really good job on it. Very informative for 8.5 minutes.

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