kirk farris

No rage here. Just pointing out the obvious. So called development in Houston is driven by commercial deals. Such as the crap put up by Fertita. Face it, tying to pretty up Buffalo Bayou is a loosing proposition. Houstonians seem to be drawn bright lights and bull*hit and Fertita seems to use alot of both.

....Well' buddy the Bayou is not hot property..it is not the grid and all the elements to make it pay are far from ready. Is it a loosing proposition...yes in the short run...it will suck. They spent more than 17 million dollars on the Worthem park area....how many people use this? The new progress is also millions of dollars and mostly high quality work...once again...is the cost benefit ratio in balance?

....I think the whole south end should become a public garden...why not can you think of anything about the bayou that would give you greater value?

Most projects that involve the Army Corps within Harris county are joint efforts with Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD). HCFCD plays the community voice in the project since the Army Corps general has the power to do what they want.

The flood model used to promote the canal program are not based on real valid data. Harris County has no real data for some sections of the bayou system and the engineering was guessed at for the master plan using topo data from 1975 and flood data from a strom prior to Allison. I have no confidence in the assertion that they are proving up the program. ...Texas Observer covered that concept in an article called Buffaloed on the Bayou a couple of years ago by Dave Mann. It may or may not give us a flood benefit in downtown. Also it may work great, just don't know. Considerations should be placed on the amount of money for projects such as these. Hell you can do a lot of green space works for the kind of budget on this. I'm thinking maybe a Town Lake model would serve the population better than a River Walk model.

What is over looked is that Williams Bros. got a permit to construct a dam in Buffalo Bayou to place heavy cranes on and fix the new free way bridges. This dam was set up and used prior to Allison and may have backed up storm waters.

Some experts advise that dumping and other natural factors are contributing to holding of water at Allens Landing and the effective solution for flood protection would be the regular dredging of the White Oak and Buffalo Bayou and down stream somewhat.

All this talk and posting is rather odd to read and filled with a lot of hope and spin

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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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

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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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