tmariar Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 Sorry if this is old news, but I hadn't heard anything about it until today. According to this site, HISD may close Wharton Elementary (900 West Gray) and sell the property. I don't know for sure that the school was built in 1929, but that's when the school opened. I mentioned in another thread that I'd noticed on this site that the school may be built on an abandoned cemetery. Wonder if that might prove helpful to the organization fighting the closure/sale - if there were historical evidence of a cemetery on the property, I'd think that a developer would have to pay for an archaeological assessment at the very least. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cemeterywolf Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 A unknown named Black Cemetery is located under the Wharton School. Lost....See link below about the cemetery. Wish there was more info on it.http://www.freewebs.com/deadlist1/whartonschoolcemetery.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbigtex56 Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 The possibility of closing Wharton Elementary was brought up in March of this year (see HAIF post)There have been several mentions on HAIF of 'forgotten' cemeteries, many of which have subsequently been built over. Is this a phenomenon peculiar to Houston? It seems to me that most cities keep a tighter rein on their dead, and try to discourage them from cropping up in inconvenient places. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmariar Posted July 31, 2008 Author Share Posted July 31, 2008 The possibility of closing Wharton Elementary was brought up in March of this year (see HAIF post)So much for my searching skills - missed that. Maybe this can be consolidated?There have been several mentions on HAIF of 'forgotten' cemeteries, many of which have subsequently been built over. Is this a phenomenon peculiar to Houston? It seems to me that most cities keep a tighter rein on their dead, and try to discourage them from cropping up in inconvenient places.I'm guessing it happens elsewhere to some extent, but Houston does seem to have an especially bad track record. I'm wondering if the stirs involving Jeff Davis Hospital #1 and Allen Parkway Village have created a new precedent, though. When I get time, I'm going to check to see if those archaelogical assessments were based on city or state regs of some kind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
memebag Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 Reclaiming cemeteries is just part of the growth of cities. I doubt Houston is any worse than other cities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmariar Posted July 31, 2008 Author Share Posted July 31, 2008 Reclaiming cemeteries is just part of the growth of cities. I doubt Houston is any worse than other cities.I'd agree with that to some extent, but I'd say it seems anecdotally (thinking in particular of the history of the construction of Jeff Davis Hospital #1 on what was once Houston's "city cemetery", and then of the handling other city projects on the land through the years) that we've come around more slowly to the proper procedures for cemetery tracking and reclamation.I think that the statute that HISD might have to contend with here is the Antiquities Code (links here). Here's a 2004 Houston Press article regarding what HISD had to go through after acquiring land in the Fourth Ward through eminent domain (part of its purpose in doing so was to build a new building for HSPVA). What I haven't had time to look at is whether HISD or a purchaser of the land would have obligations in connection with or after a sale of the land. The statute may apply just to government-owned property. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
memebag Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 I'd agree with that to some extent, but I'd say it seems anecdotally (thinking in particular of the history of the construction of Jeff Davis Hospital #1 on what was once Houston's "city cemetery", and then of the handling other city projects on the land through the years) that we've come around more slowly to the proper procedures for cemetery tracking and reclamation."Proper procedures"? What do you mean? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmariar Posted July 31, 2008 Author Share Posted July 31, 2008 "Proper procedures"? What do you mean?Those included in the statute and discussed in the article. I don't want to attempt to summarize the regulations in one or two sentences - especially given that I haven't read them all - but my take is that the city may not have unrestricted use of city-owned property if the property encompasses or is part of an archaeological site, and is required to follow certain procedures before construction can commence.If there's a known cemetery on city-owned property, I think that the majority of the public would expect at least some effort be made to locate and then relocate remains prior to any construction (which hasn't always happened).Just thought someone might know how the regulations would play out in the circumstance of city-owned property sold to private developers. If there would be obligations pre-sale or post-sale. It may have come up with APV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 The Friends of Wharton are another 2009 Good Brick Award recipient:http://www.ghpa.org/awards/2009/wharton.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.