Looking for a fun way to spice up your 2020 Halloween? The Travis PTA is hosting Frights in the Heights where you can:
Enter for a chance to win an electric bike from CYKL
Enter your own pumpkin in the Art Contest
Order dinner from Mastranto’s on October 30th or 31st
Visit www.travispta.org/carnival-2020
All funds raised go to Travis Elementary PTA
Event sponsored by Sara Black, Nan & Co Properties, Christie’s International Real Estate
Tracing the history of your house can be interesting and time-consuming. Here are some basic resources to help you determine the age of your home and get you started. Check these to determine the age of your home:
You can do a quick search by address and you should find a date for your home and possibly a remodeling date (not 100% accurate but will provide a starting place).
https://hcad.org/quick-search/
These neighborhood maps were created by an insurance company and many libraries provide online versions to search. One of the easier collections to search is found at the University of Texas in the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection. For the Woodland Heights homes, you should look for Houston and use the Key page to locate the area of interest. The book from 1924 has many of our homes in it. You will see a drawing of the home identified with the street address. Most of Woodland Heights can be found on these sheets: 253,254,256,259,260,263,267,268,271, and 272.
There are bound copies at the Houston Metropolitan Archives.
http://legacy.lib.utexas.edu/maps/sanborn/texas.html
Closed for now due to pandemic but it has many archival papers related to Houston history. Some items are digitized, but some require you to research the files in person. This collection is located downtown at 550 McKinney in the Julia Ideson building and in the same block as the Central library. Here are some examples of what you might find:
The plat of the Woodland Heights as offered by the William A. Wilson Company https://cdm17006.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/archival/id/1201/rec/1
City Directories – There are directories from many early years. You might be able to search for your street name, find your address and see who lived there in a certain year. Below is a link to a city directory from 1920-21: https://cdm17006.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/citydir/id/11660/rec/40
This source gives a bit of history and examples of notable homes in the neighborhood.
This book is available from Amazon and was written around the centennial of the Woodland Heights. The author lives in the neighborhood.
- Debbie Hall
November yard of the month goes to the fall festival that’s happening at 815 Merrill. Joanna Queen and her husband, Daniel Dylla moved in 2 years ago with their two girls after doing a renovation to the original bungalow. The front porch is so inviting and is a welcome extra room during this social distancing time. It’s got swings and comfy furniture along with attractive details that encourage you to sit outside and relax, visit or have a cocktail.
Front beds are planted with sandy leaf fig ivy, walking irises, giant liriope and lysmachia. The birch tree is about 30 years old and they planted the maple when we moved in. Joanna has the Front porch beautifully decorated with pumpkins and chrysanthemums right now. A fun flock of decorative bats seem lifelike on the walls and in fact flitter off sometimes!
Tip of the trowel to this family for creating such a beautiful yard and outdoor space! Congratulations!
- Allison Hartzell, Director of Beautification
I'm a Texas native and grew up in the Houston area. I had an early love for the Heights, starting with frequent trips to hear bands play at Fitzgerald's during my high school and college days. Fast forward many years later, a couple of moves from and back to Texas, my husband and I bought our house in Woodland Heights in 2015. We love biking the neighborhood with our two young kids and frequent the various area parks and esplanades.
Since moving here, aside from participating as a block captain, I've mostly watched as other civic minded neighbors volunteered their talents to community efforts such as LITH, the newsletter, 4th of July on the Esplanade and the Constable Patrol Program. I'm happy to have the opportunity to give back to our community through volunteering as Director of Communications and to contribute to the many activities that make Woodland Heights wonderful and unique.
Note: Questions about WHCA finances can be directed to treasurer@woodland-heights.org
Looking for something safe and fun for the family this Halloween? Join us for the Travis Frights in the Heights Scavenger Hunt. The event will take place Wednesday, October 28th through Saturday, October 31st at 5pm.
Registration is $20/participant. Each participant will receive a secret coded list of our Haunted Homes, decoder key, list of Halloween clues, clipboard, pen and Frights in the Heights t-shirt. **Must register by Friday, October 16, for t-shirt guarantee.**
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER: http://www.travispta.org/shop-carnival
Each participant will navigate the mystery in the Woodland Heights neighborhood at their own pace. Put on your thinking cap and don’t forget to wear your Halloween costume. There will be a costume selfie contest and other fun-filled freaky activities to enjoy.
October's Yard of the Month is an intersection which has undergone HUGE improvements in safety and appearance. The intersection of Houston Ave. and White Oak Drive now has a beautiful area thanks the the Memorial Heights Redevelopment Authority/TIRZ No. 5. Beautification of the area included new pavement, traffic signals, new bike and pedestrian features as well as landscaping all while providing better crossing conditions and connectivity to the bike trails and park. Even our old clock was refurbished and is a wonderful accent to this area. Greater Northside Management District is providing maintenance of the area. Many thanks to these groups for taking an interest in the southeast corner of our neighborhood and making it a beautiful space.
Allison Hartzell, Director of Beautification
The “cooler” weather is here and the holiday season is right around the corner! With that, every year, comes the building excitement and anticipation for our beloved Lights and the Heights! Interest and inquiries have been pouring in and the Committee has been hard at work in discussions about how it will be presented this year.
The LITH Chairs and the Civic Association Board have agreed that postponing all the live events would be the most socially responsible thing to do. Protecting the neighborhood and our wonderful residents is being prioritized this year.
However! The event will still be there in spirit since we’ll have the house awards and will also be supplementing with several social media and social distancing endeavors that we’re ironing out over the next few weeks.
We’re excited to redesign the event to fit the current climate and are looking forward to getting creative! If anyone would like to submit an idea, or be involved, please reach out to Ashley Allison or Karen Stowers at lightsintheheights@gmail.com.
