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Acres Homes is a wooded urban/inner-city community in NW Houston, Texas north of the 610 loop. The community is also referred to as The 44, because of the "Acres Homes Limited" METRO bus route #44. Acres Homes is a rarity among inner-city neighborhoods as it has consistently avoided gentrification, largely through its strong community identity. Acres Homes is & has long been a notoriously dangerous section of Houston. The area suffers from extremely high crime. Located in the northwest portion of the city, the area is loosely bound by Pinemont Road to the south, North Shepherd Drive to the East, Gulf Bank to the north, and the city limits to the west.

Contents 1 History 2 Demographics 3 Public Services 4 Notable residents 5 Education 6 Public Transportation 7 References 8 See also 9 External links

Acres Homes was established during World War I, when Houston landowners began selling homesites in the area that were large enough to contain small gardens and raise chickens or farm animals. These large areas were often divided by the acre and not by the plot, hence the name "Acres Homes". The farm capabilities of the home sites attracted many rural settlers, who dug their own wells, and built small, sanitary houses.

As time went on, the conditions began declining due to several decades of neglect. As the rural settlers moved out of their dilapidated homes, realtors began marketing the area, largely to African Americans, as a suburban area which was not far from the city. In reality, it was a heavily-wooded, sparsely-settled slum with out adequate transportation or educational facilities. The area did not even receive sewer lines until it was annexed by the city in the 1970s.

Before it was annexed by the city of Houston, Acres Homes was considered to be the largest unincorporated African American community in the Southern United States. The area's location close to Garden Oaks - a primarily working-class white neighborhood in the 1960s and 1970s- birthed racial tensions in north Houston during the racial equality movement of the time.

Still primarily African American, the community now includes a combination of large areas of pine forests with a scattering of homes: small tract homes built in standard suburban subdivisions, and large comfortable homes on well-maintained wooded lots. There is little commercial or industrial development. It covers 5,733 acres (9.0 square miles).

On August 30, 2007, the Houston Chronicle published an article about a syphilis outbreak in Houston. Marlene McNeese-Ward, the Houston Health Department chief of HIV/STD and Viral Hepatitis Prevention, stated "We're really looking at Acres Homes especially, and Sunnyside, but there's not too many ZIP codes... where we're not seeing any (cases)" ("Houston targets syphilis increase," Houston Chronicle, August 29, 2007).

According to the 2000 census, the current population of Acres Homes Super Neighborhood #6 is 23,512.^[1]

Race and Hispanic origin	Acres Homes Data[2]	% of Area Pop.	Houston City Data[3]
American Indian (non-Hispanic)	14	-%	3,234
Asian (non-Hispanic)	74	0.3%	102,706
Black (non-Hispanic)	20,312	86.4%	487,851
Hispanic (of any race)	2,432	10.3%	730,865
Native Hawaiian (non-Hispanic)	-	-%	680
White (non-Hispanic)	523	2.2%	601,851
Two or More (non-Hispanic)	146	0.6%	23,830
Other (non-Hispanic)	10	-%	2,614

Age Group	Acres Homes Data[4]	% of Area Pop.	Houston City Data[5]
Under 5 Years	1,794	7.6%	160,797
5 - 17 Years	5,337	22.7%	375,861
18 - 65 Years	13,318	56.6%	1,252,908
65 and Over	3,023	12.8%	164,065

• The area is served by the Houston Police Department's North Division [6].
• The area is served by the Acres Homes Branch of the Houston Public Library.

The following rappers:

• Slim Thug
• Paul Wall
• Chamillionaire
• Mike Jones

• The eastern part of the community is located in the Houston Independent School District and is served by Booker T. Washington High School.
• The western part is in the Aldine Independent School District and is served by Eisenhower High School.
• A small section of Super Neighborhood #5 - Greater Inwood and some areas outside of the city limits still considered to be part of the "Acres Homes" area are within the Klein Independent School District and are served by Klein Forest High School

Acres Homes is served by many METRO bus routes, most notably bus route #44 ("Acres Homes Limited").

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ [2]
3. ^ [3]
4. ^ [4]
5. ^ [5]

• Acres Homes, Texas from the Handbook of Texas Online

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