Cuney Homes is a public housing complex in the Third Ward area of

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. It is operated by the

Houston Housing Authority Houston Housing Authority (HHA), formerly Housing Authority of the City of Houston (HACH), is the public housing authority in Houston, Texas. The Mayor of Houston appoints the board of directors of the HHA, but it itself is not a department of th ...

(HHA), and was the first complex opened by the authority. there were nearly 600 people living there. Some were students at area universities,

Texas Southern University Texas Southern University (Texas Southern or TSU) is a public historically black university in Houston, Texas. The university is one of the largest and most comprehensive historically black college or universities in the USA with nearly 10,000 ...

(TSU) and the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

(UH), seeking affordable accommodations. It is named after

Norris Wright Cuney Norris Wright Cuney, or simply Wright Cuney, (May 12, 1846March 3, 1898) was an American politician, businessman, union leader, and advocate for the rights of African-Americans in Texas. Following the American Civil War, he became active in Galv ...

, a Texas politician who assisted African-Americans during the

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...

. The complex is nicknamed "The Bricks" and residents are known as "brickboys". Cuney Homes has 564 total units that are made up of: * 224 one bedroom units * 229 two bedroom units * 81 three bedroom units * 19 four bedroom units

History

Cuney Homes first opened in 1938; it initially had 564 units. Its establishment resulted in a large group of African-Americans residing in this area, as Cuney Homes housed poor African-Americans.Kaplan, Barry J. (

).
Race, Income, and Ethnicity: Residential Change in a Houston Community, 1920-1970
" ''

The Houston Review ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

''. Winter 1981. pp. 178-202. CITED: p. 189. It was modernized in 1997, when it won an award from the National Association of Housing & Redevelopment for its modernization.

Location and layout

Cuney Homes is east of the

Houston Belt and Terminal Railway Houston Belt & Terminal Railway Company is a terminal and switching railroad and owner of industrial property in Houston, Texas, United States that also formerly operated Houston's Union Station. It was incorporated on August 31, 1905 and was ...

(HB&T) and north of Blodgett Street. Cuney is next to

, and

Yates High School Jack Yates Senior High School is a public high school located at 3650 Alabama Street, very near Texas Southern University, in the historic Third Ward in Houston, Texas, United States. Yates High School handles grades nine through twelve and is par ...

. Washington Terrace is across the railroad from Cuney.

Transportation

In 2006

METRO (Houston) The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (stylized as METRO) is a major public transportation agency based in Houston, Texas, United States. It operates bus, light rail, bus rapid transit, HOV and HOT lanes, and paratransit service (un ...

rerouted some area bus services, prompting Cuney Homes resident council vice president Veronica Deboest to ask for them to restore them to their original locations as they were further away from Cuney Homes. METRO restored Route 68 Brays Bayou to its original routing.

Education

The

Houston Independent School District The Houston Independent School District (HISD) is the largest public school system in Texas, and the eighth-largest in the United States. Houston ISD serves as a community school district for most of the city of Houston and several nearby and ...

(HISD) operates area public schools. The

(TSU)/Houston Independent School District Charter Laboratory School, a

charter school A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of auto ...

serving grades Kindergarten through 3, is located in Cuney Homes, making it the sole public school in the city located on the property of public housing. The school, operated in conjunction with the TSU School of Education, opened in August 1995,School Histories Charter Schools
"

. Retrieved on April 21, 2018. occupying two former apartment buildings. A new building for the school opened in 1999 with a capacity of 1,200 students. In 1999 62% of the students passed all TAAS tests, and in 2000 49% of the students tested passed all TAAS tests. In 2006 the school had 118 students. That year the HISD board voted to close the school, but area residents sought to reverse this by making it a charter school. That year it ultimately became a charter school affiliated with HISD. The school previously served grades Kindergarten through 5. The zoned public elementary schools serving sections of Cuney Homes are Blackshear Elementary School and Lockhart Elementary School. Cullen Middle School and

serve all of Cuney Homes. Cuney Homes was previously zoned to Ryan Middle School;Ryan Middle Attendance Zone
." ''

'' it closed in 2013 with students reassigned to Cullen Middle.

Baylor College of Medicine Academy at Ryan Baylor College of Medicine Academy at Ryan (BCMAR) is a magnet middle school in Houston Independent School District (HISD), located in the Third Ward, Houston, Texas. It is located in the former Ryan Middle School. It is in association with the ...

, a

magnet school In the U.S. education system, magnet schools are public schools with specialized courses or curricula. "Magnet" refers to how the schools draw students from across the normal boundaries defined by authorities (usually school boards) as school ...

which occupies the former Ryan Middle School, is in the surrounding area. Beginning in 2018 the school also serves as a boundary option for students zoned to Blackshear, Lockhart, and MacGregor elementary schools. The former location of

DeBakey High School Michael E. DeBakey High School for Health Professions is a medical secondary school located in the Medical Center area of Houston, Texas, United States. It is a part of the Houston Independent School District. It has been named the number one p ...

is nearby. TSU and

are in proximity.

Programs

There is the Cuney Homes Adopt-A-Family Program which allows area residents to "sponsor" Cuney Homes residents by giving them charitable assistance.

Notable residents

George Floyd George Perry Floyd Jr. (October 14, 1973 – May 25, 2020) was an African-American man who was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest made after a store clerk suspected Floyd may have used a counterfeit twe ...

References

External links

Cuney Homes

Cuney Homes
-

TSU Charter Lab School
-

* -

{{Third Ward, Houston Public housing in Houston Third Ward, Houston 1938 establishments in Texas