Genoa is an area in

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 ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

located about southeast of

Downtown Houston Downtown is the largest central business district in the city of Houston and the largest in the state of Texas, located near the geographic center of the metropolitan area at the confluence of Interstate 10 in Texas, Interstate 10, Interstate 45, ...

; it was formerly a distinct

unincorporated area An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in Harris County.

History

J. H. Burnett established Genoa in 1892; he gave the community the name "Genoa" because he believed that the climate was similar to the climate of

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. The post office opened during that year. The founder built a railroad depot serving the

Galveston, Houston and Henderson Railroad The Galveston, Houston and Henderson Railroad was the first railway to operate between Houston and Galveston. Sometimes known as the "Old Reliable Short Line," service commenced around 1859 and operated for 136 years under its original charter. L ...

, five houses, one hotel, and one store. The community was located along a main street that is now known as Almeda Genoa Road (the road from Almeda to Genoa). The east end of the community was the Old Galveston Road (

Texas State Highway 3 State Highway 3 (SH 3) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Texas that runs from Interstate 45 in Houston near William P. Hobby Airport to State Highway 146, northwest of Galveston. For most of its length, SH 3 parallels I-45 and runs along ...

) and the Galveston, Houston, Henderson Railroad. The western edge was Freestone Street and the railway just to the west. Where the main street continued east from Old Galveston Road became known as Genoa Red Bluff (the road from Genoa to Red Bluff). The ''

Handbook of Texas The ''Handbook of Texas'' is a comprehensive encyclopedia of Texas geography, history, and historical persons published by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). History The original ''Handbook'' was the brainchild of TSHA President Wal ...

'' stated that Genoa "grew slowly." In 1914 the community had 200 people and several businesses, including a general store, a dairy, a nursery, a blacksmith shop, and a carpenter. By 1925 the community had 100 people; the population remained at this level until around 1941. During that year Genoa had 400 people and fifteen businesses. The population remained at that level until Houston annexed Genoa in the mid-1960s.

Government and infrastructure

Local government

Houston City Council The Houston City Council is a city council for the city of Houston in the U.S. state of Texas. Currently, there are sixteen members, 11 elected from council districts and five at-large. The members of the Council are elected every four years, w ...

District E serves Genoa. As of 2008 Mike Sullivan represents the district.

County, state, and federal representation

Genoa is located within Harris County Precinct 2; as of 2008 Sylvia Garcia heads Precinct 2. Genoa is located in District 144 of the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abou ...

. As of 2008, Robert E. Tarlton represents the district. Genoa is within

District 11 District 11 can refer to: *District 11 (Ho Chi Minh city), Vietnam *District 11 (Zürich), Switzerland * District 11, an electoral district of Malta *Colorado Springs School District 11, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States *District 11 (Hu ...

of the

Texas Senate The Texas Senate ( es, Senado de Texas) is the upper house of the Texas State Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing single-member districts across the U.S. state of Texas, with populations of approximately 806,000 per cons ...

; as of 2008 Mike Jackson represents that district. Genoa is in

Texas's 22nd congressional district Texas's 22nd congressional district of the United States House of Representatives covers a largely suburban south-central portion of the metropolitan area. The district includes the majority of Fort Bend County, including most of the cities of ...

. The

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...

operates the Genoa Post Office at 10935 Almeda Genoa Road.

Education

Children in the Genoa neighborhood attend school in the

Pasadena Independent School District Pasadena Independent School District is a school district that is based in Pasadena, Texas, United States. Pasadena ISD serves much of southeast Harris County. The district includes most of Pasadena, South Houston, a portion of Houston (incl ...

. The area is zoned to Genoa Elementary School in Houston, Lomax Middle School in

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. Its ...

, Elmer Bondy Intermediate School in Pasadena, and

Pasadena Memorial High School Pasadena Memorial High School (PMHS) is a secondary school located in Pasadena, Texas. The school serves grades 9 through 12 and is the second largest school in the Pasadena Independent School District. It is sometimes referred simply as "Memoria ...

in Pasadena. Despite being located in Houston, it is ''not'' served by 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 ...

. Residents of Pasadena ISD (and therefore Genoa) are zoned to

San Jacinto College San Jacinto College is a public community college in the Greater Houston with its campuses in Pasadena and Houston, Texas. Established in 1961, San Jacinto College originally consisted of the independent school districts (ISD) of Channelview, De ...

. By 1905 a school with one teacher and thirty students appeared.

Notable residents

* Saburo Arai, a Houston-area

Japanese American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asi ...

entrepreneur who led the Japanese Association and exempted Japanese already living in Texas from a law which banned ethnic Japanese from owning landJapanese Texans
" ''Texas Almanac''.

Texas State Historical Association The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) is a non-profit educational organization, dedicated to documenting the history of Texas. It was founded in Austin, Texas, on March 2, 1897. , TSHA moved their offices from Austin to the University of N ...

. Retrieved on May 14, 2015.

References

External links

*
1916 Topographical map of Genoa

Genoa Elementary School
{{coord missing, Texas Neighborhoods in Houston