Inwood Forest is a community about a 3/4 mile west of historic

Acres Homes Acres Homes is a neighborhood located in northwest Houston, Texas. The mile area is loosely bounded by the city limits and West Gulf Bank Road to the north; Pinemont Drive to the south; North Shepherd Drive to the east; and Alabonson Drive to th ...

in northwest

Houston, Texas 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 ...

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 ...

History

Land in what is now Inwood Forest was originally Native American hunting grounds. In the 1860s

German American German Americans (german: Deutschamerikaner, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. With an estimated size of approximately 43 million in 2019, German Americans are the largest of the self-reported ancestry groups by the Unite ...

farmers settled along the White Oak Bayou. For a 100-year period until 1963, the Fuchs family owned the land that would become Inwood Forest and surrounding subdivisions; during that year a real estate developer bought the land. Many of the original houses in Inwood Forest were developed for oil company executives. Wayne Norden, the president of the Near Northwest Management District, stated in 2011 that Inwood Forest was a different kind of neighborhood in the 1970s than in the 2010s.Lee, Renée C.
Demolition signals new life for neighborhood
" ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...

''. February 7, 2011. Retrieved on February 8, 2011. The City of Houston annexed the Inwood Forest area in 1975, adding of land to the city limits.Lee, Renée C.
Annexed Kingwood split on effects
" ''

''. Sunday October 8, 2006. A21. Retrieved on July 6, 2011. Print version exclusively has the information cited; the information is ''not'' included in the online edition. The neighborhood began to change after a recession in the late 1980s. Many businesses shut down, and former residents moved to suburbs. Dennie Hodge, an Inwood Forest resident quoted in the ''

'', said that around three-fourths of the houses in her neighborhood flooded during

Tropical Storm Allison Tropical Storm Allison was a tropical storm that devastated southeast Texas in June of the 2001 Atlantic hurricane season. An arguable example of the "brown ocean effect", Allison lasted unusually long for a June storm, remaining tropical or su ...

. After

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

, evacuees from the hurricane poured into the Houston area. The occupancy rates of apartments around Inwood Forest increased from the 40 to 60 percent range to almost 100 percent. Julie Grothues, president of the Inwood Forest Community Improvement Association, said in a 2008 ''

'' article that she saw children playing in the streets of Inwood Forest while she did not see any in 1978. Throughout several years leading to 2011, the City of Houston had demolished older apartment complexes. In 2011 the city demolished the Gables Apartments.

Cityscape

The boundaries of the community are Gulf Bank Road to the north,

U.S. Route 290 U.S. Route 290 (US 290) is an east–west U.S. Highway located entirely within the state of Texas. Its western terminus is at Interstate 10 southeast of Segovia, and its eastern terminus is at Interstate 610 in northwest Houston. It is the ...

to the west, Pinemont to the south, and T.C. Jester to the east. It consists of 32 subdivisions. It is located within a 30-minute commute from

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, ...

Uptown Uptown may refer to: Neighborhoods or regions in several cities United States * Uptown, entertainment district east of Downtown and Midtown Albuquerque, New Mexico * Uptown Charlotte, North Carolina * Uptown, area surrounding the University of C ...

, and

George Bush Intercontinental Airport George Bush Intercontinental Airport is an international airport in Houston, Texas, United States, serving the Greater Houston metropolitan area. Located about north of Downtown Houston between Interstate 45 and Interstate 69/U.S. Highway 59 ...

.Bennett, Adam.
Neighborhood maintaining home values
" ''

''. Thursday March 27, 2008. ThisWeek 2. Retrieved on August 17, 2009. Dennie Hodge, an Inwood Forest resident and real estate broker quoted in the ''

'',Meeks, Flori.
Inwood offers stability
" ''

''. April 18, 2007. Retrieved on August 17, 2009. said that Inwood Forest is five minutes away from the

610 Loop Interstate 610 (I-610) is a freeway that forms a loop around the inner city sector of the city of Houston, Texas. I-610, colloquially known as The Loop, Loop 610, The Inner Loop, or just 610, traditionally marks the border between the i ...

. The community was designed to complement the fairways of the Inwood Forest Country Club. Many roads have esplanades and mature trees. One street that has many custom houses also has large landscaped lots. As of 2011 Inwood Forest contains many single-family houses surrounded by deteriorating apartment complexes. Apartment complexes are located to the north and south of Inwood Forest. Hodge described the complexes as "scary," not well maintained, and as a "high crime area."

Government and infrastructure

Houston Fire Department City of Houston Fire Department (HFD) is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for the city of Houston, Texas, United States, the fourth largest city in the United States. HFD is responsible for preserving life and ...

operates Station 4 Inwood, which is in Fire District 4. Fire Station 4, originally located in the historical Second Ward, moved to various other locations before reopening in its current location in 1986.

Education

Primary and secondary schools

Public schools

The community is within the

Aldine Independent School District The Aldine Independent School District is a public school district based in unincorporated Harris County, Texas, United States. It serves portions of Houston and unincorporated Harris County. Aldine ISD serves the communities of Aldine, most of ...

.Community Map
" Inwood Forest. Retrieved on October 28, 2018. Portions of Inwood Forest are zoned to Vines Early Childhood/Prekindergarten/Kindergarten (EC/PK/K) and Stovall EC/PK/K for early childhood through Kindergarten, J. Ruth Smith Elementary (formerly Academy) and Caraway Elementary School for the elementary level. All residents are zoned to Floyd Hoffman Middle School, Eisenhower Ninth Grade School, and Eisenhower High School. Previously the entire community was served by a single set of schools: Vines Early Childhood/Prekindergarten School, Smith Academy, Caraway Intermediate (then a school for grades 5-6), Hoffman Middle, Eisenhower Ninth Grade, and Eisenhower High. Nearby subdivisions are served by

Klein Forest High School Klein Forest High School is a public senior high school in unincorporated Harris County, Texas, near Houston. It is a part of the Klein Independent School District. It was the second high school built in Klein ISD. Opening in the Fall of 1979, ...

in the

Klein Independent School District Klein Independent School District (Klein ISD) is a school district that covers in Harris County, Texas, United States. It became an independent school district in 1938. Almost all of the territory is unincorporated; a small portion of Houston i ...

Parks and recreation

The Inwood Forest Country Club was located in the community. It closed in 2007. On April 7, 2011 the sale of the facility from Inwood Forest Partners (IFP) to the City of Houston closed.Sale of the IF Golf Course Update
." Inwood Forest Community Improvement Association. Retrieved on July 7, 2011. The City of Houston acquired the former Inwood Forest Golf Course with the intent of providing "passive" recreational space and to improve drainage in the area.Office of councilwoman Brenda Stardig
March 30, 2011 District A Newsletter
Retrieved on April 9, 2011.

References

External links

Inwood Forest Community Improvement Association
* * - Inwood Forest Community Improvement Association's website about the proposed acquisition of the golf course
Greater Inwood Partnership - Volunteers working together

Inwood Pride
{{coord, 29.86, -95.49, region:US-TX, display=title Neighborhoods in Houston