Carolyn Boozer has learned to live with the roar of Richmond Avenue over the years.
Cars speed past her house, their engines revving as the area’s gritty nightlife unfolds. A row of 10 green bollards outside her home are her only defense should reckless drivers veer off the street and plow into a bedroom.
When brakes screech, a crash almost always follows.
But, these days, Boozer has other worries.
Across the street, an empty lot sits for sale. She fears what might come next.
Boozer, who heads up the Piney Point Civic Club, said the area has 75-year-old deed restrictions that allow single-family homes only, but someone tried to turn the property into a used-car lot. Neighbors protested, and the city ultimately denied the request to replat the lot for commercial use.
They won that time — but there’s no guarantee they’ll win again.
For Boozer, the incident is another reminder of how hard it is to protect Piney Point, a small, historic community founded by emancipated slaves. She and other residents have spent the last few decades fending off all sorts of threats to this mostly-quiet residential neighborhood.
Piney Point was one of six neighborhoods — including Independence Heights, Freedmen's Town, Acres Homes, Magnolia Park/Manchester and Pleasantville — selected by the City for conservation districts, which allow residents to choose what to regulate, such as minimum lot size, setbacks, building heights, the design of driveways, architectural styles and rules for off-street parking. They can customize the standards to fit their needs.
In a city without traditional zoning, those protections are necessary. Even neighborhoods with deed restrictions can find themselves fighting developers who find ways around the rules.
But the conservation district pilot program, launched in 2023 during the administration of Mayor Sylvester Turner, seems to have stalled, Boozer said.
She’s not sure whether the city has plans to move forward, but she knows something needs to change.
“I hate the idea of someone coming in and taking over properties. It would have been one thing if they were doing residential, but to turn our little subdivision into a giant conglomeration of used car lots and auto repair shops, that bothers me.”
Holding Onto a Place Once Called Home
Piney Point was once called Old Jeanetta Town. The historic settlement includes the subdivisions of Carver Crest, where Boozer lives, Blossom Heights, Piney Point, Ullrich and Harlem Heights. Over time, commercial development and highway expansion has consumed the area. Only about 100 homes remain.
A decade ago, a developer successfully turned a single-family lot into a hair salon. Boozer can see the salon’s sign from her front porch.
“That’s when we learned you have to monitor the permits, like weekly, because a lot of times these folks will go in and change the purpose of the permit, and we don't know anything about it until the construction is done,” she said.
Along Jeanetta and nearby streets, rows of used-car lots, tire shops and condos sit amid the remnants of the once-thriving community. I’ve driven down Richmond Avenue thousands of times not knowing anything about this neighborhood's history.
I met with Boozer in the parking lot of Pilgrim Rest Missionary Baptist Church, one of the last historical anchors of the community. Founded in 1865 by emancipated slaves, the Rev. Mac Austin Sr., its first pastor, and Hannah Rasmus. Although the current church building dates to 1965, the history it represents goes back much further.
Like many freedom settlements, Piney Point was largely a self-sustaining community. It provided a place to worship, a school to educate children, a cemetery to bury their dead and other essential services. Descendants of the Piney Point founders even donated land to Houston ISD to build Piney Point Elementary in 1962.
For the residents who remain, the fight is about more than preserving history. It’s about protecting the homes and the community that have defined their lives for generations. It’s about holding on to the place they’ve always called home.
Making Preservation a Priority
Houston City Council Member Tiffany Thomas has made preserving Piney Point a priority. Thomas, who also teaches community development and preservation in Prairie View A&M University’s School of Architecture, said her professional training helps the effort.
Her office regularly tracks permits in the area and responds to concerns ranging from blight and squatters to the proliferation of after-hours clubs.
“We’re monitoring everything because I understand their history. I know who they are, and my concern is that in 20 years they will be no more,” Thomas said.
For Juneteenth, Thomas’ office organized a celebration for the neighborhood. She also secured federal funding to renovate Walter Rasmus Park on Jeanetta Street.
“My commitment was to hustle for them,” Thomas said.
Meanwhile, the residents of Piney Point and some of the other neighborhoods in the pilot did the required work to set up a conservation district, engaging residents to determine what protections were needed most.
They want businesses that serves residents, but another tire shop or used car lot is not what they need.
Unfortunately, the energy behind the conservation district pilot waned as Turner's administration ended in 2023. The planning department director retired, and the transition to a new administration came with the usual turnover and uncertainty.
Thomas remains optimistic that Mayor John Whitmire’s administration is receptive to efforts to preserve historic neighborhoods like Piney Point.
“Ultimately, protecting our neighborhoods requires effective deed restrictions, utilizing the minimum lots size and building line tools and an informed, engaged community committed to preserving the quality and character of the places we call home," Whitmire said.
Fighting for Her Neighborhood’s Future
For Boozer, the stakes are personal.
She lives in the house her parents built. They moved to the area from a small Texas town after learning that Piney Point was a good place to raise a family. Back then, there were hundreds of families with children, and Richmond Avenue was barely a two-lane gravel road.
As Piney Point changed, many people moved out. Boozer stayed, determined to preserve what’s left of her family’s neighborhood.
She doesn’t have all the answers, but believes the city’s permitting process is a large problem.
“I think it’s laziness, but maybe I shouldn’t be so direct,” Boozer said. “In a time of technology, why can't the city determine whether or not a subdivision is residential and has deed restrictions? Somebody decided this is a great place for commercial development without any regard to the residents who are here and the protections already in place.”
Piney Point isn’t alone. Riverside Terrace faces similar issues, and residents are now considering a conservation district as a possible way to protect the neighborhood.
Thomas said it would be a good measure for Riverside Terrace to be included in the conservation district program, should the city move forward with it. But if no one is carrying the banner for the community and city officials are not pushing to protect these neighborhoods, the future is dim.
“This is holy ground,” Thomas said of Piney Point. “The conservation district was an opportunity for us to really punctuate the boundaries of the neighborhood. The residents there may not be as organized as Montrose, Fifth Ward or Riverside Terrace, but they have the same shared concerns.”
Boozer isn’t ready to give up either.
She has spent her lifetime in Piney Point. She wants the neighborhood to have a future, too.
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