Channelview Scrapbook

Page 2A • Wednesday, July 1, 1987 • The Sentinel Channelview area By NADINE PATTERSON Special Writer Possibly some of the first feet in modern recorded history to tread the forests of what is now Channelview to fish and crab in the bayous and the San Jacinto River, to hunt in the for¬ ests, were the Karankawa Indians. They were a nomadic tribe, thought by some historians to be cannibalis¬ tic; most, though, disagree. At one time there were 30 tribes in Texas. Indian arrowheads have been found on “Goat Island” near Old Riv- boasts rich and varied history n#*l fha 1 ft-minnfo 'Raffle /vF The first wac P P n n n a fotnri о ол er across from Lakeside Drive. Re¬ mains of an old fort-like building could be seen on the island for years. In this century Channelview has evolved from a primitive forestland to an industrial complex. For years investors called this area “the sleep¬ ing giant.” The giant has awakened. Families, many of them freed slaves, lived here and traveled along forest trails and hand-pulled ferries North Channel Almanac Focusing on historic events and lifestyles in the North Channel Area across the San Jacinto River and Buffalo Bayou. Shopping for staples was done in Houston or Galveston and sometimes involved an over¬ night trip. Staples also could be had at Lynchburg. There were several ferries in the Channelview area: Lynchburg (the only one still operating in Harris County), Carpenters Bayou near Penn City Road, Greens Bayou at Wallis ville Road (Magee Crossing), and the San Jacinto River at Wallis- ville Road. Albert Rumley of Chan¬ nelview, who died several years ago in his 80s, was an oldtime ferryman. Other early landowners were sol¬ diers who had been given land grants for their role in fighting for Texas independence from Mexico. Present day Channelview lies with¬ in boundaries outlined in the early surveys of Peter J. Duncan, J.T. Herrell and William J. Harris and David Carpenter. Our home has an abstract dating back to a Spanish land grant in 1824. Just across the Houston Ship Chan¬ nel occurred the 18-minute Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836, called by some historians the most decisive battle of the Western Hemisphere. One of the heroes of that battle was Lorenzo de Zavala whose home on de Zavala Point in Channelview was used as a hospital for the wounded of both armies. De Zavala’s body, along with other family members, is buried across the channel. Some markers have fallen into the channel due to subsidence. The Channelview Historical Society was responsible for getting Texas Eastern Transmission to raise one of the markers. A pink granite marker is still in the channel. In February, 1976, a Texas histori¬ cal marker honoring de Zavala was unveiled on the Channelview Branch Library grounds by the Harris Coun¬ ty Historical Commission. His vast land holdings were bounded by Old River on the south, Greens Bayou on the west, San Jacinto River on the east, unknown to the north, but prob¬ ably at least to Sheldon. One of the early black families were the McGhees, whose land was along Market Street north to Lesco Trucking, formerly T.E. Mercer Pi- peyards. The family home faces Market Street just west of Key Truck Stop. An ancestor, Peter, was head muleskinner for Gen. Sam Houston and was with the general at the Bat¬ tle of San Jacinto. He lived as a slave on Houston’s plantation, Raven Hill, 14 miles outside of Huntsville. White children went to school at Lynchburg but there was not a school for black children. About 1916 the State of Texas agreed to build a school for blacks if someone would donate the land. Joe McGhee donated the land. The first teacher was C.C. Tate of Houston. When the school was dis¬ banded in 1942, it was sold at auction and moved further west on Market Street where it gradually fell into dis¬ repair. The Channelview Historical Society restored the little one-room building and it was moved to the li¬ brary grounds on Crockett Street and dedicated Jan. 24, 1976 as a bicenten¬ nial project. The Channelview school system for white children came into being in 1929 with a two-room pink stucco structure on de Zavala Street. Among the early teachers were Ar- nola Brown, Mr. and Mrs. O.V. Rob¬ inson, B.F. Johnson and daughter Frances, Edith Dozier, and a Miss Philen. Around 1934, a four-room white stucco building with running water and indoor plumbing was erected. Joe Cash was the principal. In 1939 the de Zavala School was sold and became a part of the San Jacinto Or¬ dinance Depot, now Jacintoport. A new school, David Crockett, was build on First Street. It served as both elementary and junior high schools. G.S. Hart was superinten¬ dent and S.H. McBride was junior high principal. At first the school had no cafeteria so students either brought their lunch or ate across the street at the home of Mrs. Mamie Weaver, deceased. The first building on the site of the present high school on Sheldon Road was David Crockett Junior High School. H.C. Schochler, now retired as superintendent of the district, was hired by the school board to build a high school and came to the district in 1953. Construction was begun in 1957 and the first class of 40 graduat¬ ed in 1958. Prior to that high school students attended Robert E. Lee High School in Baytown. Alice Johnson Junior High School opened in the fall of 1979. There are now two elementary schools: de Za¬ vala and Viola Cobb, three prima¬ ries, Schochler, McMullan and Crenshaw. The first white church was formed in 1931 or ’32. A woman named Ona Lankford taught a Sunday school class in the original de Zavala School. It is now a full-fledged church instead of a mission and is located 16038 First St. Now Channel- view has numerous churches or sev¬ eral denominations. Next week-from 1940 to present.