Our Purpose
The purpose of SunnysideHTX is to create a multigenerational platform to keep residents engaged. The SSHTX group is a resident-led and organized effort to create a cross-generational task force, expand civic engagement, and advocacy Sunnyside through outreach, volunteer events, and festivals.
The History
Thousands of enslaved African-Americans lived near Houston before the U.S. Civil War. Many of them near the city worked on sugar and cotton plantations, while most of those in the city limits had domestic and artisan jobs. In 1860, 49% of the city's population was enslaved.
African Americans started to settle in the community and it was founded by H. H. Holmes. Sunnyside, the oldest African-American community in southern Houston, was first platted in 1912. When the community opened in the 1910s, H. H. Holmes, the founder, gave the land the name Sunny Side. By the 1940s era, residents established a water district and a volunteer fire department. The City of Houston annexed Sunnyside in 1956
In the 1970s and 1980s, the neighborhood, while low income, had healthy business activity and was known as "Black Wall Street" or "Baby River Oaks" due to businesses' concentration. The population decreased beginning in the 1970s. From the 1980 U.S. Census to the 1990 Census, many African-Americans left traditional African-American neighborhoods like Sunnyside and entered parts of Southwest Houston. Sunnyside lost 30% of its population in the decade prior to August 20, 1992.
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