Alief, Houston, Texas
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alief is an area in Harris County that is mostly within the city limits of Houston, Texas. A small portion of the community is in unincorporated Harris County, which is in Houston's extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ). Although this portion is an ETJ, local laws and essential services are primarily governed at the county level. This area is within the Houston zip codes of 77072, 77082, and 77083. The Alief Post Office still maintains a non-Houston zip code of 77411.
Alief has a high concentration of Asian Americans. Portions of the second Chinatown are within the Alief area.
[edit] History
The site was first settled in 1861, when Reynolds Reynolds claimed 1,250 acres of land at the headwaters of Bray's Bayou. Alief was called Dairy when it was first settled in 1894 by Jacamiah Seaman Daughtery. Application for a post office in 1895 resulted in changing the town name to Alief in honor of Alief Ozelda Magee, the town's first postmistress.
Alief initially was a rural community. Corn, cotton, and rice were grown in Alief. Cattle were also raised in Alief. A single schoolhouse served the areas of Alief, Addicks, and Barker until 1906. In 1911, a three-story building served as a school and community center for church services and community events. Alief’s second general store opened in 1915; the stores were popular gathering places for residents. By 1920 a few Alief residents had automobiles. Electric service, however, wasn’t available until 1935, and residents had to wait several more years for telephone lines to be installed. A section of central Alief spoke French but dwindled by the late-1990's after decades of urbanization.
Alief became heavily urbanized during the 1970s and 1980s—the population quadrupled between 1970 and 1985. The city of Houston annexed large portions of the city starting in 1977. METRO established bus routes to Alief.
[edit] Education
The Alief Independent School District serves the area. High schools in Alief ISD are assigned by a lottery, which can result in the student going to either Alief Elsik High School, Alief Hastings High School, or Alief Taylor High School. They can also choose to attend Alief Kerr High School.
Despite being located in Houston, it is not served by the Houston Independent School District.
Alief Montessori Community School, a PreKindergarten through 6th grade charter school, is also located in Alief.
Alief is served by the Henington-Alief Regional Branch of Houston Public Library.
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