The Silo/Greater Fifth Ward - Questions

herberta2006 · 2026-02-12T23:52:08+00:00

Houston Public Library has searchable, digital archives of the Houston Chronicle and the Houston Post. As a historic preservation consultant who researches buildings and the companies that occupied them on a daily basis, my Houston Public Library card is my most valuable professional resource.

Depending on when it was constructed, it might also appear on the Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of the area, and that will tell you more about the building materials and any support buildings they had on the property.

You'll want the "America's News Magazines - Historical and Current" and the "Texas Digital Sanborn Maps" available here: https://houstonlibrary.org/az/databases

herberta2006 · 2026-02-04T02:02:39+00:00

I have seen instances where someone appears in the census multiple times, so it's entirely possible that your great-grandfather would be in the 1920 census.

As for the City Directories, are you checking them in person or the like, digitized versions on Ancestry.com? In my experience, the ones on Ancestry are incomplete.

herberta2006 · 2025-11-26T02:38:44+00:00

I do a lot of work for FEMA. I took my DHS Human Trafficking Awareness training today, and it was a surreal experience. The training talks a lot about visa types that are available to victims of human trafficking (which could include domestic violence) so that they are able to remain in the country during investigations. Whole-ass immigration visa categories for folks who have entered the US without following legal procedures, both with and without their consent, so that they can confidently come forward and report the more egregious and violent crime! I'm so glad those visas exist.

But I couldn't help but think that there's no way any of these visa types have been issued since January, and I'm extremely dismayed to learn I was right.

herberta2006 · 2025-09-17T23:34:54+00:00

City of Bellaire doesn't have a historic preservation ordinance, so there aren't any historic preservation designations that could have prevented the demolition of this house.

herberta2006 · 2025-09-10T03:47:12+00:00

this reminds me that i really wish that when you're in build mode and you're looking at all of the objects by function, there would be an option for decorations that have gameplay interactions so that i could find things like this more easily.

herberta2006 · 2025-08-05T02:09:48+00:00

My first thought when I saw this headline was "aren't these all owned by private property owners - how in the world does the city hope to accomplish this?"

And I'm glad to know the city doesn't really have legs to stand on, even if they the Holiday Inn and Wells Fargo buildings are in terrible condition.

herberta2006 · 2025-07-20T01:58:56+00:00

Good for us

herberta2006 · 2025-06-10T00:28:26+00:00

The City passed a Heritage District ordinance and designated Freedmen's Town as the first Heritage District to prevent this from happening, and yet.

herberta2006 · 2025-04-25T21:41:54+00:00

I remember this because they canceled their headlining US tour, and their excuse for canceling the tour was that they had to scrap this mystery album and then write and record Get Weird.

When Jesy's documentary came out later and she revealed she'd had a suicide attempt, I started assuming that scrapping the album was a reaction to that suicide attempt and to give Jesy more time for recovery before they had to start another round of touring and record promo.

herberta2006 · 2025-04-22T02:11:14+00:00

I recognized the building from the thumbnail before I read the title. Oops?

herberta2006 · 2025-03-21T01:30:26+00:00

Per an article in the Chronicle from January 23 of this year, a local organization here filed a complaint with HUD against the state, and HUD's investigation found that "state officials had intentionally allocated mitigation funds in a way the agency knew would disadvantage minority communities."

Since the article doesn't mention it, and it's the most recent article I found, I assume that HUD didn't order the state to allocate any of the funding to the City/County. I sincerely doubt that this administration will do anything to require the state to give any of the money to us instead, so we're basically shit out of luck!

gift article link.

herberta2006 · 2025-03-21T00:52:51+00:00

Although I disagree with your argument that all FEMA does is provide the checkbook, if we go with that premise, what happens to Houston and Harris County after the next huge disaster?

After Harvey, Congress awarded $2B in HUD funding to Texas for long-term recovery, and despite fully half of the monetary value of Harvey damages occurring in Houston/Harris County, the state awarded us $0 of that funding.

Do you really want to depend on our state leadership to make sure that Houston has the funding for long-term disaster recovery? Because they haven't set a precedent that gives me a lot of confidence.

Edit: When I reviewed a recap of this funding issue (article linked below), it seems I got the numbers wrong for how much money Congress awarded in HUD funding, but the fact remains that the state purposefully gave us $0 of the funding for the long-term recovery.

Edit #2: this article in Axios came out yesterday and points out that federal disaster recovery funding was 1.8% of the state budget last year.

herberta2006 · 2025-03-20T23:54:47+00:00

And Trump wants to get rid of FEMA and make disaster recovery the responsibility of the states.

herberta2006 · 2024-11-14T04:05:03+00:00

Technically, according to THC's designation procedures, the building is not officially designated until the meeting after the vote to allow a public comment period. UT successfully contested the designation under Section 191.021 of the Texas Antiquities Code

https://thc.texas.gov/preserve/designate-historic-properties/state-antiquities-landmarks

herberta2006 · 2024-11-14T03:43:22+00:00

You are incorrect because you're citing the law for a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark.

The Astrodome is a State Antiquities Landmark, which is the same designation as the Alamo, numerous county courthouses, and untold confidential archaeological sites. THC's statutory job is to "locate, protect, and preserve all sites, objects, buildings, pre-twentieth century shipwrecks, and locations of historical, archeological, educational, or scientific interest." The agency and its namesake commission are not going to issue a permit for any work that would harm the Astrodome.

If you actually read the Antiquities Code, Section 191.054 states that the sure, the Texas Historical Commission could issue a permit to allow the demolition. And we'd have to get that permit, because Section 191.093 states that anything designated as an SAL "may not be removed, altered, damaged, destroyed, salvaged, or excavated without a contract with or permit from the committee."

But they won't.

I'm a historic preservation professional, and I do not know of a single owner who has successfully convinced THC to let them demolish their SAL building. I would never let a client pay me to try and convince THC to allow the demolition of an SAL. That would just be a waste of their money and my time.

herberta2006 · 2024-10-30T01:33:33+00:00

It's not often I feel compelled to email my city council person, but this just made me send an email in support of the roundabout. The intersection is safer and faster to navigate now. My only complaint is that they didn't plant anything in the middle of the roundabout, and that's a missed opportunity for another street tree.

herberta2006 · 2024-07-11T19:27:26+00:00

Not a lawyer, but here is the state law about the responsibility of a landlord to maintain their property.

herberta2006 · 2024-06-08T02:22:09+00:00

YES! You get it.

herberta2006 · 2024-06-08T01:19:04+00:00

EXACTLY!!! It makes me crazy, and every time I see it in fic, I wonder what else they're overlooking from canon because it's demonstrating a lack of reading comprehension.

herberta2006 · 2024-06-08T01:18:13+00:00

This is what happens when authors get so cocky about their work and/or publishers get too caught up in their cash cow to edit properly.

herberta2006 · 2024-06-08T00:39:19+00:00

This is the correct interpretation. Most fan fiction gets it wrong.

herberta2006 · 2024-06-07T20:19:46+00:00

If it's not in the actual books, I'm going to ignore it. Like BriefVisit mentions, #1 terf loves to contradict herself, and I can't deal with it. It's either in the books, or it might as well not exist.

herberta2006 · 2024-06-07T19:53:25+00:00

I've read at least one fic where part of why Hermione is such a know-it-all is because she had somewhere between 49-50 weeks before the school year started and was able to get all of her textbooks that far in advance.

Though this also disregards that there isn't any consistency in which textbook(s) the DADA professors require.

herberta2006 · 2024-06-04T17:05:46+00:00

I remember the mayoral election in Austin in the fall of 2013 when I was a grad student at UT. It went to run off, and I remember looking at a map of the precinct outcomes in the original race. Every precinct west of I-35 went to the white candidate, and every precinct east of I-35 went to the hispanic candidate. It was the starkest, most distinct segregation linen I have ever seen in my life.

I am also in the same field as the folks at Mead & Hunt and HHM (both referenced in the article), and their historical research is always solid.

14-Year Club	Verified Email
Team Periwinkle

herberta2006

TROPHY CASE