How the Families River Oaks Shut Out Built Their Own Mansions and Then Lost Them: Riverside Terrace

In the spring of 1963, signs appeared on the lawns of some of the finest mansions in Houston. They all said the same thing: "This Is Our Home. It Is Not For Sale." Within a few years, most of the families who put them up were gone. Riverside Terrace was built in 1924 as a second River Oaks, with the same promise of strict deed restrictions and the same top architects. The difference was who lived there. Houston's wealthy Jewish families, who were quietly kept out of River Oaks, built chateaus and Art Deco homes along Brays Bayou, and the neighborhood became known as the "Jewish River Oaks." Then in 1952 a Black cattleman named Jack Caesar bought a house through his white secretary and moved in at night. In April 1953, someone put four sticks of dynamite on his porch. He stayed. What followed was blockbusting, white flight, a freeway cut through the middle of the neighborhood, and the rise of the "Black River Oaks" on MacGregor Way, once home to Barbara Jordan, Debbie Allen, Phylicia Rashad and a young Beyoncé. Today that neighborhood is being lost too, one teardown at a time. This is the story of three communities who loved the same streets, and why none of them could keep them. CHAPTERS 0:00 The Signs 2:14 The Gate They Could Not Pass 5:55 The Jewish River Oaks 9:34 The Cattleman 12:39 This Is Our Home 16:07 The Freeway 18:36 The Black River Oaks 22:15 Losing It Again 26:30 What the Covenant Never Said SOURCES City of Houston – First Riverside Terrace Historic District Designation Report (2022): https://www.houstontx.gov/planning/Commissions/hahc_2022/A_First_Riverside_Terrace_Historic_District_Designation_Draft_2022_04_21_Final.pdf City of Houston – Protected Landmark Report, 2518 Riverside Drive (Scullin-Neblett House): https://www.houstontx.gov/planning/HistoricPres/landmarks/B_2018_11_13_2518_Riverside_Dr_PLM_APPROVED.pdf City of Houston – Landmark Report, 2506 Rosedale Street (Wilbanks-Hannah House): https://houstontx.gov/planning/Commissions/hahc_2023/B_2506_ROSEDALE_ST_PLM_REV_draft.pdf University of Houston Libraries – This Is Our Home, It Is Not for Sale (exhibit): https://exhibits.lib.uh.edu/s/tioh Forgotten Houston – Bombing on the Bayou: Riverside Terrace and Jack Caesar: https://forgottenhouston.wordpress.com/2011/06/29/bombing-on-the-bayou-riverside-terrace-and-jack-caesar/ African American News & Issues – Cowboy Integrated Riverside: https://aframnews.com/cowboy-integrated-riverside/ Houston Press – Houston 101: The Forgotten Mansions of Riverside Terrace: https://www.houstonpress.com/news/houston-101-the-forgotten-mansions-of-riverside-terrace-6746665/ Houston Press – The Changing Face of Houston: Riverside Terrace: https://www.houstonpress.com/arts/the-changing-face-of-houston-riverside-terrace-6394303/ Houston Chronicle – "Like a Pauper in a Castle": https://www.houstonchronicle.com/local/gray-matters/article/Like-a-pauper-in-a-castle-5733567.php CultureMap Houston – Historic Weingarten Mansion Goes on Sale: https://houston.culturemap.com/news/real-estate/07-28-14-historic-weingarten-mansion-complex-goes-on-sale-for-22-million-as-a-restoration-project Handbook of Texas (TSHA) – Clarence M. Malone Sr.: https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/malone-clarence-m-sr Houston History Magazine – MacGregor Park, A Gift to Houston: https://houstonhistorymagazine.org/2014/07/macgregor-park-a-gift-to-houston/ Friends of MacGregor Park – Riverside Terrace: https://friendsofmacgregorpark.org/riverside-terrace/ Houston Southeast – Riverside Terrace: The Story of a Neighborhood: https://houstonse.org/blog/riverside-terrace-the-story-of-a-neighborhood/ Clio – Riverside Terrace: https://theclio.com/entry/24369 Riverside Terrace, Houston: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riverside_Terrace,_Houston Houston City Hall: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston_City_Hall #Houston #TexasHistory #RiverOaks