Clear Lake City is a master-planned community located in southeast Harris County, Texas and is the second-largest master-planned community in Houston—behind Kingwood. The majority of the community lies in the corporate limits of Houston, while a small eastern portion is in the city limits of Pasadena. Also see ( Pasadena Clear Lake )

The community is adjacent to NASA's Johnson Space Center, as well as other major aerospace companies—including Boeing and Lockheed-Martin. Clear Lake City is diverse and has the largest Asian American concentration within any master-planned communities inside the city of Houston. The community and its adjacent areas have a high concentration of engineers due to both NASA and the local petrochemical industries.

The master-planned community was named Clear Lake City for a lake south of the Johnson Space Center that separates Harris County from Galveston County and connects Clear Creek to Galveston Bay.

Contents

• 1 History
• 2 Crime
• 3 Government
  • 3.1 County, state, and federal representation
• 4 Education
  • 4.1 Primary and secondary schools
  • 4.2 Colleges and universities
  • 4.3 Public libraries
  • 4.4 Gallery of schools
• 5 Parks and recreation
• 6 See also
• 7 References
• 8 External links

History

Clear Lake City was originally developed by the Friendswood Development Company on land sold to Humble Oil and Refining Company (now ExxonMobil) by James Marion West in 1938.[citation needed] The company established the Clear Lake City Community Association, Inc. (CLCCA) in 1963.[1]

The portion of Clear Lake City that was Houston's extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) was annexed by the city of Houston in 1977 despite a grass-roots campaign by its residents to stop it. Their slogan was "Free The Clear Lake 25,000!" Lawsuits over the annexation resulted in the conversion of Houston city government from at-large city councilmen to the current-day nine district and five at-large council seats. Resulting was the decline of influence of the traditional developer-led power structure behind Houston government.[citation needed]
Since 1980, part of Clear Lake City within the Houston City Limits is located in Council District E.[citation needed]
For several years after the annexation, Clear Lake residents were paying Houston taxes but receiving no services, such as fire and police protection[citation needed]. Later on, the eastern portion in Pasadena's extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) was annexed by the city of Pasadena.[citation needed]

From the 1980 U.S. Census to the 1990 Census, many Asian-Americans settled in Clear Lake City. They were mostly Chinese American, Indian American, and Pakistani American with some Vietnamese Americans.[2]

Crime

The community became the focus of worldwide attention in the summer of 2001 when Andrea Yates drowned her five children in a bathtub in their home within the community; her 2002 conviction was reversed and she was found innocent by reason of insanity during her second trial. In 2002 Clara Harris ran down her husband David Harris in a hotel parking lot in nearby Nassau Bay; she was convicted in February, 2003 (Associated Press article).

On July 18, 2003, four young people were shot to death at a home in the Brook Forest subdivision. The home, located on the 3700 block of Millbridge Drive, was owned by the family of 18-year old Tiffany Nichole Rowell. Rowell's friend, 18-year old Rachael Ann Koloroutis, had moved in with Rowell over the Fourth of July weekend. Both girls had graduated from Clear Lake High School the previous May. Koloroutis, Rowell, 19-year old Marcus Ray Precella (Rowell's boyfriend), and 21-year old Adelbert Nicholas Sanchez (Precella's cousin), were shot multiple times. Koloroutis was also beaten [1] [2]. For three years the case remained a mystery that disturbed the community. Then on July 21, 2006 two suspects were named, one of which, a woman named Christine Paolilla, was arrested later that day [3]. The body of the other suspect, Christopher Lee Snider, a local man, was found on August 5, 2006 [4] in South Carolina. On October 13, 2008, jurors found Christine Paolilla guilty of the four murders. Paolilla was sentenced to life in prison. [5]

On April 20, 2007, death struck the Johnson Space Center facility when Bill Phillips, a NASA employee shot and killed David Beverly, Phillips' supervisor, before killing himself.[citation needed]

Government

Harris County Courthouse Bay Area Annex

County, state, and federal representation
Harris County operates the County Courthouse Bay Area Annex, including a tax office, at 16603 Buccaneer Lane in Clear Lake City, Houston.[3]
The United States Postal Service operates the Albert Thomas Post Office at 14917 El Camino Real Drive in Houston and the Nassau Bay Post Office at 18214 Upper Bay Road in Nassau Bay, near Clear Lake City.[4][5]

Education

Primary and secondary schools

Clear Lake High School

Pupils in Clear Lake City attend Clear Creek Independent School District. The community is divided between the Board of Trustee District 2 and the Board of Trustee District 3,[6][7]. They are represented by Win Weber and Ken Baliker, respectively, as of 2008.[8]

Two of the four comprehensive high schools in the district—Clear Brook High School and Clear Lake High School—serve the community. Despite being located in Houston and Pasadena, it is not served by the Houston Independent School District nor the Pasadena Independent School District.
Clear Lake Intermediate School and Space Center Intermediate School serve sections of Clear Lake City. Clear Lake Intermediate was named a National Blue Ribbon School in 1986-87. [9]

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston operates the St. Clare of Assisi school in Houston.[10]

Colleges and universities
The University of Houston–Clear Lake is adjacent to the community (the majority of the 520-acre UHCL campus lies in the corporate limits of Pasadena, while the part of campus south of Horsepen Bayou lies in the city of Houston).

The West mansion in Pasadena Clear Lake is still located on NASA Parkway overlooking Clear Lake. For years, the Lunar and Planetary Institute was housed in the mansion until it moved to a bigger, more modern building. The property was sold to former basketball player Hakeem Olajuwon's property management company for future development.[citation needed]

Public libraries

Clear Lake City–County Freeman Branch

The community is served by the Clear Lake City–County Freeman Branch located at 16616 Diana Lane at Ramada Drive. The 42,000 square foot branch is administered by Harris County Public Library, and is funded in part by the Houston Public Library. The Freeman Branch Library, named after Theodore C. Freeman, opened on November 1, 1964. It moved to the Harris County multipurpose annex on July 13, 1976. The current city-county facility opened on June 8, 2004. The Friends of the Freeman Library raises $80,000 United States dollars per year to fund the library.[11]

Gallery of schools

Clear Lake Intermediate School

Parks and recreation

Sylvan Rodriguez Park

The City of Houston operates the Sylvan Rodriguez Park at 1201 Clear Lake City Boulevard. In 1991 the city purchased a 111.46-acre property for $1,399,000. In 1999 the city appropriated $2.5 million to begin building the park. On August 25, 2001 the park received its current name.[12]
The Clear Lake City Community Association, Inc. (CLCAA) operates the Kermet H. Applewhite Sports and Recreation Center at 16511 Diana Lane. The center includes an indoor heated pool, a fitness room, several outdoor pools, an air-conditioned gymnasium, and tennis courts.[1]

See also

Houston portal

References

1. ^ a b "About CLCAA." Clear Lake City Community Association, Inc.. Retrieved on January 4, 2009.
2. ^ Rodriguez, Lori. "Census tracks rapid growth of suburbia." Houston Chronicle. Sunday March 10, 1991. Section A, Page 1.
3. ^ "Branch Office Locations." Harris County Tax Office. Accessed October 13, 2008.
4. ^ "Post Office Location - ALBERT THOMAS." United States Postal Service. Retrieved on December 6, 2008.
5. ^ "Post Office Location - NASSAU BAY." United States Postal Service. Retrieved on December 6, 2008.
6. ^ District 2 Map. Clear Creek Independent School District. Retrieved on December 6, 2008.
7. ^ District 3 Map. Clear Creek Independent School District. Retrieved on December 6, 2008.
8. ^ "School Board Members: Bios and Contact Information." Clear Creek Independent School District. Retrieved on December 6, 2008.
9. ^ Blue Ribbon Schools Program, Schools Recognized 1982–1983 Through 1999–2002 (PDF)
10. ^ "St. Clare of Assisi School." Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. Retrieved on December 10, 2008.
11. ^ "Clear Lake City-County Freeman Branch Library." Harris County Public Library. Retrieved on November 29, 2008.
12. ^ "Sylvan Rodriguez Park." City of Houston. Retrieved on January 4, 2009.

External links

• Clear Lake City Community Association, Inc.
• Clear Lake Information Page
• University of Houston–Clear Lake
• Clear Creek Independent School District
• Clear Lake High School Orchestra
• Bay Area Youth Symphony

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