Details for El Barrio del Alacrán

Historical Marker — Atlas Number 5507017509

Data

Marker Number 17509
Atlas Number 5507017509
Marker Title El Barrio del Alacrán
Index Entry El Barrio del Alacrán
Address 1900 Runnels
City Houston
County Harris
UTM Zone 15
UTM Easting 272690
UTM Northing 3294842
Subject Codes neighborhoods; Mexcian topics
Marker Year 2013
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark No
Marker Location 1900 Block of Runnels, adjacent the abandoned Frost Town street Bramble, about 25 feet north of Runnels within the right of way of US 59.
Private Property No
Marker Condition In Situ
Marker Size 18" x 28" with post
Marker Text Between 1910 and 1920, Houston attracted a large number of Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans to the Second Ward where the Old Frost Town and Schrimpf's Field neighborhoods offered inexpensive housing for industrial workers. In the 1930s, the Spanish-speaking residents gave the area a new name - El Alacran, The Scorpion. Churches, the Rusk Settlement House, Rusk School and sports leagues provided social and educational services for the community. Urban renewal and highway construction in the 1950s demolished El Alacran. Once a notoriously impoverished neighborhood, El Alacran gave many residents a working start toward full integration into American society. (2013)

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