Sunnyside: One of Houston's Oldest Black Neighborhoods

South of downtown, outside the 610 Loop off Highway 288, Sunnyside is the oldest African-American community in south-central Houston — a neighborhood that has anchored Black life on the city's south side for more than a century. Its oldest section, Sunnyside Place, was platted in 1912 by developer H. H. Holmes and first envisioned as a farming community, offering families affordable land, small-scale agriculture, and a measure of independence in the constrained world of Jim Crow. Out of that beginning grew a proud, self-reliant neighborhood that built its own school by 1918, formed a civic club in 1936, dug its own water district in 1952, and later earned the nicknames 'Black Wall Street' and 'Baby River Oaks' for its thriving businesses. This driving tour visits the schools, churches, parks, and landmarks that Sunnyside built for itself. Note: this neighborhood has very few state historical markers, so these stops are verified local landmarks — drive with respect for a living community.