Where is Meyerland?
Meyerland is a neighborhood in southwest Houston, just west of Interstate 610. Its civic association describes the main portion as bounded by Beechnut Street on the north, West Bellfort Avenue on the south, I-610 on the east and Chimney Rock Road on the west. A separate Section 10 lies between Darnell, Birdwood, Mullins and Hillcroft. The ZIP code is 77096. Brays Bayou runs through the area.
Who developed Meyerland?
The Meyer family arrived in Houston in 1867. In the 1890s Joseph F. Meyer bought land in southwest Houston until he held more than 6,000 acres. After his death in 1935, his three sons divided the land. His son George Meyer developed about 1,200 acres of former rice fields as Meyerland.
The Meyerland Community Improvement Association formed on September 24, 1954. The subdivision opened in spring 1955, and Vice President Richard Nixon cut the ribbon. Community Impact reports that the land had been annexed into Houston about a decade earlier.
Meyerland Plaza opened in October 1957. The Meyerland Club opened on May 24, 1958. It closed in 1996 and was sold to the Jewish Community Center.
Deed restrictions
Meyerland was built in stages. Each section received a number and its own deed restrictions. The association counts 2,309 home sites. It collects a fee on each property, maintains grounds and monument signs, and contracts with Harris County Precinct 5 for security.
Schools
From 1955 to 1958, a bus took Meyerland elementary students to Horn Elementary in Bellaire. Lovett Elementary opened in September 1958, Johnston Junior High in 1959, Kolter Elementary in 1960 and Herod Elementary in 1961.
What is Meyerland’s flooding history?
Meyerland had back-to-back major floods from 2015 to 2017. The last was Hurricane Harvey in 2017. The Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center, in Meyerland since 1969, was badly flooded during Harvey and rebuilt on the same site.
Project Brays was a $480 million flood-reduction project of the Harris County Flood Control District and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It widened 31 miles of the bayou, built stormwater detention basins and improved 32 bridges, including the South Rice Avenue and Chimney Rock Road crossings in Greater Meyerland. The county marked its completion in May 2022.
During Tropical Storm Beta in September 2020, Brays Bayou stayed within its banks. Flood Control District modeling estimated about 600 structures would have flooded without the project.