Ben C. and Jenetter Cyrus House | |
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Location | 325 E. 25th St., Houston, Texas |
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Coordinates | 29°49′05″N 95°23′33″W / 29.81806°N 95.39250°W |
Area | less than one acre |
Built | 1915 |
MPS | Independence Heights MPS |
NRHP reference No. | 97000549[1] |
Added to NRHP | June 4, 1997 |
The Ben C. and Jenetter Cyrus House, at 325 E. 25th St. in the Independence Heights neighborhood of Houston, Texas, was built around 1915, near the center of Independence Heights.[2] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.[1]
It was described in its NRHP nomination as "typical of the housing for many of the middle-class residents of Independence Heights. Ben Cyms operated a jitney service in downtown Houston from about 1915 to the early 1920s. Jitneys provided a basic form of mass transportation in a number of major cities during this period and competed with electric streetcars. Black jitneys served a special role for the African American population as an alternative to other segregated forms of transportation. The City of Houston banned by ordinance all black owned jitneys in 1922-24 at the insistence of the Houston Electric Company, operators of the streetcar line and developing motor bus transportation." The property deemed significant in the area of Ethnic Heritage (black)."[2]
About the house: "Although modest in detailing, the house is typical of forms constructed in the city in the mid 1910s. The Cyms House served as a domestic space for the family but also a headquarters for his jitney service in Houston."[2]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
- ^ a b c Vivian Seals; Dwayne Jones (January 1997). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Ben C. and Jenetter Cyrus House" (PDF). Texas Historical Commission. Retrieved October 23, 2018. Includes a photo.