View source for Mykawa, Houston

[[Image:MykawaSchoolHouston.JPG|thumb|The former Mykawa School]]
'''Mykawa''' ({{IPAc-en|m|ᵻ|ˈ|k|ɑː|w|ə}} {{respell|mi|KAH|wə}}) is an area within [[Houston]], [[Texas]], [[United States]] that was formerly a distinct [[unincorporated area|unincorporated community]] in [[Harris County, Texas|Harris County]].

==History==
Mykawa was named after a [[Japan]]ese nurseryman named [[Shinpei Mykawa]], who, by 1906, introduced the cultivation of [[rice]] in the area. The community was renamed from '''Erin Station''' after Mykawa died after he fell underneath one of his pieces of agricultural equipment.<ref>"[http://www.heritagesociety.org/Hinton-Names%20of%20Houston%20Streets%20071907.pdf Historic Houston Streets: The Stories Behind the Name] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141114144128/http://www.heritagesociety.org/Hinton-Names%20of%20Houston%20Streets%20071907.pdf |date=2014-11-14 }}. ''July 19, 2007''</ref> Officials from the [[Santa Fe Railroad Company]] renamed the station after Mykawa, and many Japanese immigrants to Texas perceived it as a place friendly to Asian Americans because of the town's naming.<ref name="Connor">Connor, R. E. "[http://hirasaki.net/Family_Stories/Mykawa/Mykawa.htm How That Road Got Its Name]." ''[[Houston Post]]'', Sunday May 2, 1965. Spotlight, Page 3. - Available on microfilm at the [[Houston Public Library]] Central Library Jesse H. Jones Building</ref> Mykawa's name, as the town name and the name of Mykawa Road, is pronounced differently from the actual Japanese name ''[[Maekawa]]''.<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20080212181624/http://www.sanyo.oni.co.jp/kikaku/kenjin/itano/19.html 改称される「ジャップ通り」　その２]." ''[[Sanyo Shimbun]]''. Retrieved on June 19, 2009.</ref>

For a period Mykawa had a community of Japanese rice farmers. John M. Moore of the ''[[Houston Post]]'' said that it "seems to be" that salt water and waste oil introduced by a nearby oil field destroyed some rice field crops cultivated by the Japanese farmers, causing them to leave the area before [[World War II]]; Moore said that area residents erroneously believed that the farmers left as a result of World War II.<ref name="Moore">Moore, John M. "Mykawa Is Fading Into City's Shadows." ''[[Houston Post]]''. Sunday July 1, 1951. Section 1, Page 14. Available via microfilm from the [[Houston Public Library]] Main Library Jesse H. Jones Building.</ref> By 1951 the nearest Japanese farmers were located near [[Minnetex, Houston|Minnetex]]. During that year many of the Japanese farmers formerly in Mykawa resided in north Harris County.<ref name="Moore"/>

In the 1940s and 1950s new additions were constructed in the area of nearby [[Sunnyside, Houston|Sunnyside]]. Local residents of majority white Mykawa expressed dismay at this,<ref name=Pontonp53>{{cite journal|author=Ponton, David III|url=https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/ddf5/81930ff6c4c637391c5559438e06563f97bb.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190809171605/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/ddf5/81930ff6c4c637391c5559438e06563f97bb.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2019-08-09|title=Criminalizing Space: Ideological and Institutional Productions of Race, Gender, and State-sanctioned Violence in Houston, 1948-1967|date=2017-03-03|page=53|s2cid=158691542 }}</ref> as the 1948 ''[[Shelley v. Kraemer]]'' Supreme Court decision meant that neighborhoods could no longer have rules excluding people on the basis of race.<ref name=Pontonp55>{{cite journal|author=Ponton, David III|url=https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/ddf5/81930ff6c4c637391c5559438e06563f97bb.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190809171605/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/ddf5/81930ff6c4c637391c5559438e06563f97bb.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2019-08-09|title=Criminalizing Space: Ideological and Institutional Productions of Race, Gender, and State-sanctioned Violence in Houston, 1948-1967|date=2017-03-03|page=55|s2cid=158691542 }}</ref> Terroristic threats were made against the Sunnyside community.<ref name=Pontonp53/>

In 1951 Moore said that Mykawa was losing its individual identity and was becoming a part of Houston. Moore said "I found out that Mykawa was gradually losing its individuality."<ref name="Moore"/> Moore said that when he visited a general store where natives of the area said that they did most of their shopping, the clerk was unaware that there was a community called "Mykawa."<ref name="Moore"/>

==Cityscape==
Mykawa is located south of the [[Sims Bayou]]. The center of the Mykawa area is the intersection of Mykawa Road and Almeda-Genoa Road. As of 1951 the Mykawa School and the Mykawa Railroad Station were located there, and the [[Pearland, Texas|Pearland]] water tower and Houston Municipal Airport ([[William P. Hobby Airport]]) were visible from this location. As of 1951, the residents other than the original settlers mainly lived on small farms. Some had enough money to build [[Colonial architecture|Colonial-style houses]]. In 1951 land had a cost of $1,000 per acre. John M. Moore of the ''[[Houston Post]]'' said "the flat plain is easily flooded, but the acreage is not what you would call cheap."<ref name="Moore"/> At that time a man described by Moore as "[o]ne of the leading citizens" of Mykawa, W. B. Schulte, was selling acreage for the development of houses, a practice which Moore said "eventually will erase his community, no doubt."<ref name="Moore"/>

==Government and infrastructure==
The [[Houston Fire Department]] serves Mykawa.<!--Not cited to Moore! This is common knowledge considering it's in Houston!--> Previously the Mykawa Volunteer Fire Department, which had a station on [[Telephone Road]], served the community.<ref name="Moore"/>

In 1951 Moore said that "[a]bout the only public official" in the Mykawa area was the judge of the voting precinct of yearly elections, E. E. Forbes.<ref name="Moore"/>

The [[Harris Health System]] (formerly Harris County Hospital District) designated the [[Martin Luther King]] Health Center in southeast Houston for the ZIP code 77048. The designated public hospital is [[Ben Taub General Hospital]] in the [[Texas Medical Center]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tmc.edu/hchd/LOCATE.HTM|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011119141023/http://www.tmc.edu/hchd/LOCATE.HTM|url-status=dead|archive-date=2001-11-19|title=Clinic/Emergency/Registration Center Directory By ZIP Code|publisher=[[Harris County Hospital District]]|date=2001-11-19|accessdate=2021-04-08}} - See ZIP code 77048. [https://www.harrishealth.org/SiteCollectionDocuments/community-assessment/pregnancy-birth-data/2012/infant-mortality-rate-2012.pdf See this map for relevant ZIP code].</ref>

==Education==
[[Image:SterlingHighSchoolHouston.JPG|thumb|[[Sterling High School (Houston)|Sterling High School]]]]
Mykawa is within the [[Houston Independent School District]].

Elementary schools serving portions of the Mykawa area include:
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080509183902/http://es.houstonisd.org/FrostES/ Frost Elementary School]<ref>"[http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/FrostES.pdf Frost Elementary Attendance Zone] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091228203720/http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/SchoolBoundaryMaps/frostES.pdf |date=2009-12-28 }}." ''[[Houston Independent School District]]''.</ref>
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070930222009/http://es.houstonisd.org/mitchelles/ Mitchell Elementary School]<ref>"[http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/MitchellES.pdf Mitchell Elementary Attendance Zone] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060516201631/http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/SchoolBoundaryMaps/mitchellES.pdf |date=2006-05-16 }}." ''[[Houston Independent School District]]''.</ref>

The area is served by the following secondary schools:
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080509054602/http://ms.houstonisd.org/ThomasMS/ Thomas Middle School]<ref>"[http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/ThomasMS.pdf Thomas Middle Attendance Zone] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225100831/http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/ThomasMS.pdf |date=2012-02-25 }}." ''[[Houston Independent School District]]''.</ref>
*[[Sterling High School (Houston)|Sterling High School]]<ref>"[http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/SterlingHS.pdf Sterling High School Attendance Zone] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930225801/http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/SterlingHS.pdf |date=2007-09-30 }}." ''[[Houston Independent School District]]''.</ref>

Originally the community was served by [[Harris County Common School District 45]]. The Mykawa School, a 20th-century one-room schoolhouse that was within the district, at one time served residents of Mykawa. The red brick building sits on {{convert|6.5|acre|ha}} of land.<ref name="Festival">Martin, Betty L. "[http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2003_3643235 Minnetex to host festival to raise awareness about health, 1919 schoolhouse] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017075710/http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2003_3643235 |date=2012-10-17 }}." ''[[Houston Chronicle]]''. Thursday April 3, 2003. ThisWeek7. Retrieved on December 21, 2009.</ref> The building was erected in 1923. By 1951 the family of Henry May, a school bus driver, was living there. John M. Moore of the ''[[Houston Post]]'' said that "half a dozen" school buses were parked in the front yard of the school.<ref name="Moore"/> In 1951 students from Mykawa attended Garden Villas Elementary School in [[Garden Villas]], [[Houston]] while older children attended high schools in Houston.<ref name="Moore"/> The Minnetex Civic Club rents the building from its owner, the [[Houston Independent School District]], to use as a meeting place. In 2002 the club wanted the school to be named a historical monument so the building would avoid demolition and receive a restoration. During that year, Terry McMillan, the president of the civic club, said that the school district did not want the building to be named a historic site as it would make it more difficult for the school district to sell the school.<ref>Martin, Betty L. "[http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2002_3579122 RED SCHOOL HOUSE / Civic club wants to restore, preserve Mykawa School] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017075717/http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2002_3579122 |date=2012-10-17 }}." ''[[Houston Chronicle]]''. Thursday September 5, 2002. ThisWeek 1. Retrieved on December 21, 2009.</ref> In 2003 the civic club held a festival in the former schoolhouse to raise awareness about the building. By that year the school's roof had partially collapsed.<ref name="Festival"/>

==Recreation==
Moore said in 1951 that the Mykawa Home Demonstration Club, was "one of the few community organizations" of the area.<ref name="Moore"/> During that year it was trying to establish a civic club in Allison Park, near [[Minnetex (Houston)|Minnetex]], along with the clubs of Minnetex and [[South Acres (Houston)|South Acres]].<ref name="Moore"/>

==See also==
{{Portal|Texas}}
* [[History of the Japanese in Houston]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hnm76 MYKAWA, TX] at ''[[Handbook of Texas]]''
* [http://www.bunsei.co.jp/denshi/pdf/shiori009.pdf Publications of Early Japanese in North America]{{dead link|date=February 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} (Japanese)

{{Houston, Texas}}
{{Japanese Americans by location}}
{{Japanese diaspora}}
{{Portal bar|Japan|Texas|United States}}

{{coord|29.6208|N|95.3134|W|source:wikidata|display=title}}

[[Category:Neighborhoods in Houston]]
[[Category:Geography of Harris County, Texas]]
[[Category:Asian-American culture in Houston|Japanese]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Houston|Japanese]]
[[Category:Japanese-American culture by city|Houston]]
[[Category:Japanese-American culture in Texas|Houston]]
[[Category:Japanese-American history]]