Germantown
About
The Germantown Historic District is a small wedge of land located east of Woodland Heights and bounded by Houston Avenue to the west, I-45 to the north and east, and Woodland Park to the south. The Germantown name is leftover from the late 1800s when the rural land north of White Oak Bayou was populated by German immigrant farming families. Germantown as we know it today is just a small portion of this larger area. Developed as a neighborhood in the very early 20th century, most of the proposed historic district was originally the homestead of a local German family, the Grotas. The Grota Homestead evolved into a stable working class neighborhood until the construction of I-45 in the 1960s split the neighborhood and forced some households and businesses to move.
Germantown is almost entirely residential and contains a significant mix of bungalows and modest houses with Craftsman, American Four Square, Queen Anne and Colonial Revival architectural details. Most houses feature generous front porches which were important to the social conventions of the era and personal comfort in Houston’s pre-air-conditioned climate. A handful of larger houses face Woodland Park. The district also includes Woodland Park itself, which was developed in 1903 and is one of Houston’s oldest parks.
The Germantown Historic District was designated as a City of Houston Historic District on December 5, 2012. As part of the process, Design Guidelines are currently being developed for the District. The Germantown Historic District Design Guidelines will inform residence on how to appropriately alter or add-on to existing historic structures and how to construct new structures on vacant lots. The Guidelines will assist property owners to receive a Certificate of Appropriateness, and more importantly, in the preservation and enhancement of the Germantown neighborhood.
Click the links below to download printable Design Guidelines, Map and Inventory.