Bellaire is a city located in Harris County, Texas within the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown metropolitan area. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the city had a total population of 15,642 and is completely surrounded by the cities of Houston and West University Place.
Bellaire is famed for its Little League baseball team, which had gotten into the World Series on one occasion, and the Bellaire High School baseball team, Bellaire Cardinals, which has won the Texas High School Baseball championship seven times with several former or current Major League Baseball players. Furthermore, Bellaire High School has held an excellent reputation for decades in many areas; it is usually referred as the best public high school in greater Houston area.
Bellaire is known as the "City of Homes" as the city is mostly residential; the city mainly functions as a bedroom community for upper-middle class families. There are a few offices along the 610 Loop within the city limits. As of 2000, Bellaire is the 27th wealthiest location in Texas by per capita income. The median house price in central Bellaire for 2005 was $519,494.
Bellaire is located at 29°42'15" North, 95°27'48" West (29.704030, -95.463370).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 9.4 km2 (3.6 mi2). 9.4 km2 (3.6 mi2) of it is land and none of the area is covered with water.
As of the census of 2000, there are 15,642 people, 6,019 households, and 4,321 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,668.3/km2 (4,319.0/mi2). There are 6,315 housing units at an average density of 673.5/km2 (1,743.7/mi2). The racial makeup of the city is 89.11% White, 0.84% African American, 0.27% Native American, 6.35% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 1.85% from other races, and 1.52% from two or more races. 7.81% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 6,019 households out of which 38.8% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.3% are married couples living together, 8.1% have a female householder with no husband present, and 28.2% are non-families. 23.5% of all households are made up of individuals and 9.6% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.58 and the average family size is 3.09.
In the city the population is spread out with 27.6% under the age of 18, 3.9% from 18 to 24, 29.9% from 25 to 44, 26.8% from 45 to 64, and 11.9% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 40 years. For every 100 females there are 92.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 86.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $89,775, and the median income for a family is $104,200. Males have a median income of $72,295 versus $49,766 for females. The per capita income for the city is $46,674. 2.6% of the population and 1.9% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 2.5% of those under the age of 18 and 5.1% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
Bellaire was founded in 1908 by William Wright Baldwin, who was the president of the South End Land Company. Baldwin, a native of Iowa, was well known as the vice president of the Burlington Railroad. Bellaire was founded on what was part of William Marsh Rice's 9,449 acre ranch. Baldwin surveyed the eastern 1,000 acres of the ranch into small truck farms. He named those farms "Westmoreland Farms". Baldwin started Bellaire in the middle of "Westmoreland Farms" to serve as a residential neighborhood and an agricultural trading center. South End Land Company advertised to farmers in the Midwestern United States. Baldwin stated that the town as named "Bellaire", or "Good Air" for its breezes". Bellaire may have been named after Bellaire, Ohio, a town served by one of Baldwin's rail lines.
Six miles of prairie was a buffer zone between Houston and Bellaire. Originally the town was bounded by Palmetto, First, Jessamine, and Sixth (now Ferris) Streets.
Bellaire Boulevard and a street car line connected Bellaire to Houston. The street car line, which ran a four mile stretch from central Bellaire to Houston's Main Street, started construction in 1909. The streetcar line consisted of one railway track and an overhead electric wire. A waiting pavilion and a turnaround loop were located at the terminus in Bellaire. The Houston Electric Company had simultaneously constructed a south end line from Eagle Avenue to what is now Fannin Street to connect to the Bellaire Boulevard line. Service, with one required transfer at Eagle Avenue, began on December 28, 1910. The streetcar was nicknamed the "Toonerville Trolley".
Bellaire was incorporated as a city with a general charter in 1918, ten years after its founding. Bellaire had a population of 200 at the time.
On September 26, 1927 the trolley line was abandoned and replaced by a bus line. This was due to frequent derailments caused by a worn-out track and the advent of the automobile.
Bellaire's population had reached 1,124 in 1940. After 1940, Bellaire had a rapid population explosion in the post-World War II building boom. On December 31, 1948, the city of Houston had annexed the land around the city of Bellaire, stopping the city of Bellaire's land growth. Bellaire remained independent of Houston; Bellaire adopted a home rule charter with a council-manager government in April 1949. By 1950 the city's residents had numbered 10,150. In 1953, the Swedish general consulate moved to Bellaire. Bellaire High School was established in 1955.
During the Hurricane Rita evacuation, a bus filled with residents from Brighton Gardens, a nursing home in Bellaire, caught on fire and exploded in Dallas County, Texas. The September 23, 2005 explosion killed 24 people out of the 38 residents and employees in the bus. and
Source:
BellaireTX.com
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