Based on notes received from David Hornburg
I believe it was the Quensell's and the Lackners (who were related) that developed Shady Acres. The Lackner family donated a lot of papers related to the Reinermann's, Bethje, Sandman, etc... to the Rice Library http://www.rice.edu/fondren/woodson/. Those papers would probably give you much information on the area. This is a pretty good informative article about those folks: http://www.hal-pc.org/~lfa/BB20.html
I saw a photo in one of the old photograph collections in the Texas room of a billboard for Shady Acres that you would probably like to get a copy of. Looked like it was on site before the area was developed. In the 30s there was an oil field just to the west of Shadyacres called Eureka oil field or I have seen it called Eureka Heights Oil field too. The whole area around there was called Eureka at one time. The railroad yard off of TC Jester is still called the Eureka Yard. There is a Eureka street off old Hempstead Highway. There was a Eureka stop on the old Houston Texas and Central Railroad that passed through the area. The next stop was Fairbanks. The area around there was settled by German Farmers and seemed to share some sense of community with
the German Farmers in Spring Branch. There is a cemetery in Timbergrove manor that contains the graves of some of those folks (The Vollmer-Niemann cemetery). At one time the community was referred to as Vollmer and later on White Oak. St. John's German Lutheren Church was the church for the community. The 1891 church is now in Sam Houston Park downtown. An earlier church burned after a lightning strike. There are several old maps in the Texas room of the central library that show that area before it was too much developed as we know it today.
I live in 6th ward and the person who built my house was William Vollmer. He was the son of one of the original German farmers in the area. I have done a bit of research on his family. I was at the Texas Room of the central Library on Saturday and ran across that photo again of the Shady Acres billboard. I may have been wrong about the Quensells and Lackners developing the subdivision. Looks like it was W.T. Helberg. The Helberg's were neighbors of the Vollmers (the guy who had my house built. W.T. Helberg was a honorary pallbearer at William Vollmers funeral in 1940. Some of the other pallbearers families who all have streets named after them or their families: W.M Beinhorn(Beinhorn Road), Louis Clay (Clay Road),R.C.Sauer (Conrad
Sauer), Max Roy (Maxroy street and Roy Street). Fred Lackner was also an honorary
pallbearer but he somehow missed having a street named after him. I think Max Roy was his cousin. W.F.Puls was a pallbearer. There used to be a Puls road just north of
Shadyacres in what is now Garden Oaks.
This photo is a scan of a xerox of a xerox so the quality is not good.
Another image received from David Hornburg regarding an early map of Timbergrove.
Early Days of Shady Acres
In the early 1920's 100 acres were sold to the Shadyacres Investment Company
from the Henry Reinermann Original Grant in Harris County. [Note the one word name for the area. These 100 acres were offered for sale in lots of one acre or smaller. The John W. Beall Realty included this advertisement in the local paper in 1927:
Buy an acre for the same price as a city lot. Close in. Gas line is now being laid. Also 3,4,5 rooms home built to suit. Terms as you like it." The Shady Acres Civic Club was organized in 1938 at a meeting in the House of Boy Scout Camp #67. The meeting was organized and called to order by Fredric Sevier. Election of Officers and the purpose of the association were discussed. The groups concerns were based on the need for bus service, dealing with oil drillers within the neighborhood, and general improvement of the community through a garden club, and a dramatic club. Mr. J.E. Capps was elected President. There were about 20 members. It was agreed that the next meeting would be held at Capps Store on Bevis and 19th on the following Tuesday evening.
Documents show that in that same year, the Shady Acres Civic Club requested city postal services be extended into the neighborhood. The requirement at the time was that at least 50% of the area had to be developed with improved streets , numbered houses (many members used their lot number to refer to their home location within the neighborhood), and street signs. Unfortunately, at this time, Shady Acres did not meet this requirement, and so rural mail service continued.
The current Shady Acres Civic Club is making an effort to collect any information, pictures and personal stories about the early days of the area. If you have any knowledge regarding the Henry Reinermann Grant, early Civic Club meetings, or pictures from that time, you are encouraged to contact the Civic Club. This information will be collected and preserved for future generations. Pictures will be scanned and stored electronically. All original pictures will be returned to the owner. All information will be used as material on the Shady Acres website.
More of the group’s efforts to improve the area so that mail service requirements could be met, and the Building Fund in the next newsletter.