Fresno

Fort Bend County, TX

Status:

Year Established: 1820s

Council of Governments: H-GAC

Public History: Fresno is on Farm Road 521 twenty miles northeast of Richmond in northeastern Fort Bend County. A settler from Fresno, California, reportedly chose the name. The town is on land patented in 1824, once surrounded by cotton plantations. Fresno acquired a post office in 1910. In 1914 it had a telephone connection, a general store, a hardware store, and a population of thirty-two. By 1933 the town had only ten inhabitants and one business. In 1936 it had three rows of dwellings on both sides of a paved highway and was served by the International-Great Northern Railroad. By 1946 the population had risen to 100, a level maintained throughout the 1960s. In 1970 the figure had increased to 120; two years later it had grown to 161. During the 1970s and 1980s the population of Fresno increased more rapidly as the area was affected by growth of Houston. Fresno had a population of 3,182 in 1990 and 6,603 in 2000.

Community History: “From the Black Settlements Study Survey:

“”I can recall living off Trammel-Fresno Rd (521). It was a long dirt road that still had cotton growing on each side of the road. My father told use a story about the cotton & asked us to pick a piece, I did. I lived on West Palm St in a house built on stilts behind another house. The house in front lived a very old lady & a burned down church. We had dirt roads & the Old St. Philip Baptist church on the corner was once adjacent to a street. I remember the house I lived in because I was so scared to use the stairs, they were not safe, currently that house is not there & this is where I made my first best friend who lived down the street on West Palm. The elder that lived in the front house we called her Miss Earthy (I am not sure what her name was). This was in the 1980’s and I attended Blue Ridge Elementary School when Mr. Bolton was the school Principle. We would stop at the Renfrow store for goods or to the other store way down on Almeda Genoa. I had fun when visiting the Postal Office too. We moved away from the area but later returned and resided on Laverne St. tucked away in a dead end street. I would run out into the forested area and see Brahman Bulls & wild bobcats & rabbits all the time. After Blue Ridge Elementary, I attended Lake Olympia Middle School, then Elkins High School. There were plenty of African Americans living near us.”””

Church: Mt Corinth Baptist Church Built 1960 ; Old St. Philip Baptist Church

School: Blue Ridge Elementary, Lake Olympia Middle School, Elkins High School