Williams's love for the First Ward has, no doubt, been tested over the years. The front porch of the tiny house on Edwards Street once offered her one of the sweetest unfettered views of Houston's downtown skyline. But 12 years ago a pipe manufacturer built a 55-foot-tall metal building across the street, blocking sight of all but a few skyscrapers.
Just south and west of her house are nondescript warehouses and a beer distributorship, which are an almost constant source of tractor-trailers that roar up and down the street at all hours. A few blocks to the north, freight trains, a dozen or more a day, start blowing their whistles at the Taylor Street crossing and don't stop until they're on the other side of White Oak Bayou, at the eastern end of the First Ward.
St. Paul AME church may move to a new neighborhood, but Cleola Williams is staying.
Deron Neblett
Andy Bell, who grew up in the First Ward, remembers the old neighborhood as a rambunctious place.
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Shopping in the First Ward used to be simply a matter of walking a block or two to one of the neighborhood groceries owned by Italian immigrants who settled here in the early 20th century. "Now," she says, "if you want to buy groceries, you have to get in your car or take the bus."
But on a recent morning, when she led a visitor on a windshield tour of the neighborhood, Williams didn't dwell on those changes. Instead, she talked about how the First Ward used to be, and pointed out the many efforts under way to recapture its past.
There are the handful of newly restored cottages on Dart Street that are fronted by vibrant gardens. Over on Shearn, Pierce Scarpulla has bought four ramshackle buildings, including an empty fourplex. The company is in the process of rehabilitating them for low-cost rental housing. One of the houses was recently completed and is painted ochre and burnt umber, a color scheme the developers researched and used for its historical accuracy.
"Oh, wait," Williams says in front of a lonesome bungalow down the block. "When I was a little girl, that house was haunted. I know it was haunted because I came down here and watched the trees rock back and forth when there was no wind, and there was a piano playing in there. I'll never forget it."
The once abandoned house -- Williams reckons it's about 100 years old -- has new owners who are rebuilding the porch. A small vegetable garden is growing on one side of the house. Scenes like this can be found all over the First Ward, though they're not always easy to see. One of the striking things about the neighborhood is how green it is. Pecan trees shadow almost every house, it seems. Hedges and chaotic vegetation surround and separate the lots. There are no curbs or gutters in most of the First Ward, but for an inner-city neighborhood, plenty of lawn.
Back at her house, Williams's confidence in the First Ward's future wanes a bit when she talks about St. Paul AME. It saddens her to realize that despite her enthusiasm and deep love for the old church, she's powerless to stop it from being sold. That said, if she can't keep the Reverend Dawson from picking up and moving to Greenspoint, she plans to convince whoever buys the church not to tear it down.
"If we can't hold on to the congregation, maybe we can hold on to the building," she says, "and keep somebody from coming in and tearing down history."
It suddenly grows quiet in front of St. Paul. For a moment, there are no trucks churning past, no train whistles whining in the background -- nothing but the chirping of birds. It could have been 100 years ago, and Cleola Williams smiles, knowing that whatever happens, she's not going anywhere.
"People have been saying to me, 'You live where? Oh, don't get rid of your property.' I never intended to. I still like the view."
