Mykawa, Houston

The former Mykawa School

Mykawa is an area within Houston, Texas, United States that was formerly a distinct unincorporated community in Harris County.

Mykawa was named after a Japanese nurseryman named Shinpei Mykawa, who, by 1906, introduced the cultivation of rice in the area. The community was renamed from Erin Station after Mykawa died after he fell underneath one of his pieces of agricultural equipment.^[1] Mykawa's name, as the town name and the name of Mykawa Road, is pronounced differently from the actual Japanese name Maekawa.^[2]

Education

Sterling High School

Mykawa is within the Houston Independent School District.

Elementary schools serving portions of the Mykawa area include:

• Frost Elementary School^[3]
• Mitchell Elementary School^[4]

The area is served by the following secondary schools:

• Thomas Middle School^[5]
• Sterling High School^[6]

Originally the community was served by Harris County School District 45. The Mykawa School, a 20th Century one room schoolhouse that was within the district, at one time served residents of Mykawa. The red brick building sits on 6.5 acres (2.6 ha) of land.^[7] The Minnetex Civic Club rents the building from its owner, the Houston Independent School District, to use as a meeting place. In 2002 the club wanted the school to be named a historical monument so the building would avoid demolition and receive a restoration. During that year, Terry McMillan, the president of the civic club, said that the school district did not want the building to be named a historic site as it would make it more difficult for the school district to sell the school.^[8] In 2003 the civic club held a festival in the former schoolhouse to raise awareness about the building. By that year the school's roof had partially collapsed.^[7]

See also

Houston portal

References

1. ^ "Historic Houston Streets: The Stories Behind the Name. July 19, 2007
2. ^ "改称される「ジャップ通り」　その２." Sanyo Shimbun. Retrieved on June 19, 2009.
3. ^ "Frost Elementary Attendance Zone." Houston Independent School District.
4. ^ "Mitchell Elementary Attendance Zone." Houston Independent School District.
5. ^ "Thomas Middle Attendance Zone." Houston Independent School District.
6. ^ "Sterling High School Attendance Zone." Houston Independent School District.
7. ^ ^{a b} Martin, Betty L. "Minnetex to host festival to raise awareness about health, 1919 schoolhouse." Houston Chronicle. Thursday April 3, 2003. ThisWeek7. Retrieved on December 21, 2009.
8. ^ Martin, Betty L. "RED SCHOOL HOUSE / Civic club wants to restore, preserve Mykawa School." Houston Chronicle. Thursday September 5, 2002. ThisWeek 1. Retrieved on December 21, 2009.

External links

• MYKAWA, TX at Handbook of Texas
• Publications of Early Japanese in North America (Japanese)