Highlands Addition

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On the same day--within minutes of each other--two people asked about the Highlands Addition to Kerrville so I'll write about this subdivision next.

The first mention of Highlands Addition in the newspaper was on November 24, 1949, when Walter Erma Wenzel sold lot number 7 in block 1, Highlands Addition, to Jesse Leroy Hancock and wife.  On February 21, 1951, a story appeared in the Kerrville Mountain Sun about the growth of the new development, which had been underway for more than two years. Walter Wenzel, a former clothier in Houston, was the project developer.

Walter and Erma Wenzel and children Dolores, Charlotte, and Walton, had moved to Kerrville from Houston in January, 1947, after expansion of the Foley department store forced him to close his clothing store. The February 12, 1948, Mountain Sun reported that Clarence B. Williams sold to Walter Wenzel 95 acres of land in surveys 122 and 123.  This was the beginning of Highlands Addition.* By 1952 there were 14 families living in the development.
The homes "of necessity and for the protection of the builders, must be restricted to certain types".  A natural gas  line had been run, city water lines had been laid, and telephone lines. Residents had septic systems until after 1965, when they were connected to city sewer lines. Most of the streets were paved, but by 1958 they were worn out, at least on Glen Road and East Lane.  To get the streets repaved, the property owners had to agree to an assessment by the city for concrete curb and gutter, and asphalt pavement.
The first house built on the section of Glen Road between Methodist Encampment and East Lane was 1530 Glen Road, which was purchased by Henry Eugene and Esther Stover on February 14, 1950.
Walter Wenzel lived in the neighborhood he developed until his death in 1977, although not in their original house.
At the time it was being developed--one mile outside the city limits, one selling point was that there were no city taxes. That's often a selling point for real estate today!
 Ironically, four years after the first lots were sold, the subdivision was annexed to Kerrville May 22, 1952.

*A story appeared in the March 17, 1949, Mountain Sun reporting on a new 95-acre subdivision being platted adjacent to the city northwest of the Methodist Assembly.  The owner was Rev. A. B. Wagner, pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church.  Walter Wenzel was reported to be assisting the owner with the development of the land. This was the same church the Wenzels attended. I think this is the same property that became Highlands, but until I can get to the courthouse and look at the deed records I can't be absolutely certain.

To learn about other Kerrville subdivisions, go here.