Cypress is an unincorporated community of Harris County, Texas, United States located completely inside the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the City of Houston. The Cypress area is located along U.S. Highway 290 (Northwest Freeway) approximately twenty-five miles (40Â km) northwest of Downtown Houston. The Cypress urban cluster ranks 50th in the top 100 highest-income urban areas in the United States.
Large scale residential and commercial development beginning in the 1980s transformed the once rural area into one of the Houston area's largest suburban communities.
History
The recent find of a San Patrice projectile point at the Dimond Knoll site nearby on Cypress Creek attests to a human presence in the area by 7500 BC. By the early historic era, the area around present-day Cypress was populated by Atakapa and Akokisa Indian tribes, but they soon disappeared after the appearance of German settlers in the 1840s;
The German heritage is most notably reflected in the names of some of the major thoroughfares of the area, such as Huffmeister and Telge Roads. General Sam Houston and his Texas Army camped in the area on March 22, 1836 on the way to Harrisburg, which is now in East Houston, just days before the Battle of San Jacinto.
The area remained mostly rural until the early 1990s when developers began construction of several master-planned communities. The area is often referred to as Cy-Fair or Cypress-Fairbanks, which comes from when the Big Cypress School and Fairbanks High School combined in the 1930s to form Cy-Fair High School and the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District. In March 2008, the Cypress Historical Society (CHS) was formed as a non-profit corporation with its primary mission being "...to discover, educate, promote, collect, preserve and make available to the public, historical documents and artifacts of the Cypress area". The CHS organization holds regular events aimed at exposing Cypress' residents to the historical and cultural foundation upon which the area was built.
Geography
Cypress is located at 29°59′40″N 95°40′3″W, near the intersection of US Highway 290 and Spring-Cypress Road. Cypress is located within the Cypress Creek and Little Cypress Creek watershed. There are no official boundary lines for the exact area, but roads commonly mentioned to bound the area include FM 529 road as the southern border, HWY 6 & FM 1960 as the eastern border, and HWY 249 as the northern border.
Cypress has two distinct geographic profiles separated by Highway 290. The area northeast of US 290 is forested and thickly wooded, while the area southwest of 290 is predominately ranch land and grassy prairie dotted with scrub brush, Live oaks and Post oaks.
Cypress falls under the jurisdiction of Harris County Precincts 3 and 4 (separated by Cypress Creek).
Major arteries include Highway 290 to the South and State Highway 249 to the East.
Climate
The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Cypress has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.
Demographics
As of the 2010 US Census, there were approximately 122,803 people, 39,705 households, and 32,762 families living in the zip codes labeled as Cypress. There were 41,761 housing units for a total occupancy rate of 95.1% at an average density of 1,357.6 per square mile (524.0/km²).
The 77429 Zip Code is one of the most affluent zip codes in Harris County; nearly 77% of the population has an income over US $50,000 and 42.65% earning over $100,000. The Cypress urban cluster ranks 50th in the top 100 highest-income urban areas in the United States.
According to the U.S. Census 2010, the racial makeup of Cypress was 73.4% White (including Hispanic or Latino), 10.6% Black or African American, 0.5% Native American, 6.3% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 6.4% from other races, and 2.8% from two or more races. 22% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race.
Healthcare
There are three major hospitals in the Cypress area, North Cypress Medical Center, Memorial Hermann Cypress Hospital, and Cypress Fairbanks Medical Center Hospital.
Government and infrastructure
The area of Cypress is served by two volunteer fire departments, Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department and Cypress Creek VFD. The Cy-Fair VFD is the largest volunteer fire department in the United States with 12 stations. It is also assisted by the city of Jersey Village in its fire suppression activities.
The United States Postal Service operates the Cypress Post Office at 16635 Spring Cypress Road.
Economy
In 2010, Sysco announced that it purchased the former Hewlett Packard call center along U.S. Highway 290 in Cypress and that it will establish a shared services facility for its distribution centers in North America.
Attractions
- Cypress is home to Tin Hall, formerly one of the oldest continually operating Dance Halls in Texas. It ran from 1889 to 2015, when it was closed. The building was set to be moved to a lot across the street from the Cypress, Texas (77429) Post office, after the land it was on was sold to developers to build houses on. However, a year later, the building hasn't been moved and everything inside was auctioned off to the public. It appears that due to a lack of funding, and because everything inside was sold off, that the developers will likely just demolish the building and scrap any future plans to move it.
- Cypress is home to The Berry Center, an $80 million multi-use complex owned by Cy-Fair ISD. The Berry Center features a football stadium, basketball arena, conference center, auditorium, multimedia production, and catering facility.
- Cypress is home to Northwest Forest Conference Center, an 80-acre (320,000Â m2) resort and conference center with a life-size replica of the Alamo. (now closed)
- Cypress is home to the trailhead of the planned Cypress Creek Greenway Project, a major parks project which will link major anchor parks along the entirety of Cypress Creek via a Greenbelt complete with Hike & Bike Trails, Horseback Riding, Canoeing and other attractions for outdoors/nature enthusiasts. It will link up with the planned Spring Creek Greenway northeast of Interstate 45. The project will not only provide recreational opportunities to the community but will serve as a flood control infrastructure
- Cypress has numerous Golf Courses, including:
- Longwood Golf Club-Cypress, TX
- Blackhorse Golf Club-Cypress, TX
- Houston National
- Cypress Lakes Golf Club-Cypress, TX
- Hearthstone Country Club - in Houston, TX is located a few miles southeast of Cypress.
- Cypress Top Historic Park, located at 26026 Old Hempstead Highway in Cypress, TX 77429, is run by Harris County. The park grounds are open daily, and building tours are given on Tuesdays by Harris County historians and volunteers from the Cypress Historical Society.
Education
Primary and secondary schools
Public schools
Cypress is served by Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District, the third largest school district in the State of Texas and one of the fastest growing in the United States. CFISD serves nearly 107,000 students as of 2010.
Cypress-Fairbanks ISD high school students attend Cy-Fair High School, Cypress Lakes High School, Jersey Village High School, Cypress Creek High School, Cypress Falls High School, Cypress Woods High School, Cypress Springs High School, Langham Creek High School, Cypress Ridge High School, Cypress Ranch High School, and Cypress Park High School.
Windfern High School offers an alternative path toward graduation for accepted students from the above high school attendance zones.
Private schools
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School, a K-8 Roman Catholic school operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, is in close proximity to Cypress.
Cypress Christian School, a Kâ€"12 private school, is located in the area.
Covenant Academy operates as a K-12 Classical Christian School.
The closest Catholic high schools are Frassati Catholic High School in north Harris County, in the Spring area; and Saint John XXIII High School (formerly Pope John XXIII High School) in western Harris County, within Greater Katy.
Colleges and universities
Lone Star College (originally the North Harris Montgomery Community College District) serves the community. The territory in Cypress-Fairbanks ISD joined the community college district in 2000. Cypress is home of the Lone Star Collegeâ€"CyFair campus.
Public libraries
Harris County Public Library (HCPL) operates public libraries in the Cypress area. LSC-Cyfair Library, a partner effort between HCPL and Lone Star College System, is located at 9191 Barker-Cypress Road on the Lone Star Collegeâ€"CyFair campus. The Northwest Branch Library is located at 11355 Regency Green Drive.
Notable people
- Cammile Adams, Olympic swimmer; grew up in Cypress.
- Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, born in Hot Wells, now part of Cypress.
- James Bonamy, country singer
- Danielle Bradbery, winner of NBC's The Voice (US). Went to Cypress Ranch High School.
- Jonathan Horton, Olympic gymnast; grew up and lives in Cypress.
- Iris Kyle, 10-time overall Ms. Olympia professional bodybuilder
- Jared Lakind, professional baseball pitcher
- Tony Oller, actor and singer-songwriter; reared in Cypress
- Travis Ortmayer, professional strongman
References
External links
- Cypress, Texas Photos