Taft Public Housing Development (South)
a.k.a. Taft Public Housing Development; TEX-191-1 , Site A; TEX-191-2, Sites A & B
Roughly bounded by Ave. C, Walnut, 2nd & Ash Sts., Taft, TXThe Taft Public Housing Development (South) is significant under Criterion A in the area of Politics/Government as one of only two public housing developments constructed by the Taft Housing Authority, with financial assistance from the Federal Public Housing Administration (PHA), and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The first federally-funded public housing units in Taft, San Patricio County, Texas were built in 1962 under the project name “TEX-191-1.” Due to racial segregation throughout Texas and all southern states, public housing in Taft was built in two geographically separate complexes: housing for African-American tenants on the north side, and housing for white and Hispanic tenants on the south side. These complexes are being nominated concurrently in two nominations titled “Taft Public Housing Development (South)” and “Taft Public Housing Development (North).” In 1972, additional units were built at the south side complex through project “TEX-191-2.”
he Taft Public Housing Development (South) is significant under Criterion A in the area of Politics/Government as one of only two public housing developments constructed by the Taft Housing Authority, with financial assistance from the Federal Public Housing Administration (PHA), and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The three tracts of housing which comprise the district were constructed in two phases by the Taft Housing Authority between 1962 and 1972. The citywide housing program contained two non-contiguous tracts of housing: one on the south side of town on Avenue C, and the other nearly one mile away to the north on Industrial Street, following an historical segregation policy which placed Anglo and Mexican-American tenants in the south section, and African-American tenants at the north section.While geographically separated, the districts were constructed contemporaneously and are part of the same project.In 1967, a development program for 30 low-rent units was presented to the Board of the Taft Housing Authority, but he project stalled due to lack of funding. In December1970 the housing authority applied for HUD financial assistance for 30 new low-rent units, which was approval in January 1971. Construction was completed in April1972.The housing project meets Criterion Consideration G, as the two separate housing construction efforts (1961-62 and 1971-72) share a common design and planning vocabulary and are generally associated with the same patterns of cooperative federal state housing development.Although the later construction represents the evolving nature of new programs such as the Turnkey development process, both programs shared similar goals, management objectives, and planning decisions prior to massive changes in public housing policy in the late 1970s.The limited extension of the period of significance to the 45-year point is largely negated by the shared context and social development history of the buildings within the context of 20thcentury Taft, Texas. Taft Public Housing Development (South) has remained in continuous use as public housing from the time of construction.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 2018.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.