The unincorporated parts of northwest Harris County are often collectively referred to as Cy-Fair, but a look back at the history of the area shows it was once made up of a number of small towns established by early settlers. Cypress and Fairbanks started as railroad stops along the Hempstead Highway, but many other communities popped up, from Barker on I-10 up to Hufsmith near Montgomery County.
Addicks
Founded as a small German settlement near present-day Bear Creek Pioneers Park, Addicks was named after Henry Addicks—the first postmaster—in 1884.
Early Harris County maps have also identified the area as Bear Creek, Bear Hill and Letitia, but Addicks was the name that stuck.
In the mid-1940s, construction began on Addicks Reservoir, which resulted in 40 buildings within the town being relocated or destroyed. The town relocated to the intersection of I-10 and Hwy. 6, where it was eventually absorbed by Houston growth.
Cypress
Of the towns that developed as a stop along the Houston & Texas Central Railroad line to Houston, Cypress has experienced the most growth over time. Early German families included the Hoffmeister family and the Telge family.
The center of Cypress—at Spring Cypress Road and the Hempstead Highway—was known as Cypress Top. It featured a post office, two hotels, a grist mill and a general store. E.F. Juergen became postmaster in 1898 and founded the Juergen General Store.
Fairbanks
Founded in 1893, the town of Fairbanks was farther down the railroad line to Houston, near the present-day intersection of Hempstead Highway and Tanner Road. The town was referred to as Gum Island by railroad workers because of the gum trees growing between White Oak Bayou and Willow Creek.
The Fairbanks school district consolidated with the Cypress school district in 1939. Since Fairbanks schools only went up to eighth grade, the merge allowed students to go to Rural High School No. 5 in Cypress, which was an easier commute than Reagan High School in Houston. Fairbanks was annexed by the City of Houston in 1956, and its identity as its own town faded.
Rose Hill
Another German-settled town, Rose Hill was originally known as Spring Creek, but was later renamed after founder P.W. Rose in 1892. Records from the original community date as far back as 1836. Rose Hill is home to one of the oldest Lutheran congregations in Texas—the Salem Lutheran Church—founded by Johann Heinrich Theisz in 1852. Cypress Rosehill Road, connecting the two towns it was named after, served as a road for horse-drawn wagons to transport crops to the railroad line.
The town population began to decline as early as the 1920s and 1930s, but the area maintains its own fire department and church to this day. A historic landmark has been placed on the church.
