Ben C. and Jenetter Cyrus House | |
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| Location | 325 E. 25th St., Houston, Texas |
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| Coordinates | 29°49′05″N95°23′33″W / 29.81806°N 95.39250°W |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1915 |
| MPS | Independence Heights MPS |
| NRHP reference No. | 97000549 [1] |
| Added to NRHP | June 4, 1997 |
The Ben C. and Jenetter Cyrus House, at 325 E. 25th St. in the Independence Heights neighborhood of Houston, Texas, was built around 1915, near the center of Independence Heights. [2] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. [1]
It was described in its NRHP nomination as "typical of the housing for many of the middle-class residents of Independence Heights. Ben Cyrus operated a jitney service in downtown Houston from about 1915 to the early 1920s. Jitneys provided a basic form of mass transportation in a number of major cities during this period and competed with electric streetcars. Black jitneys served a special role for the African American population as an alternative to other segregated forms of transportation. The City of Houston banned by ordinance all black owned jitneys in 1922-24 at the insistence of the Houston Electric Company, operators of the streetcar line and developing motor bus transportation." The property deemed significant in the area of Ethnic Heritage (black)." [2]
About the house: "Although modest in detailing, the house is typical of forms constructed in the city in the mid 1910s. The Cyrus House served as a domestic space for the family but also a headquarters for his jitney service in Houston." [2]
