CYPRESS, TX

Cypress is an unincorporated community in 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) is twenty-four miles (35 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with its primary mission being "...to discover, educate, promote, collect, preserve and make available to the public, historical documents and artifacts of the Cypress area".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

thumb|right|Longwood is a heavily wooded golf course community located in North Cypress.

Cypress is located 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 and 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 4 and 5 (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.

Due to its close proximity to the gulf coast, Cypress is occasionally hit by landfalling tropical storms and hurricanes; the most significant storms to impact the area in recent history have been hurricane Alicia in 1983, and hurricane Harvey in 2017.

Demographics

thumb|right|Blackhorse Ranch is a golf course community in Cypress

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/km).

The 77429 zip code is one of the most affluent in Harris County; nearly 77% of the population has an income over US $50,000, and 42.65% earn over $100,000. The Cypress urban cluster ranks 50th in the top 100 highest-income urban areas in the United States. Both Cypress Zip codes 77429 and 77433 are ranked among the Top 25 wealthiest in the Houston area.

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 two major hospitals in the Cypress area: HCA Houston Healthcare North Cypress (formerly North Cypress Medical Center), and Memorial Hermann Cypress Hospital.

Harris Health System (the county's public hospital system) operates the Cypress Health Center. Prior to the clinic's opening, the designated public health center was the Acres Homes Health Center. The designated public hospital is Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital in Northeast Houston.

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.

Law enforcement for the Cypress area is provided by the Harris County Constable Precinct 4 and 5 and the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

Economy

In 2010, Sysco announced that it purchased the former Hewlett Packard call center along U.S. Highway 290 in Cypress and that it would establish a shared services facility for its distribution centers in North America.

Education

thumb|right|Cy-Fair High School

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, Cypress Park High School and Bridgeland 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 K–12 private school, is located in the area.

Covenant Academy operates as a K-12 Classical Christian School.

The Oaks Adventist Christian School is in Cypress.

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. In addition St. Thomas High School, an all boys' high school in central Houston, has a bus service from and to Christ the Redeemer Catholic School.

Silverline Montessori School is a private Montessori school in Cypress.

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 College–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 College–CyFair campus. The Northwest Branch Library is located at 11355 Regency Green Drive.

Notable people