DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, most neighborhoods just happen. Streets get laid, lots get sold, somebody puts up a fence, somebody else puts up a house, and before long you've got yourself a neighborhood — for better or worse.
But Cedar Lawn, in Galveston? Cedar Lawn was made. And the man who made it said so himself.
In June of 1926, the Cedar Lawn Company purchased nine city blocks with one purpose in mind: residential development. The officers running things were W.L. Moody the Third, President; W.D.
Harden, Vice-President; and Clark W. Thompson, serving as both Secretary and Treasurer. And right from the start, they weren't shy about what they were building.
This was designed as an enclave — for the Moody family and officials of the Moody companies. Bounded by Avenues L and N, and 45th and 48th streets, they had the land. Now they needed the vision.
That vision, as it turns out, belonged in no small part to Clark W. Thompson. He wrote in his early plans — and I want you to hear this, because it's the kind of line a man only writes when he really means it — he wrote, 'Subdivisions are made and not born.
It is rare that without farsighted planning a desirable neighborhood grows up by itself in an American city.' Farsighted. That's the word he chose. And brother, he backed it up.
While the rest of Galveston sat on a tidy, predictable grid, Cedar Lawn's street plan interrupted all of that. A circle and two semicircles intersecting — curves cutting right through what would have been straight lines — and at the center of it all, a community garden. Houses were positioned to face away from the surrounding streets, emphasizing what the planners called spatial insularity.
The neighborhood turned its back on the outside world, politely but deliberately. And here's the detail that really tells you everything: Cedar Lawn property owners own their own neighborhood streets. Not the city.
Them. The original deed restrictions spelled out construction costs, materials, building setbacks — all of it locked in to ensure the neighborhood held together as something cohesive. And along the streets and the perimeter, they planted cedar, oleander, and palm trees to seal the picture.
Two of the first homes built there were for Clark and Libbie Thompson, completed in 1927, and W.L. and Edna Moody, finished in 1929. Over the following forty years, noted architects — Alfred Finn, Donald McKenzie, and Robert Smallwood among them — designed homes in styles ranging from Tudor to Classical, Colonial to Mediterranean, Italianate, Moderne, and Ranch. Revival styles sitting alongside modern ones, all tucked inside those curves and semicircles.
In 2002, Cedar Lawn Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Not bad for a neighborhood that was made, and not born.
What the marker says
In June 1926, the Cedar Lawn Company purchased nine city blocks for residential development. Company officers were W.L. Moody, III, President, W.D. Harden, Vice-President, and Clark W. Thompson, Secretary and Treasurer. The subdivision was designed as an enclave for the Moody family and officials of the Moody companies. Bounded by avenues L and N and 45th and 48th streets, Cedar Lawn became a distinctive Galveston neighborhood for its architecture and planning design. Thompson wrote in his early plans for Cedar Lawn, "Subdivisions are made and not born. It is rare that without farsighted planning a desirable neighborhood grows up by itself in an American city." Cedar Lawn's street plan interrupts the continuity of the city's standard grid, with a circle and two semicircles intersecting to form curves and a central community garden. Houses face away from surrounding streets to emphasize spatial insularity, and Cedar Lawn property owners even own their neighborhood streets. Original deed restrictions included construction costs, materials, and building setbacks to create a cohesive neighborhood. Cedar, oleander and palm trees planted along the streets and subdivision perimeter enhanced the landscape. Two of the first homes built in Cedar Lawn were for Clark and Libbie Thompson (1927) and W.L. and Edna Moody (1929). Over forty years, noted architects included Alfred Finn, Donald McKenzie and Robert Smallwood designed homes in Revival styles such as Tudor, Classical, Colonial, Mediterranean, and Italianate, as well as Moderne and Ranch styles. In 2002, Cedar Lawn Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. (2008)