Fifth Ward

Inner-city district in Houston, Texas, 3 km/2 mi northeast of the city centre, across Buffalo Bayou. It has long been an industrial centre, the site of railway yards, lumber mills, and waterfront factories, as well as a residential area.

After the Civil War, Fifth Ward became a predominantly Black area, and remains so today. The Frenchtown neighbourhood, in the north, saw a great influx of Black refugees from Louisiana in 1927, following disastrous flooding on the Mississippi River; these incomers created their own distinctive subculture. The characteristic Cajun style of accordion-led dance music known as ‘zydeco’ had its origins here. However, Frenchtown has since lost much of its unique atmosphere. On the east of the ward are the Southern Pacific Railway's Englewood yards and Denver Harbor. Much housing in the Fifth, which is characterized by one-storey ‘shotgun’ houses, is run-down, and the district is economically depressed.