Private Jet to Bellaire

Houston’s ritzy suburb of Bellaire owes its being to a trolley. An electric trolley.

In 1908, Bellaire was founded by William Wright Baldwin, Iowa native and president of the South End Land Company. However, it was his other role, that of vice president of the Burlington Railroad, that gave him the idea of how to get the town populated. Bellaire is less than five miles southwest of Houston but that was a long way to go before there were cars, buses and Ubers.

So, he put in a trolley, a streetcar that ran on a single rail with an electric line overhead. Between 1910 and the advent of cars and buses in 1927, passengers would board the streetcar at the Eagle Street Station for the four-mile trip into Houston to work and shop. The rail car played an important role in the development of Bellaire, the name Baldwin chose for the “good air” -- or breezes – that blew through.

The trolley, which was nicknamed the Toonerville Trolley after a popular newspaper comic strip, has become the unofficial symbol of Bellaire. There is a streetcar much like the original Toonerville Trolley on display at what was the end of the line in Paseo Park. Seems cars were invented just in time because by 1927, the track was so worn that the trolley often derailed. The trolley was replaced by a bus line.

Bellaire is located next to the even wealthier town of West University Place. However, Bellaire has larger standard lots, 75 feet by 130 feet. In West University, lots are typically 50 feet by 120 feet. They are large enough for luxury homes but they are very close together. Buyers were drawn to the bigger and less expensive housing lots in Bellaire, which at 3.6 square miles is almost twice the size of West University Place. Both suburbs are located in the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area, southwest of Houston where more than 20 Fortune 500 companies are located.

The population of Bellaire is about 17,000. The median home value is $803,000 and the median household income is $195,000. It is known as the “City of Homes” due to its residential character. Many of its streets are named after trees, giving it even more character.

Its most famous native sons are the Quaid brothers, Dennis and Randy, who grew up there.