In 1921, thirty-five Girl Scouts and their
two Captains (leaders/advisors) met with Corinne Fonde, director
of the Houston Parks and Recreation Department. After that
meeting, Frances Mann Law, chair of the Playground Committee
for the city parks, was recruited. Together, these two women
organized a Girl Scout board of directors of 16 members. In
early 1922 they applied for and received a Girl Scout Charter
from the national Girl Scout officials. There were 16 companies
(troops) of Girl Scouts by that time. Early Council meetings
were held at the old City Hall in the Parks and Recreation
Department office or at Mrs. Law’s home.
 In
1925 Girl Scouts rented a small one story cement building
at 2112 Main Street as their first Headquarters. A year later
Houston Girl Scouts moved into their first ‘permanent’
headquarters. The Houston Elks Club gave the Girl Scouts a
building. It was located on city land at 419 White Oak Drive
on White Oak Bayou. This building was called the Little House.
It had three rooms; an office, a kitchen, and a meeting room.
Community merchants, board members, and the girls provided
the furnishings. Murals were painted on the interior walls
of the Little House. At that time the girl membership was
approximately 350 girls.
During WWII, in 1943, Girl Scout Headquarters moved from
the Little House to Suite 1107 in the Union National Bank
building in downtown Houston. Staff members could watch patriotic
parades by the military from the windows. Girl membership
had skyrocketed to 4,000 girls in 200 troops. In 1946 the
Headquarters was re-established at the Little House on White
Oak Drive. Also during the 1940s a separate Headquarters was
established at the Pilgrim Building for the African-American
Girl Scouts.
Some accounts of the early days of Houston Girl Scouts say
the Headquarters was at 3900 Main at Truxillo and other accounts
do not mention this address. At this time we can only hope
that more definitive information will someday be discovered.
 Girl
Scouts spent three years, from 1948 to 1951, at 3704 Travis
Street. Two adjacent apartments on the third floor of the
building were rented. There was no elevator so everything
had to be carried up the stairs – or down. The Council
was now serving 7,519 girls.
The next move, in 1951, was to 4606 Almeda Road to a brand
new one story building. There were no steps to climb and for
the first time there was air conditioning. The interior was
designed to accommodate the Council’s needs. After the
war-time boom in membership the girl numbers were 7,000 when
this move was made. During the time the Council headquarters
was here the Council expanded to include four counties.
|
 After
11 years on Almeda Road the Headquarters activities were moved
yet again in 1962 to another brand new one story building
at 1902 Commonwealth. This time the Council owned the land
and the building. The jurisdiction area now covered eight
counties with nearly 18,000 girls registered. A second story
was added at 1902 Commonwealth in 1978. Several adjacent apartments
were also acquired as the Council continued to grow.
 By
1970 the Council had added 13 more counties for the total
of 21 counties that is the current jurisdiction of San Jacinto.
When our last Council headquarters move was made in 1992 to
3110 Southwest Freeway, the Council was serving nearly 39,000
girls. Since that time our membership has continued to grow
as well as the services and programs offered. Our staff now
numbers more than 100.
GSSJC
is now, in 2005, eagerly looking forward to the next expansion.
We are evolving into a campus headquarters for Girl Scouts
of San Jacinto Council. The building at 3000 Southwest Freeway
was purchased and now is being renovated in order for it to
take its place as a vital part of Girl Scout activities for
all of 58,000 girls now served in our 21 counties.
 GSSJC
looks forward to continued growth in service and programs
for an ever increasing number of girls. Some of the counties
now in San Jacinto Council began as part of either East Texas
or South Texas Girl Scouts. These two Councils organized shortly
after WWII. As demographics changed so did the Council boundaries.
In fact East Texas Council dissolved completely and the counties
it served split between San Jacinto and Tejas councils in
1970. |