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History of Hilshire Village
In the 1940s Mr. Frank Bruess and his mother left Missouri for Texas and purchased 30 acres of land near Houston in his new state.  By the early 1950s construction of Hilshire Village began.  Initially residents Frank and Georgia Bruess had intended to name the development ‘Tall Pines’.  However, the name ‘Hilshire’ itself was inspired by a book Mr.  Bruess was reading while traveling to Boston about country estate in England called ‘Hillshire Village’.  Mr. Bruess adopted the name ‘Hilshire’ with one ‘L’ and Hilshire Manor was the name recorded on all the deeds in the Harris County map records for that period.

In 1954, there was a growing desire to Incorporate because the Village learned the City of Houston expressed intentions to extend the city limits to Brittmore Road.  The residents wanted to incorporate to avoid excessive water rates and higher city taxes, to form own zoning laws and to set speed limits at a lower limit.  The name of the Village was “Long Point Town” and on December 11, 1954 a general election was held to incorporate, but the measure was defeated. Another attempt to incorporate was made collectively with the other five Memorial Villages to primarily to preserve zoning rights, but that referendum was also defeated.

On January 17, 1955, thirty-seven residents filed an application to Judge Robert R. Casey for incorporation.  In spite of a petition filed for a restraining order to hold an election to incorporate, none of the sixty-nine petitioners appeared at the trial on February 8, 1955.  On April 9, 1955 an election was held at the Scout House at 1203 Wirt Road to incorporate Hilshire Village and of 119 ballots cast, 65 were in favor, 51 against and 3 improperly marked.  On April 15, 1955 Hilshire Village was declared incorporated.

On July 9, 1955 another election was held to select a Mayor, five Councilmembers and a Marshall.  The first City Council was Mayor Bill English and Councilmembers Harry Brown, Robert J. Hitchcock, Alwin J. Bruess, G. Robert Jordan, Lloyd B. Sheppard, and Marshall Travis Riley.

The first Council meeting was held at the Ridgecrest School but they learned that they could not pass legislation outside the Village city boundaries.  Council Meetings were later held at the Scout House on Wirt Road.

Sources:  Jerry Riley, Hilshire Village Civic Club Historian, Handbook of Texas Online