Originally, this piece of land was part of the vast holdings of William C. Hogg, brother of Miss Ima Hogg, and the original developer of River Oaks. He willed most of his estate to the University of Texas, where he earned his law degree and later served as regent.

When his will was settled in 1939, thousands of acres of property stretching from West Texas to Louisiana passed to the University. The University of Texas owned the property for about 10 years, but then sold it to the Houston Independent School District in 1949. The cost for this 21-acre parcel, as well as the 6-acre parcel where Sinclair Elementary School is now located, was $64,079.63.

Because public money was used for this transaction, HISD had a responsibility to use the property, preserve it for future use, or sell it for a fair market price. Almost immediately, HISD started talking about either selling it or building on it, and continued to do so periodically for the next 50 years. These efforts were countered, time and time again, by neighbors in the surrounding Timbergrove Manor community, who informally named it “The Woods,” and were determined to save the property from development.

In 2005, HISD decided, once and for all, to sell the property at auction to the highest bidder. Local developers were lined up to bid, with one plan calling for the construction of townhomes on this site. Timbergrove Manor residents mounted a massive letter-writing campaign, led by the Friends of the West 11th Street Park, and persuaded HISD to hold back temporarily. Simultaneously, Friends of West 11th Street Park approached the Houston Parks Board and convinced them to begin negotiating with HISD to purchase the property for the City of Houston.

The successful preservation of West 11th Street Park is a wonderful story of cooperation among citizens, community leaders, and local government entities, and the utilization of a truly creative purchasing strategy.

Without the tremendous effort and vision of the local leaders, the procurement of this nature preserve would not have been possible. The Houston Parks Board negotiated a $9 million sales price for the property, to be used as a park. Houston Mayor, Bill White, agreed to provide $4 million in public funds to purchase the property with the understanding that the private sector would raise the remainder. Despite aggressive fundraising by the Houston Parks Board and by the community, there was still a $3.5 million shortfall at the time that the “option to purchase” contract was set to expire in January 2007.

The Houston Parks Board took out a bridge loan in order to complete the purchase from HISD, using five acres of the property as collateral. This contingency plan accomplished three important goals: the entire 20 acres would move from HISD ownership to the City of Houston “on time” at closing; the neighborhood was guaranteed a minimum of a 15.2-acre park; and the additional time was gained to continue the fundraising to pay off the loan. In February of 2007, the land was purchased by the City of Houston, with five acres on the southwest corner used as collateral for a loan of $3.7 million.

In the fall of 2007, thanks to the efforts of State Senator John Whitmire, a $3.75 million matching grant was allocated in the Texas Legislature to fund the remaining 5-acres of the, then named, West 11th Street Park.  The Houston Parks Board and the City of Houston Parks and Recreation Department worked with the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department to complete the allocation to pay off the loan and transfer the remaining 5-acres to the City of Houston Parks and Recreation Department in February, 2009.  The property was officially dedicated on February 21, 2008 as West 11th Street Park.

The Wireless Wilderness Tour was added in 2010 and trademarked in June of 2017. In April, 2018, this site was added to the Buffalo Bayou Loop of the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission. In January, 2022, the property was added as an official Bird Survey location for Houston Audubon, a rare find as a public, urban oasis where Houston Audubon can track the city’s bird populations.

On June 9, 2021, the City of Houston Council voted to rename this green space after the past Board President of the Friends of West 11th Street Park.  Dr. Lorraine Cherry, a longtime resident of Timbergrove Manor, played a key role in the late 1990s and early 2000s in preserving the land and getting the City of Houston to purchase the land from HISD.  She would be proud of the nature preserve distinction that the new name gives to our urban forest, which will be officially dedicated in her honor on October 11, 2022.

In 2022 this greenspace was designated as one of the first nature preserves by the Houston Parks Department for the preservation of natural habitat for native wildlife and for the ecosystem services it provides.

The nature preserve ordinance preserves land within designated greenspaces with a focus on habitat protection and passive recreation. This nature preserve will help mitigate flooding, store carbon, reduce urban heat island effects, improve air and water quality, and provide educational opportunities for the public. This ordinance is an outstanding conservation effort to make Houston a greener city.