In the early nineteen hundreds Houston was a fresh new city with amazing growth potential. A potential that was recognized by many, among them was J.W. Link, the man who is single handedly responsible for the development of Montrose. Mr. Link carefully picked Houston as his home as opposed to numerous other cities in the south, because of its location and its youth. Mr. Link was a virile businessman and at the forefront of his field. He immediately began the Houston Land Corporation in 1910 with a capital of five hundred thousand dollars and the intention of leading the city of Houston to great achievements. Mr. Link was obviously the president had four vice-presidents working with him most of whose names are familiar: J.S. Rice, Jno. H. Kirby, R.E. Brooks, and Wm. Malone. This organization was designed to buy and develop real estate (most of which was residential) and turn around and sell it for a nice profit. One of the first projects the organization partook in was taking a 250 acre plot of rugged farmland that Mr. Link acquired which was home to dairy farms, rural establishments, and the such. The land was located to the west of present day downtown Houston and was known as the south end. It was exactly west of Avondale, Courtland, Westmoreland and Bute Addition, and South of Hyde Park and Fairview. The company began to turn this area into one habitable by those wealthy enough to purchase their own homes. The entire plot of land was drawn out and divided into lots, blocks, streets, and alleys. The infrastructure was put in at the companies expense, five miles of sewers for sanitation purposes, four miles of water mains, and four miles of gas mains. This took care of the new neighborhood underground. After this was done the company took to the aesthetics of the property and installed wide streets many with parking accommodations. The biggest streets were paved with asphalt and all the rest with a shell and disintegrated granite for a dustless gravel surface.
