In the small Gulf Coast city of Freeport, a pretty mint-green house stands alone in a neighborhood called the East End, surrounded by what looks at first glance like a meadow. Closer examination reveals the grass is growing over recently emptied lots where other houses once stood. Now driveways lead to nowhere.
Pam Tilley, a retired military nurse who grew up here, returned in February to see her childhood home one last time. She was there to clear out her 98-year-old father Henry Jones’ belongings. Calendars on the wall were still turned to February 2020, the last full month anyone lived there. For the past three years, Jones has been living with another daughter in the Houston suburb of Katy, originally because of the COVID-19 pandemic but now because he no longer owns this home.
The commissioners of nearby Port Freeport have condemned Tilley’s family property by eminent domain. The port is expanding to accommodate bigger Panamax container ships, and has been buying up the East End bit by bit. Any day, the mint-green house will be demolished as its neighbors have been.
