[houwest]

I passed by W.M. Dewey and Sons, Oil Field Trucking and noticed on their sign that they had been in business since 1895. I knew that Westheimer Transfer and Storage had been around forever and according to their website; they have been in business since 1883. Dewey Trucking moved to Houston from Humble in 1928, so Westheimer predates them by many years.

It got me to wondering if there are any Houston based business that are older than 1883? I can’t think of any.

So, what’s the oldest Houston based business still in operation?
What’s the oldest Houston based business still in operation in its original location?
What’s the oldest restaurant, car dealer, hardware store, lumber yard, etc. in town?

[editor]

Not strictly Houston-based, but it started in part of the metro...

The Galveston Daily News started publishing April 11, 1842. It was a huge back then, as everything in Galveston was before the 1900 storm. It was so big that it founded a sister paper called the Morning News in what was then a small prairie backwater called Dallas.

For some reason the Dallas Morning News is considered the oldest business in Texas. I'm not sure why this is. Maybe because the Galveston paper moved to Houston for a couple of years during the Civil War.

As an aside, it's interesting to note that the Galveston Daily News had the first telephone in Texas.

[tmariar]

In trying to figure out which is the oldest bar in Houston, I realized that what business is the "oldest" in a category can depend a lot on the details (does the business need to have been operating under the same name? at the same location? uninterrupted? what counts as a "bar" (or restaurant, or whatever the category)? etc.). Still, I love hearing about long-running Houston businesses, so I hope you get some good responses. Especially if there are other businesses that have been in operation here since before 1900 - that's really interesting.

Shudde Bros. has been in business since 1907, I think, though they recently moved from Washington Ave.

Kaplan's Ben Hur recently closed after being in business since 1913.

I have some pre-1900 copies of the Houston Chronicle Daily Post, and will check them later for familliar names. I think there were some Foley Bros. ads in there.

This post has been edited by tmariar: Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at 1:36 PM

[editor]

I think "uninterrupted" is the most important qualifier. I'm pretty flexible with the rest.

[dbigtex56]

Southland Hardware on Westheimer has been around for a long time, but have no idea when it first opened.

[tmariar]

dbigtex56, on Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 @ 10:59am, said:

Southland Hardware on Westheimer has been around for a long time, but have no idea when it first opened.

Since 1935, it looks like.

The Houston-based law firm Baker Botts dates back to 1874, if not before.

Houston's Daily Court Review, has been published since 1889.

St. Joseph's Hospital was apparently founded in 1887.

This post has been edited by tmariar: Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at 11:50 AM

[gonzo1976]

tmariar, on Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 @ 9:15am, said:

I have some pre-1900 copies of the Houston Chronicle, and will check them later for familliar names.

The Chronicle started in 1901. Though if you have the first issue of the newspaper that would be quite the collectable!

I'm pretty sure some law firms here could be listed among Houston's oldest businesses.

This post has been edited by gonzo1976: Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at 11:53 AM

[tmariar]

gonzo1976, on Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 @ 11:52am, said:

The Chronicle started in 1901. Though if you have the first issue of the newspaper that would be quite the collectable!

That's funny. No, I'm sure I just have copies of some other Houston paper that was around pre-1900 and was thinking it was the Chronicle because I don't have them in front of me. Thanks for the correction!

[Edit: It's the Houston Daily Post.]

Teas Nursery dates back to 1910.

This post has been edited by tmariar: Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at 1:37 PM

[Vertigo58]

Can think of at least 3 burger joints, etc.

Someburger - Heights
Poppaburger on N Main (been there forever) my aunt ran it for years too.
Cozy Kitchen barbecue on Lockwood
El Jardin Mex restaurant on Harrisburg

Crespo Funeral Home on Navigation (very old)
Morales Funeral Home on Canal

[mwkellner]

Vertigo58, on Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 @ 2:00pm, said:

Can think of at least 3 burger joints, etc.

Someburger - Heights
Poppaburger on N Main (been there forever) my aunt ran it for years too.
Cozy Kitchen barbecue on Lockwood
El Jardin Mex restaurant on Harrisburg

Crespo Funeral Home on Navigation (very old)
Morales Funeral Home on Canal




There is a someburger in Baytown that has been there for at least 40 years. I wonder if they are connected some how? If I ate at the one in the Hieghts, I would know instantly. Where is it in the heights?

[houwest]

Various observations:
Cozy Kitchen has a sign in the window that says "since 1946". Another oldie, of about the same ilk is Triple A by the Farmer's Market on Airline. It used to be called Trucker's Cafe in the early 50's but I'm pretty sure that was just a name, not an ownership change. May father had a business in the area and he and his cronies would go over there and drink coffee every morning for about 30 minutes. Sort of like an early Starbucks, I guess.

Someburger is at W. 11th and Studewood.

For years, I haven't noticed it in a long time , on the masthead of the Chron., it said Houston Chronicle and Herald.

This post has been edited by houwest: Wednesday, May 7, 2008 at 10:31 AM

[brucesw]

Someburger has only been around since the 1950s and yes the 2 locations are related, owned by brothers. There's a thread about Someburger in which I posted a pic of the Heights location and another thread where the pic was copied. I've also posted the link to the BT website, but here it is again. There's a history of the chain on the website. There are lots of restaurants that are older.

Since editor has brought up Galveston businesses, there's a cafe at the corner of 8th and Post Office, I think, just off UTMB, called Schutte's Corner, with a sign over the door which says 'since 1885.'

I thought I had another good one with Thomas Goggan and Brothers from 1866 in Galveston, but apparently they're not in business anymore? I didn't realize that.

[Vertigo58]

houwest, on Wednesday, May 7th, 2008 @ 10:29am, said:

Various observations:

Cozy Kitchen has a sign in the window that says "since 1946". and Herald.

That dates it to the almost exact days when mom says they (teens) used to go there to eat after dances.


Frenchy's Chicken over by TSU has been around for decades too. I am sure someone here can give more detail on Frenchy's. Man it is delicious! Very home style.

[gonzo1976]

brucesw, on Wednesday, May 7th, 2008 @ 11:55am, said:

Since editor has brought up Galveston businesses, there's a cafe at the corner of 8th and Post Office, I think, just off UTMB, called Schutte's Corner, with a sign over the door which says 'since 1885.'

It's been a couple of decades since I've been there -- and it's probably closed now -- but wasn't there a soda fountain in Galveston that had the distinction of being the oldest soda fountain in the state?

[isuredid]

Settegast-Kopf Funeral Directors have been around by name since 1901, but I doubt that it is still owned and operated by family members.

[Vertigo58]

isuredid, on Wednesday, May 7th, 2008 @ 2:37pm, said:

Settegast-Kopf Funeral Directors have been around by name since 1901, but I doubt that it is still owned and operated by family members.

In fact, most cemetaries and or funeral have existed for eons but like Crespo, it is run by newer people but use same name, peculiar but true. Imagine how long Forest Park on Lawndale have been around?

Here is good one; Blue Top Motel on Telephone still keeps the red light on to this day!

World's oldest profession indeed.

[isuredid]

Vertigo58, on Wednesday, May 7th, 2008 @ 4:29pm, said:

In fact, most cemetaries and or funeral have existed for eons but like Crespo, it is run by newer people but use same name, peculiar but true. Imagine how long Forest Park on Lawndale have been around?


Glenwood Cemetery: In business since 1872 in the same location.

But, as you say, the original owners and their company, The Houston Cemetery Corporation, all all defunct, and likely residing there now.

[Original Timmy Chan's]

Vertigo58, on Wednesday, May 7th, 2008 @ 12:40pm, said:

Frenchy's Chicken over by TSU has been around for decades too. I am sure someone here can give more detail on Frenchy's. Man it is delicious! Very home style.

Frenchy's established in 1969.

Guy's Meat Market established in 1938...but they have only been at their current location since 1958.

[brucesw]

Original Timmy Chan, on Wednesday, May 7th, 2008 @ 5:55pm, said:

Frenchy's established in 1969.

Guy's Meat Market established in 1938...but they have only been at their current location since 1958.

Frenchy's - yep, every location I've been to says that on the sign. That's neat about Guy's - I love their burgers and chili but didn't know they'd been around that long.

If you want to count Bibas One's a Meal on West Gray as a One's a Meal, that chain dates to 1933.

Prince's - 1929 in Dallas, in Houston from 1934, but out of business for some time, I don't remember how long, ca. the late 1990s.

More from Galveston: Gaido's, 1911; Original Mexican Cafe on 14th - dates differ according to the sources, 1913, 1916, 1918. Up until a few years ago anyway always the same family but I don't know if that's still true.

Anybody know the history of Bering Hardware? When I was researching my blog in the 1920s I saw frequent ads for Bering-Cortes Hardware in the papers - the ancestor of the current store?

[isuredid]

This post has been edited by isuredid: Thursday, May 8, 2008 at 10:06 AM