Lou

That's right, Hondo Hill was what it was called. Your memory is better than mine.

Sometime about 1974 I was in a record store in Houston and picked up an ad for a concert. On a lark, I hopped on my motorcycle and drove to the concert. Following the directions I left Houston and headed west. It seems like I drove for 2 to 4 hours. Possibly, it was in San Antonio or Austin or thereabout. The concert was inside an area that was surrounded with tall cliffs. Almost like a crater. The cliffs must have been 50 to 75 feet tall. The area within the canyon was about as big as several football fields. It was mostly flat and grassy. I can not remember how to get there. Does anyone know where this concert was?

I looked at the 1955 map and it does show a prison farm south of Bellfort. Thanks. I do not remember any drive-in on Mykawa. I do not remember anything on Mykawa. I must have taken back roads and crossed Bellfort before reaching Mykawa. But I do remember the drive-in on South Park at what would become I-610. It is interesting that all of that was there in 1955. And Kelso Elementary only had 2 wings. They had 5, plus shacks for the 6th graders, by the time I got there.

The Mykawa Pea Farm had several hectares (5 to 10 acres) of farmland around it. In the summer there would be rows and rows of peas growing. Sometimes there would be inmates in stripes picking the peas, with a shotgun toting guard watching. The building was far back off of Mykawa. I saw this this about 1965 to 1968. The thing I remember most was Honda Hill. It was on the northern edge of the Pea Farm, and back from the road about as much as the building. It was a hill of dirt about 3 stories tall. I thought it was either soil that was removed from the fields, or topsoil that was to be put on the fields. We found Honda Hill was the perfect place to ride our bicycles and minibikes. I heard stories of guards running the kids off, but I never got caught. I had a minibike that was not much more than a lawn mower engine on a bicycle frame. Centrifugal clutch, so it was very primitive. No lights, no horn, and the only brake was a joke (a paddle that pressed against the rear wheel). Honda Hill had a steep side (straight down) and a not so steep side. I had to push my centrifugal clutch up one side and then try to build up enough speed to fly off the steep side. Big thrill. Sometime after I moved, the Pea Farm was closed down and a city jail opened south of Bellfort. I thought that the Pea Farm was north of Bellfort. Somewhere near Donoho. I remember reaching Honda Hill from the back, not the Mykawa side. Does anybody have the address of the original Pea Farm. Please tell me I was not crazy enough to drive that totally not street worthy minibike several miles down two lane blacktop Mykawa.

Does anybody have the exact dates that the Sage on Mykawa closed? Or that the Target opened?

About 1962 there was a Sage on Mykawa just north of what would become the I-610 loop. I was about 7 years old, and (for whatever reason) decided to ride my bicycle from Cherbourg to Sage through the I-610 site. At the time, the I-610 had just started construction. The houses and other buildings had been demolished. The heavy equipment left huge ruts that were filled with mud. It took me a long time. By the time I finally got to Sage my bicycle and I were caked in mud. I was just dragging the bicycle. I was exhausted and could not get back home. Then I got scared. I told the security guy to call my mom. She came and got me but left my bicycle as trashed. I missed that bicycle. About 1970 or so mom would drive us to the Gulfgate Roller Rink. We would take I-610 and could see Sage on the way. Sage used to have billboards like "Louie Welch saved at Sage!" (Welch was mayor at the time.) Then Sage ran this billboard "Jesus saved at Sage!" People did not think it was funny. I remember my grand parents saying that it's what the world is coming to. There were a lot of people that would not shop there anymore. About 2 months later, I saw that the doors and windows were all boarded up. Sage was gone. A Target opened up there some months later.

Aldine Mail Route. In the old days, all of the roads were dirt out there. The US Postal Service is required by law to have a road clear for moving mail. My guess is that Aldine Mail Route was named for being the first dirt road that was consistently graded (smoothed) for this reason.