Old Style Street Sign Stands Where Street No Longer Exists

[sevfiv]

This one was were Frosttown used to be located. The picture was taken 2001. It may be gone now. New freeway overpass was built there. Bramble at Raines.

Thanks for posting that - I made up an overlay map of Frostown on what's there currently.

I took a walk over to McKee/Bute Park over the weekend, but of course there is nothing left - not even the Race St. sign.

The maps were a little hard to reconcile since many of the old Frostown streets changed names several times (Bramble was Vine St., McKee was Gable/Gabel, Canal ran through as Maple/German...and so on), and streets have been realigned (Runnells now meets up to McKee where Race just about did, but it used to be about two block north of Ruiz St.).

[sevfiv]

I find it interesting that there used to be numbered streets just north of where the downtown post office is today (Second through 10th streets). I guess what surprised me was that they don't exist anymore.

Some of them are still there behind UH downtown (not to scale, but same intersections are marked):

[Rammer]

Some of them are still there behind UH downtown (not to scale, but same intersections are marked):

Second & Girard was the location of the original Sharp-Hughes Tool Company.

There is a three piece drill bit artwork sculpture on the grounds of UHD.

There is also a 2nd street/Girard street sign near a parking lot.

[vstroud]

I found this in the heights.

[NenaE]

I was exiting I-10 EB at Washington Ave and happened to take a look to the right of the feeder road where Memorial Park begins. I saw one of those old concrete street sign posts standing in the middle of the grass. It said Washington Ave. on one side, and and North(something) on the other. Apparently, a street ran there before I-10 was constructed through the area in the 60's. I'm going to have to take a photo of it, but it looks weird standing there though no road runs through. Just another vestige of historic Houston lingering on amid progress.

Hey, JLWM8609, I recently saw that sign post you were talking about...it's very eerie to see it just sitting there in the middle of that little patch of grass.

links to maps, (Houstorian, tmatiar list), shows entrance roads to Memorial Park

http://www.tsl.state...ges/map5164.jpg

http://www.lib.utexa...eights-1955.jpg

see north of St. Theresa school on this one.

The concrete sign post did have North Entrance on one side of it, as gnu commented on, from map reference.

[JLWM8609]

Hey, JLWM8609, I recently saw that sign post you were talking about...it's very eerie to see it just sitting there in the middle of that little patch of grass.

Yep, eerie yet cool. I like seeing those old relics from a time gone by still standing. Some that have been pictured are still doing their job as the street names have not changed. Others such as the one we're talking about are just silent reminders of what used to be. When I pass by, I try to imagine how the area looked prior to I-10's construction.

[EMME]

When did the city start switching to the current white lettering on green street signs from the old concrete posts and blue and white tile curb signs?

In between the "old concrete posts and blue and white tile curb signs" there were smaller black background with white lettering street signs similar to the green ones.

[NenaE]

In between the "old concrete posts and blue and white tile curb signs" there were smaller black background with white lettering street signs similar to the green ones.

And, don't forget the "black and white" tile street curb signs (not as common as the blue and white ones). I believe I saw those in Riverside.

[JLWM8609]

I found an old style street sign out in Fort Bend County near the Brazoria County Line the other day. It's the first time I've seen that style of street sign outside of the Houston City Limits. It's at the corner of E. Dallas and Laurel in Fresno. Here's a link to it in Google Streetview. Streetview doesn't do it justice as it just makes it look like an unmarked hunk of concrete.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Houston,+TX&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=30.544155,86.044922&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Houston,+Harris,+Texas&ll=29.53985,-95.438688&spn=0.002063,0.005252&z=18&layer=c&cbll=29.539845,-95.438795&panoid=m0HKcjkgKsa9zrnjuKOFzA&cbp=12,355.51,,1,18.14

[Ross]

After looking at the maps, I am starting to wonder just how many parts of town have numbered streets. The Heights does, UHD area does, East part of town does. How many others? One of the bus transit centers is on a numebred street, I think off of Westpark, but am not sure.

[sevfiv]

N/S streets in Bellaire were numbered and lettered intermittently (larger streets lettered). E/W streets are mostly trees even though S Post Oak was already running N/S. From older maps this is an east to west listing (and some are conflicting):

Ave. A - now Newcastle

Ave. B

S Post Oak - now Loops 610

1st

2nd

3rd

S Rice

5th

6th - now Ferris

7th (partially there)

Ave D. - now Chimney Rock

9th - now Alder

Ave. E and/or 10th - now Atwell and/or Renwick (Atwell was probably 10th and Renwick was probably Ave. E or 11th)

12th - now Rampart

Ave. F - now Hillcroft

and in to Sharpstown:

Ave J./Riceville - now Gessner

16th - now Brae Acres

[sevfiv]

Also, there are more old South Park Blvd. tiled curb markers than I thought still around though a lot are damaged/in bad condition:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=sll%3D29.539845,-95.438796&sspn=0.003528,0.004823&g=Houston,+Harris,+Texas&ie=UTF8&t=h&layer=c&cbll=29.707089,-95.335396&panoid=il5MpB0wV9wNyYoOJBL6MQ&cbp=12,215.21,,0,3.4&ll=29.707018,-95.335354&spn=0,359.990355&z=17

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&sll=29.539845,-95.438796&sspn=0.003528,0.004823&g=Houston,+Harris,+Texas&ie=UTF8&t=h&layer=c&cbll=29.694219,-95.338141&panoid=cGMXEoA9AKvF9ls34B2R1Q&cbp=12,147.31,,0,21.92&ll=29.694074,-95.338197&spn=0,359.990355&z=17

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&sll=29.539845,-95.438796&sspn=0.003528,0.004823&g=Houston,+Harris,+Texas&ie=UTF8&t=h&layer=c&cbll=29.651741,-95.336531&panoid=-YLtCRb3toURIMShbfsK0Q&cbp=12,279.35,,0,35.63&ll=29.651827,-95.336523&spn=0,359.990355&z=17

[ttuchris]

I have always wanted to know the history of these different styles of street signs. I don't recall ever seeing the concrete posts or tiled curbs in other cities. I think they are both easier to read than the current green vinyl/metal signs.

The corners of Willowick @ Piping Rock and Willowick @ Meadowick just outside River Oaks have all three styles on the same corner (tiles, concrete post, green vinyl/metal).

Please let me know if anyone has any info on the time periods that each sign was used.

[mkultra25]

Not nearly as "old style" as the concrete ones, but I just noticed this past weekend that the metal street sign for Preston where it intersects Washington (near the HPD property room) was gone, replaced by a shiny new one. The old one had to date back to the 60s, sporting faded all-caps lettering and a healthy coat of rust. Yet another data point in the ongoing gentrification of Washington?

[fatesdisastr]

Found this cross street sign the other day when walking from the Founder's Cemetery to Allen Parkway

[NenaE]

I found another lost street name on a sign post off of Washington Ave., sitting at Barnes St. and S. Heights Blvd. Looks like S. Heights replaced Irving on the south side of Washington Ave.

Those signs are handy for researching old road names.

Actually, it was the house at 3705 Barnes that caught my eye, as I was sitting at the stop light at Washington. That ornate little attic window tells me it's a very old house. HCAD says 1910. It's just sitting there hidden in the trees, surrounded by businesses and busy roads.

I just noticed the street sign while getting the address.

The short street is listed on the 1st map, above post # 35.

That area ia so interesting.

[Ross]

Looks like Irvine St and a few lots went to the City in 1955, according to the block book map http://books.tax.hctx.net/v030/AE1997_30_0148.jpg

[Eric Maier]

 

 

Tim shared this thread on a Next Door post, and though I'd share some information on a project that Documented all of the original Blue Tile Addresses around Houston  - The Blue Tile Project  http://www.bluetileproject.com/map  

 

I've worked with the Blue Tile Project to help restore a couple of the addresses demolished in the heights to make room for ADA sidewalk ramps  - Norhill and Bayland corner. The map is a great resource to document the Blue Tile addresses - there's an app for Iphone and Android where individuals can take pictures of them and add them to the database! 

 

 

[griz]

Here's another curious spelling.  Melwood or Mellwood?

 

 

Also, this post was hit and knocked over a few weeks ago.  Within the past week the damage post has been removed.  Not replaced or repaired, just removed.

 

[goavs4]

I found this thread after searching here when some in the Rice Military area were asking about the history of these concrete posts.  Thought I would post what I found recently online about them here on how they originated..

 

This is from the Houston Public Library Digital Archives.   It’s an excerpt of a speech by Houston Mayor Oscar Holcombe delivered on November 2^nd 1940:

 

http://digital.houstonlibrary.net/oral-history/oscar-holcombe_OH388.php

 

“Houston has needed badly a complete marking of our streets. I am happy to announce that the Washington government has finally approved my plan for installing within the next few weeks five thousand concrete markers for our streets. These marks will be placed on the block corners. They are built of concrete, four feet high and are durable. They will have stamped on them in large letters, easily visible for at least three hundred feet, the names of the streets and the block numbers.”

 

So it sounds like they were actually installed just prior to WWII in late 1940/early 1941 via funds the Houston mayor requested from the federal government. 

 

[cloud713]

I was searching for more info on these concrete sign posts and stumbled across good ole half. I came across this old sign post in a wooded ravine today. Who knows how long it’s been there.. The middle is busted, so I’m not sure what the “Res____” Street is, but im tempted to go back and get it. No idea what I would do with it yet, ha, but it’s cool for historical purposes.

[Ross]

4 hours ago, cloud713 said:

I was searching for more info on these concrete sign posts and stumbled across good ole half. I came across this old sign post in a wooded ravine today. Who knows how long it’s been there.. The middle is busted, so I’m not sure what the “Res____” Street is, but im tempted to go back and get it. No idea what I would do with it yet, ha, but it’s cool for historical purposes.

Which part of town? May be able to find something in an old city directory.

[cloud713]

8 hours ago, Ross said:

Which part of town? May be able to find something in an old city directory.

Around woodland heights. Looks like it’s Reserve Street, and the E 5th may actually be 5th 1/2 St?

[Ross]

4 hours ago, cloud713 said:

Around woodland heights. Looks like it’s Reserve Street, and the E 5th may actually be 5th 1/2 St?

That makes sense. Definitely no streets crossing 5th that start with Res.

[guy chachere]

First neighbor hood we move to was Sunset Valley just south of modern day Edgebrook, moved there in 57, the streets what there was, all had the cement corner post with the street names, ours was Bronson Street