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Houston In The 1970s


cjlewis610

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  • 2 weeks later...

Does anybody know about the apartment complex between Old Farm Rd. and Fondren? I have heard stories that it was quite the "swinging" place to be back in the 70's.

This place is right behind Vargo's and I heard that it was very wild...anybody know any truth to this?

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I lived at Pecan Plantation I guess it was off of Rampart / Gulfton back in the 70's. Had it's own club and bar by one of the pools with live bands on weekends. Lot's of single ladies and guys. Glad I survived that era of my life.:rolleyes:

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A lot of the now-ghetto apartment buildings in SW Houston were "swinging singles" hotbeds back then. At some point (in the early 80s I think), a law was passed barring "adults only" complexes, putting an end to that scene.

The law didn't "bar" adults only complexes. It prohibited discrimination against families, who were, and still are, having a hard time finding decent apartments to rent. It's still hard because apsrtment owners found a loophole in this law, and they used it to keep their complexes pretty much free of people with kids.

The law just said the apartments couldn't discriminate against families, but it didn't require complexes to have anything that would make families want to live there. Owners who wanted to continue attracting adults with no kids took out all the amenities. No pool, no play area or common area for recreation of any sort. Nobody with kids wants to live in a complex that has nothing to "enhance the experience" of living there.

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  • 3 months later...

no

Wow, it looks really boring!

Well, only five channels on TV, only rich people had VCRs, Pong had just been developed, so no video games at home, the internet didn't exist, no Iphone, MTV hadn't reduced everyone attention span to 5 seconds yet. Keep in mind, it was the day of mini skirts, halter tops and the bra less look, the girls might have come for the art, the guys came for the girls.

Edited by devonhart
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  • 1 month later...

ExxonMobil building was built in 1963 or so. From Google Earth, it looks like there were some one story buildings there, and some parking. I don't think there was much of significance lost. MOst of those areas had been rebuilt several times over the years, starting with houses, thne businesses, then high rises.

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Can anyone suggest which were the most significant downtown buildings razed in the 60s and 70s to make room for skyscrapers like the Exxon Mobil Building, Shell Plaza, 1100 Milam, Pennzoil Place, and One/Two Houston Center?

This is on Texas Ave in the 70s, clearing 19th century buildings for a skyscraper I'm sure someone can figure out from the position from Jones Hall.

jones.JPG

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This is on Texas Ave in the 70s, clearing 19th century buildings for a skyscraper I'm sure someone can figure out from the position from Jones Hall.

almost certainly for texas commerce tower. looks to me like the store fronts face the 800 block of Texas with Pennzoil in the background.

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oh, cool, 1970 Fiat Spider in that picture

I can't remember the address, or the street, but the original and first Memorial Baptist Hospital was torn down in the 70s to make room for several skyscrapers.

I THINK it was in the 1100 or 1200 block of Lamar, two or three blocks from city hall.

By the 70s, the Memorial Baptist Hospitals were spreading to the outer reaches of Houston. There was NW Memorial, SW Memorial, Southeast Memorial, and the downtown facility, which was old, outdated, and landlocked. It had no room for expansion, so they sold the property to developers.

Here's a photo of it. http://mcgovern.library.tmc.edu/data/www/html/texascoll/post/cities/houston/hous_12.htm

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  • 2 months later...
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I remember seeing him fround around the mid 1970's in front of Woolworths on Main @ McKinney. Also remember seeing him in New York around mid 90's. A NY Times article, I believe< was written about him and I believe he was originally from Louisiana, possibly New Orleans.

Edited by EspersonBuildings
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