Something I've Seen In Channelview

[djrage]

I drive deliveries into Channelview every morning. I've noticed these buildings scattered along between the beltway and Sheldon rd that look like bomb shelters. I first noticed three on Appelt Rd just before Jacinto Port, two in plain view and one behind some brush. I recently noticed there were more. If you drive east on Jacinto Port going toward Sheldon to your left behind the brush, there are more in the distance (some covered by more brush) at the road there are even "driveways" leading to them (now fenced off). They look like they've been there for quite some time. Anyone have any info? Cant find anything online.

[sevfiv]

is this it?

thanks to local.live.com

[djrage]

is this it?

thanks to local.live.com

Yup thats them.

[sevfiv]

Weird - no signage visible either...

Old storage tanks? aerial view tootsie rolls?

Strange that the entry area looks kind of grown over, and the tops look moldy, but the area surrounding them is clear...

[gnu]

maybe part of the old san jacinto ordinance depot??

[djrage]

maybe part of the old san jacinto ordinance depot??

What was that?

Sevfiv, if you look more to the east between Sheldon you'll see more of those buildings.

[TheNiche]

maybe part of the old san jacinto ordinance depot??

Bingo. They're storage bunkers, each situated an equal distance away from the others on a grid pattern. This is so that if one of them blew up, any secondary explosions would likely be prevented, keeping the whole depot from going up like a string of firecrackers.

[sevfiv]

interesting

went by there...the one i saw on sheldon is much more grown over than the ones on appelt, although those are covered with graffiti and have been local dumping grounds (but the one on sheldon had a bunch of machinery littered around it).

sheldon - front

back

machinery

appelt - front

back

[Original Timmy Chan's]

Aren't there some of these scattered around Ellington AFB as well? Seems like I've seen them there.

[Vertigo58]

Now that you mention Channelview,

Would you know about the terrible tornado/s that swept through there about 12-13 years ago?

I think it may have been worse in Northshore nearby? The photos were quite horrific. Could not believe that could happen there. Several brand new subdivisions were flattened. only concrete slabs remained.There must be photos somewhere.

Just thought a local might remember.

[djrage]

interesting

went by there...the one i saw on sheldon is much more grown over than the ones on appelt, although those are covered with graffiti and have been local dumping grounds (but the one on sheldon had a bunch of machinery littered around it).

sheldon - front

back

machinery

appelt - front

back

Aw man those are awesome photos. I cant believe you went out there AND got pictures.

So what are/were they used to store? I wonder if anything is still inside them.

[Vertigo58]

It really looks like where Gomer Pyle used to live, you know where Seargeant Carter used to chew him out.

Well gaaaawwwleeeee!!!!

before he met Mr Hudson of course.

[Jeebus]

Vertigo - what are you adding to this thread?

Where's Puppyamanaanan when you need him?

[Vertigo58]

Vertigo - what are you adding to this thread?

Where's Puppyamanaanan when you need him?

Just a little humor which the world needs right now.

For some strange reason most members on the East side of downtown are waaaayyyyy too serious. This is merely a forum for any and everyone to partake in. The Telephone Road responses are a real exception though, you can't take something like Bluetop Motel and Carousel Motel as business. Laughter is good and healthy.

By the way, Puma has a great sense of humor too.

Midtowncoog still created the best one liner...Houston Be Yourself!

Love it!

[Sara]

I drive deliveries into Channelview every morning. I've noticed these buildings scattered along between the beltway and Sheldon rd that look like bomb shelters. I first noticed three on Appelt Rd just before Jacinto Port, two in plain view and one behind some brush. I recently noticed there were more. If you drive east on Jacinto Port going toward Sheldon to your left behind the brush, there are more in the distance (some covered by more brush) at the road there are even "driveways" leading to them (now fenced off). They look like they've been there for quite some time. Anyone have any info? Cant find anything online.

Those old "tootsie rolls" are indeed part of the San Jacinto Ordinance Depot, which used to cover the entire area from Penn City Road east and I-10/Dezavalla Road south to the Houston Ship Channel. It was built right after Pearl Harbor along with a few others around the country, as I've been told 60 miles out of Galveston Bay because the longest missile range at the time was 40-50 miles. Those structures are old munition storage bunkers, which are spaced evenly along parallel concrete roads running northeast and southwest from Jacintoport Boulevard (you can still see these quite well from above if you look at Google Maps or another satellite mapping website). All of the ones I bothered to poke my head into were completely empty save a piece or two of debris (surprising since many of them are completely surrounded by debris and dumped junk).

This is what the inside looks like, if anyone is curious:

The SJOD apparently closed down in the 1960s and much of the land there is still vacant. There's still dozens of the bunkers out there on private land, though, as you can see below, and some have been converted by local industries for their own use and fitted with garage doors! (sorry, I don't have any pics of that.)

Information on the internet about the SJOD is scarce. There are some informative posts on another older string on this forum at http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/i...amp;#entry75717 or Houston Architecture Info Forum - HAIF

[sevfiv]

Those old "tootsie rolls" are indeed part of the San Jacinto Ordinance Depot, which used to cover the entire area from Penn City Road east and I-10/Dezavalla Road south to the Houston Ship Channel. It was built right after Pearl Harbor along with a few others around the country, as I've been told 60 miles out of Galveston Bay because the longest missile range at the time was 40-50 miles. Those structures are old munition storage bunkers, which are spaced evenly along parallel concrete roads running northeast and southwest from Jacintoport Boulevard (you can still see these quite well from above if you look at Google Maps or another satellite mapping website). All of the ones I bothered to poke my head into were completely empty save a piece or two of debris (surprising since many of them are completely surrounded by debris and dumped junk).

This is what the inside looks like, if anyone is curious:

The SJOD apparently closed down in the 1960s and much of the land there is still vacant. There's still dozens of the bunkers out there on private land, though, as you can see below, and some have been converted by local industries for their own use and fitted with garage doors! (sorry, I don't have any pics of that.)

Information on the internet about the SJOD is scarce. There are some informative posts on another older string on this forum at http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/i...amp;#entry75717 or Houston Architecture Info Forum - HAIF� > General > Historic Houston > San Jacinto Ordnance Depot, What's now Jacintoport. I recently visited the site for an environmental assessment, and have only gained what limited information I have through interviews with locals and old maps of the area.

Thanks for the pictures and information!

The one off of Sheldon that is completely grown over kinda reminded me of the big sneezy turtle from the Neverending Story

of course, the doors on it were too hard to open with bare hands

[TheNiche]

I recently visited the site for an environmental assessment, and have only gained what limited information I have through interviews with locals and old maps of the area.

How extensive would the environmental remediation have to be? Do you know yet?

[Sara]

How extensive would the environmental remediation have to be? Do you know yet?

No, we won't know that for several more weeks--and that's only if the person considering buying the land wants to pay for sampling instead of just dropping the purchase all together. If it was only regular firearms and ammunition that was stored and removed when it was closed there is really no concern. So far we haven't found any conclusive evidence of anything more such as major spills or buried chemicals. I did, however, find one more very interesting article since posting this morning from the Houston Chronicle in 1997: http://www.chron.com/cgi-bin/auth/story/co...ouston.2-2.html

The idea that they believe the bombs won't be found in the future since they haven't to date certainly scares me, as there is a lot of SJOD coastline on the Ship Channel that has yet to be developed and all they have to do is put a docking terminal in just the right place...

[TheNiche]

No, we won't know that for several more weeks--and that's only if the person considering buying the land wants to pay for sampling instead of just dropping the purchase all together. If it was only regular firearms and ammunition that was stored and removed when it was closed there is really no concern. So far we haven't found any conclusive evidence of anything more such as major spills or buried chemicals. I did, however, find one more very interesting article since posting this morning from the Houston Chronicle in 1997: http://www.chron.com/cgi-bin/auth/story/co...ouston.2-2.html

The idea that they believe the bombs won't be found in the future since they haven't to date certainly scares me, as there is a lot of SJOD coastline on the Ship Channel that has yet to be developed and all they have to do is put a docking terminal in just the right place...

Anecdotally, it is my understanding that the military tend to be bad tenants of land. Anything logistics-oriented would be highly suspect IMO. As much as I'd like to own a WW2-vintage ordinance bunker, just 'cuz, that's what would scare me off if I were a prospective buyer.

Btw, if the only things stored at SJOD were firearms and "regular ammunition" (i.e. not high explosives), there would be absolutely no reason to space out each bunker the way they did.

[Sara]

Anecdotally, it is my understanding that the military tend to be bad tenants of land. Anything logistics-oriented would be highly suspect IMO. As much as I'd like to own a WW2-vintage ordinance bunker, just 'cuz, that's what would scare me off if I were a prospective buyer.

Btw, if the only things stored at SJOD were firearms and "regular ammunition" (i.e. not high explosives), there would be absolutely no reason to space out each bunker the way they did.

You're right that regular ammunition would not warrant that. But in this case it's only the chemical weapons and buried materials that are of concern. Anything in those bunkers has long since been removed (If not by the military, then by others. None of the bunkers I came across had any locks and most were hanging wide open.). Also, I do not know of any manufacturing going on at the SJOD, only storage and loading on ships, which would run a low risk of stockpiled materials and improperly disposed-of wastes. Testing I also don't know of, though it is more possible.

And when it comes to real estate acquisitions on the scale of of Jacintoport with plenty of prime, Ship Channel-front property, developers are more than willing to spend a few mil to clean it up!

[MexAmerican_Moose]

ahhh, the good ol "bunkers"....my friends got lost there once, it was nighttime they were all paranoid about the cops showing up

[djrage]

ahhh, the good ol "bunkers"....my friends got lost there once, it was nighttime they were all paranoid about the cops showing up

Thanks for the info and the pictures. Man I don't have the cajones to actually get out and see them upclose like that. Thanks again.

I discovered even more south of Jacinto port between the beltway and Sheldon.

These are more hidden behind the trees and tall grass. You have to zoom in on the live maps just to see them.

[gatorcrock]

Thanks for the info and the pictures. Man I don't have the cajones to actually get out and see them upclose like that. Thanks again.

I discovered even more south of Jacinto port between the beltway and Sheldon.

These are more hidden behind the trees and tall grass. You have to zoom in on the live maps just to see them.

I grew up in the channelview area, and most of the info that has been posted is correct. to add to some the bunkers roads all were situated to meet on penn city rd., where there is an still existing railroad, with in some spots original ramps for loading and unloading. this system was set on both sides of the rails. from what i've seen up close since major developments in that area, the bunkers for the most part have been dozed over, with pipeyards, chemical processors, exporters...etc have taken thier places. stratigicly set up for shipping, by rail, truck, and water. another thing to add about the buildings is, if you are going to the toll bridge north to south, on the right there is a large brick building that was the operations headquarters back then, and from the looks of it built to last. in the 70's it was the place to take a date, because of the darkness from the tree canopy, the mystery of the place, and abundant wildlife trampalling through the woods (boone and crockett deer to this day because of grain spilling on the rails). anyway besides the rumors of murders, cults, and the strange animal that terrorized the area back in 60's-70's, it (penn city rd) had a great 1/4 mile marked off for local pinkslip racing.

Thanks for the info and the pictures. Man I don't have the cajones to actually get out and see them upclose like that. Thanks again.

I discovered even more south of Jacinto port between the beltway and Sheldon.

These are more hidden behind the trees and tall grass. You have to zoom in on the live maps just to see them.

[DozerDuDe]

just wanted to let you guys know that i work for a construction company and we just cleared about 800 acres and found a few bunkers. It won't be long before we start digging all around that area. i will let you guys know what we find.

[skidive101]

just wanted to let you guys know that i work for a construction company and we just cleared about 800 acres and found a few bunkers. It won't be long before we start digging all around that area. i will let you guys know what we find.

So Dozerdude, just what is it that yall are building out there that is worth taking 800 acres from all of the deer that roam in that area?

[TheNiche]

So Dozerdude, just what is it that yall are building out there that is worth taking 800 acres from all of the deer that roam in that area?

It's an industrial park. Warehouses, mostly.

[skidive101]

It's an industrial park. Warehouses, mostly.

It looks like a big ol' scab with all the greenery gone now.

[TxOutty800]

Of course i see this is a VERY old thread now.... but i was just doing some searching and it brought me to this... anyways has anyone seen the one bunker thats different than all of these your describing and showing pictures of? if your on BW8 coming from I10 going towards Pasadena just after you pass through the toll booth and right where the bridge begins to elevate, look off to your right and you can see the front of what looks like a bunker, but this one is not all above ground its a covered bunker or atleast this is how it looks to me. you can only see the face of it and for a VERY short amount of time. you and see it on Google Maps but you cant make out exactly what it is. anyone have any info on this?

[sevfiv]

Interesting - that one was left on its own when the beltway was built. The lined rows across the beltway aren't as easy to make out where it is still wooded.

From the 1944 aerial:

[Skye1081]

I used to go down to those in High school and hang out with friends.... Or smoke and whatever else. I don't know if they were fall out shelters or what. Last time I was out there was in 2000. They are pretty grown over now. But. Yeah.