bookman

Photos or postcard images of the old Valians Restaurant (pizza)from 50s? I tried to access one posted by Subdude but it was blank. If anyone has any to share I'd love to see them. Thanks!

Click HERE to see Valian's images on this blog post by Bill McCurdy.

What about the Carillion shopping center. Does anyone remember some of the original stores?

I also remember something about the Westchase Hilton burning down in the early 80's...not sure though!

I remember a couple of restaurants that may have been original to Carillion--The Great Caruso and Foulard's. As for the Westchase Hilton burning down, I don't recall that.

A minor correction to your info. Andrau Airpark wasn't owned by the Hobby family. It was built, owned and managed by Mr and Mrs H.B. Andrau. The airport was closed on December 23, 1998 when a Houston real estate firm paid Mrs Andrau 53 million dollars for the land. The airport was quickly demolished and the Royal Oaks Country Club subdivision and a golf course replaced the field.

I stand corrected. Here's a site with more info on Andrau Airpark (includes aerial photos):

http://members.tripod.com/airfields_freeman/TX/Airfields_TX_HoustonW.htm#andrau

I should correct myself and say that any comments about the history of the westside of Houston are very welcome and not just limited to my neighborhood.

Sorry guys....new to the posting!

Walnut Bend was developed in the late 1950s-1960s and at that time there wasn't much west of it other than ranch land. A few exceptions I remember: 1) About where Hayes Rd. is now, there used to be an oyster shell or gravel road north of Westheimer that led to a series of baseball fields. This was Voss West Little League. 2)Beyond Kirkwood, in the West Houston Medical Center area, was an airport for small planes and corporate jets. That was Andrau Airport (Hobby family). My memory is fuzzy beyond that.

Don't forget about the reference to Fulshear!

The developers won't let you forget about Fulshear. They're ripping up the 1093 countryside all the way into the Fulshear city limits. Houston's suburban sprawl is about to taint that once peaceful little community.

Here's a pic I dug up of Robert E. Lee High School in the early 1980s.

It's all I have:

Adding a few more from Lee, courtesy of the 1968 yearbook. The first photo shows the field across from the school where the '74 drug bust occurred. Looking toward the upper-right corner is the Hillcroft-Richmond intersection. The landscape has changed! Following this photo are a few of Billy Gibbons, who was a senior that year and had a band called the Moving Sidewalks. Their song 99th Floor, which Gibbons is performing in one of the yearbook photos, was also recorded by the 13th Floor Elevators, one of the first psychedelic rock bands. Later that year, Gibbons and The Moving Sidewalks opened for Jimi Hendrix on the Texas leg of the Hendrix tour that year, and Hendrix began mentioning Gibbons as one of his favorite new guitarists.

For contrast, I added a photo of what Gibbons looks like in more recent years with ZZ Top.

A friend of mine mentioned a kiddie place called Wee Wild West. I went there as a kid (60's) but have no idea where it was. Anybody remember that one?

The Wee Wild West was on Westheimer, about where West Alabama branches off it--just a stone's throw from the Galleria. I attended and/or had a couple of birthday parties there in the early 1960s.