billyf

I don't remember for sure when it closed. The address is 630 W LITTLE YORK RD. HCAD says that TRADING FAIR IV INC has owned it since 2005 and that the building was built in 1968. For some reason it doesn't show the ownership history before then. BTW this website has a bunch of the address of the Kmart stores that used to be in Houston and other areas. http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/cgi-bin/permitting/pstregis2/pstregis2.pl?ownerid=7671&query_type=OwnerID&abc=&previousrow=100&increment=25&totalrows=183

There was one at the corner on West Rd and I-45 built in 1992. It opened next to Pace (there version of Sam's) and a Builders Square (A subsidiary of Kmart). The Builders Square became Fry's Electronics, the Pace became Compaq Works and is now The Dump and The K-Mart is now a Ross. The K-mart closed when they moved out of Houston. I remember going to the one at W Little York Rd and I-45 as a kid. If I remember correctly it closed after the one on West Rd opened.

There used to be one at the corner of W Gulf Bank Rd and the North Freeway by the house I grew up in. The building became Yummy Chow Chinese restaurant after it closed in the early 80s and then it became Moments Cabaret in the early 90s. It may have been something else before it became a Chinese restaurant, but I don't remember. We ate at both places quite a bit and I visited the cabaret a few times when I became of age. My dad still has a few wooden coins from Sambo's with his coin collection. I was really young when we went to Sambo's so I don't remember much about it. There was a lot of controversy in the late 70s and early 80s with the name and the racial association. They tried to change the name to The Jolly Tiger and No Place Like Sam's, but in 1982 they closed their stores. Several of the stores became Denny's and Season's Friendly Eating. Sambo was an Indian boy and not black and the theme was based on a old book. I think the whole controversy was stupid.

Here is a closeup of the same year aerial that Firebird65 posted. That is Airline Dr to the right. I-45 had the same effect. Blue Bell Rd south of West Rd used to connect. After the freeway was built you had to go to either W MT Houston or West Rd to get to the other side. However the construction of the bridge at Sweetwater Ln (Hacker Rd) and W Mt Houston Connected neighborhoods previous separated by Halls Bayou. I've always liked driving on the Hardy Toll Road, but it's been a complete failure. It has being unable to make the minimum payment on its bonds. The county has been using revenue from Sam Houston Parkway to make the payments. It's biggest shortfalls has been not extending it to downtown (in the works since the early 90s) and not having any express roads connecting I-45 between 6-10 and Beltway 8.

Well Greens Road has existed east of Aldine Westfield since the early 1900s and that area has been called Greens in some form since the 1800s. The name was changed when they expanded Greens Road from Aldine Westfield to I-45 in the late 70s. It only made sense to change the name of Gears Road as it connected to Greens and was so close to Greenspoint Mall. They did technically keep Gears Road, they just moved it further south. We used to shop at a store called Gemco off FM 1960 and I-45 in the early 80. I remember riding in the car to go shopping there with my parents and remember how undeveloped everything was north of Greenspoint. FM 1960 was like a whole other town back. Hell where the Walmart is now at West road had cows until the store was built. I also remember East MT Houston being very rural. We used to go to Big-H Rack Track out that way and it was about as country as you could get.

Yea I saw that a few days ago. The history under "Aldine, TX" needs to be revised too. Right now it's just a quote right out of the Texas Handbook. I've been meaning to revise it with the information I've gathered, but haven't had a chance. BTW did you ever finish your report that had the history of Aldine High school? If so and if you can, could you email it to me?

Gulf Coast Airport was located right where Stovall Middle school stands today and not Aldine High school is as commonly stated. I've been told that it opened in 1948 and closed in 1955, but I have no way to verify this. As for Airline Dr I don't know the origin, but it had nothing to do with the airport as Firebird65 stated. If any of you are curious Airline Dr used to be called East Montgomery Rd and was part of US 75. Closer to downtown Today's Airline Dr was called Houston Ave, but US 75 ran where Fulton St is today from Parker Rd south. East Montgomery, West Montgomery and Stuebner Airline branched out from Tidwell. The southern part of Stuebner Airline would later become Shepherd Dr. East Montgomery became Alt US 75 when N Shepherd Dr was built and N Shepherd became US 75 (later changed to spur 261). Shepherd Dr from Little York (Little York School Rd) to Aldine Bender is where I-45 is today. In other words N Shepherd Dr used to extend further north than it does now. From Aldine Bender north, US 75 ran mostly where I-45 is today until Conroe. The remaining parts of US 75 still existed by name in Conroe until a few years ago, but it's now called state HWY 75. West Montgomery would become 149 and then later 249 (Tomball Parkway) from Mt Houston northward (where the big turn is on 249). South of MT Houston (249), West Montgomery still exist today. As you can see the street alignments were a lot different than they are today. Here are some maps you can check out. http://www.harriscou...hives/Maps.aspx

Wow you guys are awesome. I couldn't find the address or the ownership history anywhere! The address doesn't show on HCAD website. So it appears from the information you guys provided that they did tire recycling in both 1983 and in 1995. It looks like the site was still under construction in the 1978 aerial, but the buildings appear to be gone by 1989. However the news article that kylejack posted is from 1995 which has me confused. There's no doubt that they were gone by 2002. I just wonder why the building except for one were torn down. They were only 20 or so years old. It's possible that they caught fire, but I can't find any news articles that suggest this. Thanks for the info.

I came across this today and can not figure out what used to be here. It's located east of Spears Rd, between Rushcreek Dr and Rankin Rd in the Greenpoint district. The buildings show up on the 1978 aerial on Google Earth, the 1981 aerial on Historic Aerial, but not the 1989 aerial on Google Earth or the 1973 aerial on Historic Aerial. The driveway off Spears Rd has a gate with a no trespassing and a keep out sign. Anyone know what used to be here? Looking at the aerials there are several buildings. What I find odd is how they were hidden back in the woods. I would like to go check it out, but don't want to get arrested for trespassing.

We were looking up my friends condo on Historical Aerials and saw that this road went right through it. The remains can be seen on the 1978 areial on Google Earth. The condo was built in 1980.

My grandparents lived on Holly St which is one street over about 5 houses west of 610 until 1992. They moved there around 1954 when my mom was 5 years old, about 4 years after the house was built. As stated 4 houses were removed east of Post Oak on each street for the construction of 610. Those Houses were less than 10 years old when they were demolished. It makes me wonder if the builders even bothered to check the freeway plans. It's pretty sad how they divided the neighborhood, but they really didn't have a choice. I can imagine a lot of people being pissed when it happened, but the state really didn't get public input like they do today. The freeway was pretty loud from my grandparents house. I remember hearing it while trying to go to sleep when I spent the night there. Besides the freeway the neighborhood was very quiet and felt very safe. Crime began to be an issue in the 1990s which was one reason my grandparents moved, though it was much safer than where we lived on the Northside. Who ever bought the house made out as the value of it almost tripled by 2007. A lot of the houses have been demolished and newer, much bigger houses have been constructed. They were good houses with a lot of space, but my grandparents had foundation issues. It also wasn't sealed very well which allowed bugs from the outside to get in. Thanks to the OP for the pics. I always wondered what it looked like back then. For some reason all of the pics my family took never showed the other homes in that area.

A lot of them died in car accidents too which is as equally as shocking to me. I saw that a guy I had several classes with at Aldine died in a motorcycle accident last year. With the number of people that went to the school deaths are to be expected. I knew a lot of people in the Aldine area that died young due to health problems (under 60). I'm sure lifestyle had a lot to do with it. Lot's of the old schoolers did a lot of drinking, smoking and had poor eating habits. I will say overall the kids I went to school with were pretty strong and healthy. It wasn't like today where schools have no peanut zones in the lunch room. A few kids had asthma, but it didn't stop them from playing sports. I had bad sinus allergies, but have outgrown them for the most part. I also hardly get sick. BTW does anyone know if there were ever any disease outbreaks like Polio, measles, pertussis or diphtheria in the Aldine area before the vaccines were introduced? A lot of communities had major outbreaks which killed or permanently injured a lot of kids. I researched the history of the polio epidemic and it affected the poor much less. This was likely due to the fact that poorer kids are not afraid to get dirty which strengthens the immune system.

Not as big into sports as you guys, but here is my take. I agree that a good coach is much of what makes a winning team. Out of a school of over 2000 students a coach can put together winning varsity team with the right training. I don't think it matters where the players come from or what ethnicity they are. I guess if all the coaches are looking for easy wins it might help that the team has a bunch of big black guys. The same holds true for academics. The Kipp charter school which was founded in Houston performs better than some of the best public and private schools in the country. The schools are pretty much all minorities from poor neighborhoods. Most of the students perform below grade level when they come in, but are above in about a year. HISD's Apollo 20 program follows many of their methods. It isn't the kids; it is the teachers and administrators that make winning students. I knew kids that didn't have a father in the lives and their moms were a drug addicts. They managed to graduate and make a life for themselves. I know a good school life played a big part in that happening. It was once thought that if you bussed kids from the ghettos to the nicer schools, the kids would get a better education. Instead people made what is known as the White Flight to the suburbs and the schools and neighborhoods declined. You are also forcing kids from different upbringings to go to school together who don’t necessarily want to which leads to racism and bullying. If the parents want their kids to go to that school they will move closer to it. One change in Texas schools over the last few years has been to allow kids to go to any school in the district so long as they have transportation and there is room. When I was in school this wasn’t an option and I knew people who used relatives address so they could go to a better school. Hopefully they will one day allow parents to send their kids to a school legally outside the district they live in. This along with a voucher program would force bad schools to shape up. I must say that Aldine ISD has long been a good school district. They have good test scores, good sports teams and have always managed their budget well.

The state shut down the North Houston School district shortly after Aldine ISD was formed in the mid 1930. It split the school district between Klein , Aldine and HISD with Aldine getting most of Acres Homes. Aldine just kept it students at the school closes to their home even after desegregation in 1965. In the late 70s Aldine ISD and several other Texas schools were sued by the federal government claiming they were segregating its students. Aldine fought, but lost. In the end a plan was devised that no more than 30% of any Aldine school could be African American. So Aldine bused a small amount of its students in Acres Homes to every school in the district. Bethune and two other schools in the Acres Homes area became intermediate schools (5th and 6th grade) and Carver became a magnet school. In the 1980s my elementary school had one bus from Acres Homes which made up 90% of the black students in the school. In my neighborhood when students got in the 5th grade they went to Bethune and then Grantham Middle school from 6th – 8th grade and then Aldine. The order was lifted in 2000 (I believe), but Aldine continued to bus it's high school students so there would be no sports advantage at one school. A little racist if you ask me. Now all the schools are zoned more like they should be. In my old neighborhood it is Carroll, Stehlik Intermediate 5th and 6th, Stovall 7th and 8th, then Aldine 9th Grade Center and Aldine SR 10th – 12th. Bethune in now a magnet school along with most of the other schools near it. I think bussing was one of the dumbest idea's ever. Most kids want to go to the school closest to their home and the parents like it that way too.

Your project looks like it is coming along good. You should send it to the principal of Aldine (and maybe the district) when you're done. I'm not understanding the entrance where the admin offices where. I thought the entrance went straight into the 200 and 700 halls? With the library being between the 100 and 200 hall. The old admin office is still there and was used as some kind of classroom when I went there. In front of it is the janitorial office where the breakers for much of the school are. Maybe they cut through it for the addition and only half remains. Did they make the entrance they sealed as off part of the library? Could the map be wrong? Also what is the area where the old band room used for now? In the four years I was there I never went inside that part near the auditorium and inside where the teacher's parking is/was. When I was there the band room was on the far end of the 600 hall. I had technology systems in the classroom back there next to the printing class (had a fight once there too).

It wasn't that bad. I actually liked the block scheduling. You only had to worry about 4 classes per day instead of 6. Now most schools have 7 and even 8 classes a day. The whole reason behind it is you earn more credits in a year. The biggest downfall to the 4X4 block scheduling like Aldine had is students only have classes like Math and English a half a year. So there is a big gap not taking those subjects. In fact I think the pilot program showed a decline in those subjects test scores. Most schools that do block scheduling now do A days and B days. 4 classes per day, but different classes ever other day. On Fridays they go to all 8 classes for testing, but the classes are shorter. In Cy-Fair where I live now they have 7 periods and no block scheduling. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Block_scheduling I would think the HVAC class would be in one of the vocational rooms, but there is no telling since it was a newer class at the time.

They started the block scheduling during the 95-96 school year and with it came the one lunch period. It was 4, 9 week terms. Each term equaled one semester for that class. So a class like algebra that would be a full year was only a half a year. There were 4 classes per day and the classes were Monday through Friday. There wasn't any alternating days. Each period or block as they called them was about 1:20 minutes long. There was only one lunch block for the whole school. So all 3000 or so students were on lunch at the same time (no 9th grade center yet). There were carts setup through the whole campus where you could buy food and as you said we could roam the campus and eat where we wanted. Some students ate in the cafeteria, some ate in the halls and some even at in the classrooms. I had co-op and went home when lunch started and only had to stay for lunch once because of testing. They split the lunches a couple years later and I think in 2000 they went back to the traditional scheduling. As for the school map. I saw it on the website in the early 2000s. I want to say 2002 or 2003. It may have been sooner. I don't believe it was an attachment, but can't remember for sure. A question on the 1965 aerial. What were those buildings with the red roofs that look like houses where the 400 hall was added for? Also I noticed they added on to the field house from the 1965 aerial and the 1979 one.

Back when boys all wore pants and girls all wore dresses. In those days shorts and tennis shoes on guys were uncool by high school (shorts were aginst the rules too) unless you were playing sports. How times have changed. Those windows between the two sets of doors went to the library and is where the 600 hall now stands. When I went there they had the class pics for every school year on the wall to the left of the teachers lounge door. Looking at this pic I don't see where any restrooms or offices could have been on the front that were removed for the addition. I think those doors on the left brought you right by the auditorium and the ones on the right went straight to into the 200 and 700 (think that's it) hall. The main office must have been right behind the nurses office or that room on the 700 hall by the 200 hall. I wish I still had a map of the school. They took it off their website.

The building just above the mini gym is also an addition not show until the 1981 aerial. I believe that is where the other weight room I was telling you about is. Isn't the pool also in this area? I think this was added in 1978 also. I think those two buildings by the gym are the newer locker rooms also added in 1997. I do remember being told new locker rooms were added with the 1997 additions. I was also told by the auto mechanic teachers that they added a/c and did some renovations to the vocational area in 1997.

I have a feeling the 1972 date was a mean date of all the additions which were probably part of the same bond. I see in that pic that the A/C had already been added to the older wing. I'm pretty sure at least the 1970 addition had A/C when it was built. Not sure if they added it to the old wings at the same time. I do know it is all on the same chilled water system which is outside by the 400 hall, next to the 9th grade center. The front addition is also on the same system. The auditorium, gym and cafeteria had its own separate systems. I'm have a feeling the auditorium and possibly the offices by it had A/C when it was built, but the rest of the school didn't. I also think the cafeteria might have had A/C before the rest of the school did. I remember seeing a really big, old a/c unit behind the cafeteria by the incinerator. I know when the A/C broke in the school one year the cafeteria was still cool. So I think the answer to the A/C question is more than one date. I see from your 1960s pic of the front of the school that there is what looks to be windows near the auditorium. Those are now blocked with the 1973 addition. It looks like the library had windows too. BTW most of the front lost its windows when they added the other wing on in the late 90s. Have to get back to work, I'll add more later.

Thanks So where were the admin offices before this? I never saw any offices in the older wing that might have been used.

I think that was film in general in the 1970s. For what ever reason film in the 1970s got really cheap. You see it in pictures and in movies. On another note I had a plummer out yesterday that went to Aldine for a year and Stovall for 3 years in the late 70s to 1980. I couldn't think of anything to ask him about the school. He did tell me that he enjoyed living in the area during that time. He lived in Oak Glenn Place.

Ahh so my source was right Looking foward to that pic.

It was the same way when I went there. They would throw the black kids a basketball and the rest of us would sit and watch or play on the side goals. There was no swimming, baseball or football. I didn't learn to swim till I taught myself a few year back. It would have been nice if they taught us stuff like that in school. Later in the year about 6 of us were given the key and allowed to go to the weight room by the field house to work out. Some female coach didn't like that we were out there unsupervised and made a big deal about it to the head coach. That really pissed me off because we were not hurting anyone or doing anything against the rules out there. We were allowed a few times after that to use the weight room by the mini gym which had those weights with the cables. I would have probably dropped out if I had to do 3.5 years of PE. lol We were only required 1.5 years of PE, but there were a bunch of classes that counted for the other 1/2 credit. I took co-op and that counted for a PE credit so I only had one year. Now they only require one year and health is optional by the state, though some schools still require it. Looking back a lot of time was wasted in school. That time could have been spent preparing us for college or the work force, which is what school is for anyway.

I thought there was only one gym back then? The article say there was a boys and girls gym "each gym has a full length basketball court". Were they talking about the old court outside by West Road? I didn't play any sports in school, but I know during PE we NEVER took showers. I always found it odd how kids on TV showered after gym class. I mean it's not a bad idea, but it was something no one ever did. We never had any hair dryers, towels or drapes either! Maybe the girls rooms did. Reading these old articles it sounds like Aldine was a fun school to go to back then. It was a much smaller school and everyone pretty much came from the same background.