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I read somewhere that the rows of trees were planted in remembrance of WW1 soldiers.

I'm curious about the Hermann stables, as well. 

Nice aerial pics! The direction is NE in the first photo. It looks like downtown Houston is in the background.

Too bad the 610 Loop West took out the big estate. Who lived there? I'd like to know, too. 

Peter Pan Dude Ranch would be 6500 block of S. Main. The photo above is definitely PPDR. You can tell by the presence of the stadium and the neighborhood. GoogleEarth shows PPDR in the 1944 and 1953 aerial maps. The question is... was it always called PPDR?  

Did you notice the pony prancing around the ring with a person behind him? 

Great pic, thanks for sharing.

Nice pic...any idea what that white frame is for, on the left side of the hotel? It's huge. The two guys in the background are so small standing by it. Surely that's not a roller coaster frame. Mysterious. Here's a map showing where the hotel was located..close to Houston Ave. at Highland (later Parkview). The word under Highland Park says "hotel". 

map.source - harris county archives maps.

BTW - the house on the northeast corner (Hou.av. x Parkview) dates to 1902. It's a beauty.  

Maybe the narrow gauge pass was a reference to the trolley line on S.Main. It was still in service for a short time after the Bellaire line closed. On early topo. maps it's drawn smaller than the RR tracks that ran close to Almeda Rd. 

The article states that Mr.Prince had a keen sense of advertising from the very beginning. He named his first hamburger location #10. It also mentions a yacht he brought up from the coast, and made it into a restaurant on S.Main. 

Playland Park did have some kind of train at one time. 

What was the ring or track located directly behind the nite club at 8299 or 8301 S.Main? It's too close to the club to be the bldg with the canals. I agree, those addresses get confusing on that OST / S.Main curve.

I read today that Prince's first location was at 4509 S.Main (by Sears) in 1935. The location was originally an old Weber's Root Beer stand. The article was from tshaonline.org. 

As mentioned above... maybe Kiddie Wonderland.

Thanks for the good research and clarification. I like addresses. So they were both doctor/ owners of the one story Red Bluff hospital. That's the only one I'm not familiar with. What a wild and sad story.   

On 10/15/2021 at 1:40 PM, Joel H said:

I remember Dr. Powers and Pasadena Memorial Hospital. We lived in Bowling Green Subdvision, kind of behind his office. Dr Powers office faced Pasadena Blvd and there was a horse stable behind it. I think there is a gas station on that corner now where Alabama and Pasadena Blvd are. I was in Pasadena Memorial when I was 11. I remember Dr. Powers was the doctor for my siblings as well. 

SO, did Red Bluff hospital become Pasadena Memorial? I thought that PM hospital was located on Pasadena blvd. (tater)? 

There are three different hospital buildings in these posts...so confusing...Pasadena Memorial, Southmore, and Red Bluff hospitals. And don't forget the large, multi-storied Bayshore Hospital on Spencer. 

Does the Bowling Green subdivision (a place in Kentucky) and streets have a link to the horse loving doctor? Aren't those streets named after race horses? Secretariat, Tiny Hur, Citation, Gypsy Pops.

BTW - those black holes lining Speer rd. are trees. 

Thanks for the Kiddie Wonderland info. I knew it was old, but had no idea it dated back to the 1930's. I like to see owner names. 

There is a Highrise Tower post from Feb 3 about a miniature golf links on OST (source-1950's sanborn map). The side road associated with it was called Speer rd. (as hinted at in above posts). So, the Speer park was probably in that area. It's close to the restaurants. 

The only "kiddie" style park located anywhere near the Prince's and Sivil's (later Stuart's) drive-in restaurants was Kiddie Wonderland. I can't see any other park on the aerials besides Playland Park. I get the impression that Playland catered more to the teen and young adult crowd.

I'm wondering if this smaller park (Speer Park) became Kiddie Wonderland. Notice the emphasis on 'family" style entertainment in this park ad. Sears Roebuck is mentioned, and they catered to young families. Also, the Speer Park's sketch shows a carousel close to the road. The aerial map (1953) of Kiddie Wonderland (around 7830 S.Main) also shows a carousel by the road.

As mentioned above, Sivil's was at 8001 S.Main. So, the drive-ins were close by... opposite side of the road. 

BTW - the 1944 GE aerial in this location may be in error. The date may be older. The kiddie park does not show up in the maps until 1953.

The date on the water table reference lists a 1941 park date. Is this when the Speer park was established?

You can see that In the last GE pic (1944) there is a "White Oak drive" with a bridge crossing (East of Houston Ave.)  The concrete extensions (mentioned in an above post) over little White Oak bayou seem to have been built as part of this roadway (not the park). No proof, just a guess. Looks like the south bridge crossing of the White Oak drive was removed for the I-45 and I-10 interchange.

source...*Harris Co. Archives & HPL ( map.collections )

map dates - 1900, 1904, 1907, 1908, 1913, 1928, 1944 (GE)

note - map.2. (1904) the hotel at park

Highland Park -pics of postcards from Ebay (1906, no date, 1910).

There is a pic in the HPL collection that is labeled "Luna Park". I think it is a mistake. The HPL description even states that it is "Colonial Park". Why call it Luna Pk?  Maybe the date was mis-read or written incorrectly. Luna Park opened in 1924 (N of Downtn Hou.) on Houston Ave. (S.of White Oak Bayou).

I've compared two early amusement park pics...(one called Colonial, other Luna). It looks like both pics are Colonial Park.  Note the entrance circle (donut shape) in both pics. The only pic difference is that improvements were added later (a roller coaster, covered pavilion, etc). Even the trees and lamp posts look the same. Several Colonial Park descriptions mention a roller coaster and skating. You can see the word "skating" advertised below the covered pavilion in one pic. Luna Park's entrance gates (mentioned in earlier post) and pavilion looked very different.

Colonial Park had a very short life-span. It only lasted about a year and a half (Spring 1913-Fall 1914).

The women's clothing in the park pics looks to be closer to the 1910's-15's...not the roaring 1920's.

Nice photo of the Med Center! Thank you Highrise Tower for the Peter Pan info. I've wondered about that one for a while.  I saw the small horse ring on old maps a while ago.

On 4/28/2009 at 12:08 AM, JLWM8609 said:

You know, in all of my 22 years (all of them spent in Riverside), I don't think I can recall a time when 3222 Oakmont was livable. My relatives call it the "Monster House" because in its present state, it looks like something out of a horror movie.

GoogleEarth tells me that Oakmont house has been fixed up. Nice to see, but those roof windows look out of place. You can see a backside view of the house from the alleyway.

On 1/19/2006 at 11:05 PM, gnu said:

I saw one of those Houston, Remember When episodes a long time ago on Channel 8 and they mentioned it.

It was called the Mountain Speedway. Seems like there was a weird story about someone living in a house under the coaster.

The Mountain Speedway roller coaster in Galveston was built by the same company that built Houston's Luna Park coaster. The Houston coaster was huge and covered a very large area. It was reduced in size and moved from just north of downtown to Playland Park, S. Main location.

I'm wondering the same, ATH. Looks like Kirby decided to stay where he was (Smith st.hs.) He remodeled his Victorian Smith st. house in 1925. AIA book says he was "superstitious" about living in a completely new one. (AIA 3rd.ed.)

Braeswood was designed in 1928 by landscape architects Hare & Hare. Several houses on Bluebonnet st. were built in 1929 by The Braeswood Corporation.  So the dates line up.

 I found no mention in the block book info. that Braeswood was Kirby's actual plot of land. 

But Wikipedia states the land was sold in 1927 by John H. Kirby to form the garden style neighborhood. It references a book about Old Braeswood.

Maybe you are thinking about The Copper Kettle. I never went there, but it was located on Telephone Rd, close to the 610 South Loop. It looked more like a 1950's place, to me. Sat far back on the lot. Same side of freeway as Gulfgate.

The 2506 Riverside Dr. house is on HAR, under contract. Its nice to see photos of the Art Deco exterior and interior. The yard has been overgrown  for many years. I wonder if it be saved or bulldozed.