Specwriter

As long as we are "confined to quarters" I can suggest a good book: Houston's Hermann Park; A Century of Community by Barrie Scardino Bradley. It was published by Texas A&M Press in 2014 in commemoration of the parks centennial. It has lots of historic maps, renderings, and old and contemporary photos. Of course, Amazon has copies available as I'm sure other sources do as well.

Gentrification yes' but fortunately not a lot of tear-downs to be replaced by McMansions. Thankfully, most of the lots are too small for that. Almost 30 years ago I drew some plans for the renovation of twin shot gun houses on Decatur Street. This was a project by the then Greater Houston Preservation Alliance (now Preservation Houston). I believe each was sold to a young professional who probably worked nearby. It is good to see so much of the original fabric of the neighborhood being adapted and preserved to the extent that it is.

Thank you for posting, PapaMoomin. I quite agree; Hermann Park is a gem and a true benefit to my home town. In fact, I was born in Hermann Hospital many years ago. The park, like Central Park in New York, was created by people but nature, and Mr. Hermann, gave us a remarkable starting point. I have no direct connection with the Houston Department of Parks and Recreation but I encourage all citizens to support the parks system and the parks near you whether they are City of Houston, another municipality, or a county park. We all know the city is becoming more urban and that makes good parks all the more important. I hope we can soon return to our parks and enjoy their beauty and tranquility.

This image rocks! Thanks, hindesky.

cloud, are you talking about Clark's Hardwood Lumber Co. at 700 E. 5-1/2 Street? There is also Houston Hardwoods at 4910 W. 34th. These are not traditional "lumber stores" where one gets Southern yellow pine 2x4s etc. They have more exotic species generally. Years ago there was another specialty lumber store (also in the Heights IIRC) called All Woods/Schroeder. The corporation was dissolved in July of 1991. I visited All Woods Schroeder and Houston Hardwoods to get certain species for projects. They had/have some wonderful stuff. When I was a child living with my parents a neighbor was a buyer for All Woods Schroeder. He made many trips to South America and a few to Africa.

Last week I noticed the "marquee" on the front of Stahlman Lumber (facing Greenbriar) read that it was moving to Stafford. It seems appropriate to have a Porsche dealership in that location. There are several Porsche's in West U. and Southampton and many, many Audis. I wonder who patronizes the Porsche dealership way out the North Freeway. People in the Woodlands perhaps.

There was a Lucky 7 at the corner of Airline Drive and Gulf Bank. I don't remember the actual name (Firebird probably does) but it was owned by the Io (ee-oh) family.

There was also a Ruggles in the Rice Village at Rice Blvd. and Chaucer. I've visited Ruggles Black on Kirby between Richmond and US 59 a few times recently. The latter has some unique keto and paleo dishes but I am especially fond of their cocktails. 😋 I do not know if any of the restaurants were "related" but I would suppose there is some connection. I believe I'm way to old and no longer so mobile as to be a yuppie. I am still a professional though, FWIW. 😊

You are correct Naviguessor as previous AIA Houston architecture guides will attest. The architecture firm was MacKie & Kamrath the same firm that designed Temple Emanu-El on Sunset Blvd. near Rice University. As you see both are highly influenced by the work of Frank Lloyd Wright.

C2Ag93, I believe you are on to something with the last two digits of the zip code. See this site: https://www.oldstuffonly.com/zip_code_date.asp . By the way, the current postal (zip) code for St. Vincent DePaul Catholic Church is 77025 so it is plausible that your parents were referring to the Towers Motor Hotel which was nearby.

I think this unit has an outdoor grille on its balcony. Nice but also risky(?) I would expect there is a fire suppression system too in case something gets out of hand. It would be integrated into the vent hood as in commercial kitchens. The metal blade ceiling fan also hints this is an outdoor space but that is not a certainty. My outdoor ceiling fans have metal blades. The heat and humidity here would ruin anything else.

I'm pleased to see the building that once housed Adkins Antiques so nicely restored. The landscaping is great too.

The cap is very nice but maple syrup . . . yummm! Enjoy, ekdrm.

It takes a good eye to differentiate a '64 from a '65 Beetle, mollusk. I do recognize a few running changes like the increasing size of the tail lights over time. I'm glad you mentioned the Galaxie. I noticed it but was already far enough off-topic. Ah, the OHC 6; if only more people had been enlightened in the day.

Tumbleweed, I'm pretty sure the light colored 4-door behind the 2-door is a 1965 Tempest (Pontiac's intermediate comparable to a Chevrolet Chevelle). When I zoom in on the image I can see a name badge low on the rear fender. It's not distinct but it looks more like "Tempest" than "LeMans" which was the up-level trim on that particular car just as the Chevrolet Malibu was a trim upgrade of the Chevelle. My 4th grade teacher (who was a tennis player and had an uncanny resemblance to Chris Evert) had a blue 1965 Tempest. The back fence neighbor had a 1966 full-size Pontiac wagon and the mother of my 3rd grade crush drove a 1965 Catalina 4-door sedan. My father was a Pontiac guy (would be still if Pontiac was still around). He had five of them between 1957 and 1986. I remember shopping with Dad along Milam back in the day. His 1964 Catalina 2-door hardtop with the Ventura trim option was lost in a garage fire in early 1968. Of course he was looking at Pontiacs but the cousin of a good friend of his, a salesman at Bland-Willis Cadillac, hooked him up with a 1967 Cadillac that some River Oaks dowager had turned in on an almost identical 1968 model(!?) Ah, the mysterious lives of the wealthy. The Caddy was a heck of a road trip car. It swilled gasoline like Capt. Morgan drank rum but covering 600+ miles a day was a no-sweat proposition. When Dad goes on a road trip he really goes.