Depends what part of Gessner.
My second trip to Houston (first was on a Super Constellation with my mother; I was 3 and wearing saddle oxfords and a sailor suit...Mother had her Jackie Kennedy pillbox and wore heels, pearls, and a suit) was in 1973; my aunt had a brand new 73 Lincoln Mark IV and I had a learners' permit; she handed me the keys and let me drive all the way! Her friend had taken a job as an apartment manager and we all went to see her; she was managing these apartments waaaaaaaaaaay out in the west part of town---Gessner and IH 10.
When I moved to Houston in 1979, I lived southwest (where all the other young single people lived) in a brand-new Harold Farb apartment that I had to lease pre-construction (so as to get an apartment at all). It was on Bissonnet (my gf's family lived in Missouri City; I thought it would be a good compromise). It backed up to this great greenbelt; they were going to build a freeway on it at some point in the distant future (Beltway 8). All of that was west of Gessner---but just barely. There were a few strip centers on Gessner (mostly in the middle of empty fields). They built the brand-new Hilton Westchase---standing all by itself---and I remember thinking, "Who on earth would stay all the way out here? How will they keep it going?"
I remember driving around the neighborhood where I now live. It was out in the middle of the rice fields north of Andrau Airpark. The houses were "beautiful" to me; I remember thinking, "I wish I could afford to live there some day." Well, here I am. This seemed like "halfway to San Antonio" then; now it's right in town. While I no longer think the houses are "beautiful" , I do still love the neighborhood (I always have liked the "Houston/Cal-contempo" style, and I still do). It looks better now with mature trees; "civilized".
I've lived all over the US since then, and wound up back here. I maintain this is the friendliest big city to which I've ever been; I love the architecture here and the big freeways and all the great diversity.
To the OP: thanks for the tip, I'd never heard of historical maps being available on Google Earth, either.
