When I moved here in 1979, my dad bought me a street map. The key was to the left of Gessner. That was as far west as Houston went! There was literally NOTHING past Gessner! I spent my birthday that year driving up and down Highway 6 looking for Bellaire. Unbeknown to me, they didn't intersect at the time. Not funny then, but VERY funny now.
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.
Houston In The 1970s
in Historic Houston
Posted
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.