57Tbird

This sure doesn't look like the track set-up I remember at Playland Park on South Main in Houston. With all due respect, this may be a Playland race track, but it's somewhere else other than Houston. The only thing it has in common with the Houston Playland layout is some carnival rides in the background. I went to dozens of races there between 1950 and when it closed down in the early 60's, so the memories are pretty well etched in what gray matter I have left. I saw just about everything there...modifieds, midgets, powder-puff derbies, figure-8 races, demolition derbies. I don't remember any sprint-car races though, like the cars shown in these photos. I think the track might have been too short for them. There could have been some, though. I do remember lots of sprint-car races at Meyer on the half-mile track there. First...There were no trees in the area. The track ran east to west. The start-finish line was on the north side with a small press box at the top of the stands. I always sat in the south side stands. The parking area was behind these stands, with not much to the south except open land and some motels. To the north, there was the U-turn of the roller coaster and then a few motels and other small structures over to OST where Prince's Drive-In was located at the intersection of Main and OST. The entrance to the raceway was on the west side of the track at the far east end of the amusement park area. At the east end of the track was the pit area. Beyond the pit area were open fields and no trees. The parking area for the amusement area was between the park and South Main. I think Gaido's was on the other side of Main from Playland. Second... There was no white picket fence around the pit area; nor was there any grass in the pit area. There were well-worn horizontal boards about 3'-4' high that encircled the track. Behind that track barrier was a tall chain-link fence...maybe 8-10' tall that was in front of the stands on both the north and south sides. At the west end of the track, outside the wooden barrier, was a corrogated metal fence/wall about 8' tall. Just outside this was the entrance to the raceway for the spectators. I mentioned in another thread about Playland that I was standing in the entrance area when Blackie Lothringer's came flying over the wall during warm-ups and killed a couple of people not more than 50' from me. It's amazing that no one else was killed during the races there, over the years. I remember several times when cars would hurdle over the barrier and into the chain-link fence, almost into the people sitting down in front. Safety regulations today would never allow a set-up like they had back then. The entrance to the pits was through a gate at turn 3. The exit was back through another gate at turn 4. The pit area was asphalt and no grass. Third...There is a blue tent and a white house in the upper left background of one of the photos. Nothing like that at Playland in Houston. Fourth... I showed these photos to some contemporaries of mine who attended races at Playland, and they concurred that those pictures were not from the Playland we know. So...I don't know where the description of these photos came from, but I'm sure they are not of Playland-Houston. I love the pictures and hope you post more of them.

This is the text that accompanied the picture of the Milby House. I should have included it when I posted the picture. Keep in mind this was written in 1942... The MILBY HOUSE (private), 614* Broadway, is a typical plantation style structure surrounded by spreading oaks hung with Spanish moss. The yard is lined with neat flower beds and winding walks; a brick fence is topped with an iron railing. Built in 1864 on the crest of a gentle slope, the first structure was a long, two-story wooden house, to which a brick mansion was added in 1885 by Charles H. Milby. The old part was remodeled and used for a kitchen. The bricks have since been covered with concrete blocks. Wide galleries on two sides terminate in a glassed conservatory. More than 100 shutters cover long French windows. At the time of its erection, the house was in the pioneer town of Harrisburg, then a busy village, now a Houston suburb. Its business and industrial district lay along Buffalo Bayou, beside the railroad shops, and wharves. From the upper gallery of the Milby house, stern-wheel and side-wheel boats could be seen as they plied industriously on the bayou to and from Houston and the coast, carrying passengers and cargo. Diminutive locomotives with Mother Hubbard stacks hissed and puffed as they passed, pulling their trains of freight and travelers. Ox- and mule-drawn wagons, and horse-drawn buggies plodded down the long dusty street. Not far from the Milby house, a narrow wooden bridge spanned Bray's Bayou on the road to Houston. The clatter of hoofs and of steel-rimmed wheels resounded above the steady hum of near-by sawmills on the bayou banks; those little milk made lumber of pine logs that were floated down the stream. Mrs. Milby's father, John Grant Tod, was a stockholder in Texas

Houston - A History and Guide - American Guide Series - Harris County Historical Society - 1942

Milby House and Glendale Cemetery.

Look forward to seeing them. I was a regular attendee at Arrowhead, Playland, and Meyer. I remember most of the names you mention. There have been several previous threads posted about the races at Playland and Meyer with more names. Check 'em out. I had a good friend who raced a '57 Chevy in a Novice class at Meyer, in the mid-60's.

I could be wrong, but wasn't that the Boston Sea Party?

TJ... You crack me up!

Oh, yes! I remember it well. It was just west of San Jacinto High School and not too far from where I lived. It looked like a huge house, more than a school. It was quite a bit further south and east of Fannin El. It was still at its Fannin location, at least into the 50's. Rumor was, at the time I was around there, that it was a school for "bad" girls. I would imagine that, in reality, quite the opposite was true, since it was a private school.

The bottom windows were actually in the basement, so I don't know if that qualifies as a first floor or not. The floor of the basement was probably about five feet below the windows. Our cafeteria and lunch room were down there, along with all the school plumbing and heating equipment for the water fountains, restrooms, and radiators in the classrooms and offices. Of course there was no A/C back then. Sad that it has been torn down. I heard that the San Jacinto High School alumni are trying to save their old building that's not too far from there, at Holman and Caroline on the HCC campus, from the same fate.

I went to Fannin Elementary School during WWII. Could someone tell me if it is still there? I think it was bounded by Louisiana and Smith and Anita and Tuam. If there, who now occupies it, and could a picture be taken? I would sure like to see if it still looks like I remember it. Even though this picture is very old (1909), it hadn't changed much between then and when I went, except there were fire escapes that had been added on the sides and back. http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y256/57Tbird/Fannin1909.jpg

Very interesting history! I remember my dad telling me that he came to Texas from California in 1920 and worked as a roughneck in the Pierce Junction oil fields just south of Houston. As late as 1958-1960, some of my rowdy friends and I would go rabbit hunting at night in those Pierce Junction oil fields. I wonder if any of those wells are still out there?

Actually, South Main went UNDER the railroad tracks when I was around there in the 50's-60's...at least one set of the tracks...I think the straight part.

Heights... I remember Pidge very well. He came over from Shreveport in the mid-50's. He did very well with the Buffs and helped them win the Dixie Series in 1956, I think it was. I can still remember the players at every position for the 1947 Dixie Series champ Buffs. I was a member of their Knot-Hole Gang at the time and saw many of their games for $.25/game admission. Buff Stadium seemed huge at that time to a little kid. I think it held all of 10,000 fans. For some of their sold-out championship games, they allowed fans in front of the fences in the outfield behind ropes.

You're right, Heights. I just looked at an old key map I have from around 1990, and it still shows a portion of Old Main Street Loop Rd. starting at Buffalo Speedway, just north of West Bellfort and going the same route southwest as on previous maps. There is no Reliant Stadium on mine, but it would go right through the Astrodome on my map if continued on its old path to Knight Road. Google Maps does show a small stretch of Old Main St Loop Rd in the Main and Willowbend area east of Main.

I was around back in the 60's... and (gulp) even the 50's, when I was old enough to be running around in my car. In the 50's, Old Main St Road started at Holcombe where Fannin ended. It continued on out to OST where it became Knight Road. On a previous thread somewhere, I mentioned that, in the 50's, George Dentler's Pier 21 Restaurant was located just south of Braes Bayou at 7001 Old Main Street Road. On the 1935 map that Subdude referenced, Old Richmond Road started just south of OST and went southwest from where Old M.S.R. was at that time before it became Knight Rd. That road (Old Richmond Road) appears on a 1952 Houston map as Old Main Street Loop. On a 1955 map, there is no road depicted, but the Houston city limits are shown where the road was on earlier maps. On a 1961 map, there is nothing in that area as the city limits were shown further south and west to Ft Bend County. A 1962 map has Old Main Street Road back on again where it was previously... going from Knight Road to South Main about where Stella Link intersects. On a 1965 map, it is gone... never to appear again. The only thing I remember about any kind of a road in that area was a gun club (trap and skeet shooting) where I went occasionally with a friend. It was just north and east of the South Main-Stella Link intersection, so it may have been on that road. I don't remember any construction in that area at the time... only vacant fields.

I remember a Jones Apothecary at the corner of Rice and Morningside in the Village in the '50s. Alfred's Deli was next door, if I remember correctly.

I remember this motel from the mid-late 50's. It was just up South Main, on the east side, from the South Main Drive-in theater, which was on the west side. It came before, and was not related to the Holiday Inn chain we know today. It was a small, independently owned operation built in the 40's. I recall there was some type of settlement made between the Holiday Inn chain, as it grew, and this motel owner to change the name of his place. I think he ended up changing its name to the Holiday House. ---------------------------- 10015 South Main Mitchell Inn Extant On the same subject, I wonder whose sign came first... the Mitchell Inn or the Holiday Inn. They do look similar.

There was a Plantation on South Main, known to regulars there as "The Plant". It was was on the east side of Main, between OST and Playland Park. Playland was just north of where Murworth is now. You're right. It was very popular with young, night-clubbers in the 40's. Thanks also, Subdude, from me for all the great, old pictures!

The only one out that direction would have been Meyer Speedway. It was located just west of Butler Stadium about where Hillcroft is. It was a half-mile paved track. The Playland track was long gone in the mid-70's.

You're right! I remember it being there. That is the same building that Subdude asked if it might be a sanitarium. I have a 1954 ad for Pier 21 that lists its address as 7001 Old Main Street Rd., which is what it was before it became Fannin. See a section below that I cropped of a 1935 map showing Old Main Street Road. That's what it was before they extended the Fannin name. Subdude, The only thing of that nature, I can remember in that area, was what I would call a nursing home/assisted living facility by the name of Holly Hall. It was further south on Knight Rd, between OST and Holmes Rd. I remember a Tuberculosis Sanatorium/Clinic/Hospital on the Southeast corner of Shepherd and Buffalo Drive (now Allen Pkwy).

That large parking lot was actually for Shamrock visitors. There was a light with a marked walkway across Main to the Shamrock. They had a parking garage, but must have had that outside lot for use when the garage was full, or for people who just didn't want to use the garage. It was probably also used by Valian's customers.

There has been some previous discussion elsewhere in this forum about the location of Arrowhead Park. I had previously mentioned that I had gone there, in the early 50's, to some stock car and and midget auto races. I knew it was on OST, but I thought it was closer to Fannin than it actually was, as shown in this photo. I recently found this picture in the Bob Bailey photo collection. The picture was titled Main and Holcombe, but you can clearly see what remained of the Arrowheard Park race track in the upper, left portion of the photo. It was originally built for horse-racing (not sure exactly when), but became a venue for car-racing in the early 50's. I worked briefly for Halliburton Oil Well Cementing Co. in the 50's, and I remember seeing this monorail while it was on display near the HOWCO field camp, which is shown here just east of Arrowhead on OST. For reference, that's the Shamrock Hotel at the right, middle of the picture.

They sent me a copy of one of their old menus. Please pardon the quality. Hebert's Ritz Menu from 1941