Urban Commando

Not meaning to ressurect a long dead thread, but figured this would be a good place to put this information. Aldine ISD has had the old Lane Center torn down. Nothing but an empty area there. Another piece of history gone.

Back when the Jensen Drive corridor was a major shopping area, Fingers had the store at Jensen and Tidwell. Right across the street on Tidwell was Commercial State Bank. From what I remember, Fingers never really did a brisk business there from what I saw and I think it turned out to be basically a store in which they sold old furniture styles, seconds, and so forth from their major locations. It closed a long time before Fingers folded and I believe was another business for a while before it became what it is today. It hasn't been the safest area of town for decades and is a monument to urban blight.

Fleming's main facility for Minimax stores was there. When Minimax faded into history, most of the Fleming distribution was taken over by Grocers Supply. I worked at the Fleming facility for a short time...was not a pleasant place to work. There was no tears in my eyes when it was torn down.

I know they were here in the 70's. particularly on the north side (the company was at Irvington and Lindale). Anyone know what year they left Houston and why?

This may or may not help, but water towers that were near airports or in an airport flight path used to be painted in a checkerboard fashion. I remember two of them over off Kirby back in the late 60's-early 70's. I don't know if that was FAA or not, but there used to be quite a few of them around.

If you are meaning the one in Cypress, it was Doug Russell Chevrolet. I remember it because he, along with I.W. Marks and some young guy and his relatively new Gallery Furniture were sponsors of Houston wrestling with Paul Boesch on Saturday nights. The dealership folded and I believe that Mr. Russell is no longer among us.

I used to not believe in them, either...until I had a few encounters which I will keep private. Suffice to say, they are out there. I honestly wished I still had your skepticism on them. I found the situations involved to be very sad, indeed.

800 feet high? Chase is over 1,060 feet tall.

I kinda doubt this. It has been tried before. Chase Tower was originally designed for more than its 75 stories but the FAA nixed that idea at the time. I think 75 is as tall as we are going to ever see in Houston.

That map shows an area located around the Mt Houston/Hirsch/Homestead Road area today. The old Mt. Houston VFD (defunct) station was there...now burned down. I had read some things on it in the past...like Aldine or Spring it was a community all its own. Now nothing remains of it. Kind of like Brubaker or Higgs.

What police agency was involved? I saw what appeared to be HPD but the police car didn't look ANYTHING like HPD...as a matter of fact, I don't recall any police agency in Harris County that looked like that car.

Yes, there was. Before it was a flea market, it was a department store called "Shopper's Fair". It was at the east end of the property and on the land near it WAS an AMF bolwing alley, a post office (if I remember right) and a President's/First Lady Health Club.

It was an automotive something or another,but I don't think it was affliated with Foleys (I think it was a Bridgestone tire dealer, maybe a Firestone). A lot of the parking area and pad buildings are gone due to the 610 expansion and road construction. The fact the Northwest Mall is still standing amazes me. Not only is it LONG past redemption, but parts of it are unusable (Foley's/Macy's was done in by Hurricane Ike). I haven't been there in over twenty years but drive past it daily. The only activity I ever see around it is construction equipment...it doesn't get many customers. The Galleria is less than three miles up 610 from it. The best thing for that place is to be torn down...that will probably happen in the next few years.

There are several in Harris County. One I am immediately familiar with is in the area on the northeast side bordered by Halls Bayou, Little York, Hirsch, and US 59 North. The neighborhood was destroyed by Halls Bayou during TS Allison. I beleieve the government bought them out, razed the area, and broke up the streets to where the neighborhood is not accessible by vehicles. The whole area has gone to seed and is a haven for illegal dumping and is a pretty rough and dangerous area. I live not too far from it and I wouldn't go exploring down there. I think there is another thread about this somewhere.

Proczach, there were several. One was located in a strip shopping center at Fulton and Crosstimbers behind the Jack In The Box and across from Northline Mall.

Yep, the Fiesta is still there in the old GEMCO building.

Oh, boy do I remember it! Kennedy and Cohen was around in the early 1970's and they weren't around very long. When ole Marvin Zindler first got on Channel 13, they were often a target of his reports for various disreputable business practices. Seems like he did stories on them once a week! I believe they vansihed from the scene no later than 1975.

I thought it had been closed long before that. In either case, it is an example of urban blight that needs to be torn down before tragedy happens.

Shopper's Fair was at Shepard and Crosstimbers....it is now apartments. In its time, it was a major department store. I have pics as a baby with my mom there. Sears (which is still there) and a church were across Crosstimbers from it.

Was built as a K-Mart man, many years ago. If I remember right, it was the only K-Mart in the north part of Houston at the time. The building has been in very poor shape for many years and considering the area, I'm suprised it hasn't been burned down by homeless, vandals, or arsonists.

Went down the Elysian Street Viaduct this weekend and noticed something wrong...the old Gable Street Power Plant is gone! When and who tore it down? I figured this was a protected landmark.

For those interested, the Saunders/Langley neighborhood is along US 59 behind the Sak-N-Save store and adjacent to Halls Bayou between Parker and Little York. The homes were destroyed by T.S. Allison and I believe the government bought them out,condemned the area, and raised it. The streets were destroyed to prevent them becoming a dumping ground and hang out for illegal activity...although a trip through that area will cause you to debate the success in that. It was and still is a pretty rough area. It will never be developed again and will probably just be let go to seed although a park MAY eventually result from some of it...as is already the case behind the Fiesta across the freeway.

Back when I was a kid in the mid/late 60's and very early 70's the Jensen Drive area was the shopping area for the north side. Jensen Square was home to a grocery store called Foodland (its competition was Food Giant, just across Aldine-Westfield Road from it). The center had a fire circa 1969 that was at the east end of the center that destroyed one store and smoeke/water damaged several others. T&L was a nice little diner that my family ate at often. It was similar to The Dot down at Gulfgate now. I think the center dates from the 1950's. The fact the place is still standing is a miracle in and of itself. The only store still part of the Jensen strip era is the Firestone store at Berry Rd and Jensen Dr. Everything else died out over a generation ago.

I had thought Sid Lasher died around '74. I do remember watching a distraught Ron Stone make the announcement and that it had happened in studio just before on-air 10PM. They cut to a picture of Sid Lasher and then went straight to the Late Show movie. A long time ago, but I still remember it clearly.

I know times change, but it's still kinda sad to see the big ranches "riding off into the sunset..." I feel like we are losing part of our Texas heritage when they do. I wonder just how many people remember a large ranch called the "Nine Bar Ranch". I always remember the large, open spaces of that place. I don't think any of that one remains anymore...the land it was became "Fairfield" off of 290.