Colin

Just wanted to update that I found the abandoned marketplace, and I was slightly off on the name: El Mercado del Sol. Photos and architectural renderings from 1985, and you can find a number of articles on its several sales and eventual loft conversion in the early 2000's through Google. According to IMDB, it was a filming location for RoboCop 2. Still curious about the church compound on Almeda. That was not even that long ago... One more: the flophouses Downtown on Chenevert. I think a couple of them even made it into the Enron Field days.

It may not have been a Hobby Lobby, but it was some crafts store, originally. I knew a girl who worked there for a period in high school. It had the reputation of smelling like sewage. There were two Kettles on I-45 for a brief period. I have this old interstate exit guide from about 1989, that included Texas, Arizona and New Mexico, and showed all the businesses around the exits on the interstates. I'll have to pull it out when I get back to CA, because some of the businesses there were pretty interesting. That Popeye's has been there forever too. And I meant to mention before, regarding the '93 flood, there were houses on the golf course that flooded in Grogan's Point. I was always surprised that they built the land along Spring Creek up so much after that, though maybe the Corps finally came in and did something about the problems. There was a plan to put a reservoir in at both the east (I-45) and west (Kuykendahl) sides of the then-Woodlands. The western one was shown in that Mitchell master plan I mentioned. The first structure at Northgate Crossing was some sort of water thing on the north side of the toll road, and I was told it was for the reservoir but was never used. It was pretty vandalized the last time I saw it, and I think they removed it when they built the housing development on that side (it was first on the south side). The Palmer Course also flooded really badly because of Bear Branch, but I don't think any houses were damaged. We rode our bikes around on the day the flood occurred, all the way out to Cochran's Crossing and back via Research. We had to wade through the water to get over the bridge. I drove by the mall today and realized another weird retail shift: what is now Bonefish Grill used to be Blockbuster Music. I think it was empty for a really long time, too. I also just got reminded of the Teen Center. I believe this is just "Woodlands Recreation Center" in Bear Branch Park now, off Research. They had a carpeted, indoor basketball court surrounded by little rooms that you could rent and use for band rehearsal. These were absolutely destroyed, so they stopped that activity. I'm not sure when it ceased being the "Teen Center."

I remember the Ben Franklin being there and, while it was open, you could still see the outline of the Little Caesar's sign at the top. Hobby Lobby was originally where Fitness Connection is now, on Sawdust, IIRC. I never went into either store, though I recall going to the K-Mart a couple of times (which, I think was actually "Big K"). I forgot about the "HEB Pantry" period. My dad told me a story about that place in the early 90's the other day, about it smelling like death and they couldn't find the source, so they tore it down. Not sure if that's true, but I believe it was totally closed for close to a year in the mid-90's while they completely redid it. What's most surprising to me about that corner is that Hartz Chicken Buffet, Thomas BBQ and Sam's Cafe (the sign, at least) are still there today. Sam's was a Kettle for a long time; at least until the mid-90's. Also: 19th Hole. Even when I was 12, my friend's parents would bring us over there to see bands. That was a sketchy little place. Lots of cocaine. Is the bowling alley on I-45 not there anymore? At McCulloch HS, they bused us over there for the bowling unit in PE.

You're probably right about it not being "Super," but it did have a Little Caesar's inside. I remember being really excited about that.

I know this is a bit late, but I've just found this thread, and got 90's Houston on the brain and wanted to share or maybe even trigger some nostalgia. Music Venues: Millenium: It was a metal club on 1960 near the Hardy Toll Road. I was in a drum competition there in about 1994 (I lost in the first round to the eventual winner). There were always interesting people in there. The Abyss: "Alternative" club on Washington by Westcott, that was shut down by about 1996. It was inside an old movie theater, and had a sloped floor going to the stage and a balcony. Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins and other big acts of that day played there before they got big, and they happily plastered their logos on the walls. It was a good place to see a show. The Engine Room: "Indie" club Downtown that, I guess, finally closed in '08. This was kind of a dump but they had some great bands come through. They charged for parking in their lot, but I would usually risk the street. I saw Man or Astroman, Built to Spill, and even Godspeed You! Black Emperor played there on their last tour. Mary Jane's: Indie club on Washington. People will call this place "Mary Jane's Fat Cat," but that was a name change that occurred in about 2000, and I always hated the new name. My band at the time, in probably our biggest show, opened for The Gloria Record and Antarctica in, I believe, 1999. Hands Up Houston: Not a club, but a web site that existed in the mid- to late 90's where show listings were posted. At the time, that was the most reliable place to find out about these shows. A couple of years ago even, the site was still up, with concert calendars from 2000. East Downtown: El Sol Market: I don't know if there are already threads about this, but I'm sure there's info available online because of the pains Houston had with this place. It was in today's "EaDo" back when it was the epitome of urban wasteland. By the 90's, it was long-abandoned, but I know the big, white sign on the building's side was up well into the early 90's. Francisco's: I don't know if this still exists, but it is/was a band rehearsal space on McKinney, just east of 59. I was there a lot in the early 2000's, but it was opened in the mid- or late 90's. It was just about the only place where you could practice at that time, so it was kind of a microcosm of Houston bands. They also had LAN parties some nights. Southwest: The South Main Motels: Does anyone remember any names? These were in their last days, and some had already been torn down. They rebuilt the road in the early 2000's, and that took care of some, but the Astrodome's demise seemed to closely coincide with theirs. In about 2000, I delivered a pizza to a crackhead in a room at one of them (she tipped me about $0.25), then refused to go down there again when they called back for more pizza because I was worried about them robbing me. The Summit: My first NBA basketball game. The Religious Tower: This was abandoned before the late 90's, I know, but I don't know its history because I cannot recall its name and it's, of course, been redeveloped into condos. It was at the southeast corner of Almeda & MacGregor. There was a church-looking building at the front, but then a 10- to 15-story brick tower behind it. The sign was still out, and it belonged to some church. Any ideas on this? Alief: We almost moved to Alief when we first came to Houston, but it had already started its unfortunate decline by that time, in the early 90's, and it showed. Southeast: Gulfgate Bennigan's: It's my strongest memory of this area because it seemed so random, and we would go there quite a bit. Mall of the Mainland: I remember going there in about 1996 to buy shoes, and I drove there a couple of times in 1999. The first time, the mall was pretty busy. I believe we even ate lunch there. Gulf Greyhound Park opened in the early 90's. North: Greenspoint: It was still a really, really bad area in the early 90's, but we would go to the mall quite a bit before The Woodlands Mall opened in the mid-90's. We would not go there at night, as this was about the time they had the string of robberies/rapes where the assailants would hide under the cars and wait for you to return. The shopping center across I-45, then called "The Commons at Greenspoint," featured some sort of massive CD/computer/electronics store that I cannot recall the name of, but it only opened around 1994. I-45 North: It was a parking lot until they finally rebuilt it, which I believe was in the mid-90's. It was two lanes in each direction north of 1960, and was in terrible shape south of there with these old overpasses for most of the intersections. Hardy Toll Road: A virtual ghost freeway at that time. They filmed "The Chase" here and repainted the northern toll booth to look like a Mexican border crossing. It was like that for a few weeks. Goodyear Blimp Station: People would always talk about how Phil Collins had used it at one point. IAH: Rankin Road was the west entrance to the airport. Terminal B was the old Eastern Airlines terminal, and it was kind of creepily empty when they went under. The weird people mover in the basement (I was told that it still exists, but it's now only open to employees) was a fairly efficient way to get between the terminals, and there was even a stop at the hotel (always a Marriott). Terminal D was "IAB". As of my last flight into IAH, just a few months ago, Terminal A still looks exactly the same as it did in the early 90's. I may be mistaken on some of this stuff. Sam Houston Race Park opened in the early 90's. There was an antique car museum along I-45 South, just north of the Hardy Toll Road. It was part of a larger truck stop. West: The Igloo Factory/Plant: I was always so intrigued by this, I think because the logo made it look so fun. It was basically underneath the I-10/SHT interchange. I believe it closed with the Katy Freeway expansion. East: The Baytown Tunnel closed. I remember seeing it on the news. The Grand Parkway was supposed to be built within the next few years, though it would only exist near Katy until somewhat recently. I have a 1994 Key Map that prominently shows the proposed route in a red line. That's all I can think of right now. I have a bunch of digital pictures of central Houston in 1999 that I have somewhere. Sorry if this is dull or well-tread.

I lived in The Woodlands in the early 90's, in middle school. We spent quite a bit of time on our bikes on the dirt roads, past the "No Trespassing" signs that existed on the then-edge of development around Kuykendahl, just exploring. We moved there right as the supermarket in Grogan's Mill Shopping Center was closing. The name Jamail's sounds right. The Kroger shopping center at Research/Gosling opened about 1994. Before that, it was basically Randall's at Panther Creek, Piggly Wiggly in Oak Ridge, or the now-closed Randall's and Kroger that were near Sawdust/Budde. We spent a lot of time at that Kroger shopping center, and Panther Creek saw a marked decline when it opened. There used to be a video store where the Starbuck's is now, called Take One Video, and that's where we would rent our games. That was eventually bought out by Blockbuster though, who already had a store by the new Kroger. I know that, in about 1995, I found a book at the library in The Woodlands that was about its history, mostly in terms of Mitchell's initial development. The one thing that interested me the most was the master plan for the community that he had drawn by hand, incorporating office and industrial (the "Trade Center" area that was finally built up only a few years ago) into housing. And the housing was spread out into different densities for different incomes. I may head over there tomorrow to see if it's still on their shelves. That old Wal-Mart on Sawdust sat vacant for many, many years. I recall it being vacant as late as 1999, with the outline of the sign still visible above the doors. That now-Hobby Lobby K-Mart (I believe it was even a Super K-Mart) opened around 1993, IIRC. I don't recall what else was in that old strip mall with Kroger and Wal-Mart, except for Ninfa's, Cici's, and a Sundale Donuts. Just thought I'd add that.