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I was browsing the newspaper The Houston Post dated April 9, 1911 and came across a social section of local events and happenings. One article caught my eye. Now, back in 1911 I don't think South Main (Boulevard) went very far. I'm pretty sure they meant Old Main Street Road. I actually don't know, just an educated guess. I guess "South Main Blvd" would have started on the outskirts of Downtown extending to the Rice campus. Anything past the Rice campus would have been OMSR. There's a map somewhere on HAIF that shows South Main Blvd. not going further than the Rice campus. The article: There was an unusual gathering last Thursday at Samuel L. Hain's farm on South Main street, where Florence Lillian, the 8-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A.W. Archer took dinner with her great grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Clay Hain and her grandfather Sam K. Hain. Those present were her great-grandfather, Henry Clay Hain, aged 82; great-grandmother, Mrs. M.C. Hain aged 77; Mrs. M.M. Archer, 83 years--

Does anyone know about the Charles Weber & Rice University saga? Apparently, Charles Weber was holding onto some valuable pig farm land that Rice wanted. Eventually, he caved in and sold to the university. Map Showing Rice Institute Property. The accompanying map shows the Rice Institute location, three miles from the center of the city on Main Street Road, the road leading right alongside the property from the South End, Southmore and Kenilworth Grove additions. The map begins at Eagle avenue. The white squared marked “Dupont” and “Charles Weber” are small pieces of property which the trustees could not secure. The Weber property having been occupied as a home and truck garden for a number of years. In the northern edge of the 102-acre tract there is a large grove of stately forest trees, while the lower portion of the sity-seven-acre tract is dotted with the large forest trees. The stream winding through the proper is Brays Bough, which will give through drainage. This stream, in addition to furnishing drainage is acceptable of terracing and landscaping. Altogether the location is ideal in every particular. Nether Proof. Lovett nor the trustees are ready to make any announcement as to the character of the buildings or educational policy, but they are all busy with these matters. Bought Land for $1000; Sells it for $56,000 An indicator of the expansion of Houston land values within the last 47 years was given Wednesday when Charles Weber and wife sold a tract of land lying opposite the Rice Institute on Main street boulevard for $6000. The tract was less than three acres and was the last of 10-acre plot bought by Mr. Weber in 1872 for $1000. The 10 acres have brought $56,000 to the owner since his original purchase. The tract across from Rice Institute was bought by R.W. Franklin, who acts as trustee for other interests. The land will not be used for furthering private enterprises, according to Mr. Franklin. The deed to the three acre tract was filed Wednesday in the district clerk's office. Record Price Paid For Main Street Acreage By The Rice Institute. Seven acres Were Purchased Yesterday From Charles Weber for a Consideration of $50,000. Seven Acres Bring $50,00 Charles Weber, a truck framer out Main street road, south of Houston sold, sold seven acres of land adjusting the site of Rice Institute for $50,000 cash. The processional at Rice's formal opening ceremonies almost had to be rerouted at the last minute for what Porcine reason? Thanks to our generous clue, all the contestants realized the answer had something to do with pigs. Despite answers ranging from runaway pigs to disparaging comments about Rice women, the real answer lies with farmer Charles Weber, who owned the last 10 acres of what would become the Rice grounds. Weber, whose pigsty lay adjacent to the processional route, refused to sell his parcel of land until the proverbial 11th hour.

I was looking for information regarding the Greenwood Sanitarium located on South Main Street (actually on Old Main Street Road) and came across this small, unknown dairy farm called Duerig's Farm. It appears that the farm was owned and operated by William J. Duerig. I found all these newspaper articles and ads in The Houston Post dated 1913 - 1918. While the articles never mention South Main Street, or Old Main Street Road, I don't think South Main extended towards the Greenwood Sanitarium before the 1920s. "Main Street" would actually be Old Main Street Road. Tractor Demonstration Titan Tractors - Olive Plows This successful tractor will be demonstrated on the Duerig's Farm, out Main street, near Greenwood's Sanitarium, Sept. 5 and 6. Come and see the results of years of experience in tractor building. W. Roy Reid & Company 525-527 Preston Avenue - Houston, Texas. Titan Kerosene Tractor - A Grade Prize Winner - See It In Action - Free Demonstration. Thursday and Friday, September 5 and 6, at the Durig Dairy, near Greenwood Sanitarium on Main Street Road. It appears that the farm was owned and operated by William J. Duerig. Woman who taught first night school in Houston Twenty-Three years ago will herself graduate from night school. Third Row, Left to Right: I. Hergeron, F. Sheridan, Allen Murray, W.J. Duerig-- Those finishing in the bookkeeping department will be as follows: Mrs. Nora Whaley, Mrs. Bertha Young, Lawrence J. Bergerson, William J. Duerig-- It looks like William J. Duerig had a home at 1404 Crawford Street. Dallas Man Held Up. Made to Deliver by Highwaymen on Clay Avenue. Fralia is stopping at the home of W. J. Duerig at 1404 Crawford Street, while in the city.

My very first science fiction convention happened at this place back in 81 and it was such a blast. I met every player in Star Trek there as well as a slew of writers I always looked up to. I was 11 at the time and shortly after I heard the hotel was knocked to the ground. I remember liking the inside but all I can really remember was the roof was green. Anyone have any pics that'd like to share? Wyatt C. Hedrick (often misspelled as Wyatt C. Hendrick)

I was browsing an old newspaper called Brenham Banner-Press dated July 10, 1940 and came across a day schedule. Lots of activities planned for the busy day, and in the afternoon there was a Skeet shooting activity. Elks National Skeet Shoot: Main Skeet Club, South Main Street at the Airport (time of this event will be posted at the Elks Information Booth on the Texas Avenue side of the Rice Hotel.) Looks like this was next to the Houston Main Street Airport. I'd love to know of an address of that airport. Or an address of this skeet shooting club. This is the 2nd time, technically 3rd, I've heard about this place. I wonder if there are any advertisements or photos of this place? The 1942 book called Houston, a history and guide mentions: Trap shooting: Houston Gun Club- 7 miles Southwest on Westheimer Rd. Main Skeet Club- 7 miles Southwest on US 90. In the article clipping below you can also see more historic Houston things such as the BraeBurn County Club, Gulf Brewing Company, Rice Hotel, and Buffalo Stadium.

I was browsing the newspaper The Bellaire Texan dated March 28, 1946 and came across a business ad for Ho-Li Garden Restaurant located at At 8299 South Main Street. This is pretty cool. I never heard of this place before! I wonder how it ranked against the other, extremely popular Chinese restaurants back in the same time period. You never hear about this place. Looks like the opening was recently, according the advertisement.

I was browsing the newspaper The Bellaire Texan dated May 6, 1959 and came across an article about a shoe store called Shoe Box located at 6700 South Main Street. Anyone recall this place? It sure was a long time ago! The shoe store was apparently housed in the Hermann Professional Building, but the address of 6700 South Main seems different than the professional building. 6700 was where the Tides II Motor Inn was located. The original location of Shoe Box store was located at 2260 West Holcombe Blvd. in the Braeswood Center shopping center. Bill Douglas was the owner of the Shoe Box stores.

https://scholarship.rice.edu/handle/1911/71846 Rice owns a lot of land off the Highway 90 feeder. I went on a new running route and stopped by. Looks like dirt is being moved at the back of the property. Expansion or maintenance related?

I was browsing the newspaper The Rice Thresher dated October 7, 1983 and came across a business ad for Lickety Split Restaurant located at 6628 South Main Street. Did anyone ever eat here? It wasn't too long ago (comparability) so maybe someone around here has ate there?

I couldn't find any information about it. Here is the picture and caption from that monorail site: http://www.monorails.org/webpix/1956.jpg Now my question is what was "Arrowhead Park"? Was this an amusement park? I couldn't find it on a map of Houston from the mid-1950s.

I was browsing the newspaper The Southwestern Texan dated September 21, 1960 and noticed an advertisement for Uncle Van's Pancake House located at 9600 South Main Street. "Right next door to the Las Vegas Motel. 9600 block of South Main at Buffalo Speedway." "Home of the world renowned pancakes featuring 32 different authentic world famous recipes!" Very cool. Pancake Houses were sure popular in the 1960s and 1980s. I know of the following restaurants: Uncle Ben's Pancake House At 2510 Rice Blvd. Uncle John's Pancake House At 8330 South Main St. Uncle Van's Pancake House At 9600 South Main St. Kettle Pancake House At 9047 South Main St. Mike Lewis' Pancake House at 4009 Bellaire Blvd. The Original Pancake House At 5815 Westehimer Rd. Village Inn Pancake House At 1705 Old Spanish Trl.

I was browsing the newspaper The Bellaire Texan dated July 14, 1971 and noticed a business advertisement for Canine Motel And Cat House located at 11525 South Main Street. A couple in a local grocery store were in the check-out line and the woman was telling her husband an unusual experience that happened while driving down South Main. I ever made a U-Turn to see if I read the sign right, she told him. As they both chucked a man behind them joined I the chuckle. Oh, we've seen it too? She asked. Yes the stranger replied. Well, nice you've heard of it, you'll never forget it. Se laughed. I certainly hope not, the man relied as he handed the woman his business card. The sign she saw read “Canine Motel and Cat House” and the stranger was Phil Oesterman owner of the recently opened establishment for pets. The Canine Motel and Cat House is housed on 2-1/2 Acres of land on South Main, across from the South Main Drive-Inn Theatre at Stella Link. The first phase of the planned complex, will represent an investment in excess of $50,000.

There was a place on south main in the fifties called the Trading Post...maybe that's it? There was also the Troubador and the Copacabana, but those don't sound as "country"

I was reading the newspaper The Bellaire Texan dated August 29, 1962 and came across a business advertisement for Lariat Restaurant & Club located at 11215 South Main Street. The Lariat Restaurant, Houston's newest, has opened its door at 11215 South Main, and manager Bill Cypert issues an invitation to area residents to visit his beautiful new dinning room and taste is delicious food at reasonable prices. Operating in conjunction with new Lariat Restaurant is the new Club 45, now taking memberships. As an incentive, the first 50 people who join Club 45 says Mr. Cypert, will not have to pay a membership fee - only the beverage pool and stare tax. The club options Sept. 1 at 4 p.m. The large, fine swimming pool adjacent to the restaurant-club building will be operated through September and October at a rate of $10 per family or 25 cents for children and 50 cents for adults. The complex also includes a convenient drive-in restaurant served from the central kitchen. In the dining room there will be nightly dancing- from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Presently playing the Sonny Covington Four. Edit: I just realized this is the same location as a club called Lee's Trading Post Club located at 11215 South Main St. On the below newspaper article it mentions a "new club". Does that mean Lariat Restaurant & Club 45 came after Lee's Trading Post Club?

Does anyone know what that old Asian style shopping center is? Why isn't it still open? It looks like a nice place to redenvelope. I wish I could tell you exactly where it is but I can't.

I was browsing the newspaper The Texan dated July 27, 1983 and came across an article about the birth of the City of Bellaire. Bellaire's founder was W.W. Baldwin, Vice President of the Burlington Railroad. Who in 1902 came to "Houston by the Sea" to look around all the railroads of the south and southwest led to Houston and Baldwin soon realized he had found what he came for. His first venture was the Westmoreland addition, a residential section four blocks long and two blocks wide bounded by West Alabama, Louisiana, Hawthorne, and Garrott Streets in the Montrose Area. The development was so successful that he began to look around for more land and in 1909 bought the 9,700 acre Jim DeMoss Ranch which was located off the end of Old South Main. To help him sell the property he hired two good real estate brokers. A.J. Condit and A.A. Buxton. They advertised the land in tracts of from one to five acres and ten acres. At prices ranging from $275 to $600 per acre. The new community needed a name and since the land was fanned by the bel-air (fine air) off the Gulf of Mexico, the name of his hometown, Bellaire, Ohio was quiet appropriate. The original limits of the community were Palmetto, Jassamine, First, and Sixth Streets.

I was browsing the newspaper The Thresher dated September 20, 1935 and came across a business advertisement for Club Rendezvous located at 6560 South Main Street. Featuring the Bert Sloan Orchestra - Floor Shows Nightly. Couvert - 40 Cents Per Person. This was actually before the Texas Medical Center, if you could believe it. I can only imagine what South Main looked like back then. Wish I was there!

I was browsing the newspaper The Rice Thresher dated October 10, 1946 and came across a business advertisement for Whites Drive-In Restaurant located at 6643 South Main St. Such an awesome, historical find!! Serving Delicious Home Style Fried Chicken - Hamburgers - Cheeseburgers - All kinds of sandwiches - Beer - Soft drinks. I love the design of this small drive in. So simple!

Wow! What a trip down memory lane. I remember the Tidelands from the 1950's, orange being the dominant exterior color. I saw the comedian, Jonathan Winters, perform there and I salsad the night away in the 1980's at the Tides II. I've got to go through my post card collection and see what I can come up with. The shopping center just south of this now vacant lot had an Eckerd's, a bookstore, an all u can eat Chinese buffet and in the 1950's, a seafood restaurant where the children could pick an item out of the "treasure chest" in the lobby. Anybody remember the name of this place? Was it Ship Ahoy? This center sat vacant for years. I don't drive by enough to know what's there now.

Does anyone know what this black mid-rise building is? I was browsing the Library of Congress for Houston buildings and came across this aerial skyline picture of the Texas Medical Center. I can't seem to figure out what this building is. The black building is located in between the Crowne Plaza Hotel at 6701 South Main and the The O'Quinn Medical Tower at 6624 Fannin. Is this the Halliburton office and laboratory building? Or the University of Texas Computer Center? Looks like a different application of building than the rest of the hospitals, etc.

Brochsteins (1947) at 11530 Main Street has one big pylon in front.

I was reading the newspaper The Rice Thresher dated February 14, 1980 and came across a grand opening (now open) business ad for Gabby's Bar-B-Q & Hamburgers located at 9401 South Main St. I searched HAIF and found a few mentions of Gabby's BBQ but nobody mentioned their South Main location. I wonder if it's one of their later locations? Who was the owner of this restaurant chain? Was it based in Houston? Did anyone eat here? Any memories of this place? Do tell! Looks like this the current place of Taquerias Arandas?

Just how long has Waukesha-Pearce Industries (WPI) been at the corner of South Post Oak and South Main? They've been there since the 1940s, right? Very cool sight, driving down South Post Oak to see a bunch of heavy construction equipment. I just did a (very) quick search and WPI has been around since 1924. wow!! Were they always at this corner? What other locations did they have? https://www.wpi.com/

In the early 60's Willow Creek Little League that had been playing behind Red Elementary was given land across South Main from the South Main Drive Inn and Homeco Field was built. Due to the lights from the baseball fields the Little League had to pay to have a large sheet metal wall built to keep the lights from disrupting the movies. Growing up in Willow Bend I remember driving up Willow Bend Blvd and always checking out what movie was playing on the South Main Drive Inn screen.

The Westbury Square thread reminded me about this article which I had not exposed to the web. It provides history of the airport from its origins in 1941 to the article date in 1947. As noted in the Westbury Square thread, the airport property is bounded by present-day South Main, Chimney Rock, Hillcroft and West Bellfort. http://houstonfreeways.com/images/sam_hous...ew_complete.jpg