theoriginalkj Posted November 20, 2006 Share Posted November 20, 2006 Does anybody have any old Alief area photos that they can share? I'm talking about photos from the 30's through 70's? An arial would be awesome if anybody has one... Kevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purelife Posted February 13, 2007 Share Posted February 13, 2007 i'd be interested in seeing something like this too, being a native alief-ite (?) - it's changed so much even in the past 10 years! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firebird65 Posted February 13, 2007 Share Posted February 13, 2007 Does anybody have any old Alief area photos that they can share? I'm talking about photos from the 30's through 70's? An arial would be awesome if anybody has one...KevinSomeone else started a thread on this awhile back. Unfortunately, they never got any responses. I hope you have better luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fringe Posted February 13, 2007 Share Posted February 13, 2007 Check out this site: aliefhastings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westguy Posted February 13, 2007 Share Posted February 13, 2007 I remember seeing an old cotton gin on Alief rd a while back. It was torn down to build the Westpark Tollway. I don't know if its in any of those photos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetroMogul Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 I noticed the thread about Sharpstown and wondered if anyone had any interesting memories from the Alief area (Westwood to Mission Bend and everything in between). I moved there (Club Creek to be exact) as a child in 1994 and there have been so many changes since then. When my family moved into the Villa Madrid (formerly Sundance) Apts, most of the whites and minorities of means had left for the greener pastures of Mission Bend and points west. It was a lower middle class area at this point with the exception of some relatively new houses (now much deteriorated) off of Greenfork. My apartments were a mixture of black and hispanics with the apartments next door, Fairway West (now Happy Homes) being nearly all black. At one point, only my complex and the 100% hispanic Spring Rose complex had sizeable hispanic populations. That would definitely change over time as all apartments along Club Creek from Beechnut to Woodfair would become nearly 100% hispanic.Back in 1994, Westwood Mall was just beginning to enter it's twighlight. It used to be bustling and a great place to hang out, especially the TILT arcade. Each year however, the number of visitors decline and the death knell came when Foley's opted not to relocate from Sharpstown. I think the mall officially closed in 1997 or 1998, maybe later. In these past 13 years, a number of formally undeveloped fields have become cheap strip centers or convenience stores. I remember when Ventures was built on Beltway 8 and Beechnut and went out of business a few years later. K-Mart took over that site and suffered the same fate. It has since been redeveloped as a Viet Hoa. The old Auchan on the Beltway is now a Food Town that has somehow managed to compete with the new Wal-Mart across the street. I used to work at the Home Depot on Bellaire and the Beltway. As I'd walk to work alongside the tollway, I'd see remnants of old gates from ranches that used to be along the former Roark Rd. I'm tired now but I'll type more later. Hopefully others have memories to share of the Alief area. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeebus Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 The Asian community, in particular the Vietnamese, haven really taken a foothold in this area. I feel like I can actually see the area improving every time I drive down Bellaire or Beechnut. The apartment complexes are the only thing they seem unable to change, even in the ones that they make up the majority of the ethnicity in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vertigo58 Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 I attended HCC at Alief High School on Highstar around 1990. The school was 95% anglo and considered a fine school then. Has it started on the decline too? Whenever I hear about it, its usually a crime of some sort. Honest. Is it best to remember the way it was? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetroMogul Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 I attended HCC at Alief High School on Highstar around 1990. The school was 95% anglo and considered a fine school then. Has it started on the decline too? Whenever I hear about it, its usually a crime of some sort. Honest. Is it best to remember the way it was?Well, the HCC you went to was housed in I believe the "Annex" building between Hastings and Elsik high schools. Both of those schools have declined somewhat, but they aren't a ghetto mess on the level of say Kashmere or Jack Yates. They both still serve a suburban core of students along with a number of lower income families on the eastern edge of the school district. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fringe Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 You will need the quicktime plug-inAlief history Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBryant Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 My family moved to Alief in 1989 and I attended Holub Middle and Elsik High. I think, at that point, it was just beginning to really turn for the worse. Big pants, man. Everyone wore really big pants.I remember when the Auchan Hyper (Hyper!) Market opened on Beechnut at the Beltway. It was truly an event. Imagine, being able to by tires and groceries under same roof! Of course, I imagine it wasn't much bigger than a Walmart Supercenter, but back then it seemed to truly earn the "Hyper" moniker.I've just discovered this forum and have really enjoyed it for the past hour or so. Hopefully, I'll be able to contribute to this collective trip down amnesia lane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikeytex Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 My Mom and I moved to Alief in 1976 and I lived there until about 1982 and then again in '88 through '93. I saw alot of the growth in my time there. I attended Hastings and graduated in 1979. There was pretty much nothing from Sharpstown to Alief. It was like driving in the country. There were also a lot of dirt/gravel roads heading out towards Highway 6. It was quite peaceful in the 70'/80's as compared to the early 90's when you heard periodic gunshots. My how times have changed! At the time we moved out there, Wilcrest was dirt/gravel from Harwin(Alief-Clodine) to Westheimer. Westheimer pretty much ended as a paved road just past Wilcrest. The schools (Hastings & Elsik) were pretty much tame and very, very white. We still had truant officers back then, not school/campus police. I worked at the Minimax both at the old location at Belle Park and Bellaire (don't know what it is now) and the new location at Bellaire and Dairy-Ashford (possibly a furniture store now). Those were some good memories............if anybody wants to know anymore and I can answer it, I'll be happy too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetroMogul Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 My Mom and I moved to Alief in 1976 and I lived there until about 1982 and then again in '88 through '93. I saw alot of the growth in my time there. I attended Hastings and graduated in 1979. There was pretty much nothing from Sharpstown to Alief. It was like driving in the country. There were also a lot of dirt/gravel roads heading out towards Highway 6. It was quite peaceful in the 70'/80's as compared to the early 90's when you heard periodic gunshots. My how times have changed! At the time we moved out there, Wilcrest was dirt/gravel from Harwin(Alief-Clodine) to Westheimer. Westheimer pretty much ended as a paved road just past Wilcrest. The schools (Hastings & Elsik) were pretty much tame and very, very white. We still had truant officers back then, not school/campus police. I worked at the Minimax both at the old location at Belle Park and Bellaire (don't know what it is now) and the new location at Bellaire and Dairy-Ashford (possibly a furniture store now). Those were some good memories............if anybody wants to know anymore and I can answer it, I'll be happy too!Thanks for all who have contributed so far! I have a few questions; was Alief-Clodine called Alief Rd. at any time or has it always been named Alief-Clodine. I'm wondering because a number of early 90's maps showed Alief-Clodine as either Alief Rd. or showed Alief Rd. as a phantom road that paralled it from Westpark to Highway 6. This road was also sometimes referred to as Alief-Houston Road. Also, when did the segment of Dairy-Ashford that borders Elsik change it's name from Alief-Cemetary Road to it's present moniker?Also, what happened to Cooper Road; it's a small road that's listed on some of the older maps. I believe it was around as late as the 60's and was a precursor to modern day Wilcrest. I think Rodgers Rd. is the ancestor to modernday Rodgerdale and it used to come close to connecting with Roark/Murphy Road as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowboybud Posted September 6, 2007 Share Posted September 6, 2007 When my family moved into the Villa Madrid (formerly Sundance) Apts, most of the whites and minorities of means had left for the greener pastures of Mission Bend and points west.Mission Bend is on a downhill slide now. Many people have moved to more affluent areas of Fort Bend County. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trae Posted September 6, 2007 Share Posted September 6, 2007 They are all moving west to Lakemont and Grand Mission. Those places aren't as hot as they use to be (but are still selling), so now they are moving to Parkway Lakes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croberts Posted September 6, 2007 Share Posted September 6, 2007 Thanks for all who have contributed so far! I have a few questions; was Alief-Clodine called Alief Rd. at any time or has it always been named Alief-Clodine. I'm wondering because a number of early 90's maps showed Alief-Clodine as either Alief Rd. or showed Alief Rd. as a phantom road that paralled it from Westpark to Highway 6. This road was also sometimes referred to as Alief-Houston Road. Also, when did the segment of Dairy-Ashford that borders Elsik change it's name from Alief-Cemetary Road to it's present moniker?Road names vary from location to location along the road. I did some research on historical route geographies in Burnet county, texas, and discovered that a single route might have multiple names. The Burnet-Florence road was called that in burnet, but in Florence, it was the Florence-Burnet road. Since it continued east, it was also called the burnet belton road. etc.I used to drive to Alief from Westbury to visit a friend, and I remember driving a long straight road parallel to a railroad track, and at one point you had to cross the track and then it ran parallel again. Sometimes we would race trains to get to that s crossing. This would have been in the late 60s. I cant remember the name of the road, but it was the main road to alief from sw houston at the time. I also remember as a kid, in the 50s we would go on long road trips west of houston, and that in the alief-katy prarie area, we would pass the time by counting the cotton gins- there was always one on the horizon. By the time I got old enough to drive myself, they were gone. I remember santa gertrudis cattle, with cattle egrets, and fire ant mounds everywhere.In the 1980s, the alief sheet of the 7.5 minute USGS topographic series was considered by geoscientists nationwide to be the map that should the most phenomenal rate of development. The maps are updated by aerial photos, and if a site is being developed but not finished, it is shown in purple. The alief map from the 80s was about 80% purple, and no other topographic map has ever come close to that large of an area being developed simultaneously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purelife Posted September 13, 2007 Share Posted September 13, 2007 i love hearing about everyone's memories of alief - i grew up in the area, and have seen it change so much. rather than re-writing the whole thing, i have a blog posting about what used to be in alief. i wish i had photos.http://v-adventures.blogspot.com/2007_08_01_archive.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VicMan Posted September 13, 2007 Share Posted September 13, 2007 The changes to the Alief schools since 1988 are well documented by SchoolDigger:Comprehensive high schools* Elsik: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...103/school.aspx* Hastings: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...104/school.aspx* Taylor (Opened 2002): http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...598/school.aspxMagnet high schools* Kerr (Opened 1995): http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...742/school.aspxMiddle schools* Albright: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...840/school.aspx* Alief: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...105/school.aspx* Holub: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...639/school.aspx* Killough: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...108/school.aspx* O'Donnell (Opened 1993): http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...143/school.aspx* Olle: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...110/school.aspxIntermediate schools* Budewig (Opened 2004): http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...517/school.aspx* Klentzman (Opened 1995): http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...016/school.aspx* Mata (Opened 2000): http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...267/school.aspx* Miller (Opened 2001): http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...806/school.aspx* Owens (Opened 1995): http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...756/school.aspx* Youngblood (Opened 1997): http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...309/school.aspxElementary schools* Alexander: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...944/school.aspx* Best (Opened 1992): http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...293/school.aspx* Boone: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...106/school.aspx* Bush (Opened 1998): http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...622/school.aspx* Chambers: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...113/school.aspx* Chancellor: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...107/school.aspx* Collins (Opened 2000): http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...266/school.aspx* Cummings: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...841/school.aspx* Hearne: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...349/school.aspx* Heflin: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...637/school.aspx* Hicks (Opened 1997): http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...308/school.aspx* Holmquist (Opened 2007): No data* Horn (Opened 2006): http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...251/school.aspx* Kennedy: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...112/school.aspx* Landis (Opened 1990): http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...640/school.aspx* Liestman: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...111/school.aspx* Mahanay: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...114/school.aspx* Martin: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...102/school.aspx* Outley (Opened 1994): http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...182/school.aspx* Petrosky: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...385/school.aspx* Rees: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...943/school.aspx* Smith: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...109/school.aspx* Sneed (Opened 1991): http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...817/school.aspx* Youens: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...115/school.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikeytex Posted September 17, 2007 Share Posted September 17, 2007 i love hearing about everyone's memories of alief - i grew up in the area, and have seen it change so much. rather than re-writing the whole thing, i have a blog posting about what used to be in alief. i wish i had photos.http://v-adventures.blogspot.com/2007_08_01_archive.htmlNice blog............brings back some memories! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dakotafleming Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 Does anybody have any old Alief area photos that they can share? I'm talking about photos from the 30's through 70's? An arial would be awesome if anybody has one...Kevinhttp://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~sdavis/aliefrail.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glelam Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 http://www.owlnet.ri...s/aliefrail.jpgFor old aerial photos of Alief, you can visit:www.historicaerials.comIt will give you low resolution pictures from 1957, 1964, 1973, and 1981. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear 2 Owl Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Does anybody have any old Alief area photos that they can share? I'm talking about photos from the 30's through 70's? An arial would be awesome if anybody has one... Kevin A while back I did a project on Alief (an architecture class by Stephen Fox at Rice), and I have a good number of pictures left. They were taken recently (2004), but are of the older/more historically important buildings. Let me know if you want em. I also have some photos of the graveyard at Dairy Ashford in detail, plus photos that are legible of the two historical markers if you want to read them. Rob 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosmic08 Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 A while back I did a project on Alief (an architecture class by Stephen Fox at Rice), and I have a good number of pictures left. They were taken recently (2004), but are of the older/more historically important buildings. Let me know if you want em. I also have some photos of the graveyard at Dairy Ashford in detail, plus photos that are legible of the two historical markers if you want to read them.RobCan you tell us where that house is located? I would like to see it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear 2 Owl Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 Can you tell us where that house is located? I would like to see it.It sits along the bayou between Alief Clodine Rd and the Westpark-ing Lot Tollway (South of the 'tollway', north of Alief Clodine). Its almost directly at the intersection of Kirkwood and Alief Clodine. If you were to continue north on Kirkwood where it ends at that intersection you would basically run right into it. That narrow strip of land was where the railway station for Alief was along the Aransas Rail into Houston. Now there is some sort of defunct wharehouse on the strip of land rendered useless now that the railway has been replaced with the Westpark-ing Lot Tollway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosmic08 Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 It sits along the bayou between Alief Clodine Rd and the Westpark-ing Lot Tollway (South of the 'tollway', north of Alief Clodine). Its almost directly at the intersection of Kirkwood and Alief Clodine. If you were to continue north on Kirkwood where it ends at that intersection you would basically run right into it. That narrow strip of land was where the railway station for Alief was along the Aransas Rail into Houston. Now there is some sort of defunct wharehouse on the strip of land rendered useless now that the railway has been replaced with the Westpark-ing Lot Tollway.Thanks! The house looks to be in good condition in the picture. Is it open for tours or something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgetowngal Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 I moved to Alief in 1945. There is a Facebook page called "I remember when Alief, Texas was not a bad thing". I jumped into it beginning August 2, 2011 and if anyone would like to stroll down memory lane with us, we have lots of stories and photos.Yesterday my daughter and I drove to Cuero where we attended the 90th birthday party of my mom's best friend, Hazel Reeves. Some other Alief ladies from that era were present. My daughter should be posting the photos soon. One of the ladies brought a 20 inch wide photo of over 100 members of the Alief Community Church. We are all assembled out on the front steps. In November this church will have it's 50 year reunion celebration. It took 3 shots to get this photo in it's entirty since it was so wide and we hope to have it on that Facebook page soon.Because there was only Alief Elementary School, we had to be bussed to Sugar Land for middle school and either Missouri City or Bellaire High. Because I was the first one on the bus and the last one off I had the misfortune of being on the bus for a total of about 3 plus hours a day while he drove up and down every little country road in the area picking up students.I just posted an aerial shot of Old Alief from a 1961 yearbook. There is another link for aerial shot I obtained last night from HAIF forums. It's rather fuzzy, but I got see our land and Quillian Memorial Center where my dad, Garry Cloud, was manager for 15 years. I actually worked there before my dad as a hostess when it first opened. Members of Dr. Allen's First United Church at Main and Clay would drive the 15 plus miles out to Alief to see their beautiful recreational center. It was quite lovely in its day. The lounge with the roaring fireplace was my favorite.Before my dad worked at Quillian Center he was employed on the R.E. Bob Smith ranch. Because he was so good at BBQ'ing Bob Smith would have my dad go out to his main ranch in Richmond and BBQ for huge parties he had out there. Occasionally, I got to tag along and that was a good memory.Anyone live in Alief in the 40's, 50's or 60's????? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstongv Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 Thank you for posting this! I grew up in Alief, but wasn't born until the 70s, so my memories are different. Though I do remember it being a great place to live and grow up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blade Runner Posted May 12, 2012 Share Posted May 12, 2012 My Grandmother was born here in Houston in 1927, and was raised on a sharecropper's farm on Boone Road... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sinister1 Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 (edited) I was watching a news report where they showed a short film about Alief today; it's mostly African American now and is being overrun by gangs; the new locals call it "The West". It's a shame how a nice community or neighborhood can go trash with the gangs and drug deals and all. Edited July 5, 2012 by sinister1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTAWACS Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 Are there or where there any decent MODs there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.