Port Houston Autotel Blue Room At 1515 McCarty Dr.

[Don Julio]

I'm trying to find out more about the Autotel Blue Room, one of Houston's premier venues for live music in the 1940s. It was a huge club (capacity 1000 downstairs and 1500 upstairs) located at 1515 McCarty. There is a motel at 1519 McCarty today, though it appears to be a modern construction and not a renovation of the older courts. The building that housed the Blue Room and cafe is gone.

This area of McCarty (where it terminates at Clinton Drive, directly north of the Ship Channel turning basin) was, during the '40s, heavily trafficked since it was then the 'Beaumont Highway' (Highway 90) and the main route into Houston from the east, plus there were tons of sailors, longshoremen, and workers from the ship channel converging on McCarty@Clinton every night. There were lots of 'courts' along this stretch and several music clubs, of which the Autotel was the biggest. There are still a couple left even now (for Tejano music); the Harbor Lights (which has been there since at least 1941) remains open at 2327 McCarty, though it is no longer a live music venue.

The Autotel Blue Room lasted from about 1942 to about 1957. It then became 'La Terraza' for another decade or so. A listing in the 1973 city directory has it as the 'Coronado Club.'

My questions:

Does anybody here remember McCarty Drive in the '40s or '50s, or the Autotel?

When did construction begin on I-10, and when was it completed?

When was the building at 1515 McCarty torn down?

What is a good source of information on the Ship Channel during the WWII era?

Here is a linen postcard of the 'Port Houston Autotel' circa 1942.

http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/250/autotelpostcardzo0.jpg

Here is a picture of Dickie Jones and the Skyliners at the Autotel Blue Room, 1946.

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/69/skylinersatautotelik3.jpg

[sevfiv]

Just for reference for those not familiar, here's the Port Houston Autotel thread:

http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/i...?showtopic=3199

[Don Julio]

Just for reference for those not familiar, here's the Port Houston Autotel thread:

http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/i...?showtopic=3199

Thanks, I forgot that this was briefly touched upon before.

Is anyone able to scan the pic that appears in the 1972 AIA Guide?

[Vertigo58]

Now those are truly rare photo's!

I wish someone would contribute more history on this area. It is just a bit east of Denver Harbor. 1-10 and N. Wayside that is.

I will ask about your questions of topic, but for the most part I believe majority of dance enthusiast's would head to downtown or Near North Side to dance the night away. I once worked very briefly at the bank at McCarty and 1-10 as a teen but this place was long gone by then (approx 1976). Ironically, I drove past here this past weekend and noticed they remodeled and renamed The Molcajete's Mexican Restaurant by there. That place still get's jam packed! It's served the area for decades too.

See Little Pearl Harbor topic and find other structure info of DH.

I would like to find out if that orchestra was a local group or just passing through Houston? In those days it was common for band's to travel all around Texas. Cool photos they are!

[tmariar]

Here's a picture of the back of the postcard in the original post:

And a slightly bigger/crisper photo of the front:

You could probably find a lot of interesting material regarding the Ship Channel during WWII in this collection at the Fondren Library, if you're interested in primary research.

[Don Julio]

I would like to find out if that orchestra was a local group or just passing through Houston? In those days it was common for band's to travel all around Texas. Cool photos they are!

Dickie Jones and the Skyliners were a Houston group. The saxophonist, George Ogg, still lives in the Heights. The rest are deceased. The were the houseband at the Autotel Blue Room in 1946-47.

[tmariar]

Text from a 1942 Autotel Blue Room ad I came across, in case it's useful to anyone:

M.J. Fletcher's Autotel Blue Room
Dine and dance every night
1700 Seating Capacity - 5 private dining rooms - Tel. W. 0107

Autotel Roof Garden
Dine and dance beneath the starts
5000 seating capacity

Autotel Cafe and Drive-In
Good food - good service
Dining room or in your car

Autotel Courts
100 modern cottages
Air-cooled

Autotel Stadium
Rodeos - races - athletic events
10,000 seating capacity

1515 McCarty, on H'way 90 (Beaumont Rd.)
Tels. W. 6-0023; W. 0107; W. 0266

Slogan Prayer: 'Oh, Lord, please help me to keep my nose out of other people's business.' - Anon.

[NenaE]

Looked that place up on the Sanborn maps (vol.12, 1217), originally, the Autotel Cts. Blue Room/ restaurant looks like it would have been located near the corner of Burman & Beaumont Rd. (Hwy 90)...oops, I meant McCarty, not Beaumont. Parking lot was to the right w/ motel courts behind it, w/ addresses facing Mendez St. (side st.), more courts located behind the blue room, addresses on Burman (unpaved st, no longer visible on Google Earth). Guess they expanded to the south, utilizing the empty area originally used as a parking lot, entrance. The rodeo area was behind the whole place, on Pearl St.

It definitely was enlarged, at one time. I'm comparing the photo and the earlier postcard. Looks to me like the Blue Room bdg. fell before 1957. I'm referencing HistoricAeriels, I don't see it, I could be mistaken.

I've seen that postcard so many times on EBay, it must have been a popular place. Too bad it fell into such decay. Nice entertainment history. Wish one of my grandmothers was around to ask about it.

[NenaE]

I just glanced at that side road, where Mendez (address: 8104) meets McCarty, (on GoogleEarth), there is an interesting concrete "swept-up-arch-looking" thing that might be a remnant from the old structure. I think those old motel rooms by it could be the original ones, as well.

[Retama]

From what I have been told, by the mid-1950s the Autotel and Blue Room was considered a dive and police were called there often. Frank Maddow was arrested near there in 1954 or 55.

[Subdude]

Larry McMurtry called the Autotel "the most extraordinary example of Mexican saloon-and-whorehouse architecture north of the border." Indeed.

[Globeman]

My grandfather rented this ballroom in the 70's and changed the name to the "Toronado Ballroom" on 1515 McCarty could anyone upload photos of the building? Building was supposedly haunted and had brought big bands from Mexico that toured. Would mean alot to my mom who helped take tickets there as a teen

[LA TERRAZZA]

My family lived at that site and address from 1957 to 1960 as a ballroom La Terrrazza Nite Club that my uncle Frank Alonzo leased. We lived upstairs and it was an incredible place with a terrace, living quarters and of course the ballroom downstairs. There was also a bandstand and many rooms in the outside terrace. The dance floor was surrounded by many rooms long closed before we moved there. It was fascinating and a great place for teens to grow up in.