What Did Your Neighborhood Look Like

[Trophy Property]

I am very nostalgic as some might have noticed from my earlier posts. I grew up in SW houston and I have very fond memories of resturants and stores of the past. I thought I would start a thread where people could throw out places and areas they remember and how those areas have changed

For instance does anyonwe remember Jumbo Grocercy Stores. When I was in High School there used to be one at Seagler and Westhiemer and another at Westhiemer and Kirkwood. I worked at both of those stores. Being a teenager I never knew who owned them nor did I care much when they shut down. I assume the market grew to competitive for the stores to last.

I also remember riding bikes through trails where Super K Mart just got demolished. There was so much raw land along Westhiemer from 610 to Highway 6. Most of it has been filled in.

Anyway. I just thought it woul be cool if people had similar memories of the area of town they grew up in.

BTW, I am 33 so it is not like my memories are ancient. The landscape of the areas and the businesses in those areas has totally changed in the past 20 years.

[pineda]

I remember Piggly Wiggly with it's fresh aroma of A&P coffee wafting throughout the store, and Belden's, both grocery stores, both wonderful. I also remember Weingarten's, which did not have the "people-friendly" approach that these other stores did, which is why we would drive further to Belden's and Piggly Wiggly, even though Weingarten's was very close. I remember going to Randall's for the first time, and just thinking it was the fanciest, cleanest grocery store ever, and all the clerks were young high school kids with big smiles on their faces.

I remember the Greek-owned Texaco on Chimney Rock where when you drove up to the pump, you rolled over a hose on the ground that made a sound inside in the gas station, and an attendant would come out and pump your gas for you. Then he would check your tires for air, and check your oil and then clean all the windows and windshield. When he was done, he would always have candy in his pockets for all the kids in the car.

[Subdude]

Does anyone remember Westbury Square? I always wondered what that place was like.

[UrbaNerd]

My neighborhood was a forest 20-30 years ago...

[tw2ntyse7en]

...

[musicman]

Does anyone remember Westbury Square?  I always wondered what that place was like.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

A few of the buildings are still standing. But you better get there quickly cause the remaining are in bad shape.

[musicman]

Anyone remember the building downtown that had the globe on top that changed colors depending on tomorrow's weather? The building was redone in the last 4-5 yrs, but the globe has been gone for years.

[musicman]

Those same kids are the same parents that these days would freak out if they pulled up to a gas pump and some guy came running to the car. They are also the same kids that got candy, who today would instantly think it creepy for a grown man to give their kid candy.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah those were the good old days...nearest thing we have now is RACETRAC. "hi welcome to RACETRAC customer on pump 12"

[Trophy Property]

I remember Piggly Wiggly with it's fresh aroma of A&P coffee wafting throughout the store, and Belden's, both grocery stores, both wonderful. I also remember Weingarten's, which did not have the "people-friendly" approach that these other stores did, which is why we would drive further to Belden's and Piggly Wiggly, even though Weingarten's was very close. I remember going to Randall's for the first time, and just thinking it was the fanciest, cleanest grocery store ever, and all the clerks were young high school kids with big smiles on their faces. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I rememer a Piggly Wiggly in Denton, Texas. Other than that I do not remember any in Houston. Where was the store(s) located.

There is still a Beldens near Meyerland. Is that store still the same.

[ssullivan]

I vaguely remember my current neighborhood from my early childhood, as the house where my mother lived from 8th grade through high school is very close by. My grandparents lived there until I was four, and I had a great aunt who lived in a house less than two blocks from where my grandparents lived until about 1990. So we were in this part of town (Braeswood area and Willow Meadows) a lot when I was growing up. It hasn't changed all that much, except some of the original houses are gone and replaced by newer and bigger ones. Of course a lot of the retail has changed; the A&P store that was at South Post Oak and West Bellfort where I went with my grandfather sometimes to run errands for my grandmother is long gone. However, the Seller Bros. store at Stella Link and South Braeswood that we sometimes went to is still there.

Every time my mother is at my place we have to go out and drive around the area. She always wants to scope out the houses of old friends, boyfriends, relatives, and other people she knew back in the 1950s and 1960s when this was the 'burbs. She dated a guy in high school whose family lived in a house on South Braeswood where a couple I'm friends with lives now. I find it kind of funny that their study is the room where one of my mother's ex-boyfriends slept when he was growing up.

[rps324]

Does anyone remember Westbury Square?  I always wondered what that place was like.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, we had relatives that lived in Westbury and would go when we visited. It was great. All those run down apartments/townhomes along Bellefort were clean and nice. The main walk had a bunch of craft type stores, one sold hand made candles, things like that. The main square had an ice-cream shop that as a kid, I thought was the end all-be all. There were several high end antique shops, a chinese restaurant, and a fancy men's clothing store on the section that faced the parking lot where Home Depot now sits. At least I think that was what was there. It had a sort of six-flags-does-a-European-village feel to it. But it was busy, and clean, and had apartments above the shops. it was kind of a wierd hybrid of a pedestrian friendly faux-urban set up, in the middle of a suburban car culture parking lot. It is a shame it was lost in the 80's bust and now cannot be reclaimed. It helped give Westbury a lot of character.

[rps324]

Those same kids are the same parents that these days would freak out if they pulled up to a gas pump and some guy came running to the car. They are also the same kids that got candy, who today would instantly think it creepy for a grown man to give their kid candy.

What in the hell happened to 1960?!?!?

(btw - I'm only 26, so I never even got to experience those glory days. )

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

When my parents moved to the 1960 area in 1976 it was the country! They were in the process of making FM 1960 four lanes, it had no left turn signals on it. From Louetta & Champion Forest the closest fast food place was Kuykendahl and 1960. There were just four way stop signs at Kuykendahl & Louetta, & Veterans memorial & Bammel N. Houston. No stop lights. Klein High sat in the woods with no shopping centers around it. There were still houses facing 1960 of people who had not yet sold out to commercial developers. There was only one subdivision between Veterans Memorial & Kuykendahl, Oak Creek Village, with only a small amount of retail in front of it. The rest of that stretch of 1960 was woods. Willowbrook was fields and there was pretty much nothing the rest of the way on Hwy 6 except for Glencairn subdivision. Back then you went through the fields and all the sudden Glencairn's entrance gates rose up with this big ornate fences and community tennis courts in the middle of nowhere. Now it just blurs in with all the strip centers, drive thru-s, and apartment complexes.

[debmartin]

"Does anyone remember Westbury Square? I always wondered what that place was like." (quote, subdude)

my dad had one of his business locations in westbury square, in the clock tower. i remember the ice cream store and a real nice dutch couple who sold figurines from holland. there was also a playhouse called "company onstage". one by one the stores closed up and my dad had to relocate, but i remember really liking westbury square.

i grew up by northline mall and my parents still live in the same house, in fact my grandparents bought it in 1959 and a couple of the neighbors (in their 80's) still live on the street. we were taken to movies at northline mall, and they had a stained glass window and an enormous round bench in the lobby. it sounds crazy but there was also a huge superslide in the parking lot at the back of the mall. they would give you a burlap sack to slide down and we always begged go on it, even though at 5 or 6 years old i remember it as terrifying. the mall also had fountains to throw coins into, as well as kiddie rides and brits.

as a teenager in the mid 70's i was a rink rat at airline skating rink, and at the time it seemed to take forever to get there, although it's really just 10 or 15 minutes. there was next to nothing on airline drive, except for massage parlors that were eventually shut down and the flea markets that opened around that time. there were no bus routes that i can recall, unless you could get down airline to north main and then you could get to town. once we drove one of my friends home who lived out I45 by the blimp station (spring high school area). it was before greenspoint mall was built and it was like going to the country. we used to visit my grandparents in centerville which is halfway between houston and dallas (about 2.5 hrs) and since the woodlands were not yet established there was virtually nothing except conroe and huntsville before madisonville. to break up the boredom mom would stop at all of the stuckey's which was kind of a gift shop like cracker barrel. it's hard to believe but my old neighborhood has changed so little, except for airline changing from a 2 lane to a 4 lane and a couple of grocery stores like kroger and HEB. our grocery store was called minimax and it was located at I45/tidwell in northtown plaza. the hardware/appliance store was called "whites" and we also shopped at globe which was like kmart. there was a "5 & dime" instead of a dollar store and my grandmother collected and traded S&H greenstamps for kooky prizes. sorry to ramble on, but until i read the thread i had not given much thought to what it was like in the late 60's to 70's. texas also had the "blue law" which meant no shopping on sundays.

deb martin

[pineda]

Ruppleheimer's was the ice cream parlor in Westbury Square. There was also a pizza place (Shakey's maybe?), a dolls from around the world store, a Cargo Houston, an oriental store that reeked of incense, a fancy steak restaurant, the wonderful candle store where they made the candles in the store right in front of you, a huge fountain in the middle of the courtyard with ledge seating all around. ("Meet me at the fountain" was a common saying back then.)

[Guest danax]

Those same kids are the same parents that these days would freak out if they pulled up to a gas pump and some guy came running to the car. They are also the same kids that got candy, who today would instantly think it creepy for a grown man to give their kid candy.

What in the hell happened to 1960?!?!?

(btw - I'm only 26, so I never even got to experience those glory days. )

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I had a job when I was a senior in High School back in '75 at a Shell station and we had the little bell and did the full service. This was really the end of that era. I actually had to attend a weekend training session for attendants. I remember trying to wash windshields, check oil, tires and then grab the pump before it went over the amount requested. It was a skill that took some time to perfect and I ran over more than once. I remember getting flashed by a chick with no underwear in a sports car while I washed her windshield. That messed me up for the whole night. The owner tried something innovative that year, since we had a large station. He turned one of the 3 islands into "Self-Serve". We were like, what the...? We had to unlock the pumps each time someone wanted to use one and we still had cash drawers out on the islands.

That was the first year of unleaded fuel and I remember our prices were just over 50c a gallon for self-serve. It was also a real low point for American car makers as they were trying to reinvent themselves after the energy crisis/OPEC embargo. I remember the Ford Granada came out that year and the plastic gas cap covers above the back bumper were breaking in the first year on several of the ones that I serviced. The best small American car at the time was the Ford Pinto, which was a gutless piece of dung.

[MidtownCoog]

Choate Road (now Dixie Farm road) was a shale road.

This was in 1974.

[tw2ntyse7en]

...

[Subdude]

Ruppleheimer's was the ice cream parlor in Westbury Square. There was also a pizza place (Shakey's maybe?), a dolls from around the world store, a Cargo Houston, an oriental store that reeked of incense, a fancy steak restaurant, the wonderful candle store where they made the candles in the store right in front of you, a huge fountain in the middle of the courtyard with ledge seating all around. ("Meet me at the fountain" was a common saying back then.)

Found a picture of the candle shop:

Really interesting replies. I didn't grow up here so it's interesting to hear about all these places.

[Hunter]

I use to love Westbury Square. And I do rememeber the candle shop and there use to be a book store as well as a few other shops. I was a little to young to remember to many details but I so remember loving to just walk around in the place and to this day when ever I here or read stories of london I picture that old lovely place. I was so sad when I learned that they had torn it all down.

[Trophy Property]

I use to love Westbury Square. And I do rememeber the candle shop and there use to be a book store as well as a few other shops. I was a little to young to remember to many details but I so remember loving to just walk around in the place and to this day when ever I here or read stories of london I picture that old lovely place. I was so sad when I learned that they had torn it all down.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Where was Westbury SQ. I remember a mall type center around that area when I was high school. Where exactly (what streets) was this cetner located. When was it torn down and what is there now.

[Subdude]

I thought part of Westbury Square was still there, but part was a Home Depot or something.

What about restaurants? My grandfather said that Kaphan's Restaurant and Sonny Look's were the nice places to go, but they're gone now.

[musicman]

I thought part of Westbury Square was still there, but part was a Home Depot or something. 

What about restaurants?  My grandfather said that Kaphan's Restaurant and Sonny Look's were the nice places to go, but they're gone now.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

remnants remain.

wasn't sonny looks just inside 610 on main?

main had some nice restaurants in its day. christie's seafood with the huge shrimp out front comes to mind.

[Subdude]

Anyone remember the building downtown that had the globe on top that changed colors depending on tomorrow's weather?  The building was redone in the last 4-5 yrs, but the globe has been gone for years.

Found a picture and caption about it:

I think this is the Weather Ball, the 'spiritual center' of Houston in the early '60's, although I thought it was the Conico Building that sported it. It would glow green for fair weather, white for rain, maybe red for huricanes, etc. I never met anyone who actually knew the color code, but it was discussing what it might mean that made it so interesting.

[MidtownCoog]

Is that the Americana Building?

[GoAtomic]

When my parents moved to the 1960 area in 1976 it was the country! They were in the process of making FM 1960 four lanes, it had no left turn signals on it. From Louetta & Champion Forest the closest fast food place was Kuykendahl and 1960. There were just four way stop signs at Kuykendahl & Louetta, & Veterans memorial & Bammel N. Houston. No stop lights. Klein High sat in the woods with no shopping centers around it. There were still houses facing 1960 of people who had not yet sold out to commercial developers. There was only one subdivision between Veterans Memorial & Kuykendahl, Oak Creek Village, with only a small amount of retail in front of it. The rest of that stretch of 1960 was woods. Willowbrook was fields and there was pretty much nothing the rest of the way on Hwy 6 except for Glencairn subdivision.

Strange coincidence, rps.

My parents moved to Westador off 1960 in 1971, then out to Northampton (which was REALLY the end of the world) in 1974. I remember flying kites with my dad in empty fields, getting our car stuck in the mud in a DITCH that was to either side of 1960 - what was known then as Jackrabbit Road, all 2 lanes of it. Near Veterans Memorial/1960 there was a DiaryQueen, next to a garden center that was buried in giant pine trees, and my dad's real estate office was next to that in one of those old ranch houses facing the road. The next closest burger joint heading East was MytiBurger at the I45/1960 intersection. And yes, Klein High was plunked down in the middle of trees with very little retail along Louetta when I attended in the 80's. We even used to pick blackberries with my mom off of ditch vines along Spring Cypress Rd. after church.

Didn't know how good we had it ...

[Hunter]

Where was Westbury SQ.

[pineda]

GoAtomic-

Do you parents or you still live in Northampton?

[GoAtomic]

GoAtomic-

Do you parents or you still live in Northampton?

Yes, my dad is still on Bayonne Drive. I live in Spring Branch now, but I manage to get out there every few weeks. He's had the same neighbors for 30 years, imagine that.

I'm amazed that the area had so few changes until just recently. It's a very unique place to live, like being in a self contained small town, close enough to the city to be in touch with the rest of the world, but without the crime and noise.

All that is changing now, but I feel very fortunate to have grown up there.

[Subdude]

Is that the Americana Building?

Travis Tower building

[musicman]

Found a picture and caption about it:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

thx for the pic subdude. this is the building i remember as i child. i just remember you could see it off the pierce elevated.