Addicks Reservoir Mystery Road And Cross

[Ashikaga]

As a news reporter back in the 60s and 70s, I remember stories about hippie flower children going off in the woods outside the city and holding weird drug induced parties and rituals.

I remember one of the groups was made up of super religious "Jesus Freaks", and they held religious ceremonies out in the country where they knew no one would bother them. In the 60s and 70s, the Addicks Reservoir was miles from the city limits, and it was about as isolated a spot as anybody could ask for. The Katy Freeway hadn't even been paved out that far, and Old Katy Road was the way west if you were going to San Antonio. Eldridge Parkway was many years in the future. Bear Creek Park was there but it was far to the north of this spot, and much smaller than it is today.

I'm saying we shouldn't be surprised to see -- 35 years later -- signs of an earthen cross are still visible in a spot like this. I'm guessing this is a remnant of a group of Jesus Freaks.

See? I told all of you that that area was probably inhabited by either a religious cult or a nudist colony! Both groups of those kind of people want to find a secluded place to practice their chosen religion/lifestyle. Maybe they were "two in one": A religious cult that endorsed a clothing optional lifestyle.

[Bill]

Hey Kevin,

I'm not 100% sure, but it could be the old LH7 rodeo arena. I have heard it was located in that area.

More infor here http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online...s/LL/aplts.html

Good Observation!!! B.

[Hunter]

Those pics were really nice. Thanks for sharing them. but the mystery continues but we maybe closer to the truth than we all know. I look foward to reading more in the very near future and the next mystery!

[IHB2]

there are Indian mounds on the south side of I10 in the Barker-Cypress Reservoir. there are artifacts in and around them as well. they too are not really noticeable unless you know what you're looking for and there is no road near them.

it would not be surprising if the mounds you guys visited are Indian mounds that have been altered by 20th c locals.

[FilioScotia]

there are Indian mounds on the south side of I10 in the Barker-Cypress Reservoir. there are artifacts in and around them as well. they too are not really noticeable unless you know what you're looking for and there is no road near them.

it would not be surprising if the mounds you guys visited are Indian mounds that have been altered by 20th c locals.

There are no "Indian Mounds" in the Houston area. None. Zero. Zilch. Nada. While it is probable that Indian tribes lived in this area many MANY centuries ago, anthropologists and archaeologists have studied every square inch of this part of Texas, and the Houston area, and they have found no evidence of Indian burial mounds. None.

Believe me, if there was the slightest chance of something in the Addicks or Barker Reservoir being an "Indian Mound", it would have been claimed and fenced off by the State Historical Commission a long time ago.

The unusual markings in the Addicks reservoir are much more modern and recent than "Indian Mounds". They're probably leftovers from some Hippie Jesus Freak groups that practiced their drug induced religious ceremonies out in that area back in the 70s.

[IHB2]

I did not say "burial mounds," just Indian mounds. these are small, but human-made humps similar to those described in the pics above. what was found in and around them over 35 years ago by completely unscientific and superficial digging was Native American artifacts, which can be found all over Tx with or without "mounds." these seem to be old camp areas that could have raised mounds for a variety of reasons, not the least of which might be disposal of garbage like modern land fills.

but I'll agree with the Jesus Freak analysis for the google pics.

[FilioScotia]

I did not say "burial mounds," just Indian mounds. these are small, but human-made humps similar to those described in the pics above. what was found in and around them over 35 years ago by completely unscientific and superficial digging was Native American artifacts, which can be found all over Tx with or without "mounds." these seem to be old camp areas that could have raised mounds for a variety of reasons, not the least of which might be disposal of garbage like modern land fills.

but I'll agree with the Jesus Freak analysis for the google pics.

The term "Indian Mounds" refers to burial grounds. Ask any anthropologist.

[gonzo1976]

There appears to be no Blue Light Cemetary any more.

No kidding? I visited the site with the Army Corp of Engineers six years ago. It was surreal. We had to walk through some vegetation to get to this clearing which seemed extremely out of place. The cemetery was surrounded by a tall fence on the edge of this open area and you needed a key to get inside.

Once inside, there wasn't much to see. Most of the headstones had vanished and a few markers were all that remained.

I have to dig out this rather lengthy story I wrote about the people there sometime.

[dbigtex56]

I can't help it. I just love this exchange:

I wonder if there could be a nudist colony somewhere around there?

I kinda doubt it.

Where on earth did that question come from?

Nudists usually practice their lifestyle in secluded places. The photos show a secluded place.

The logic is impeccable!

[Bill]

This is a great thread and very interesting to read. It would be silly to rule out the mothership landing in Addicks or Barker Res. and picking up the nudists, but odds are there is another explanation. In the early to mid part of the 19th century most of Hwy 6 (on both sides) was farmland. I am sure of it from Westimer (sp) to I-10 as my family farmed it in olden times. On the North side of 10 was the original town of addicks along with more ranches, dairies and farms. It would be hard for a Indian mound to survive coastal plains flooding, farming, ranching etc.

Corp of Engineers took it over and the rest is easy history.

Wait.... I think I see orbs zooming to Cinco Ranch.... I will go check it out. Good Night all !!!!

[enviromain]

i guess my question would be about the leftmost circle.

you can see the shadows (from trees, etc) but there is one square one.

what would that be?

I work environmental construction. Most likely the area was excavated temporarily and the utility lines were left in place until the area could be approved for backfill. If soil is targeted, sampled, and analyzed by an accredited lab, and still proves to be an exceedence to the protocol government level, then it is called "hot." Hot levels require additional excavation.

Viewing the arial photos it appears to be some utility lines left in place due to non-exceedence sampling results during excavation procedures. Since then, they are burried. This is why you are unable to locate them.

[HoustonianInColorado]

What a cool mystery!

Did anyone notice on Google or Yahoo aerial photos, there is a clearing just a few feet to the north of the cross and circle, that is shaped like a map of the 48 contiguous United States?

[TJones]

See? I told all of you that that area was probably inhabited by either a religious cult or a nudist colony! Both groups of those kind of people want to find a secluded place to practice their chosen religion/lifestyle. Maybe they were "two in one": A religious cult that endorsed a clothing optional lifestyle.

Ok Plastic..............I mean Ash, you told us, "religious cult". (note to self- I think Ash and Filio are both off their rockers, quite possibly the same person.)

Bear Creek Park has remained in the same place since the day it opened, so it is as far north today as it was 30 years ago. I remember going out to Stephen F. Austin state park probably 100 times during the 70's and it seemed that I-10 was always paved, so I don't know where Filio came up with the notion that it might have been an unpaved dirt road.

[RedCow]

Hey Kevin,

I'm not 100% sure, but it could be the old LH7 rodeo arena. I have heard it was located in that area.

More infor here http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online...s/LL/aplts.html

Good Observation!!! B.

You are probably right about it being part of the original LH7. My family is somehow related to the Marks and I can remember going to the Houston LH7 growing up. I remember the barns and all the longhorns especially. Maudeen Marks still owns what is left of the Houston ranch and expanded to include a ranch in Bandera. My guess is that these are the remains of what was once a retention pond and feed pens. I think it is too small for what I remember the pictures showing of the rodeo grounds as being. Obviously with the creation of the Addicks Reservoir the land would be more suseptible to flooding and having the marsh vegitation (cattails) in the pics.

-ABC

[Zapata]

WOW...!!! Interesting report and pictures. Thanks for sharing guys.

I has to be man-made, the cross looks to perfect, like mentioned before, probably a religious cult of some sort. Nudist are out of the question, too many bugs to be there naked....!!!

My first thinking when I saw the very first pictures was: probably a secret undeground facility from the US Goverment..???

Great Job....!!!

[Croberts]

Out in the middle of Addicks Resevior, in a small section just off the north-east corner of Highway 6 and I-10 is strange mystery road and some interesting markings. There is a small gated road leading off Eldrige Parkway (about a mile north of I-10) that heads west out into a dry field that clearly has been designated a trail for some type of automobile traffic a long long time ago. This small unpaved and unbelievably extremely overgrown road leads all the way to Langham Creek. The road does not show even the slightest hint that it has been driven on for many years! It's enough of a road of some sort to be listed on the 1980 terraserver.microsoft.com map shown below:

Here's some great GoogleEarth images of the area of interest, from furthest zoomed out, to furthest zoomed in...

I have been out to the area and driven to it, trying to locate it with a GPS. I have been around the exact spot on the GPS provided by terraserver and GoogleEarth and cannot locate these huge markings. One of the markings is a perfectly round circle with a dome in it and the other is a perfectly round circle with a cross in the middle. The two areas are far too perfect looking to be anything other than man-made - I just want to find out what it is.

I should note, that this area is probably a 1/2' mile south from a semi-famous cemetary called the 'Blue Light Cemetary' that is located in Bear Creek Park. This cemetary was featured on Ripley's Believe it or Not as a haunted cemetary that emits an erie blue haze over the cemetary on full-moons. The immediate location of this cemetary is all the more reason to suspect that these markings have something to do with the cemetary. Does anybody have any hints as to what these markings are? Even zooming all the way in with the various satellite maps does not seem to answer this question, only make it more puzzling.

Kevin Jackson

kevinj@houston.rr.com

The depression symbols on the topo map (dashed circles) represent a drop in elevation of at least 5 feet, which is the contour interval for this map. The ecology of the circles is probably wetter, a wet prairie type ecosystem rather than a drier forest. The one circle has a dome in the center- but what are the trees? These shapes are common in the pine flatwoods of south florida, and they often have small cypress domes or bayheads or willow heads in the center. The cross shaped trees must be there because of human activity. If there were cross fences at one time, they could represent trees that grew from bird droppings, or they could be planted. Depends on what species they are.

[The G-Team]

The depression symbols on the topo map (dashed circles) represent a drop in elevation of at least 5 feet, which is the contour interval for this map. The ecology of the circles is probably wetter, a wet prairie type ecosystem rather than a drier forest. The one circle has a dome in the center- but what are the trees? These shapes are common in the pine flatwoods of south florida, and they often have small cypress domes or bayheads or willow heads in the center. The cross shaped trees must be there because of human activity. If there were cross fences at one time, they could represent trees that grew from bird droppings, or they could be planted. Depends on what species they are.

I never did try to figure out what kind of trees they are, but I wish I had now when I was out there last month. I'm not an arborist, but the tree in the middle of the dome is big. I would guess oak or cypress. The other little trees that line the cross look like they just got there by birds dropping seeds. There doesn't appear to be any symmetry in the plantings and the trees aren't that big, so either they're not old like some of the bigger trees or because the area is very wet, maybe they can't get that big or maybe they're just trees that only grow to be medium size. From the pictures above they look like maybe cottonwood trees?? I'll go back out when it starts cooling down and I'll have to see what kind of trees they are. I almost stepped on what looked like a juvenile water moccasin so I want to wait until they go back into hibernation before I go out again. Saw too many snakes last time.

[Croberts]

I never did try to figure out what kind of trees they are, but I wish I had now when I was out there last month. I'm not an arborist, but the tree in the middle of the dome is big. I would guess oak or cypress. The other little trees that line the cross look like they just got there by birds dropping seeds. There doesn't appear to be any symmetry in the plantings and the trees aren't that big, so either they're not old like some of the bigger trees or because the area is very wet, maybe they can't get that big or maybe they're just trees that only grow to be medium size. From the pictures above they look like maybe cottonwood trees?? I'll go back out when it starts cooling down and I'll have to see what kind of trees they are. I almost stepped on what looked like a juvenile water moccasin so I want to wait until they go back into hibernation before I go out again. Saw too many snakes last time.

I examined the picture again, and it looked like the dome had smaller, lighter colored trees ringing it, and larger ones in the middle. Here in florida it would not be unusual to have oaks in the middle and cypress on the edge-if the land in the center of the dome was higher than the land in the wet prarie. On the other hand, if it were lower in the center, it would be willows or baytrees in the center.

[sevfiv]

yeah...i think geocaching would be fun. i like treasure hunts

oh my - a whole new obsession now. it is extremely fun and interesting to me. it's like what i normally do, but now i get to find and place little caches

[Gilder]

The term "Indian Mounds" refers to burial grounds. Ask any anthropologist.

Okay I did ask my brother (anthropologist). He said burial mounds (not grounds) are commonly called "indian mounds" if Native Americans were linked to them.

"Indian mounds" do not always contain human remains, but can consist of disposed items (trash) and/or sometimes caches of pottery, tools and other items to return to at a later date.

He should know, he researches archeological mound sites in Arizona.

[editor]

"Indian mounds" do not always contain human remains, but can consist of disposed items (trash) and/or sometimes caches of pottery, tools and other items

Freakin' litterbugs.

I have a vision of John Wayne standing by the side of a lonesome highway lightly crying.

[FreakyDude]

Freakin' litterbugs.

John Wayne does not have to cry!!!

Constructively, Navtive Americans were not litter bugs. By burying their waste it would decompose faster and not be left to decay and be scavenged in a living environment. Guess what? Modern day humans do it too! We call them landfills!

Addressing the cache method: No different than placing your tools and more in your garage or food in your frige! Some caches were full of jerky and other preserved foods to rely on in poor-hunting periods like winter.

[Guest Marty]

I never did try to figure out what kind of trees they are, but I wish I had now when I was out there last month. I'm not an arborist, but the tree in the middle of the dome is big. I would guess oak or cypress. The other little trees that line the cross look like they just got there by birds dropping seeds. There doesn't appear to be any symmetry in the plantings and the trees aren't that big, so either they're not old like some of the bigger trees or because the area is very wet, maybe they can't get that big or maybe they're just trees that only grow to be medium size. From the pictures above they look like maybe cottonwood trees?? I'll go back out when it starts cooling down and I'll have to see what kind of trees they are. I almost stepped on what looked like a juvenile water moccasin so I want to wait until they go back into hibernation before I go out again. Saw too many snakes last time.

The one on the mound behind that small shrub looks like a Water Oak. There also a lot of Chinese Tallow trees there too.

[SunKing]

I gotta say, I've been trolling this forum for a while - and have found some of the most interesting information! This thread, for example - while we may never really know who created the mystery markings - it makes for interesting reading regardless. ...and a great way to procrastinate while I should be working.

[CDeb]

I just happened across this thread today, and I gotta say, HAIF'ers are the schnizit!

[theoriginalkj]

I just happened across this thread today, and I gotta say, HAIF'ers are the schnizit!

Thanks! I found these photos on Microsoft's local.live.com "Bird's Eye" photo service, showing the two markings from the best and clearest view yet. It's clear that at least in the Cross, the formation absolutely MUST be man-man. It's far too perfect a circle and lines far too straight.

Kevin

[EastEnd Susan]

Out in the middle of Addicks Resevior, in a small section just off the north-east corner of Highway 6 and I-10 is strange mystery road and some interesting markings. There is a small gated road leading off Eldrige Parkway (about a mile north of I-10) that heads west out into a dry field that clearly has been designated a trail for some type of automobile traffic a long long time ago. This small unpaved and unbelievably extremely overgrown road leads all the way to Langham Creek. The road does not show even the slightest hint that it has been driven on for many years! It's enough of a road of some sort to be listed on the 1980 terraserver.microsoft.com map shown below:

Here's some great GoogleEarth images of the area of interest, from furthest zoomed out, to furthest zoomed in...

I have been out to the area and driven to it, trying to locate it with a GPS. I have been around the exact spot on the GPS provided by terraserver and GoogleEarth and cannot locate these huge markings. One of the markings is a perfectly round circle with a dome in it and the other is a perfectly round circle with a cross in the middle. The two areas are far too perfect looking to be anything other than man-made - I just want to find out what it is.

I should note, that this area is probably a 1/2' mile south from a semi-famous cemetary called the 'Blue Light Cemetary' that is located in Bear Creek Park. This cemetary was featured on Ripley's Believe it or Not as a haunted cemetary that emits an erie blue haze over the cemetary on full-moons. The immediate location of this cemetary is all the more reason to suspect that these markings have something to do with the cemetary. Does anybody have any hints as to what these markings are? Even zooming all the way in with the various satellite maps does not seem to answer this question, only make it more puzzling.

Kevin Jackson

kevinj@houston.rr.com

Go to windows live local. Search for addicks. Change to hybrid view and find these markings. Now switch to birdseye view and you can see that the one with the circle and the bump in the middle is a circle with a tree in the middle.. the square is water. the other one... trees make up the cross but I still can't figure out the trough around the whole thing. Windows live local is great.

[TheNiche]

Go to windows live local. Search for addicks. Change to hybrid view and find these markings. Now switch to birdseye view and you can see that the one with the circle and the bump in the middle is a circle with a tree in the middle.. the square is water. the other one... trees make up the cross but I still can't figure out the trough around the whole thing. Windows live local is great.

Wow! I just checked out Windows Live Local, and am amazed not only at the availability of imagery, but of the recency with which it was taken (just a few months ago). It is so detailed that I could identify the make and model of my car as parked on the roof of the parking garage at work. I can put this to some seriously good use.

Thank you, Susan.

[EastEnd Susan]

Wow! I just checked out Windows Live Local, and am amazed not only at the availability of imagery, but of the recency with which it was taken (just a few months ago). It is so detailed that I could identify the make and model of my car as parked on the roof of the parking garage at work. I can put this to some seriously good use.

Thank you, Susan.

You are quite welcomed. I found this last year and like you couldn't believe how clear everything was. The only problem is they don't have the birdseye view available for all of Houston...yet. I wanted to see my old house on Avenue L in the east end but to no avail. Did you see that there 4 views available? N S E W. I've actually stayed on it for 5 hours one saturday. I have no life. lol. see ya

[Suite8F]

It seems like no matter when the image is taken, the circle without the cross has that body of water in it that looks like a square. Is it a spring? Wouldn't it dry out sometimes if it were only fed by rain? If it is a spring or some kind of natural pool, does that give us any clues?

I know I came late to the forum, and this may be a silly queston, but it just occured to me.