Carrousel Motor Hotel At 3330 Reveille Rd.

[Ashikaga]

Gnu and Subdude just prodded my memory. I now remember the Carousel Motel. But didn't the sign have a miniature carousel with hobby horses on it?

Chet Cuccia

[Subdude]

I think Coog mentioned that too.

[MidtownCoog]

It sure did. As a kid I wanted to get up there and ride it. It hung on until the early 90s, I think.

Spoke with my Dad. Said that place was really popular. He had an interview there once when he got back from Vietnam. Would have had to move to California though, so he passed.

True Texan

[Ashikaga]

It sure did.  As a kid I wanted to get up there and ride it.  It hung on until the early 90s, I think.

Spoke with my Dad.  Said that place was really popular.  He had an interview there once when he got back from Vietnam.  Would have had to move to California though, so he passed.

True Texan

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I forgot to ask: Is the Carosel Motel is still there?

Chet Cuccia

[Heights2Bastrop]

Back in the late 70s, I believe many of the rooms at the Carrousel rented by the hour. They advertised X-Rated movies in the rooms, and there was a club at the motel where many of the women there had

[Ashikaga]

Back in the late 70s, I believe many of the rooms at the Carrousel rented by the hour. They advertised X-Rated movies in the rooms, and there was a club at the motel where many of the women there had “managers”.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That was like in the movie "Psycho II." Norman Bates spent 22 years in an insane asylum. When he got out, he fired the guy who was managing his motel. He said that he didn't want his business to be an "adult" motel.

Chet Cuccia

[Heights2Bastrop]

I never saw that movie. When it was released, my mom wouldn't let me go see it because she said it would be too scary.

Now, my son said it wasn't that bad, but Mom still siad "No!"

[Ashikaga]

I never saw that movie. When it was released, my mom wouldn't let me go see it because she said it would be too scary.

Now, my son said it wasn't that bad, but Mom still siad "No!"

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Are you referring to your or your son's mother? Psycho II makes the original Psycho look like a Walt Disney cartoon.

Chet Cuccia

[Heights2Bastrop]

No, I mean my mom wouldn't let me see it! Still won't!

[Ashikaga]

No, I mean my mom wouldn't let me see it! Still won't!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Just go to Blockbuster and rent it. There are also III and IV.

Chet Cuccia

[TexasHome]

Wonder where that huge sign went...

[Ashikaga]

Wonder where that huge sign went...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Is the Carousel Motel privately owned or is it part of a chain?

Chet Cuccia

[TexasHome]

I think that was a private venture. There is a story about the sign I heard once that was really interesting. I dont recall it yet but when I do, I will post up about it.

[sevfiv]

[Subdude]

I love the googie-style folded plate roof. You used to be able to see the foundations of the Carrousel buildings, but I think Metro is building a transit center there now.

[gnu]

I love the googie-style folded plate roof. You used to be able to see the foundations of the Carrousel buildings, but I think Metro is building a transit center there now.

I think the foundations are still there. The transit center is finished and its on the other side of Evergreen - not where the Carrousel was.

[EastEnd Susan]

I think the foundations are still there. The transit center is finished and its on the other side of Evergreen - not where the Carrousel was.

Boy, I remember that motel. When I was a kid I too wanted to climb up there and hitch a ride on one of the horses. That was the coolest sign. Wasn't it located kinda close to Peppermint Park?

[gnu]

Wasn't it located kinda close to Peppermint Park?

Right across the street

[Subdude]

Did a search on the Carrousel and found an interesting article explaining the links between the Carrousel, the Mafia, and the Kennedy assassination.

... from Pete Brewton's The Mafia, CIA & George Bush (New York: S.P.I., 1992).

I was first told about Mischer's connections to the New Orleans Mafia family by a former deputy sheriff who had worked for a Harris County commissioner in Mischer's hip pocket. He, in turn, referred me to a number of retired Houston police officers who had worked in the old Criminal Intelligence Division. This division followed Carlos Marcello, the New Orleans mafia don, and his relatives, when they came to Houston to look after their numerous business interests.

Mischer said Marcello, whom he described as a "short, squatty Italian" (Marcello's nickname is "The Little Man"), wanted to buy two Houston hotels from him. Mischer and his partner, Howard Terry, owned the Coronado Hotel and the Carrousel Hotel. The Coronado was located in a older neighborhood west of downtown and was noted for its poker games, gambling and prostitution, according to undercover Houston police officers. It was later burned down.

The Carrousel opened in 1960 to great fanfare. The hotel was located between downtown Houston and Hobby Airport. It was supposed to be a hip, swinging place, but instead evolved into a guady and semi-sleazy motel. It had its share of prostitution too. NASA would hid the Mercury astronauts from the press at the Carrousel, where some of them allegedly engaged in certain extracurricular activities.

...Later, the new Houston Intercontinental Airport opened north of the city and Hobby Airport closed for a time. The Carrousel died on the vine and was shuttered in 1975. That's when Marcello came around. But Mischer said he didn't sell to Marcello, because "I didn't want to get run out of town."

However, it appears that Mischer sold the hotel to Marcello indirectly. In our interview, Mischer said he couldn't remember who bought the hotel. It turned out to be John Keneth Coil, a disbarred attorney and convicted pornographer who began offering X-rated movies in the rooms. A sergeant in the vice division of the Houston Police Department said Coil was an associate of the New Orleans Mafia family. In fact, Coil had a similar X-rated hotel, the San Antonio Inn, on the Airline Highway in Metarie, Louisiana, just a few miles down the road from the Town & Country Motel, Marcello's infamous headquarters.

The transaction between Coil, Mischer and Terry over the Carrousel was a strange one. Mischer said they sold the hotel on a contract for deed. This basically means that the title to the property in the form of a deed is not transferred to the buyer until the property is completely paid for. In a normal transaction the buyer gets title to the property by deed and, if the buyer owes the seller or a bank money, then the seller, or the bank, retains a lien on the property.

In the case of the Carrousel, Mischer and Terry retained title to the hotel and continued to pay the taxes while Marcello's man showed porno flicks and ran whores. Mischer said they took the hotel back around 1986 and bulldozed it down.

An independent confirmation that Marcello controlled the Carrousel Motel is contained in an upcoming book, The Man on the Grassy Knoll, by two Houston investigators, John R. Craig and Philip A. Rogers. The book, to be published by Avon, identifies one of the three so-called tramps who were taken into custody in Dallas after JFK was assassinated. the authors show that this man was a CIA agent. One of the other "tramps" they identify as convicted hitman Charles Harrelson.

Craig and Rogers state in their book that after the assassination the CIA agent had called Harrelson, "who was staying at another Carlos Marcello-owned rest stop, the Carrousel Motel at 3330 Reveille, across the street from the Gulfgate Mall. The Carrousel was a well-known hideout and watering hole for bandidos of all persuasions."

After the 1987 interview with Mischer, I talked to two other people in a position to know, who further confirmed Mischer's relationship to the Marcello family. One, a former Mischer employee and close personal friend, said Mischer not only dealt with the Marcellos but also with mob associates from New York and Chicago. This person said he once saw Mischer together with some of the Marcello brothers at the Hofbrau steak house in Houston. The Hofbrau is owned by a man named Browne Rice, who was a partner in the Victoria House Hotel in Belize with Albert Bel Fay, George Bush's political "mentor."

[Subdude]

Here is the Coronada, the other motel that the Mafia boss wanted to buy. Those must be a couple of the prostitutes lounging around the pool.

[pineda]

re; Mischer

Would that be Walter Mischer, Sr. or his equally suspect son, Walter Mischer, Jr.?

Mischer's influence is still being seen today as he develops an area of formerly set-aside forested property once owned by H.P. near 249 and Louetta. His partner? Vincente Kickerillo, of course. All that missing here from the good-old-boys club is the puppetmaster himself, former mayor Bob Lanier.

[MidtownCoog]

We should rename 249 the Bob Lanier Memorial Highway.

[Subdude]

I think the foundations are still there. The transit center is finished and its on the other side of Evergreen - not where the Carrousel was.

You're right, they are still there. I went there this weekend to verify.

[Subdude]

Playing around with Google maps. In the aerial view you can see the outline of the round office/restaurant building (immediately south of 610) as well as the parking lots. Pretty cool.

Carousel aerial view

[Ashikaga]

Yes, the Carousel looked like a nice establishment in its day. But many other places in Houston did too.

[chrispy]

Yes, the Carousel looked like a nice establishment in its day. But many other places in Houston did too.

Speaking of sleazy motels, I wonder how the Josephine Motel on Telephone (across from where the old K-Mart used to be) manages to stay open these days? The cops are constantly cruising past it and I don't see nearly as many prostitutes on Telephone compared to 5-10 years ago.

[Vertigo58]

Speaking of sleazy motels, I wonder how the Josephine Motel on Telephone (across from where the old K-Mart used to be) manages to stay open these days? The cops are constantly cruising past it and I don't see nearly as many prostitutes on Telephone compared to 5-10 years ago.

They were quite brazen out in front of The Josephine. You could go shop at Kmart come back to your car and see all the Heidi Fleiss girls hanging out. Blue light special!

[MidtownCoog]

The Josephine

That place is a trip. I can't belive it's still there.

[Vertigo58]

That place is a trip. I can't belive it's still there.

and this is real scary to admit but I once worked at the Burger King farther down Telephone Road across from the new Harley Motorcycle place around 76. We were directly across the street from Houstons porn version of Sunet Strip. I did an earlier comment I think in Telephone Road clubs? That whole strip should be dyno-mited!

The names of all those places are hilarious! My favorite is The Blue Cat Club. Sounds like kind of an underground flop house in Greenwich Village during the Beatnik movement. Who can forget Mr. Peepers adult book store? Had a big neon sign advertising Adult toys! As a kid I could never understand why a grown up would want to play with Tinker Toys? Then I grew up and... What! Real scary!!!!

[EastEnd Susan]

and this is real scary to admit but I once worked at the Burger King farther down Telephone Road across from the new Harley Motorcycle place around 76. We were directly across the street from Houstons porn version of Sunet Strip. I did an earlier comment I think in Telephone Road clubs? That whole strip should be dyno-mited!

The names of all those places are hilarious! My favorite is The Blue Cat Club. Sounds like kind of an underground flop house in Greenwich Village during the Beatnik movement. Who can forget Mr. Peepers adult book store? Had a big neon sign advertising Adult toys! As a kid I could never understand why a grown up would want to play with Tinker Toys? Then I grew up and... What! Real scary!!!!

The only motorcycle place I recall over there was Stubbs Cycles. And my brother says he remembers a place called the Blue Top Motel very well. Of course after he says this he produces a big evil smile. I drove down That street a few months ago and was surprised to see the old Blue Top with its big neon sign still there. Is the Blue Cat still there? My brother will be driving around the east end sometime in April and will take pictures. I'll be sure to post some.