wxman Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 So I've always wondered what the Houston skyline looked like through the years as each building was erected. Most of the buildings downtown had a vast impact on the way we view the city. So does anybody have old pics of the Houston skyline? Pictures of the skyline with buildings under construction? Anybody have pics of 700 Louisiana under construction or the Enron, Continental or Wells Fargo? I ran across a few that I will try and post here. Williams Tower under Construction: JP Morgan Chase: JPMorganChaseTower-001.jpg JPMorganChaseTower-002.jpg Enron (1600 Smith) 1600SmithConst.jpg If anybody has any more, please add. All these pics I found on a basic google search. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTAWACS Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 I dont have any from the 80's - I was small and innocent. But I do have tonnes starting from around 1999-2000... Not sure how to post them. I think I DID post one on the HAIF pic of the week (or day) section... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wxman Posted March 3, 2011 Author Share Posted March 3, 2011 I hear you on the small and innocent. I wasn't even alive for the first half of that decade! In movies/shows you can catch glimpses of the old Houston skyline. One of my favorite shows growing up was 'Knight Rider' and in one episode, he came to Houston to track a fugitive. They showed a pic of the Houston skyline when One Shell Plaza was the only true skyscraper we had. Then in the movie 'Urban Cowboy' at the very beginning, you can see the Houston skyline with some of the buildings under construction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 Not a skyline pic, but a few years ago one of the people who worked on the JPMorgan Chase Tower sent in some photos he took during its construction: http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/Building/524/JPMorgan-Chase-Tower.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highway6 Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 +1 for a great thread. Awesome pic of Transco going up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricco67 Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 While discussing searches for ancient construction porn, I do have to add that Dot's on I-45 and Woodridge has some awesome earlier photographs of Houston as well. I've been going there quite a bit and admiring the photos while waiting to be seated or waiting for the staff to gimme biscuits. Dot's = Awesome blowing your diet food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTAWACS Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 While discussing searches for ancient construction porn, I do have to add that Dot's on I-45 and Woodridge has some awesome earlier photographs of Houston as well. I've been going there quite a bit and admiring the photos while waiting to be seated or waiting for the staff to gimme biscuits. Dot's = Awesome blowing your diet food.i only go there after a night of hitting bars and clubs. i will try to get some cell phone pics nect time i am there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChannelTwoNews Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 I scanned these in ages ago, and posted to a thread on SSP regarding construction photos in the past. They're from the books Houston: City of Destiny and the first edition of Ray Miller's Houston from the late 70s and early 80s. Aerial view from the west with Pennzoil Place under construction Pit of Pennzoil Place 1978/79 or so, Three Allen Plaza & Enterpise Plaza UC 1979, Three Allen Plaza, Enterpise Plaza & barely visible Le Meridien (Doubletree) Part of 4 Houston Center visible during Construction 1600 Smith Street (Continental Center I) Allied Bank Plaza (Wells Fargo Plaza) w/ Cranes for RepublicBank Center (Bank of America Center) visible Distant view of DT from University of Houston's Main Campus w/ Gulf Tower (Fulbright Tower), 4 Houston Center, Allied Bank Plaza, and cranes from 1600 Smith & Four Allen Center Portion of RepublicBank Center (Bank of America Center) w/ model Transco Tower (Williams Tower) w/ Original Rendering America Tower (American General Center) Four Oaks Place Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Pragmatist Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 I scanned these in ages ago, and posted to a thread on SSP regarding construction photos in the past.They're from the books Houston: City of Destiny and the first edition of Ray Miller's Houston from the late 70s and early 80s.Cool pictures. It's interesting to look at the picture with the bayou in the foreground to see how that has changed since the 80's. My dad has a framed picture of some airplanes over downtown with several of these buildings under construction, including a crane doing the final touches on Chase tower. The aerial view gives a good perspective of how downtown changed. Maybe one day I could take it out and scan it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTAWACS Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 Thanks for posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsb320 Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 At what point did the preferred method of building skyscrapers go from steel-frame to poured concrete? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highway6 Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 At what point did the preferred method of building skyscrapers go from steel-frame to poured concrete?Not so much anymore since most of our steel is imported, but it used to be typically that steel was more prevalent in skyscraper construction the NE and Midwest due to proximity to steel producing cities. Concrete was more prevalent in the south. Concrete is still more prevalent here, but i don't know what the norm is now for other parts of the country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 At what point did the preferred method of building skyscrapers go from steel-frame to poured concrete?I want to say that One Shell Plaza was, at the time, the largest poured-concrete structure in the history of the world. So yeah, that's an interesting datapoint.But the cost/benefit seems to flip back and forth between steel and concrete based on the relative commodity price of each material. Anticipated labor prices are also a factor, as concrete is more labor-intensive. (That's why concrete is so prevalent in places like Mexico.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTAWACS Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 Was there not an issue with some of the cheap steel from china? I recall someone mentioning they found defects (low quality) in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsb320 Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 Was there not an issue with some of the cheap steel from china? I recall someone mentioning they found defects (low quality) in it. Yeah, I think some of their steel had lead in it. Niche was right. One Shell was the tallest poured concrete bldg from 1971-1975. It was surpassed by Water Tower Place in Chicago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChannelTwoNews Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 A few more period photos... From Allen Park Village... Wells Fargo Still under construction, and if you know where to look, you can see the cranes for the BOA Center & Lyric Centre in place I love that even from the distance, the frame of Wells Fargo is still quite visible Late 70s View of the TMC with the Scurlock Tower & DeBakey Center at BCM Under Construction Then there's this ad that I've seen periodically on ebay from KTRK with the construction of the Lanier Building from the 60s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTAWACS Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Priceless. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montrose1100 Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 My father told me that the KTRK building was going to be taller than the Humble building, but because at the time they were (slumberburger?)'s biggest client, they didnt want to go taller. I like how a lot of the photos are black & white, gives it that old time feel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wxman Posted May 6, 2011 Author Share Posted May 6, 2011 Holy crap. This is the best construction porn I've ever seen! I started the freakin' thread and forgot to check back in to see what everybody else had. Wow! Great pics... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChannelTwoNews Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Here are a few more photos from several of Houston's projects during the 70's and 80's. They were presented on highlight pages for an exhibition that was held at Architecture Center Houston in 2009... one I apparently missed! It was called "Behind The Building" and each of the photos is from the selected project pages. One Shell Plaza Pennzoil Place Wells Fargo Plaza 1600 Smith Street The Westin Galleria Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chi-Char-Hou-Dal Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 GOLD! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTAWACS Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 Wow... i love the photo of continental center. Nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolie Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 MORE!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedScare Posted May 24, 2012 Share Posted May 24, 2012 I moved to Houston in April of 1977. I watched most of these buildings go up. It was a never ending, always changing skyline. I even worked construction in 1979 and 1980. The shop was on Oak Place, which was a really rough neighborhood back then. But, that was just part of the excitement of being in Houston for some of us. That shop...and the entire rough neighborhood...is no more, replaced by the Arbor Place Apartments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chad37 Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 2002 was the real construction boom for Houston. I think they now have over 500 skyrises and counting. It's really amazing to see the transfermation over the last 50,60 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urbannizer Posted May 17, 2013 Share Posted May 17, 2013  National Bank of Commerce Annex - 1928  SE Corner of Main & Walker - 1928  Four Oaks Place - Early 1980's  Galleria area construction - 1980's    Pennzoil Building - 1975    Late 1970's JP Morgan Chase Tower - 1980  Bank of America Center - 1983  - Sloane Gallery Facebook Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urbannizer Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 One Shell Plaza http://blog.chron.com/primeproperty/2011/12/shell-renews-downtown-lease/#1992-7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Dogs Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 Got anymore photographs of downtown Houston's skyline from 1973 ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.