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http://images.chron.com/content/news/photos/05/08/12/b-histor.jpg

Aug. 12, 2005, 12:28AM

More historic markers ahead?

City is weighing a plan to allow property owners to seek permanent protection for sites

By MATT STILES

Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

In what would be a victory for preservation advocates, the City Council is considering a new ordinance that would safeguard Houston's historic sites by allowing voluntary designations of "protected landmarks."

The effort, designed to strengthen the city's 10-year-old preservation ordinance, would allow property owners to seek permanent protection for historic buildings they own if the sites meet specific criteria. That protection would remain, even if the property ownership changed.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Did anybody else get goose bumps watching the movie Tarnation? Both for the incredible subject matter - but also secondarily the old video clips of Westbury and other parts of Houston?

Rent it now if you haven't seen it.

(As for the high school musical production in the show, it has a fictional name in the movie - but it was Westbury HS as I understand.)

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Trying to locate historical data & photos for the following:

Geo. Washington Jr. High School {Shepherd & Dickson?}

Alamo Heights elementary School {?}

Ripley House {?}

Rittenhouse {?}

Industrial Home {somewhere on Gano?}

Clayton Genealogical Cntr {?}

Julia Ideson Bldg. {?}

Houston Lighting/Power Bldg. downtown

Houston Natural Gas Bldg. downtown

Harris Cnty government Bldg's. downtown

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Trying to locate historical data & photos for the following:

Clayton Genealogical Cntr {?}

http://www.hpl.lib.tx.us/clayton/clayton_history.html

I was there for the dedication of the historical marker ca. 1993 but have never been back since they re-opened the home.

Re: your PM which I accidentally deleted: The Iris was at 612 Travis, originally the Travis theatre. Will Horwitz bought it in 1919 for $150 (he had been working at Camp Logan showing films). Unable to afford a new sign, he knocked the bar off the T, blocked out the A and V, and so was born the Iris, which happened to also be the name of his daughter.

The other theatre you mentioned was probably the Isis; it's been mentioned in other threads on HAIF. Try the search feature.

Edited by brucesw
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  • 3 months later...
Trying to locate historical data & photos for the following:

Ripley House {?}

Rittenhouse {?}

Julia Ideson Bldg. {?}

Houston Lighting/Power Bldg. downtown

there is a neat houston lighting and power substation on 2501 polk st., just east of downtown

ripley house is gone (replaced) - 4410 navigation (neighborhood centers, inc. ripley house, now)

there was an incarnation of the Rice Hotel for about a year (before it closed) called the Rice-Rittenhouse - is that what you're talking about?

julia ideson - http://www.hpl.lib.tx.us/branches/jib_home.html

Edited by sevfiv
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  • 4 weeks later...
That was an old rumor, They plan a "gaylord" type convention center and hotel in there. I still miss Astroworld...

check this thread out.

http://www.sixflagshouston.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1712

What a wonderful collection of Astroworld history! They have park maps from almost every year and hundreds of photos along with a timeline, concert listings, and forum discussions.

modvillesign.thumb.jpg

MODVILLE

themodbox.jpg

It seems like the new gaylord astrodome center would be even better if there was an amusement park across the street...

Edited by SpaceAge
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  • 3 months later...

Does anyone remember this plane crash?

http://es.houstonisd.org/herodes/About_Herod/Our_Hero.htm

We were living in Marilyn Estates and I had just gone to bed when I heard the plane go over the house and then heard it crash. The explosion lit up my window. I actually thought the Russians had dropped the bomb - this was the time of the cold war.

My dad (who was a professional photographer at the time) grabbed his camera and ran out of the house. He was joined by our neighbor who was a mortician. They got wet running across Braes Bayou and were the first ones at the site.

My dad told me that he saw the helmet on the ground and then realized that it wasn't empty. That's all he would say and I never saw any of the pictures.

A short time later a tree was planted near Meyerland Plaza with a plaque dedicated to Captain Herod.

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Does anyone remember this plane crash?

I'd never heard about that one, or knew that school was named after the pilot..

What was the exact location of that crash?

I remember a bad crash in 1965 when I lived in Wichita KS. I was in 2nd-3rd grade.

A KC-135 "boeing 707" tanker was fully fueled and just took off from McConnell AFB.

They had engine trouble, "they say a parachute might have got sucked into an engine,

maybe before takeoff."

It went down right into a neighborhood of houses, a scenario much like Herod was

trying to avoid.

With that big jet, they didn't have any control, stalled, and plowed right in.

It was on a Saturday morning, and we were out riding our bikes around.

We were a few miles away, but we could still see the loads of black smoke.

It burned all day long, as I remember my dad took the family over to that street

that night after it was dark, and there was still a lot on fire.

Pretty much the whole street and all the houses were toast. About 20 on the

ground were killed, and 7 crew in the plane.

Biggest plane crash I ever saw, fer sure..

http://www.wichitagov.org/CityOffices/Fire...ory/11/1965.htm

for a few little pix... BTW, they also used KC-135's as AWAC planes too..

NTSB info...

NTSB Identification: Unknown

14 CFR Part 91 General Aviation

Event occurred Saturday, January 16, 1965 in WICHITA, KS

Aircraft: BOEING KC-135, registration: USAF501

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FILE DATE LOCATION AIRCRAFT DATA INJURIES FLIGHT PILOT DATA

F S M/N PURPOSE

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

M-0001 65/1/16 WICHITA KANS BOEING KC-135 CR- 7 0 0 *ERROR-INVALID CODE* AGE 35, UNK/NR INSTRUMENT

TIME - 0930 USAF501 PX- 0 0 0 RATED.

DAMAGE-DESTROYED OT- 0 0 0

TYPE OF ACCIDENT PHASE OF OPERATION

COLLISION WITH GROUND/WATER: UNCONTROLLED IN FLIGHT: UNCONTROLLED DESCENT

UNDER INVESTIGATION

EMERGENCY CIRCUMSTANCES - FORCED LANDING OFF AIRPORT ON LAND

FIRE AFTER IMPACT

I did a NTSB search on the Houston crash, but no records before 1962... :(

MK

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So what happened to the pictures? Your dad still around?

I was wrong. I just asked my dad and he said that he didn't take pictures. I guess that's why I never saw them.

He said that the plane crashed just on the other side of Braes Bayou. He and the neighbor were approaching from the south and as they reached the bayou to cross over, the plane exploded. It's a good thing they hadn't crossed it yet. It would have been somewhere between Chimney Rock and Hillcroft.

I found info about Gary Herod on wikipedia, but it says that the plane crashed in the area that now contains Meyerland Plaza. Of course that is wrong. Meyerland was built in 1957 and the crash was nowhere near there.

Edited by Alpha
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I was wrong. I just asked my dad and he said that he didn't take pictures. I guess that's why I never saw them.

He said that the plane crashed just on the other side of Braes Bayou. He and the neighbor were approaching from the south and as they reached the bayou to cross over, the plane exploded. It's a good thing they hadn't crossed it yet. It would have been somewhere between Chimney Rock and Hillcroft.

I found info about Gary Herod on wikipedia, but it says that the plane crashed in the area that now contains Meyerland Plaza. Of course that is wrong. Meyerland was built in 1957 and the crash was nowhere near there.

You can correct it on Wikipedia, right?

Did the plane crash into a field?

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I was wrong. I just asked my dad and he said that he didn't take pictures. I guess that's why I never saw them.

He said that the plane crashed just on the other side of Braes Bayou. He and the neighbor were approaching from the south and as they reached the bayou to cross over, the plane exploded. It's a good thing they hadn't crossed it yet. It would have been somewhere between Chimney Rock and Hillcroft.

Here is a 1960 aerial photo posted on another thread by nm5k, quite awhile ago, that shows parts of Meyerland, Westbury, and Marilyn Estates. http://rootmedia.net/images/westbury60.jpg You're looking south in this picture. In the bottom right corner is the future crossing of Chimney Rock over Brays Bayou, where only a drainage ditch was at that time. Hillcroft is off the photo here, but, from your description of the location, the crash must have been just to the right, off the picture, in that area. Marilyn Estates is just across the bayou to the south from here. I have a good friend who lives on Valkeith in Marilyn Estates. His house had not been built when this picture was taken.

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My memory of this story

I was a senior at Pasadena High School when this crash happened and it was a very big story for several weeks. I remember reading that the pilot stayed with the plane to keep it from going down in a school yard where children were playing. It went over the school and crashed in an open field not very far away. The pilot was killed because the plane was too low for him to eject safely. HISD renamed that school for Capt Herod, and the school children planted the memorial tree in Herod's memory at Meyerland Plaza, which is a considerable distance from the school.

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I was a senior at Pasadena High School when this crash happened and it was a very big story for several weeks. I remember reading that the pilot stayed with the plane to keep it from going down in a school yard where children were playing. It went over the school and crashed in an open field not very far away. The pilot was killed because the plane was too low for him to eject safely. HISD renamed that school for Capt Herod, and the school children planted the memorial tree in Herod's memory at Meyerland Plaza, which is a considerable distance from the school.

I'm not sure that there were any children playing. It happened around 10:30 at night. If he came from Ellington Field, he would have been flying north and might have passed over Parker or Kolter school. Herod Elementary didn't open until 1965.

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I'm not sure that there were any children playing. It happened around 10:30 at night. If he came from Ellington Field, he would have been flying north and might have passed over Parker or Kolter school. Herod Elementary didn't open until 1965.

Yes the school opened in 1965, and yes it happened at night. Obviously my memory isnt perfect, but I do remember the part about the plane staying in the air past a school yard because that's all anybody could talk about for several weeks. The crash and the school yard were equal parts of the story, and people marveled at how heroic Herod was by keeping his plane from crashing in the school yard.

Or, maybe I just think that's what I remember, and I'm just getting senile here in my middle age.

Edited by FilioScotia
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Yes the school opened in 1965, and yes it happened at night. Obviously my memory isnt perfect, but I do remember the part about the plane staying in the air past a school yard because that's all anybody could talk about for several weeks. The crash and the school yard were equal parts of the story, and people marveled at how heroic Herod was by keeping his plane from crashing in the school yard.

Or, maybe I just think that's what I remember, and I'm just getting senile here in my middle age.

I understand where you're coming from. I'm slightly younger - I was in 7th grade at the time. What amazed me is that when I asked my 82 year old father about it today, he remembered it vividly. He even remembered the pilot's name.

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