Tony Minchew Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 Does anyone one know what the original business(es) were in that strip center? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 Looks like Weingarten's and Lang's Pharmacy (1963 directory) - I believe it was built in the early sixties so those are probably the firsts.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djrage Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 I remember going to the grocery store there in the early 80s with my parents (Not sure why we did that a few times because we lived off Belfort and Mykawa). I don't remember it being a Weingarten's though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 ^In 1976+ it was a Gerland's Food Fair Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NenaE Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 Yes. I remember a Weingarten's, and research has told me the pharmacy was there, as well. 1960's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle C Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 Yes it was a Lang's pharmacy was in there for years. on the left side to the rear or Gulf Fwy. side of the pharmacy was a beauty salon named Curls for Girls. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FilioScotia Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 (edited) If you're talking about the west side of the Park Place-Broadway roundabout at the Gulf Fwy, I can remember when Big Humphrey Pizza had a store there. Big Humphrey Pizza is now located in Pearland. Edited December 24, 2014 by FilioScotia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle C Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 If you're talking about the west side of the Park Place-Broadway roundabout at the Gulf Fwy, I can remember when Big Humphrey Pizza had a store there. Big Humphrey Pizza is now located in Pearland. No, I am talking about the east side of the building, the Gulf Freeway side. When I posted yesterday I was almost sure the beauty salon was to the rear side of that building, but the more I thought about it I have decided it was in the building directly behind the old pharmacy building. I used to have my hair done there in the late sixties or early seventies. About the only thing I do remember for sure was the girl that did my hair was named Gail. When I pulled up the street view on Google maps it looked so different, for one it was not a red building back then and also it looked a lot nicer and more professional. The one thing that is still the same it is trim around and above the door to the Curls for Girls beauty salon. I also don't think that it had the canopy extended out from the building like it does now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FilioScotia Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 I think I was misunderstood. Is the strip center you're talking about on the west side of the freeway? Or the east side? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle C Posted December 25, 2014 Share Posted December 25, 2014 The strip center is on the west side of the freeway. See the picture above on my earlier post, you can see the side of Kelly's to the left of the picture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FilioScotia Posted December 25, 2014 Share Posted December 25, 2014 (edited) Is the pavement in the foreground part of the Gulf Fwy southbound feeder approaching Broadway/Park Place? If it is, I am almost a hundred percent certain that this strip center was also the home of Big Humphrey Pizza. Big Humphrey - former pro wrestler Joe Vitale - opened his pizza joint there in 1948 before the freeway even came out that far. It was popular and did a good business till the family closed it in 1986 so they could move to Pearland, where it is today with a reputation for good Italian food. Joe Vitale was an interesting guy with an interesting story of where his professional name "Big Humphrey" came from. Ever read the Joe Palooka comic strip? http://www.houstonpress.com/2000-07-27/restaurants/truck-stop-italian/ Edited December 25, 2014 by FilioScotia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle C Posted December 26, 2014 Share Posted December 26, 2014 Indeed it is the southbound Gulf Freeway feeder road, however I do not think it was the former location of Big Humphrey's pizza eatery. I read the link that you had attached and it said he was located on Park Place. The location of the beauty salon in the picture I posted is and always has been a Gulf Freeway address. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle C Posted December 28, 2014 Share Posted December 28, 2014 I looked in the 1970 city directory and found Big Humphrey's to have been located at 7661 Park Place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FilioScotia Posted December 28, 2014 Share Posted December 28, 2014 (edited) Just one more sign that my memory is fading fast. I'm willing to admit defeat on this one. Edited December 28, 2014 by FilioScotia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle C Posted December 28, 2014 Share Posted December 28, 2014 Just one more sign that my memory is fading fast. I'm willing to admit defeat on this one. Don't feel like the Lone Ranger. Mine is going fast too. I had at first thought the Curls for Girls salon was on the side of the pharmacy building, but after looking at it a bit and I started to wonder and checked the 1970 city directory and found why I was having those doubts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FilioScotia Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 (edited) I went to Google Maps to find that address on the Street View and found that 7661 Park Place is now a vacant lot. Edited December 29, 2014 by FilioScotia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle C Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 Actually the building is still there. I am including a screen shot from Google for you. Please note the address 7657, the next doors is 7659 and the next the taqueria is 7661. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FilioScotia Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 (edited) Are you sure? It looks to me like the door on the far right is another entrance to the same business that uses the door on the left, the one marked 7659. The distance between the two doors is only three parking spaces. If there were separate businesses behind each of those doors, they were pretty darn small. If that was the case, it would indicate that Big Humphrey's was take-out only at that location. No dining-in. Like Domino's. Edited December 29, 2014 by FilioScotia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle C Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 Things change over the years. The building my be configured differently now than it once was. I tried three or four different street locations trying to read the number over the door and at one location it said 7661. That does not mean that it was always that way and you could be entirely correct about the original location now being a vacant lot. It is hard to say with so much change over the years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ernie5823 Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 In the '50s & early '60s, Big Humphreys was between Gulf Freeway. & Reveille, on Park Place Boulevard. The 7661 address sounds about right. I remember him selling hamburgers, not so much pizza. Maybe nobody is old enough to remember, but also in '50s & '60s, Langs Pharmacy was on Broadway, at Kingsley. Looks like most of the building is gone, now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
57Tbird Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Actually the building is still there. I am including a screen shot from Google for you. Please note the address 7657, the next doors is 7659 and the next the taqueria is 7661. Found this info on HCAD: 7661 Park Place.pdf Looks like the 7661 address is for three lots. No 7657 or 7659 there now on this map. Other info says this address is a strip shopping center, originally built in 1950 and remodeled in 2013 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FilioScotia Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Built in 1950? Everything I've read about Big Humphrey's says it was opened in 1948. hmmmm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
57Tbird Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Built in 1950? Everything I've read about Big Humphrey's says it was opened in 1948. hmmmm You're probably right. The HCAD build date has been wrong before on several places that I know of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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