Old Baytown Junior High School Gym And Old Baytown Post Office

[Ross]

While driving down Bayway Drive in Baytown to check out the giant crane(Thanks, Hindesky), I saw a couple of buildings of interest. First up, the gymnasium of the old Baytown Junior High School, which appears to have been repurposed, but is behind a fence stating that it's inside a Federally Protected Energy Facility. I am trying to find additional information on the building. The school is now further North on Bayway, in a new building. I am going to guess that the building dates to before the merger and incorporation of Pelly, Goose Creek, and Old Baytown(which wasn't incorporated) into Baytown as we know it today.

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@29.7298751,-95.0106173,3a,75y,235.6h,84.31t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1st9k4rPL2sCpsm46pQow-IA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

 

Here's the Baytown Post Office, nearby on Market Street

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@29.7308425,-95.0073751,3a,75y,335.08h,86.77t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1scaj2_uop8Wm4q6OrfV1dLA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Dcaj2_uop8Wm4q6OrfV1dLA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D230.95088%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192

 

This looks like the Heights Library in some respects.

 

I wasn't able to get pictures, mostly due to not thinking about it while I was looking for the crane, and because the light was awful.

[gnu]

 

 

The Baytown Junior property was sold(?) to Exxon after a fire (arson) destroyed the school in 1979 or 80.

I do not know how Exxon repurposed the original Baytown Junior gym but the "new" Baytown Junior gym next door was used as a gym/exercise facility. It may still be used for that.  The gym was relatively new at the time of the fire (built in about 1976).

 

That post office was the Baytown post office before consolidation and is still a post office today.  There was a Goose Creek post office on Defee.  That building is from the 1930s. (That one moved to Baker Road in about 1980). 

 

https://www.google.com/maps/place/220+W+Defee+St,+Baytown,+TX+77520/@29.7339651,-94.9721031,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x863f5dd119523893:0x2e57d5a2ca934d3e!8m2!3d29.7339651!4d-94.9699144

 

 

Edit:  Just talked to a relative and former employee there. He said when he was there it was just used for storage.  They had old office furniture in there.  He said he thought they didn't tear it down because of the sentimental aspects it has/had for a lot of the residents.

[Ross]

2 hours ago, gnu said:

 

 

The Baytown Junior property was sold(?) to Exxon after a fire (arson) destroyed the school in 1979 or 80.

I do not know how Exxon repurposed the original Baytown Junior gym but the "new" Baytown Junior gym next door was used as a gym/exercise facility. It may still be used for that.  The gym was relatively new at the time of the fire (built in about 1976).

 

That post office was the Baytown post office before consolidation and is still a post office today.  There was a Goose Creek post office on Defee.  That building is from the 1930s. (That one moved to Baker Road in about 1980). 

 

https://www.google.com/maps/place/220+W+Defee+St,+Baytown,+TX+77520/@29.7339651,-94.9721031,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x863f5dd119523893:0x2e57d5a2ca934d3e!8m2!3d29.7339651!4d-94.9699144

 

 

Edit:  Just talked to a relative and former employee there. He said when he was there it was just used for storage.  They had old office furniture in there.  He said he thought they didn't tear it down because of the sentimental aspects it has/had for a lot of the residents.

Thanks! In all the time I've spent in Baytown, I never noticed the Junior High on Bayway, although I didn't go over there very often. My Dad and his siblings went to Jones ES, Horace Mann Jr High(the old building), and Lee.

 

The Old Baytown PO is far more attractive than the building on Defee.

[gnu]

True about the post offices.  However, there is one of those WPA murals in the defee post office.

Some details here:   http://www.houstondeco.org/1930s/goosecreek.html

 

Go Green Goslins!    Anson Jones was already closed by my time but the building was still there.  I got to go in it several times to get stuff out of storage or something.  I remember the old Auditorium being pretty cool.

[Ross]

57 minutes ago, gnu said:

True about the post offices.  However, there is one of those WPA murals in the defee post office.

Some details here:   http://www.houstondeco.org/1930s/goosecreek.html

 

Go Green Goslins!    Anson Jones was already closed by my time but the building was still there.  I got to go in it several times to get stuff out of storage or something.  I remember the old Auditorium being pretty cool.

I know that either Jones or Mann had a slide as a fire escape from the second floor, I recall seeing that in the 60's. My Dad wasn't too amused when I asked if it was OK to play on the slide. In the 1st grade, my Dad's younger brother was notorious for jumping out the window when the teacher's back was turned, so he could run home.