Memories Of Sharpstown

[IHB2]

Hi, sorry I had been away from the site for awhile. Frank Sharp, was actually my mother's father and had two daughters. No son. If it was Claude Hooton, then it was my Dad and Pop Pop was his father in law.

I don't think he's been in NM recently though-certainly not living there. Interesting.

Good to see that folks still remember and appreciate Sharpstown anyway.

Frank

1st visit to this thread, and what a shock...

SharpTexan you are my cousin. your father and his sisters are my 1st cousins. haven't seen your father since his mother's funeral in the 80s, but my mom (now 96) reminisces about him, C, and M often. was at the Sharp home for your parents' wedding although I was only 7 or 8 yrs old. my mom said Ted Kennedy fixed me a peanut butter sandwich b/c I was whining about the food options

[rgraham]

Sharpstown Drive-In Theater was demolished either in the late 70's or early 80's. They built apartments on that tract. There also used to be a chinese restaraunt across from Globe. I ate my first fortune cookie there, but it's long gone too.

Can someone tell me which direction the drive-in screen faced? I'm putting together some history for Briarmeadow, and a lady told me that as a child (late 50s-early 60s) she and other kids could sit on the roof of their house on Fairdale and see the screen at Sharpstown.

Just wondering. Thanks.

[Fringe]

Can someone tell me which direction the drive-in screen faced? I'm putting together some history for Briarmeadow, and a lady told me that as a child (late 50s-early 60s) she and other kids could sit on the roof of their house on Fairdale and see the screen at Sharpstown.

Just wondering. Thanks.

Briarmeadow would have been a ways off but as I remember they would at least be in the right direction to see the screen.

[rgraham]

I like that she told me that story because of the visual it creates. Briarmeadow is about two miles from Hillcroft and Bellaire, but in those days there would be nothing to impede the view. Few trees, no tall buildings, billboards or roadways -- just flatness. I figured the screen faced north, or mostly north, but thanks for the verification.

[MaxConcrete]

Can someone tell me which direction the drive-in screen faced? I'm putting together some history for Briarmeadow, and a lady told me that as a child (late 50s-early 60s) she and other kids could sit on the roof of their house on Fairdale and see the screen at Sharpstown.

It faced north. To be precise, due north. You can see it if you reference the Southwest Freeway chapter in the book Houston Freeways, which you can download at

http://houstonfreeways.com/ebook.aspx

The resolution of the image on the 150ppi file is barely enough to verify that it faces north. I pulled up the original image from my disk files, which is higher resolution, and verified that the screen faced north.

[rgraham]

It faced north. To be precise, due north. You can see it if you reference the Southwest Freeway chapter in the book Houston Freeways, which you can download at

http://houstonfreeways.com/ebook.aspx

The resolution of the image on the 150ppi file is barely enough to verify that it faces north. I pulled up the original image from my disk files, which is higher resolution, and verified that the screen faced north.

Wow -- thanks, MaxConcrete. You went above and beyond the call, and I certainly appreciate it.

I've found your book and Web site to be a tremendous resource, btw. Thanks again.

[Sharpstown Bill]

Shows how life was back before 1000 cable channels, computers & dvd's--when sitting on your roof to watch a drive-in movie without sound was an event! We used to do the same trying to catch the sounds of Meyer Speedway---

[sharpfan09]

It has been several years since I have been back to Sharpstown. I don't recall the Golden Eggs, but I am sad to hear that the hill is gone. I do remember the day that "man first walked on the moon" - they wheeled in one of those tv's on a cart and we all sat and watched it in our classroom. I always thought that cement square thing in the middle of the school was strange.

Anyone remember SFDS carnivals? We went to those every year. I can remember playing BINGO.

Oh and I think the K-Mart grocery part was a Lewis and Coker. And Churches Chicken was on the corner of that parking lot. We had fried chicken every week! But my favorite was Long John Silver's. It seems like LJS's was on the same parking lot until they moved it across to the other side of the freeway over there by Channel 2?

My dad used to take us to pick Dewberries also. What fun! I had forgotten about that...One thing that you brought memories of was seeing dead "frogs" smashed in the street. I know this sounds terrible, but we use to see them all the time, then many years later when I would go back to my parents home, I always wondered where all the "frogs" went to.

Are all of you talking about a hill that was infront of Pat Neff Elementary by the intersection of Carvel and Waldo? I went to Pat Neff from 2000-2002 and I remeber that we used to play in a hill infront of the school. In summer school, we used to go out and fill ballons with water and we would run around the hill throwing water ballons at each other and at the teachers. I havent been to Pat Neff in a while so Im not sure about the hill being removoed.

[sharpfan09]

Murph and I walked or rode our bikes to the Purple Cow. We also swam at Dunfee's Royal Coach. I watch them film the Bad News Bears at Bayland too. Okay, who are you? You were in my band at Jane Long, you're obviously my age, and I went to Sutton, Long, and SHS. What street did you live on??? You have to at least give a hint here.....????

Where was the "Purple Cow" located? I never heard of it before up untill teachers at Sharpstown Middle School talked about their glory days and how they loved to go to the Purple Cow.

[sharpfan09]

Greetings....

This thread tested my 50 yo memory and made me remember all the fun times of growing up in Sharpstown. My parents bought a Vista home on Tanager off Jorine in 1966. They still live there also. We were the 6th house on the street. If my memory serves me correctly they paid ~$18,500 for the 4 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car garage house. When we moved there K-Mart at 59 and Beechnut was just a shell under construction. There nothing west of the K-Mart site until you got past Gessner. In 1966 Gessner did not go south of Beechnut. Beechnut did not go west of the drainage ditch which is about 2 miles west of Gessner. Gessner ran north to Bellaire only.

I went to school at Pat Neff for 1/2 of 4th grade, Mrs. Hughes was my teacher. 5th grade I went to Pat Neff also and Mrs. McNair was my teacher. Neff was housing a number of classes in temporary buildings because of the huge influx of kids into the area. Neff at that time served all students from the railroad tracks (where Westpark tollard is today) south to Bissonett east to 59 and west to that drainage ditch. Bonham Elementary served kids on the east side of 59.

FOr 6th grade I transferred to Ed White Elementary. Ed WHite was named for the Apollo 1 astronaut that was killed in the fire aboard Apollo 1 while it was on the launchpad. 2 other schools with identical architecture were built to honor the other 2 astronauts. These schools were also built in fast growing areas of the city. Mrs. Taylor was my teacher. We had 2-6th grade classes then. Ed White was brand new and still under construction. The unique thing about Ed White was the concept of an open classroom in the east side of the school. It never really was used while I was there because the school was still growing. I also remember this was the first school in Houston that intrgrated the PA system into the school and was used extensively.

In 7th grade I attended the brand new Sharpstown Jr./Sr. High School, now Sharpstown Middle School. The school was opened and was still under construction. The auditorium, lockerrooms, gym, athletic fields were still being built. None of the science labs were finished. None of the language labs were finished. The school was "air conditioned" although it never seemed to work right. When we had gym class we sat on folding chairs in the big area between the gym and auditorium. I think it was in the Spring when we finally had lockerrooms and the gym. One thing I remember about this school was that it was my first experience with integration. The boundaries of the school went north of Westpart and included the Jenetta area. There was a lot of tension in my 7th grade year about rumbles over at Lansdale Park. I don't ever remember these happening but it was just kids being kids. In 9th grade it because Sharpstown Jr. High because the High School opened that year.

As far as shopping and other buildings here is a brief history from someone who has live in the area all of his life.

Sharpstown Shopping Center as it was called was built as a 1 story airconditioned mall. The only anchors at that time were Montgomery Ward and FOleys. And Foley's was the second foleys opened, downtown was the first. The foley's was small 2 story + basement with furniture and appliances in the basement. The interesting thing about foley's was that you could access the basement from the parking lot on 2 sides. Yes they had built the parking lot sunken. They finally did away with this design when the basement kept flooding in our Houston storms. There were then 2 additions to the store. There were 2 minor anchors to the mall, FOod Giant and Battlestein's clothing. Food Giant was located where the JC Penney's used to be. Battlesteins was located where the theatres and food court portion are now. Across the street from the mall, where Circuit City is now, was Allstate's Headquarters (not sure if it was regional or national. They moved out of this building in the late 70's. The old Gaylynn theatres, now abandoned in the back of the mall, originally 1 theatre that had cinerama capability. Very upscale and very nice. Then they added a second theatre. There was a dennys right next to it that we hung out at when I was in HS. When I was growing up we used to ride bicycles from my house to the mall. Yes youngsters we actually did get a lot of exercise riding bikes and hanging out at the mall or going to the Walter Branch Library. One of the coolest moments in my life was when GiGi's model shop displayed one of my model rockets in their window for an extended period of time. I was a celebrity in my own right. For those of you wondering what GiGi's was...it was a hobby shop that had everything from model cars to trains to guided model plane to radio control planes and other stuff that supported all of these activities. In the mid-70's Sharpstown's management felt they needed to add a second floor. The original mall was not structurally built to hold a second floor so they had to do a lot of upgrades. At the same time JC Penney was added as an anchor. If you go on the second floor now you will notice in place where the flooring slants toward the inside cut outs. Poor construction plagued the addition. The downfall of Sharpstown was the oil bust of the late 80's. I have been 1 time since 1995 and refuse to go back. It is far too sad to see what has happened to what was Houston's jewel mall.

Southway Center (Beechnut and GEssner) started out with Handy Dan Hardware (what is now Academy). They had to run Gessner through to 59 to build things on that strip of land. When they built Southway it originally housed a Bowling Lane, big toy store similar to Toys R Us (the baskin robbins in the center was part of that toy store), a Weingartens Grocery (became Safeway and then Apple Tree, then closed to become Marshalls or something else), a Madings Drug Store (became Eckerds), and Southway 6. Southway 6 theatres were HORRIBLE. THe screens were like today's 60" plasma televisions. Teeny tiny. We never understoody people loved them so much. In the parking lot was an Enco then Exxon now Mobil gas station,American Savings then Bank United now Washington Mutual, a PIzza Inn now a taqueria, a Texaco Station at Beechnut/Gessner, a KFC and a Winchell's Donuts. Across the street was the Church but nothing else until Phillip 66 built a station and then CVS. Across Gessner was a Shell station, an auto repair place which is now U-Haul, Grandy's, Stower's Funiture which because Havertys then burned in a late nite huge fire then Best Buy.

Sam White Oldsmobile was built when I was in 10th grade I believe on beechnut. Now it's an empty shell. In the shopping center slightly west where there is a vet clinic was one of the original Purple Cow burger joints where you could buy purple ice cream.

Someone mentioned Globe Shopping City. There were 3 stores I can remember in Houston. The first was at Hillcroft and Bellaire Blvd. (what is now Fiesta). Globe was originally a membership store similar to Super Target. Membership was based on employer or credit union. They had everything you could want from groceries to toys to automotive to furniture. Out front where the pawn shop is now was a gas station tire center. The other 2 locations were Gulfgate where Mervyns was and Memorial City where Super Oshmans was. Globe went under in the early 1970's. Fed Mart took over the Bellaire store for a couple of years and then they went under. The store sat empty for a couple of years if I recall correctly then Fiesta took it over. So the physical structure has been there for about 45 years.

I went to Sharpstown Baptist Church and can remember watching the Target on 59 being built. When it opened it was HUGE. Where the Marshalls was was Target's grocery store. Yes in the late 1960's and early 1970's Target had a Grocery store so SuperTarget is nothing new. They also had tire sales and gas sales. When I bought my first car, a 1971 Gremlin (no one laugh), I remember my first tank of gas at Target I paid 39.9 per gallon. Those were the days. Sometime in the 1980's Target elected to get out of Grocery and leased the store to Weingartens but that didnt last long and it closed. Then Marshalls bought the space out. Same thing happened at the Target which was on Katy Freeway at Echo Lane which is now Marshalls etc. They also had a store like that on 610 at Long Drive which closed in the 1980's and then because Auchans for a short time then the FEMA Katrina center.

Memorial Hospital was built in the mid-1970's when they moved Memorial Baptist from downtown across Smith from the main library.

The shopping center at Fondren and 59 where the funky furniture store is was build for Woolco. The discount version of Woolworths. In that center was a Weingartens and other stores. There was a cool place to eat on the end that you ordered using telephones at the table. I don't recall the name.

ANyone remember watching the radar town at Channel 2 being built? When they moved out to that location 59 ended at Beechnut.

Lets see a couple of other items. Yes The Fiesta at Bellaire and Gessner was originally a Safeway. And yes Strake did have to sell the land because of Sharpstown State Bank failure.

Further west where Chinatown begins the shopping center right next to St Agnes was built to house a Lewis & Coker grocery, Furr's Cafeteria(in the corner), and a Sage Drug store (Walgreens took that over later). I used to work in the Sage Drug store in the camera department. The Sage Drug store was a spin off of Sage Discount Stores which was like Globe in that the big stores (Beechnut/610, now lowes location--Town & COuntry now demolished--45 and College now an HISD charter school) that required membership to shop there and you paid in individual departemtnst. Sage was where Arne of Arne's party etc store on Studewood got his start.

Sorry for the long post. I know I've let oout some stuff.....but I wanted to add my historical recollections. If you've got further questions respond here or e-mail me at fooddoc@earthlink.net

By the way my folks still live in the same house on Tanager and as far as I can tell the area they live in is still safe and sound. ALthough I hate the apartments along beechnut, they need to be demolished or something to get rid of the gang activities.

Ed White Elementary did infact have an intercom(PA) system but in was not the first school to have it. Mirabeau B. Lamar Sr. High School on Westheimer and River Oaks was the first school EVER to have a built-it PA system. The 1936 yearbook clarifies that statement and a former Lamar student. I went to Sharpstown Middle School (2002-2005) and when I first went there, the GYM was closed. We had PE in the temporary buildings next to the science wing on the East side of the school. The Auditorium was also closed. In 7th Grade, both sites were open and we were so happy to be the first to enjoy the brand new remodeled GYM and Auditorium. The locker rooms were horrible. They still had the old lockers but thanks to several fundraising events, we had new lockers put it.

[musicman]

yesterday on 26 news at 9, isiah carey had a story on sharpstown and what started its demise. many blame mr sharp himself who was convicted in the sharpstown scandal in the early 70's and didn't devote as much time to sharpstown as a whole from that point on.

[SpaceAge]

yesterday on 26 news at 9, isiah carey had a story on sharpstown and what started its demise. many blame mr sharp himself who was convicted in the sharpstown scandal in the early 70's and didn't devote as much time to sharpstown as a whole from that point on.

Demise? Sharpstown is still a wonderful place full of attractive streets, well built homes, and nice people. I'm always looking for a neat house there so I can move back in an attempt to lessen the seemingly never ending outrageous property tax increases.

The majority of the development of Sharpstown was complete before the 1970s and Sharp had moved on to other projects. A friend who worked to develop the Woodlands said it was basically complete about ten years ago. All they do now is infill according to the plans established long ago.

[musicman]

Demise? Sharpstown is still a wonderful place full of attractive streets, well built homes, and nice people. I'm always looking for a neat house there so I can move back in an attempt to lessen the seemingly never ending outrageous property tax increases.

The majority of the development of Sharpstown was complete before the 1970s and Sharp had moved on to other projects. A friend who worked to develop the Woodlands said it was basically complete about ten years ago. All they do now is infill according to the plans established long ago.

yeah much was complete but evidently they mentioned that it was no longer sharp's focus so things were allowed to evolve without his influence. i think there are some great homes there

[VicMan]

Sharpfan works on Wikipedia articles about Sharpstown and his schools (He currently attends River Oaks's Lamar High School) - He is known as J90nepnjmm on Wikipedia (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:J90nepnjmm )

In other words, we have a valuable contributor to Wikipedia, and we can all collaborate on Wikipedia articles about Houston

[sharpfan09]

yeah much was complete but evidently they mentioned that it was no longer sharp's focus so things were allowed to evolve without his influence. i think there are some great homes there

There is, in fact, great homes here. I reside in Sharpstown and the neighboorhood here is extremely quiet. A few years ago, my parents were looking for a house in Sharpstown to buy and the bank denied them from buying a home in Sharpstown because it was too expensive for them? Expensive? Shows how much the home values here have increased. The only chaos at Sharpstown are Bellaire @ Hillcroft, Bellaire @ US 59, Bellaire @ Fondren, and Bellaire @ S.Gessner. All the smaller streets and neighborhoods are very quiet compared to the neighboorhoods near downtown Houston.

Does anyone have pictures of Pat Neff Elementary and Sharpstown Jr./Sr or Sharpstown Middle School from back then? I would love to see them!

[Perimeter285]

This is so fascinating! I've lived in Sharpstown for four years, and I've always been interested in what the neighborhood was like in its heyday. There is no turning back time, but hopefully the people of this area can work towards a new heyday for Sharpstown. My street in particular is lovely, and so are many others despite the appearance of the major thoroughfares and their crappy strip malls and apartments.

[SpaceAge]

The only chaos at Sharpstown are Bellaire @ Hillcroft, Bellaire @ US 59, Bellaire @ Fondren, and Bellaire @ S.Gessner. All the smaller streets and neighborhoods are very quiet compared to the neighboorhoods near downtown Houston.

The intersection of Bellaire Boulevard and Fondren Road is the location of a "pilot intersection" which is part of a $33,000,000 project to improve the corridors of the two streets. It has been completed for about six months. The roadway and utility improvements seem to function adequately but I question the design elements and especially the maintenance. When the project was first announced, there was considerable enthusiasm because a new image for Sharpstown was being created. The outcome was promised to be just as memorable as the Galleria streetscape program but in a style completely unique and appropriate for Sharpstown.

The outcome is certainly disappointing. One of the early objectives was for the design to evoke the context of Sharpstown and the era Sharpstown was constructed. I see nothing in the installation that links the design to a 1950s/1960s development. The small round raised planters are interesting but hardly establish a theme due to their scale and spacing. Driving through the intersection, the only thing noticeable is the columns that support the signal arms. They are said to be completely custom designs but appear that they were ordered from a catalogue and would look more at home in a new town development.

While the design is mediocre at best, the maintenance, or lack of, casts an impression of some type of instability of not only the belief in the importance of the project but also instability in the belief of the possibility of ever returning Sharpstown to a place with a favorable image. The area looks trashy and completely unmaintained. Having the expensive site elements in such a setting makes me wonder if the Southwest Houston Redevelopment Authority actually has the ability to accomplish a goal. I would rather see nothing but well trimmed turf in a scrupulously clean environment than all these nifty things amid weeds, dead plants, and trash.

This is a repeat of earlier projects in the district. Numerous installations have gone in around the area to seemingly be abandoned in a short period of time. After nine years of existence, the redevelopment authority unfortunately must still be unaware that many of the visual impressions people form of Sharpstown are established by conditions which are easy to influence through simple maintenance. The district should concentrate on one single project until they can manage it so that it becomes a true asset to the community instead of having numerous projects that waste funds and add to the decline of the image of Sharpstown.

[kin_far]

Where was the "Purple Cow" located? I never heard of it before up untill teachers at Sharpstown Middle School talked about their glory days and how they loved to go to the Purple Cow.

The Purple Cow was on the south side of Beechnut in the strip center located between Tanglewilde and Gessner. I think it's now a tire store.

[SpaceAge]

Purple Cow Number 2

8517 Beechnut

Houston, Texas

771-4466

The Purple Cow is shown as a new listing in the 1969 city directory as are all the neighboring businesses.

On either side were Kathleens Magic Mirror and Kits Krafts. Beechnut Lounge and Bishops Liquor Store were next to Kits.

[Fringe]

The Purple Cow was on the south side of Beechnut in the strip center located between Tanglewilde and Gessner. I think it's now a tire store.

I thought the Purple Cow was on the west side of Hillcroft near Bissonnet. Or am I thinking of something else?

[SpaceAge]

From the 1966 city directory:

D M Drive Ins Inc.

7618 Hillcroft

Houston, Texas

PR4-9797

Shown to be a new listing

From the 1969 city directory:

Purple Cow Number 1

7618 Hillcroft

Houston, Texas

774-9797

Shown to be a new listing

I liked the Purple Cow, probably just because of the name, but my parents liked the Chuck Wagon at 6817 Bissonnet Avenue better.

[IHB2]

I liked the Purple Cow, probably just because of the name, but my parents liked the Chuck Wagon at 6817 Bissonnet Avenue better.

that Chuck Wagon is the current El Pupusadromo #2. it was remodeled in the mid-60s to add an enclosed eating section around the original conestoga wagon building.

"I'd like 2 Spokes with chili and cheese, 2 Hubs cut the onions, and a Wheel all the way, 4 fries and 4 Tubs o'Coke. All to go."

that was our standard after school order in between the last bell at Bellaire High and the start of football practice.

[apollopride]

I thought the Purple Cow was on the west side of Hillcroft near Bissonnet. Or am I thinking of something else?

That's where I thought it was. Close to Bayland Park.

[Fringe]

That's where I thought it was. Close to Bayland Park.

Yep. Right down the street from Wienerschnitzel.

[TxFireguy]

Yep. Right down the street from Wienerschnitzel.

Yes, The Purple Cow was on the NW corner of Hillcroft and Bissonnet between the used car lot and the Billiard and Muffler shops. It later became a Blimpies. The building is still there, I believe.

The Wienerschnitzel was on the SE corner of Hillcroft and Bissonnet, actually at Pine street.

[sharpfan09]

Very Intresting! Too bad I never had the chance to visit The Purple Cow. Oh Well.

Does anybody know the exact year when Sharpstown Middle School was built?

Also, is the area of Sandspoint Dr. ( At the north end of Sharpstown Golf Course ) considered part of Sharpstown? I never seen that place up until a while ago where theres a strip of condos and apartments. Also, what year was this area established?

[annchere]

I attended Jane Long during the late 70's when Mr. Thompson was the principal.

I was in the band directed by Jack LaLanne. Played at every football game and concerts throughout the year. Mr. LaLanne made the cut-ups do push-ups when they acted out. Our whole trumpet section was muscular.

I was also on the first-ever girl's basketball team there coached by Mr. Hollingsworth and Miss Wallace. The boys got bussed to games, but the girls did not. We still had fun even though not very many schools had girl's teams.

Used to buy Mentos at lunch and wear Eagles, Foghat, and Linda Ronstadt shirts. We thought the pizza in the cafeteria there was awesome.

Ring a bell anyone?

I remember Jack Lalane, I used to play french horn and I was on the Girl's Basketball team with Mr. Hollingsworth and Coach Golden. I was also on the swim team with Mr. Hollingsworth. Swim practice in the morning at 6am! lol

Gosh, those were some fun times. Would be nice to see some more pictures! *hugs* Ann

[carolyn]

What happened to talking about Jane Long Junior High?

Our band teacher was Jack LaLanne and he was awesome! I was lucky to be in his band from 1976-1979. Played the flute.

I was in the band too!

I played the clarinet.

[carolyn]

Hi. I was at Jane Long from 76-79. I was in the band and I played the clarinet. Jack Lalane was a great band director. He took us from the worst band in the city to winning all 1's at the city UIL contest in a two year period. Mr. Lalane was a former professional musician with the NBC orchestra. And I remember that one year we cut a record. My father probably still has it. I also remember doing alot of push ups. Enviromain I probably knew you and I am sure as a member of the flute section that you never had to do push ups. Do you remember those little practice rooms that were at the back of the band room? We had alot of cute girls in the band which made it hard for us boys to concentrate hence all the push ups. Ah youth.

Long was a tough school I remember having to do bear crawls around the track during gym for

Coaches Golden and Castoria. By the way Coach Holly taught Drivers Ed at Coaches Driving School in

Bellaire where I learned to drive. Long was a very strict school. I remember what a shock it was to go to

Sharpstown High School which had few if any enforced rules and was pretty much a party school.

Life was good.

I still have that record!

Okay give me a first name!

[annchere]

I was also in the last Ninth grade class to go from Jane Long to SHS. Got to SHS as a Sophomore and had a bunch of Freshmen under me!

I get the Main idea of your username, but I don't quite get the enviro Didn't you also play basketball at SHS?

Carolyn!!! Hey there!