Lake Island At 8301-1/2 South Main St.

[57Tbird]

I just came across the attached ad in an old 1947 paper.  Looking at its location and description, I have no recollection of it at all, and I thought I was pretty well informed about all the recreation facilities in the South Main area in the '40's - 60's timeframe.  Its address puts it right inside the intersection of South Main and OST.  The ad says, ..."behind Price's Restaurant.", but I think it should have been Prince's Drive-In, which was near that location.  Looking at blurry 1953 Historic Aerials and Google Earth views in that location show something that might have been it.

 

[FilioScotia]

I'm willing to go out on a limb and say Lake Island didn't last very long, probably because it was aimed at adults, with dancing and beer, and it was outdoors. I'm speculating that a guy named Wes Oldfield bought it and turned it into the Gateway Swimming Pool and Skating Rink complex for grownups and kids.

 

I say this because the Gateway Pool was at precisely the same location as the Lake Island complex. On Main one block south of OST. A Super Target store and parking lot now covers that location. Here's a link to more information about Gateway with a historic aerial shot of where it was:

 

http://www.examiner.com/article/the-gateway-swimming-pool-on-south-main

Edited July 25, 2015 by FilioScotia

[57Tbird]

I'm willing to go out on a limb and say Lake Island didn't last very long, probably because it was aimed at adults, with dancing and beer, and it was outdoors. I'm speculating that a guy named Wes Oldfield bought it and turned it into the Gateway Swimming Pool and Skating Rink complex for grownups and kids.

 

I say this because the Gateway Pool was at precisely the same location as the Lake Island complex. On Main one block south of OST. A Super Target store and parking lot now covers that location. Here's a link to more information about Gateway with a historic aerial shot of where it was:

 

http://www.examiner.com/article/the-gateway-swimming-pool-on-south-main

 

Filio...  I agree that it was probably short-lived, but the Target is at 8510 Main, and this was at 8301, on the odd number side.  Also, the ad is from July, 1947, and your link says Gateway was built in 1946.

 

[Ross]

On the 1953 Google Earth images, there's no sign of any pools, etc at 8301 Main.

[FilioScotia]

I'm fascinated by the apparent fact that there were two competing water parks across South Main from each other in the late 40s and 50s, and there seems to be no trace of them now.

 

The Gateway pool was in a grassy area  just north of the spot where the Target store is now, which would put in or right next to the 8300 block of  Main.

[57Tbird]

After more research on locations and verified addresses, I came up with these notations, which I have added to a 1953 Historic Aerial.

 

 

Edited July 26, 2015 by 57Tbird

[FilioScotia]

The advertisement shown above says Lake Island was at 8301 Main, which would put it a block south of the Main-OST merge, and directly across Main from the Gateway Pool complex.

 

The ad also says it was behind Prince's Restaurant, which doesn't make any sense. Look at the aerial photo. The only thing behind that Prince's was OST. I can't see any evidence of a water-themed recreation area for grownups anywhere on the east side of Main. 

Edited July 27, 2015 by FilioScotia

[Subdude]

The advertisement shown above says Lake Island was at 8301 Main, which would put it a block south of the Main-OST merge, and directly across Main from the Gateway Pool complex.

 

The ad also says it was behind Prince's Restaurant, which doesn't make any sense. Look at the aerial photo. The only thing behind that Prince's was OST. I can't see any evidence of a water-themed recreation area for grownups anywhere on the east side of Main. 

 

I think it says it was behind Price's Restaurant, not Princes, would could explain the discrepancy.  

[57Tbird]

Both of you are correct.  I began looking for a Price's Restaurant on the internet and couldn't find anything.  Maybe someone who has accress to a Houston phone book circa 1947 timeframe can find something.  I did find an ad for a Price;s Restaurant in an old high school yearbook from 1953, located at Prairie and San Jacinto, so Price's did exist and most likely at the South Main location at one time.  Looking at the HCAD map, I could find no 8300-8400 addresses that exist today.  I did find this  that shows the addresses for that area I had noted for the possible location,  The 8301 must have been farther south as Filio noted.  Price's must have been at 8301, since Lake Island was behind it at 8301-1/2.  It would have to have been on the east side though, since even nos. were on the west and even nos. on the east side.  Since the aerial picture was from 1953, a lot could change from 1947.  It was most likely a flop

[Ross]

Only location for Price's I can find is at 501 San Jacinto in the 1954 city directory. The directories for the years prior are truncated on Ancestry. I may be able to get over to the Clayton Library tomorrow. If so, I'll see what I can find.

 

In the 1944 and 1953 Google Earth images, there is an amusement park at what is now Main and Murworth, with a very large roller coaster. It's on the East side of Main

[57Tbird]

Only location for Price's I can find is at 501 San Jacinto in the 1954 city directory. The directories for the years prior are truncated on Ancestry. I may be able to get over to the Clayton Library tomorrow. If so, I'll see what I can find.

 

In the 1944 and 1953 Google Earth images, there is an amusement park at what is now Main and Murworth, with a very large roller coaster. It's on the East side of Main

 

That's Playland Park.

[FilioScotia]

And Playland Park was an old carny style amusement park with no water related attractions, other than the tank with the small boat kiddie ride.

 

My fellow HAIF'ers we have a mystery. We have an old newspaper ad promoting what appeared to be a semi-outdoor water-themed honky tonk with beer, setups and dancing, supposedly at 8301 Main. Unfortunately, that ad is ALL we have. Even with the address in the ad, nobody here had been able to find any evidence of where it was, or any credible evidence that it even existed.  

 

I'm willing to theorize that somebody named Al Gomillion tried to start up a place like that but it failed, or never even opened. Notice the ad says the people in the photos were models. That tells me he didn't have any happy customers to pose for the ad. If it opened it didn't last long because it didn't leave any footprints. 

 

The floor is open.......

Edited July 28, 2015 by FilioScotia

[57Tbird]

Both of you are correct.  I began looking for a Price's Restaurant on the internet and couldn't find anything.  Maybe someone who has accress to a Houston phone book circa 1947 timeframe can find something.  I did find an ad for a Price;s Restaurant in an old high school yearbook from 1953, located at Prairie and San Jacinto, so Price's did exist and most likely at the South Main location at one time.  Looking at the HCAD map, I could find no 8300-8400 addresses that exist today.  I did find this  that shows the addresses for that area I had noted for the possible location,  The 8301 must have been farther south as Filio noted.  Price's must have been at 8301, since Lake Island was behind it at 8301-1/2.  It would have to have been on the east side though, since even nos. were on the west and even nos. on the east side.  Since the aerial picture was from 1953, a lot could change from 1947.  It was most likely a flop

 

Was supposed to be odd. 

 

[Highrise Tower]

There is a lot of confusion in this thread.  I found a Sanborn 1950 map that shows the canals of Lake Island. Very cool!!

You can also see the general landscape of the Main/OST "Y" split, and the location of the competing swimming pool Gateway Swim & Skate across the street. Note that the Gateway development is not directly across the street. Looks a little further south, according to the map. Although the Gateway Roller Rink and the Gateway Crystal Pool had different addresses.  The map only seems to show the skating rink.  It's possible the pool was indeed directly across the street from Lake Island.

Does anyone know the name of the night club in front of Lake Island? It's supposed to be Price's Restaurant/Price's Hamburgers.

Here's a vintage ad from August 1, 1947.  You can see the dance pavilion.

[Highrise Tower]

Found it on Google Earth with an image capture in December 1953. There was also some confusion on where it was on. It doesn't look like Lake Island was actually located at 8301 South Main? Or the Google Earth imagery is slightly off.  The surroundings on the opposite side of the street seem to match the Sanborn 1950 map. I can visibly see the Grant Motor Inn located at 8300B South Main.  In front of the motor inn you can also see the Gateway Roller Rink located at 8370 South Main. The Gateway Crystal Pool is behind the skating rink.

Here's a photograph of the Gateway Roller Rink. See if you can match up the shape in the above capture.

[NenaE]

What was the ring or track located directly behind the nite club at 8299 or 8301 S.Main? It's too close to the club to be the bldg with the canals. I agree, those addresses get confusing on that OST / S.Main curve.

Edited June 2, 2023 by NenaE