Triton Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Here's the right thread.... Wow, didn't realize how many buildings they have torn down at this block since the 70s. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toxtethogrady Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Wow, I'm glad we escaped all that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfastx Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Haha, hilarious going from that NYC pic of a massive metropolis and an unbelievable cluster of buildings to the next page with the sea of parking lots that was (still is, although less so) Houston. We've made great progress, but still have a long way to go. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nucleareaction Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Are we to understand all of those blocks used to have New Orleans style buildings on them, ala Market Square? Or were they warehouses? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cspwal Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 It would be neat to replicate that camera angle now and have the two pictures side by side Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montrose1100 Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Are we to understand all of those blocks used to have New Orleans style buildings on them, ala Market Square? Or were they warehouses?Based off aerials from the past, a combination of smaller warehouses and 1-2 story buildings. I'd assume it looks pretty similar to the way Wayside @ Navigation looks now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunstar Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 While I have no evidence to back it up, my assumption is that this area was never really densely populated prior to that infamous photo and probably contained some private residences and mostly undeveloped land. Had this photo shown a bunch of grassy fields it would have been less jolting. It was the decision to just pave it all that is the disturbing part. But I've never seen any evidence demolitions of priceless architecture on a massive scale to get it to this point. Feel free to correct me if I'm mistaken. In regards to the block in question, it does appear there were some previous older structures that were demolished. I would like to try to find a close up picture that shows a close up of the site with all the original buildings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texasota Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Much of the area used to be Quality Hill which was a residential neighborhood. Think houses like the Cohn House and the Foley House which were going to be part of the Nau Center. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunstar Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Much of the area used to be Quality Hill which was a residential neighborhood. Think houses like the Cohn House and the Foley House which were going to be part of the Nau Center. To the extent this map from 1873 is a accurate depiction of downtown at the time, you can see the Annunciation Church and the area that is currently Union Station and MMP (click to zoom). Quality Hill would have been slightly North of here. In the second image, we can see the modern boundaries of downtown. As you move South from Annunciation into the area that is highlighted in the 1970s photo, you can see it becomes quite a bit more rural, maybe even farmland. Although this is well before everything was paved over, it's unlikely that this became a dense residential neighborhood at any point. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montrose1100 Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Much of the area used to be Quality Hill which was a residential neighborhood. Think houses like the Cohn House and the Foley House which were going to be part of the Nau Center. Quality Hill, usually considered Houston’s first homogenous neighborhood, developed in the Second Ward, near present-day Minute Maid Park. It attracted Houstonians who had acquired wealth in their mercantile and cotton businesses. The largest house in the neighborhood belonged to the William J. Hutchins family. Quality Hill remained a desirable residential enclave until commercial activities began to encroach on the area. The Hutchins remained in their home on Franklin at Caroline until 1914. By 1930, all of the dwellings were gone.Looks like we are both correct. Initially yes, a lovely neighborhood with many houses, and eventually turned into small offices/businesses, and then subsequently torn down for the grand Houston Center project (which is where the picture comes into play). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdude Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Please tell me this is some kind of bizarre joke. The Public Storage analogy is so apt. This is so ugly and cheap-looking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texasota Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 (edited) 1907: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/sanborn/g-i/txu-sanborn-houston-1907-vol1-018.jpghttp://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/sanborn/g-i/txu-sanborn-houston-1907-vol1-026.jpg Large houses, smaller as you move south, occasional corner store Edited March 31, 2015 by Texasota Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post toxtethogrady Posted March 31, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted March 31, 2015 I think if you look carefully, you can see the first cornerstone being laid for Block 334. They say when it's done, it will really be something. 17 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naviguessor Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 SuperBlock still looks clear, however. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunstar Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Here on the 1891 map you can see more residential density in that area. Plus you can see Block 334 has clearly broken ground 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackie21love Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 I really want to know who made the decision to built downtown roads with 45 degree... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
79ta Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 I really want to know who made the decision to built downtown roads with 45 degree...You can thanks the Allen brothers for that, probably, also why there are large ships in the bayou in the photo toxtethogrady posted. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 I really want to know who made the decision to built downtown roads with 45 degree... The alignment is to better catch the prevailing Southeast breeze, or so I read somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nucleareaction Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Thanks to all the replies. Far less disturbing than I had originally thought, but yes it would have been nice to just have grass lots instead of parking spaces. All that heat capture, no wonder people didn't want to walk around! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-Town Man Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 Please tell me this is some kind of bizarre joke. The Public Storage analogy is so apt. This is so ugly and cheap-looking. It's actually above my expectations, considering the two buildings on either side. In fact, for architecture that blends in with those two buildings and on the budget of a small school, I would say that this is about the best design I could have possibly expected. That said, it's a tragedy to lose the Clayton building. Made me quite upset to hear about it. I wish they had cried for help years ago and gotten some benefactors from the local philanthropic community. The one solace is that the most important historic building on the block - the church itself - continues to grace the neighborhood. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloud713 Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Tbh the school doesn't look too terrible now that the historic building is gone. It obviously flows much better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lockmat Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 Much of the area used to be Quality Hill which was a residential neighborhood. Think houses like the Cohn House and the Foley House which were going to be part of the Nau Center. A developer definitely needs to name a building or a project in this area Quality Hill. Don't let some home builder steal it for Tomball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollusk Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 I really want to know who made the decision to built downtown roads with 45 degree... Gail Borden was instrumental in that. Condensed milk, too. IDK about Elsie, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urbannizer Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 Groundbreaking was held on the 14th: c/o EE Reed via Facebook 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rechlin Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 Haven't walked by lately to get a closeup, but they've been doing what looks like drilling for foundation piers for the last couple weeks, so construction is well under way: 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rechlin Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 A lot of progress has been made on the steel structure recently. Not sure if it's topped out but I doubt it will go much higher if it isn't. Also, I don't know if there's a thread for it, but you can see that the new People's Trust Federal Credit Union headquarters (the building in the background on the other side of 59) has made a lot of progress, too, since my last update, with the exterior now apparently complete: 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted July 5, 2016 Share Posted July 5, 2016 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted August 21, 2016 Share Posted August 21, 2016 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChannelTwoNews Posted October 12, 2016 Share Posted October 12, 2016 From Saturday... 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texasota Posted October 12, 2016 Share Posted October 12, 2016 Woo! Let's match our ugliest building! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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