Old Main Street Road In The TMC

[TexasFreeway.com]

Yes. I read on the net somewhere that the street "Stella Link" was named so because it was the most convienent route to Stella Junction. The article talked like Stella Junction was a bigger deal back then.

[nm5k]

Back in the old days Stella was it's own town. I guess it and "Stella Junction"

are about the same thing. I've got a 1895 Texas map, and Stella is

marked as a town, along with the others in that area. IE: arcola,

juliff, etc, etc.. On that map, all the "roads" are actually the

rail tracks. Stella was at the point where the n/s tracks that run appx

along 288/521 intersect with the Southern tracks that connected Harrisburg

and Richmond, etc.. Being I don't see the n/s tracks that ran parallel

to Stella link road in the 1895 map, I assume they must have been built

a bit later. Those are the same tracks that run through Memorial Park,

and then south. They seem to call the intersection east of main, "West

Junction". It's interesting comparing the old 1895 map with all railroads,

and say a later highway map. The highways obviously followed the RR tracks

in most cases. I notice that the 1955 map calls the Holmes/Knight intersection

as "Pierce Junction". Another weird thing is on the 1952 map, they show a

town listed at Main/Chimney Rock. "Lotus, TX". But in the 1955 map, they

show that as "Heackers, and just east of Fondren as "Nichols" . They show

dot markers as if these were actual towns.. Kinda weird..

I cropped the Houston area on the 1895 map with the railroads, and the

1938 map, with highways. Note that Westheimer was once it's own town too..

They show the Sam Houston airport on that 1938 map.

MK

[gnu]

Great Maps! Thanks for posting.

Being I don't see the n/s tracks that ran parallel

to Stella link road in the 1895 map, I assume they must have been built

a bit later. Those are the same tracks that run through Memorial Park,

and then south. They seem to call the intersection east of main, "West

Junction".

i clipped this from the handbook of texas:

In 1918 the company [The Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway]completed a new entrance into Houston between Chaney Junction and West Junction, and the original 1880 entry between Chaney Junction and Stella was partly abandoned.

Most of the rail junctions still have their names - that is - with the railroad companies and railfans. but they were probably never really towns per se.

Edited July 7, 2006 by gnu

[Subdude]

That is a cool map. I imagine at that time roads outside towns were few and far between, and that railroads made up the bulk of transportation. Some of the old railroad junctions/"towns" remain as street names, eg Genoa, Stella, Westfield.

[57Tbird]

... I notice that the 1955 map calls the Holmes/Knight intersection

as "Pierce Junction". ...

MK

Very interesting history! I remember my dad telling me that he came to Texas from California in 1920 and worked as a roughneck in the Pierce Junction oil fields just south of Houston. As late as 1958-1960, some of my rowdy friends and I would go rabbit hunting at night in those Pierce Junction oil fields. I wonder if any of those wells are still out there?

[gnu]

Very interesting history! I remember my dad telling me that he came to Texas from California in 1920 and worked as a roughneck in the Pierce Junction oil fields just south of Houston. As late as 1958-1960, some of my rowdy friends and I would go rabbit hunting at night in those Pierce Junction oil fields. I wonder if any of those wells are still out there?

There is at least one pumpjack left .

they built a golf course there. it's called Wildcat.

http://www.wildcatgolfclub.com/

[TexasFreeway.com]

Here is something to scramble your noodles...

I got on the website for the Harris County Appraisal District to check out their plat maps. WOW!!!

1. Most of OMS still exists "Officially".

2. It did extend east past the railroad tracks thriough the utility easement

3. The streets mentioned by Kevin were for a subdivision never built, but is still platted.

4. It still goes COMPLETELY through the Dome parking lot.

5. Rice University owns some of the land were OMS and S. Main intersect.

I have created a composite of the different maps.

WARNING: LARGE FILE SIZES.

http://www.texasfreeway.com/stock/HCAD-OMS.jpg (5MB)

http://www.texasfreeway.com/stock/HCAD-OMS.pdf (33MB)

[RedScare]

This clip from a 1962 Harris County map shows the end of OMS truncated at the tracks, but also shows more development to the southeast.

Anyone got any idea how Harris County had 62 FEWER residents than the City of Houston in 1962?

[gnu]

Anyone got any idea how Harris County had 62 FEWER residents than the City of Houston in 1962?

maybe from the parts of houston that are in different counties?

or maybe the harris co number was just county residents not in the city limits?

[TexasFreeway.com]

Not all of the City of Houston falls within Harris County.

[theoriginalkj]

Anyone got any idea how Harris County had 62 FEWER residents than the City of Houston in 1962?

"I don't care who you are, that's funny right there"

-Larry the Cable Guy

[RedScare]

Not all of the City of Houston falls within Harris County.

According to the 1959 map on your website, it did.

1959 Map

Additionally, Bellaire and Pasadena, amongst other cities, are located inside the county. Further, 1,232,802 is the population of Houston in the 1970 Census. In 1960, Houston's population was 938,000, and Harris County was 1,243,000.

Edited July 7, 2006 by RedScare

[Subdude]

Here is something to scramble your noodles...

I got on the website for the Harris County Appraisal District to check out their plat maps. WOW!!!

1. Most of OMS still exists "Officially".

2. It did extend east past the railroad tracks thriough the utility easement

3. The streets mentioned by Kevin were for a subdivision never built, but is still platted.

4. It still goes COMPLETELY through the Dome parking lot.

5. Rice University owns some of the land were OMS and S. Main intersect.

I was looking at the same maps myself. They only designate two parts of Old Main Street Loop as abandoned - the Astrodome parking lot and the southern end. The Rice U land is where the Domain Privee was located.

There doesn't seem to be a consistent way of handling abandoned streets. In some cases the maps conform to current streets, but in other cases the old roads maintain a legal "existence" and are evident on the maps. In the downtown map you can see evidence of Frederick and Jasper streets, but not of Szabo.

[Ashikaga]

ooh! i like it!

not to stray even more off topic...but

reminds me of this book i have (how to repair small appliances, circa 1961):

album cover? yes?

There was a rock group back in the 1960s called The Electric Prunes.

[Subdude]

Thanks. What is the date/source of that map?

[50_year_native]

Many place names along the RR tracks on old maps were not actually town names or stations, but rather names of water stops for the old steam engines. The trains would stop very briefly, just to take on water. I'd bet Stella was just a water stop, rather than a small town or community.

[Firebird65]

I think the name Aldine was also someone's first name. You don't find many folks with the surname of Aldine in the census, but it was not an uncommon given name.

I'm starting to think you are right... it wasn't a last name, it was a first name. However, perhaps Aldus rather than Aldine?

[FilioScotia]

I'm starting to think you are right... it wasn't a last name, it was a first name. However, perhaps Aldus rather than Aldine?

I'm weighing in on this discussion for the first time, so I don't know if anyone has offered up the "official" word on the origin of the name "Aldine" or not. Here is what the Handbook of Texas has to say:

"ALDINE, TEXAS (Harris County). Aldine is on Farm Road 525, the Missouri Pacific Railroad, and the Hardy Toll Road, on the northern outskirts of Houston in central Harris County. It was originally built on the International

[Firebird65]

I'm weighing in on this discussion for the first time, so I don't know if anyone has offered up the "official" word on the origin of the name "Aldine" or not. Here is what the Handbook of Texas has to say:

"ALDINE, TEXAS (Harris County). Aldine is on Farm Road 525, the Missouri Pacific Railroad, and the Hardy Toll Road, on the northern outskirts of Houston in central Harris County. It was originally built on the International

[FilioScotia]

That excerpt you just posted is what isuredid meant by the "official" explanation. So far, neither he nor anyone else has found any evidence that a family with the last name of Aldine ever lived in the area.

Generally, I think the Handbook of Texas is a reliable source, although I have found some minor mistakes in some of its longer articles. As for Aldine being named for a local farm family, it's probably worth noting that just about every small farming community in this state was named for one of the local families. The Handbook, for want of an actual documented source on the name Aldine, probably just fell back on the old reliable explanation -- "local farm family".

Edited August 31, 2006 by FilioScotia

[Firebird65]

Generally, I think the Handbook of Texas is a reliable source, although I have found some minor mistakes in some of its longer articles. As for Aldine being named for a local farm family, it's probably worth noting that just about every small farming community in this state was named for one of the local families. The Handbook, for want of an actual documented source on the name Aldine, probably just fell back on the old reliable explanation -- "local farm family".

I should have mentioned this opn the other Aldine thread and maybe I will, but whe I initially came across that Texas Handbookl entry, I noticed (and maybe you did too) that there were two entries for Aldine.

I clicked on the other and found out there is (or actually was) another Aldine, Texas between Concan and Garner State Park on some side road in Uvalde County. Driven by there that general area on Hwy 83 several times and never knew that.

[gonzo1976]

If that doesn't work, anyone can submit a item requiring correcting to the editors:

http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/revision.html

[agorist]

5. Rice University owns some of the land were OMS and S. Main intersect.

Rice U. owns some of the plats in that area, but it appears Fred Hofheinz owns most of the rest.

It's always been my conjecture that Hofheinz is the driving force behind the recent activity to "complete" the connection of West Belfort, from the east to Willowbend's West Belfort, cutting through the Stella Link's Development Corporation's South Campus complex. Completing that road would certainly make all that land around Old Main Street ripe for development.

[FilioScotia]

So far, neither he nor anyone else has found any evidence that a family with the last name of Aldine ever lived in the area.

It's just possible that "Aldine" may have been someone's first name. I've known several women named Aldine over the years, in fact I went to high school with one. It's not without precedent. We know that Alief was the first name of a prominent lady who lived in that area in the 1890s.

The Handbook of Texas says "In 1894 county surveyors named the community Dairy, but application for a post office in 1895 resulted in changing the name to Alief in honor of the first postmistress, Alief Ozella Magee." If you didn't know that, you'd go nuts trying to find a "local farm family" named "Alief".

(An aside: This is where the name "Dairy-Ashford" comes from. In keeping with Houston's ancient habit of naming rural roads for both the farming communities they connected, Dairy-Ashford ran from the Dairy area -- now known as Alief -- north to the Ashford community -- also known as Satsuma.)

While "Aldine" is not uncommon as a given name, it's extremely rare as a family name. If there was "a local farm family" named Aldine in north Harris County in the late 1800s, it's reasonable to think there would be at least a few people with that name still living in the Houston area today, but the current Houston Phone Book's residential pages -- the AT&T 2006 CD ROM -- has exactly ONE listing for someone with the last name of "Aldine".

That's almost non-existent for a metro area of nearly four million people. I'm voting for the given name explanation for Aldine.

Edited October 1, 2006 by FilioScotia

[plumber2]

There is also a short portion of Old Main St. at the extreme NE corner of the Reliant Center property. It was apparently used as a service entrance because the gates are still there. You have to be heading south on Greenbriar to turn onto this street. It aslo serves as an entrance to a small office building.

[mblaise]

Hello everyone. This is Martin (Marty) Blaise. I have just joined the forum. I have a (strange?) hobby of interest in abandoned/old highways and roads. I have quite a few photos on several web sites, including some photos of present day Old Main. A lot of Old Main Street is now gone. Some other Houston area streets that include sections of old pavement include Mangum, N Houston Rosslyn, Ora, FM 529, many streets just off Elysian, Rankin Road, Shadowdale, Clay Road, SH 249, Old North Belt, Old Katy Road ..... if you look hard enough you can find many, many abandoned sections of streets or patches of old pavement. I am also interested in the weird history of roads such as - two service road bridges over a bayou for Loop 201 (now 146 in Baytown) near Garth Road were built years before construction every started on anything else. There were just 2 bridges surrounded by grass. The only to get to them was by walking or maybe bicycle. Another weird one was on West Airport Blvd. near the Southwest Freeway. Only one of the two sides of the divided street was completed, but there were two bridges over a creek (both sides were completed, only at the point of the bridges). And of course my all time favorite, well-documented on houstonfreeways.com is the "orphan" bridge that topped IH 45 near downtown from 1962-1972. As a youth I was puzzled why anyone would put up part of a bridge over the top of a freeway. --- By the way, on a different note -- maybe someone can help me -- I am looking for a photo of the old water tower at Andrau Air Park -- it had a unique design. Thanks.

[roym]

Hello everyone. This is Martin (Marty) Blaise. I have just joined the forum. I have a (strange?) hobby of interest in abandoned/old highways and roads. I have quite a few photos on several web sites, including some photos of present day Old Main. A lot of Old Main Street is now gone. Some other Houston area streets that include sections of old pavement include Mangum, N Houston Rosslyn, Ora, FM 529, many streets just off Elysian, Rankin Road, Shadowdale, Clay Road, SH 249, Old North Belt, Old Katy Road ..... if you look hard enough you can find many, many abandoned sections of streets or patches of old pavement. I am also interested in the weird history of roads such as - two service road bridges over a bayou for Loop 201 (now 146 in Baytown) near Garth Road were built years before construction every started on anything else. There were just 2 bridges surrounded by grass. The only to get to them was by walking or maybe bicycle. Another weird one was on West Airport Blvd. near the Southwest Freeway. Only one of the two sides of the divided street was completed, but there were two bridges over a creek (both sides were completed, only at the point of the bridges). And of course my all time favorite, well-documented on houstonfreeways.com is the "orphan" bridge that topped IH 45 near downtown from 1962-1972. As a youth I was puzzled why anyone would put up part of a bridge over the top of a freeway. --- By the way, on a different note -- maybe someone can help me -- I am looking for a photo of the old water tower at Andrau Air Park -- it had a unique design. Thanks.

Hey Marty, welcome to the forum! I think I have seen your web page somewhere - the descriptions of your pics sounds familiar. Could you post some of the links?

[mblaise]

Hey Marty, welcome to the forum! I think I have seen your web page somewhere - the descriptions of your pics sounds familiar. Could you post some of the links?

Try these:

www.geocities.com/theblaisepage

www.angelfire/tx/beautifulsavior

www.qsl.net/ag5t

[Highrise Tower]

I still have one street variation in my neighborhood.  We have "Old Main Street Loop Road".

Although, on the side of Highway 90 (South Main) there is a directional street sign posted saying Old Main Street - East and Old Main Street - West.  The sign forgoes the "Loop" part of the name. The actual street near the sign is called Old Main Street Loop Road.

OMSLR and Willowbend:

OMSLR and Craighead: