Memories Of Aldine

[Firebird65]

This is my guess as to the location of the Martin Snell Survey

Yes, upon review and once again looking at the plat to my subdivision, you are dead on in your assumption about the location of the Martin Snell survey. I din't know at first what these numbers meant when I saw them on the plat, but now that I see this map, it is quite clear.

The section of Northline Terrace that I grew up in, Section 2, is Lot 118 of the Martin Snell Survey, which as is shown on the map you provided, is the large lot on the western edge of the survey south of the bayou and north of the "graded road" which is (or will be) West Gulf Bank.

That means the north/south road on the left is Airline. It's very tough to make out, but it appears to say "East Montgomery" which was another name for Airline. I couldn't make it out very well, but that has to be what is says.

That also means that the road on the right is, as you had said, Hardy. Interesting that is is denoted as Conroe County Graded Road. At least that's what it appears to say, but it's very hard to make out. And now I also see the railroad tracks you had alluded to.

Taking your information and the info provided earlier by Mark, it would seem that Martin K. Snell was a veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto who was given a grant of of land in north central Harris County after his service at San Jacinto. According to the Texas Land Grant database, apparently Snell patented the land to John Fitzgerald in 1847. Sometime between 1847 and 1921, W.L. Hill came into control of the land. Hill, apparently a land speculator, divided the land and filed a map in 1921.

From info I've found, sometime between 1921 and 1945, Lot 118 was purchased by Tommy Okabayashi. Some in the neighborhood say this took place in 1932. HCAD says Okabayashi built a house at 351 West Gulf Bank in 1945 (which HCAD says is W.L. Hill Lot 116 - right across the street!)

Sometime around 1963 or 1964, Okabayashi sold the 78-acre Lot 118 to the Oak Glen Building Company. Oak Glen Building Company took W.L. Hill Lot 118 and combined it with a 111-acre D. Hacker Survey tract to create Northline Terrace.

Thanks to info I found at UH tonight, Surburban Homes began marketing the 111-acre Hacker Survey tract in May 1964 as Northline Terrace Section 1. (Actually, the intial ad from the May 3, 1964 Houston Post simply calls the new neigborhood Northline). Sometime in late 1965 early 1966, Suburban Homes opened the Hill Survey Lot 118 as Northline Terrace Sections 2 and 3. My parents bought their home in early 1966.

Wow... it's like a puzzle. And it looks like a picture is emerging. Thanks so much for all your help!

[Firebird65]

Here is more of the story...and probably as far as I will go with it. Yes that road is marked East Montgomery County Road in the map.

1847 - John Fitzgerald receives patent vo. 5 no. 497 date Sept 2, 1847

1852 - December 6th 1852 John Fitzgerald, living in New Orleans, but formerly of Houston sells the Martin J. Snell Survey to Edmund J. Hart of New Orleans.

1918 - April

The heirs of E.J. Hart sold the M.K. Snell survey to Ida Leovy of New Orleans for $26,000. This sale, interestingly enough also contained some land in Newton County, Texas that E.J. Hart had our purchased in 1890 for L. Snell and J.J. Snell and wife. Might be a story there as to where Martin K. Snell lived.

1920 - June 18 - Ida E. Leovy sold the M.K. Snell survey to J.A. Hill for $49,398.

1920 - Same day - J.A. Hill sold M.K. Snell Survey to W.L. Hill for $10. Must have been Dad giving to son.

1924 - W.L. Hill sold 45.7 acres of Lot 1, 30 acres of Lot 2, 12.6 acres of lot 54, 13.5 acres of lot 51, 20 acres of lot 52, 10 acre of lot 55, 10 acres of lot 57, 20 acres of lot 58, 10 acres of lot 59, 15 acres of lot 60, 10 acres of lot 110, 19.1 acres of lot 111, 10.5 acres of lot33, 14.8 acres of lot 3, 10 acres of lot 112, and the north half of lots 104, 105, and 106 to various people.

1924 - W. L. Hill sold the remaining land to the Little York Oil Company for $10.00. (He was one of the owners).

LOL! By the time I eventually make it down to the office to start my research, you will have already done it for me!

This is great stuff and I really appreciate your posting it. I take it you are finding his out through the deeds of sale, right?

[Mark F. Barnes]

Early Masonic Lodge

Newton Lodge #136, Newton, /Newton County, Tx, return dated

27 Dec 1854 Master Masons

Wm. Braelsford N. P. West James Keaghey

J. J. Snell S. W. Snell J. R. Williams

David Ford Thos. Tammer Edward Hare

A. A. McWhorter J. M. Robuck James Cheatham

A. C. Swearingen David Hughes J. W. Stephenson

James McMahan D. C. Smith Robert Hughes

W. F. Tanner John Dickerson J. L. Irwin

R. C. Ballance H. Williams T. J. Brack

J. W. McMahan

Affiliated Masters

Friend McMahan W.M. J. Huddleston A. B. Burr

M. W. Burr Alexander Wilson Irvin Rogers

T. W. Burr

Fellow Crafts

John Alston S. S. Swearingen N. W. Gillaspie

John Frazier

Apprentices

W. H. Stark John Simmons T. S. McFarland

A. J. Watson Richard Odonm Ira Stephenson

Rejected Applicants

Bennet Elkins S. J. Simmons A. Duckworth

Source: Records in the library of the Masonic Grand Lodge Temple, Waco, Texas

[Mark F. Barnes]

1850 FEDERAL CENSUS INDEX TO ONLINE IMAGES, NEWTON COUNTY, TEXAS; N-Z

The numbers in this index are the sheet numbers of the 1850 Federal

Census of Newton County, Texas (for example, index page 0762a

is sheet number 0762a).

The handwritten census pages themselves can be found on-line

in the

USGenWeb Archives at http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/newton/census/1850

Note: All abbreviations were made by the original census taker,

not by the transcriber.

When the transcriber was in doubt of the handwriting,

a "?" was put in place.

Many of the names that appear in this index appear to

be phonically spelled by the census

taker and typed exactly as written by the transcriber.

Surname, Given Name, page #, Dwelling #, Family #

Snell A H 0127a 125 125

Snell Ann Elizabeth 0127a 121 121

Snell Fenton Ann 0127a 121 121

Snell Hamblin Elliott 0127a 121 121

Snell John J 0120b 23 23

Snell Levina Elizabeth 0127a 121 121

Snell Stephen 0127a 121 121

[Firebird65]

Wow, the two of you are great researchers. I bet if I asked for Snell's shoe size, both of you could get it! This is a great thread. Keep it up.

[Firebird65]

I've taken the original 1959 photo that prompted this thread and added some street names as well as outlined Aldine High School. The star represents where my parents' house will stand in 1966.

Edited August 11, 2006 by Firebird65

[gonzo1976]

I think we've come full circle!

[Firebird65]

I think we've come full circle!

Actually, I had done that pic about nine months ago and it was the genesis of my history report on the area and the football team. I've only just now learned how to post a pic.

[Firebird65]

I was back at Harris County Archives today. I was so close to finishing this story yesterday and didn't even know it.

1924 - The remaining land that had not already been sold was put into The Little York Oil Company with M. Schwarz as trustee.

1928 - There was a deed from M. Schwarz that said basically that the Little York Oil Company was never actually formed and that the remaining land in the Martin K. Snell survey was being handed over to the City Bank and Trust Company to cover other depts. All remaining property went to the bank.

The bank began to sell off the lots as they were divided by W.L. Hill. Sometimes they sold partial lots. Minoru Okabashi bought 20 acres out of lot 118 in 1938. Prior to that they had sold the same 20 acres to E.E. Frazier and wife Linda Byinski Frazier along with A.H. Telschow Jr. and wife Francis Byinski Telschow (nice of them to let you know they were sisters). Those couples defaulted on the loan and Okabayashi bought it in 1938. I didn't follow the other deeds back, but the names were C.B. Miller, Hanka Hermenia, Bernice L. Merrill and Faye Okabayashi.

I think those are the pricipal folks whose land became your section of the neighborhood. None of them held that land for more than 30 years that I could see. Too bad the whole thing could not have become a park. By 1924 is was very unusual for an entire survey to still be intact.

I wonder what Japanese farmers were growing in North Houston?

Ida E. Leovy was Edmond J. Hart's niece and he was a grocer and land speculator in New Orleans

I am familiar with the Frazier and Telschow names from NW Houston (White Oak, Rosslyn, Eureka)

Thanks again. I've got plenty of leads when I finally get down there to fill in the few remaining blanks.

[OldHouseLover]

Northline Terrace Primer

The Northline Terrace neighborhood sits on land that was at least partially owned by Tommy Okabayashi. Okabayashi established a farm in either 1932 or 1945 at 351 West Gulf Bank Road. (Still need to find exact date - haven't made it to the Harris County Tax Office yet!)

In 1962, a bridge over Halls Bayou was built, extending W Mount Houston Road from U.S. 75 (the North Freeway was under construction) to Airline Drive, taking over portions of the already existing Mosher Lane. In 1964, another bridge was built over Halls Bayou, joining segments of Hacker Road from West Road to Canino. The Road was renamed Sweetwater Lane.

Sometime in the early 1960s (probably 1962 or 1963), Okabayashi sold part of his land. In 1964, the Oak Glen Building Company started development of Northline Terrace Section 1 on 111 acres of land stretching basically from 1-45 east to Cheswick and from W Gulf Bank Road north to Halls Bayou. The 66-acre Section 2 and 9-acre Section 3 were developed in 1965. Section 2 stretches from Cheswick east to Rockcliff and from W Gulf Bank Road to Halls Bayou, save for the 9100 block of Rockcliff. Section 3 is the 9100 of Rockcliff.

Suburban Homes built most of the homes in Section 1 east of Sweetwater (formerly Hacker) and all of the homes in Section 2. Other companies built the homes west of Sweetwater and several of the homes in Section 3 on Rockcliff (which is why they are different from the others).

Sections 1-3 closed out in 1966 at a total of 186 acres.

Northline Terrace Section 4 started development in 1966 south of W Gulf Bank on 42 acres stretching from W Gulf Bank south to Arrowdale. The 26-acre Section 5 opened in 1968 and went from Arrowdale south to Canino.

Most of the homes in Northline Terrace range in size from roughly 900 square foot to about 1100 square foot. All homes were originally single story homes of ranch style construction. Several have been expanded over the years to up to 1400 square feet and many have added multi-story additions. Homes in Sections 1-3 had open ditches in their front yards and asphalt streets. Over the years, many have had these filled in. Homes in Sections 4-5 have covered drainage and concrete, curbed streets.

All students in Sections 1-3 and those in Section 4 north of W Hartwick attend Aldine ISD schools and Aldine Senior High. Those living south of W Hartwick attend Houston ISD schools and are zoned for Sam Houston High.

While once almost exclusively white lower middle class, the area is now overwhelmingly Hispanic. Many of the original businesses and churches in the area have closed and have become something else, generally supporting a Spanish-speaking clientele.

Only the portion west of Sweetwater is in the city of Houston limits, having been annexed in 1978. The remaining portion is in unincorporated Harris County and falls under the recently formed Airline Improvement District. The neighborhood therfore is not served by city of Houston water, sewer or garbage collection and must rely on private companies for these. Water and sewer is provided by the Sunbelt Freshwater Supply District.

The Airline Improvement District, formed in 2005, supposedly aims to improve basic services such as water, serwer and public safety as these areas have proved a challenge as the neighborhood and surrounding community's demographics have changed.

Another challenge has been increased flooding along Halls Bayou, despite several drainage "improvements" in the area. In 2001, Tropical Storm Allison innundated Northline Terrace, causing many homes along Halls Bayou to flood from Beaver Bend to Rainy River. Even today, each time it rains, the intersections of I-45 at W Gulf Bank and W Mount Houston flood with increased regularity, even ending up in recent national news stories as photos of people wading through these flooded street appeared on CNN.com.

Please feel free to expand this should you have additional information.

I lived in 1300 blk of Hartwick during the 50s [1 blk E of what is now Hardy Toll Rd feeder ...old Hardy]. Between Hardy & Aldine Westfield Rds, the district borders changed at @ the 1500 blk of Hartwick [where the road makes a curve. HISD & Aldine busses picked up on Hartwick in the area between Aldine Westfield & Hardy. I was so lucky...bus service at my front door!! I went to HISD [the NEW Sam Houston High & loved it]. West of RR Tracks/Hardy, I seem to remember the districts borders was Canino Rd. ?

The "home place" was sold in the mid 80s, but there was never flooding. It was rural setting with lots @ acre in size.

[Firebird65]

I also found out the the Martin K. Snell survey extended over to the other side of I-45. I think that section II (?) of Northline Terrace right on the west side of 45 is still Martin K. Snell, so the satellite map I made from Google was a bit off.

No, I don't think that's right. I am quite confident you were correct with your original post.

According to what I've found, Northline Terrace Sections 2 and 3 were on Martin KSnell/W L Hill Lot 118, which accroding to that great map you provided the other dayt was on the extreme western edge of the survey.

Northline Terrace Section 2

However, Northline Terrace Section 1 was in the D Hacker and Phillip Tharp Surveys, according to the Harris County Block Books and thus does not lie on that map. Sweetwater, which runs through Section 1, was also once called Hacker, presumably after the Hacker of the Hacker Survey.

Northline Terrace Section 1

[Firebird65]

I lived in 1300 blk of Hartwick during the 50s [1 blk E of what is now Hardy Toll Rd feeder ...old Hardy]. Between Hardy & Aldine Westfield Rds, the district borders changed at @ the 1500 blk of Hartwick [where the road makes a curve. HISD & Aldine busses picked up on Hartwick in the area between Aldine Westfield & Hardy. I was so lucky...bus service at my front door!! I went to HISD [the NEW Sam Houston High & loved it]. West of RR Tracks/Hardy, I seem to remember the districts borders was Canino Rd. ?

The "home place" was sold in the mid 80s, but there was never flooding. It was rural setting with lots @ acre in size.

Thanks for that post. If you have any stories of the area during the time you lived there, by all means please share them. I'd be particularly interested in the businesses in the area at the time and what things people did for entertainment in the area.

You could be right about a district's border changing. Yesterday I came across a story from 1958 that discussed how AISD was upset and considering appealing a ruling that forced the district to cede the neighborhood of Oak Forest to HISD. HISD took Oak Forest from Aldine after the city of Houston annexed the neighborhood.

Apparently, at one time in the past, every time the city annexed an area, it also became part of HISD. I've also seen stories about Pasadena ISD speaking of how they lost slices of their district when Houston annexed unincorporated parts of PISD.

The story about AISD losing Oak Forest cleared up a mystery for me concerning the Aldine High fire of 1954. AISD mentioned transferring high school students to Aldine Elementary and then moving the elementary students to Inez Carroll and Katherine Smith Elementaries. However, Smith was 15 miles away in Oak Forest and that meant a long bus ride. I kept wondering why AISD was talking about an HISD school. Now I can see why... because in 1954 it wasn't HISD, it was AISD.

[OldHouseLover]

What does this mean when you're trying to post a picture on the board?

Sorry, dynamic pages in the tags are not allowed

I loaded a map on imagevenue then tried to download it here using the "Insert Image" button. I copied the url and when I hit "Add Reply" that's what I got.

What in the world is a "dynamic page"???

It will let me insert a link, but not an image:

AISD Map

It's a satellite image of the Aldine ISD. I photoshopped in the district boundaries and some other info.

KEY

Red Line - Current Aldine ISD boundary

Blue Line - Aldine High School area (the area covered in my history report)

White Line - Aldine Township

Green Line - Northline Terrace Subdivision (Sections 1-3)

AISD High Schools Past and Present

1 - Aldine High School (1956

[gonzo1976]

This makes me wonder if anyone has ever put together a map showing the evolution of AISD's boundaries.

[Firebird65]

This makes me wonder if anyone has ever put together a map showing the evolution of AISD's boundaries.

I'd like to do just that, provided I can find accurate enough information to do so. There's a map at the Texas Room that shows what I believe to be AISD's original boundaries. Here's a very crude and quite bad picture I took of it that unfortunately has glare on it.

Original AISD Boundaries

Since this map is built on today's street grid, it's quite easy to see that Acres Homes and the Inwood areas are obviously not part of AISD.

From what I've found, Acres Homes became part of AISD when AISD and HISD split the old White Oak district in 1937. Unfortunately, my pic doesn't show the White Oak district because at the time I took it months ago when I began this project, the relevance of that info didn't occur to me. I would suppose that Oak Forest was part of of White Oak school district.

In 1949 (I believe) AISD took over part of the North Houston district, part of which is shown on that map.

In 1958, AISD was forced to cede Oak Forest to HISD.

So far that's all the changes I know. Hopefully someone else will point out others or correct me if I am wrong.

Next time I go back, I'll make sure to get pictures of not only the Aldine segment, but also the surrounding districts such as the defunct White Oak and North Houston districts.

Edited August 13, 2006 by Firebird65

[VicMan]

The story about AISD losing Oak Forest cleared up a mystery for me concerning the Aldine High fire of 1954. AISD mentioned transferring high school students to Aldine Elementary and then moving the elementary students to Inez Carroll and Katherine Smith Elementaries. However, Smith was 15 miles away in Oak Forest and that meant a long bus ride. I kept wondering why AISD was talking about an HISD school. Now I can see why... because in 1954 it wasn't HISD, it was AISD.

When did that stop?

By the way, I want to rezone all of Houston into HISD. IMO I think that's a long shot, but I feel like the city needs a unified school district.

[Firebird65]

When did that stop?

By the way, I want to rezone all of Houston into HISD. IMO I think that's a long shot, but I feel like the city needs a unified school district.

Not sure when it stopped. The organization that ordered AISD to surrender Oak Forest to HISD was the Harris County School Board, which is no longer around.

I thought the county school board went out of business with the Gilmer-Akins laws of 1949 which reorganized education on a state level, but obviously I was mistaken there. A haphazard guess would be that the practice of HISD ended when the Harris County School Board was dissolved, whenever that happened.

It definitely was gone by 1978, because AISD didn't have to give Hidden Valley to HISD when the city took in that neighborhood nor did the Clear Creek ISD become part of HISD when Houston annexed Clear Lake City.

And apparently it had ended before the city annexed Acres Homes, because HISD didn't take the AISD part of that community.

I don't have any children nor will I be having any children, so I guess as far as HISD taking over all education in Harris County that has no real immediate impact on me. However, why in the world would you want such a thing??? HISD already has enough problems of their own, so growing by several hundred percent surely won't help them get any better... probably will make things worse.

At the very least, an all-county HISD (or HCISD as in Harris County ISD) would up probably continue their policy of decentralization. So what would be the point of putting everything together if they're just going to keep control local?

I believe that Airline road was called that because there was a subdivision platted out about the same time as Aldine called Airline in the HT&C block #6. (See the survey map). The original road probably went from Houston to Airline, but I don't know that for a fact, but it used to be called The Airline Highway. Probably the point where Stuebner-Airline (Stuebner-to-Arline) comes into Airline might be just about the spot.

isuredid, for some odd reason I can't respond to your post. Keeps coming up as "cannot find server." But I can reply to others... weird.

Anyway, your ideas about Airline sure sound a lot more plausible than the source where I got my information. I found mine in a Houston Chronicle story about how streets got their name. The story quotes a book at the HPL Texas Room. But that sotry about a "crow flying in an air line" sure sounds kinda dumb.

But then, that brings the question about how the subdivision named Airline got its name!

Edited August 13, 2006 by Firebird65

[VicMan]

Well, I don't mean all of Harris County - I mean the Houston city limits.

What I want is a unified magnet program that takes in all of the kids in the city limits and the "island cities" of Houston- E.G. I want children in Kingwood, Clear Lake, AND Alief to be in the same magnet programs that also have central Houston. I want magnet programs established at Kingwood and Clear Lake, and, at the same time, I want Kingwood and Clear Lake kids to be eligible for HSPVA and DeBakey.

Not sure when it stopped. The organization that ordered AISD to surrender Oak Forest to HISD was the Harris County School Board, which is no longer around.

I thought the county school board went out of business with the Gilmer-Akins laws of 1949 which reorganized education on a state level, but obviously I was mistaken there. A haphazard guess would be that the practice of HISD ended when the Harris County School Board was dissolved, whenever that happened.

It definitely was gone by 1978, because AISD didn't have to give Hidden Valley to HISD when the city took in that neighborhood nor did the Clear Creek ISD become part of HISD when Houston annexed Clear Lake City.

And apparently it had ended before the city annexed Acres Homes, because HISD didn't take the AISD part of that community.

I don't have any children nor will I be having any children, so I guess as far as HISD taking over all education in Harris County that has no real immediate impact on me. However, why in the world would you want such a thing??? HISD already has enough problems of their own, so growing by several hundred percent surely won't help them get any better... probably will make things worse.

At the very least, an all-county HISD (or HCISD as in Harris County ISD) would up probably continue their policy of decentralization. So what would be the point of putting everything together if they're just going to keep control local?

isuredid, for some odd reason I can't respond to your post. Keeps coming up as "cannot find server." But I can reply to others... weird.

Anyway, your ideas about Airline sure sound a lot more plausible than the source where I got my information. I found mine in a Houston Chronicle story about how streets got their name. The story quotes a book at the HPL Texas Room. But that sotry about a "crow flying in an air line" sure sounds kinda dumb.

[gonzo1976]

isuredid, for some odd reason I can't respond to your post. Keeps coming up as "cannot find server." But I can reply to others... weird.

Same here.

To add more confusion to the matter, my 1939 Chamber of Commerce map has Airline ending at North Main. Fulton turns into East Montgomery near Moody Park and continues north from there.

[Firebird65]

I see the road that comes from the south and veers to the right is called Atascosita Road. I can't see what the name of the one branching off that goes through North Houston. Do you know the name of that one?

And what's the other diagonal line on the left? A railroad?

And interestingly enough, the map simply calls it Cross Timber with no plural. Guess the other timber came later? LOL!

[Firebird65]

Yeah, now I can see that too. Jensen and Aldine Westfield. Yup.

"Bender's Bridge"... I think Bender is the name of the person who founded Humble and also had something to do with the name of the Bender community at the end of Aldine Bender Road. But if Bender's Bridge is on Creek, that's not close to either of those.

Still, it must be the same guy... not like there were that many Benders running around back then. Maybe people ON a Bender...

Also, that area identified as "North Houston" would appear to be the area around Weiss Park. I've never heard of that area called that. I always thought North Houston was formally the area around where 249 splits into West Montgomery and West Mountain Houston. Lots of later maps pinpoint it there.

Edited August 15, 2006 by Firebird65

[cowboybud]

I grew up in Greenridge North and went to Aldine High School (woulda been cooler to go to "Alamo High", though).

Great stuff! Hard to believe that area really was just "cow pasture".

[Firebird65]

I grew up in Greenridge North and went to Aldine High School (woulda been cooler to go to "Alamo High", though).

Great stuff! Hard to believe that area really was just "cow pasture".

Yeah, I'm with you... Alamo would have been a great name for a high school, although San Antonio has first dibs on that name.

However, if you go back over the thread, there's a great deal of speculation that the land the current Aldine High sits on wasn't a cow pasture, but some sort of private airfield called Gulf Coast Airport. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to get any more so far.

If I ever manage to get back to the Texas Room at the old library downtown, I'll just try to look it up in an old phone book from 1953 or earlier. That ought to give an address. Then I'll just keep going back in the books until it doesn't appear anymore, and that will give an approximation as to when it started.

But first I gotta get down to the Texas Room first.

Edited August 16, 2006 by Firebird65

[youbetcha]

Great thread. I moved to Houston in 1963 and lived on Hill Road until June 1966. I bought a house in Northline Terrace and lived on Glenbury Drive from June 1966 until September 2005. Lots of interesting stuff here about the area. I lived there all that time, but have got an education right here. I was a big Aldine football fan and the comment about doing a history on them caught my eye. This is something I have wanted someone to do for a long time. Do you plan to publish this or is this just for personal use? I certainally would be interested in it.

[Firebird65]

Great thread. I moved to Houston in 1963 and lived on Hill Road until June 1966. I bought a house in Northline Terrace and lived on Glenbury Drive from June 1966 until September 2005. Lots of interesting stuff here about the area. I lived there all that time, but have got an education right here. I was a big Aldine football fan and the comment about doing a history on them caught my eye. This is something I have wanted someone to do for a long time. Do you plan to publish this or is this just for personal use? I certainally would be interested in it.

Doubt I'll publish it, but I'd be happy to e-mail you a pdf of it when I'm done.

I'm not too far away from finishing, provided I leave out all the area history part... that's what's been taken all my time. If I leave that for later, I could have just the scores and season highlights done within a month and save the other stuff for an expanded version later.

I've compiled all the scores and standings from 1936 to 2005. I'm missing five scores (out of more than 700), so I figure I've got about 99 percent of the games.

Unfortunately, I'm missing (or think I'm missing) what is, to me, the most important game of all... the first one. From what I've been able to piece together, Aldine only played three games its inaugural season. I've found two of them. Only one game was covered by a newspaper, and that was a 37-0 loss to La Porte on October 17, 1936. Of course, when you get beat 37-0, you don't have too many highlights, and as such, Aldine doesn't get mentioned at all in the story... it's all La Porte.

The next week, Aldine lost to some school called Huntsville Demonstration 39-0. Huntsville Demonstration was a school run out of Sam Houston State University. It apparently didn't last long after the 1930s. There was no story on this game, only a notation in the weekly scoreboard.

I can't find the third game nor do I know who it was against or the date it was played. I'm only guessing at its existence because a web site called texpreps.com says that Aldine was 0-3 in their first year. I've found about five errors on their site, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt here.

So, maybe the La Porte game was Aldine's first. Or maybe this other game was. I simply don't know. I've contacted the high school and the school district. Aldine's head coach says all records were thrown out when they remodeled the field house. I never heard back from the AISD athletic director. And never could get anyone at the UIL or texpreps.com to return messages. Pretty frustrating, I'll tell you.

Of the five games I'm missing, one is from 1936, one from 1937, one from 1938, one from 1939, one from 1942. The 1936 and 1937 games I don't know anything about. The 1938 and 1942 games were against Webster (now Clear Creek) and the 1939 game was against Willis. I've contacted both Clear Creek and Willis. Willis doesn't have records going back that far and I never heard back from Clear Creek.

Here to whet your appetite are the scores from what might well be one of the best Aldine teams ever: 1941 District 29-A champion Mustangs.

* - District game

v Somerville Yeguas - W 54-0

v Milby Buffaloes - W 7-0

v La Porte Bulldogs* - W 7-0

v Humble Wildcats - W 19-0

v Cypress Bobcats* - W 30-0

v Tomball Cougars* - W 13-7

v Crosby Buffaloes* - W 44-0

v Webster Wildcats* - W 39-0

Bidistrict Playoff

v Richmond Tigers - W 20-13

Conference A Region 8 Championship

v Navasota Rattlers - L 6-40

Wins 9 Losses 1

Conference A teams only played to a regional championship until 1948. Only AA played to a state title.

The game against Richmond, interestingly enough, was played on Friday, December 5, 1941 - two days before Pearl Harbor.

This was Aldine's first undeated seasin, first district championship and first playoff win. The previous year, Aldine captured a district zone title (akin to winning the Big 12 South), but lost the District Championship game to Pasadena. There was no district championship game in 1941 as the other zone winner, Galena Park, was banned from the postseason for using an ineligible player, as was the runnerup, Freeport.

The team pitched seven shutouts on 1941, a team record that still stands. They opened the season with five consecutive shutouts, a record they share with the 1940 team, who closed their year with five consecutive whitewashes. That means that Aldine shut out 10 consecutive regular season opponents over the last five games of 1940 and the first five of 1941. The only exception was the aforementioned 35-7 loss in the 1940 District 29-A title game.

The Milby game has an interesting background. That was to have been an open week for Aldine. Conference AA Milby's scheduled opponent backed out at the last minute and their coach called Aldine and arranged a game on short notice. With almost no prep time, the Conference A Mustangs shut out the Conference AA Buffs 7-0 in what was considered a big upset.

Here was the starting lineup for that team. Do note that teams played "one platoon" or "ironman" football - meaning player played both offense and defense:

Left End Whitfield

Left Tackle Walla

Left Guard Roach

Center Youngdoff

Right Guard Martin

Right Tackle Rigby

Right End Cornwell

Quarterback Slaughter

Left Half Jones

Right Half Deaton

Fullback Mendel

Edited August 16, 2006 by Firebird65

[gnu]

Unfortunately, I'm missing (or think I'm missing) what is, to me, the most important game of all... the first one.

I can't find the third game nor do I know who it was against or the date it was played. I'm only guessing at its existence because a web site called texpreps.com says that Aldine was 0-3 in their first year. I've found about five errors on their site, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt here.

You have probably done this but,

have you looked for high school yearbooks for your missing data?

I don't know how easy they would be to find (shouldn't aldine hs. have copies?)

they typically always list the schedule and scores for the various sports teams

Edited August 16, 2006 by gnu

[Firebird65]

You have probably done this but,

have you looked for high school yearbooks for your missing data?

I don't know how easy they would be to find (shouldn't aldine hs. have copies?)

they typically always list the schedule and scores for the various sports teams

Actually, I looked through my yearbooks for the scores from 1980 through 1983... and once I saw numerous mistakes (including names, dates, district numbers and scores), decided that probably wasn't a good alternative. Not that I haven't spotted glaring errors in Chronicle or Post stories... but...

I may well do that as a last resort, however. Problem is, I now live on the west side of town and it's not convenient to go by the school.

And, that's assuming they even have yearbooks from those years. I kinda doubt they do. Seems that was one of the first ideas I had, but then noticed that my copy of my 1980 yearbook was something like Volume 34 or 36, which means Volume 1 would have been in the mid 1940s and not the late 1930s. Plus, since the school burned down in 1954, it's likely any yearbooks would have been destroyed too.

But I'll still probably give it a shot at the very end. Can't hurt.

[youbetcha]

Actually, I looked through my yearbooks for the scores from 1980 through 1983... and once I saw numerous mistakes (including names, dates, district numbers and scores), decided that probably wasn't a good alternative. Not that I haven't spotted glaring errors in Chronicle or Post stories... but...

I may well do that as a last resort, however. Problem is, I now live on the west side of town and it's not convenient to go by the school.

And, that's assuming they even have yearbooks from those years. I kinda doubt they do. Seems that was one of the first ideas I had, but then noticed that my copy of my 1980 yearbook was something like Volume 34 or 36, which means Volume 1 would have been in the mid 1940s and not the late 1930s. Plus, since the school burned down in 1954, it's likely any yearbooks would have been destroyed too.

But I'll still probably give it a shot at the very end. Can't hurt.

Great stuff. I had compiled all of their playoff scores, but didn't know the dates (such as the close to Pear Harbor date). I became acquainted with Aldine in 1958 (Visited Houston, met an Aldine girl and later married her). Our children graduated from Aldine as well. Saw a lot of Aldine games, but starting in 1975 I missed very, very few. I have some contacts at Aldine High and just talked to one of them who is a football nut and even goes to see some of the games of players who leave Aldine and go to college. She has scores and year books dating back into the 30's. She works at the school, but isn't working today. She is going to call me tomorrow and I will see if she has any of your missing scores.

I found the stuff you posted above very interesting and informative. I would be very much interested in getting a copy of the pdf.

[youbetcha]

I have the playoff scores, but didn't know any of the history prior to the time I started watching them. I got the playoff scores off a Collier-Sharp website that had a wealth of high school history, but doesn't exist anymore. That is very interesting about the defensive strength of the team in '40 & '41. I have talked to a guy who played in the game against Falfurrias in '48. He said the game ended with Aldine ahead 13-7 and they went to their dressing room thinking they had won, but the officials claimed time hadn't expired and they went back and played a few more downs until Falfurrias scored and then the game ended. He said the game had been on the radio and there were Aldine fans who met them at the train station who still thought they had won. If he wasn't pulling my leg, that was interesting.

[Firebird65]

I have the playoff scores, but didn't know any of the history prior to the time I started watching them. I got the playoff scores off a Collier-Sharp website that had a wealth of high school history, but doesn't exist anymore. That is very interesting about the defensive strength of the team in '40 & '41. I have talked to a guy who played in the game against Falfurrias in '48. He said the game ended with Aldine ahead 13-7 and they went to their dressing room thinking they had won, but the officials claimed time hadn't expired and they went back and played a few more downs until Falfurrias scored and then the game ended. He said the game had been on the radio and there were Aldine fans who met them at the train station who still thought they had won. If he wasn't pulling my leg, that was interesting.

Yeah, I know all about that Collier-Sharp web site... that's was the first place I started my research.

As for the Falfurrias game, the news report I read merely mentioned the TD and extra point were on the final play of the game. Didn't say anything about how people had gone back to the dressing room. But I have no reason to doubt the story you heard was true. Wow... I've been to Falfurrias... and that's a long way even now. Imagine making that trip in 1948, leaving the game all happy and then finding out later what had happened!

BTW... that Falfurrias game was a week after what arguably could still be called the biggest win in Aldine history. The week before, the Mustangs had pulled an incredible 20-0 upset of El Campo, which entered the game at old Rice Stadium having won 33 straight games.

And if your contact has that information I'm missing, that would be fantastic.

For the 1936 and 1937 games, I have zero info. the 1938 game against Webster was the fifth game of the year. I believe Aldine won that game, but I have no idea as to the score. The 1939 Willis game was the season opener and I know Aldine won it based on later reports that give the Mustang's season record. But again, I don't know the score. Same goes for the 1942 Webster game, which was the eighth game of the season.

As I said in another post, if I leave off the area history part and concentrate solely on football, I could be finished in about a month. I've also got lengthy sidebars on Aldine area history (a lot of which I've posted on the board), the history of my neighborhood and on popular culture of the times. That's the time consuming part. I can always include that in a later version.

Edited August 16, 2006 by Firebird65