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doug

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  • 7 months later...
This is actually Our Lady of Guadalupe Church (www.olghouston.org), and it was started around 1912. I think the cemetery on the grounds may be named St. Vincent's though....

Amen on that one! Thanks for correcting the name.

For interior shots of this historic church see Holy Places Topic. The school is in back) is still in operation to this day. Red brick pavement is still around the area here too. This area has several structures that have been institutions to the community for decades ie; Our Lady Of Guadalupe, Crespo Funeral Homes (across the street), Ninfa's, Morales Funeral Homes, and so on. You must check out the historical photos inside Crespo's.

Be sure to check out Villa de Matel Convent over on Lawndale/Wayside (while viewing Holy Places). You must take a tour inside the Cathedral! Pure hidden beauties of Houston. Most of the sisters and administration are Irish which gives the place more authenticity, at least to me. Very historical background of its beginnings. :P

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Pasadena_Street.jpg

Is this house and the other colonial mansion still around?

That looks just like the old U of H FRAT house over by or across the street from Lawndale Forest Park Cemetary in East End? It's either Forest Hill or Palo Alto street?

Place was quite wild in the 80's ie; Animal House. It better still be there! :angry2:

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That house is on Pasadena. The other house I'm referring to is on Westmorland.

The Westmoreland is miraculously still there but needs restoration badly. That one needs to be turned into a museum and have tours. No joke. It is right out of the past and well worthy of having films shot there.

There were some discussions as to why current young owners were having delayed restoring, but time is of the essence my friend. Even the homes across the street are a trip! Great example of Houston's exuberance in architecture at the turn of the century or shortly there after.

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1896houseoftheHeightsdistrictHousto.jpg

1896 house of the Heights district

3380895-Unique_One_Of_A_Kind_Sites-.jpg

Freedman's Town

LyonsatJensenOctober1956.jpg

Lyons Ave and Jenson 1956

LyonsatJensen2006.jpg

Lyons Ave and Jenson today

MainStreetHoustoncirca1910.jpg

Main Street 1910

heights_blvd.jpg

Heights Blvd 1910

I like those small, Levitt Town-looking houses. That street photo had to have been taken no later than the 1940s. I don't think any of those cars had any kind of computer system under their hoods.

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  • 11 months later...

Hard to believe, that whole intersection (see pics above) at Lyons & Jensen has disappeared, where the Roxy Theater was, very eerie. What happened to it?

Thanks Isuredid for sharing the priceless pics! what a great thread. Anyone know anything about that Lee El. School? Sits so high on that slope, can see the back of it from I45N. What year was it built?

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I like the "then and now" pictures.. IE: the one of Lyons and Jenson..

Where did all the buildings go.. Looks like a different city..

About the only thing I can see that might be the same in each is the

storm drain by the curb, and the man hole cover out in the street..

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I like the "then and now" pictures.. IE: the one of Lyons and Jenson..

Where did all the buildings go.. Looks like a different city..

About the only thing I can see that might be the same in each is the

storm drain by the curb, and the man hole cover out in the street..

I have no idea. Probably didnt have no one going to those businesses and slowly just got sold off or abandoned and then torn down. In the 2006 picture it looks like there is alot of missing grass patches if those buildings were torn down a long time I would think that the grass would have covered all the area by now.

That is what makes vintage photos so good. I have a small collection now from specific photos I saved between 1950 - 1970.

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On the right side the telephone pole and traffic light support look like they could still be in the same location as in the original photo.

Looks like they are. The telephone pole is probably the same one in the orignal photo but the traffic light pole was changed out obviously since they now hang the traffic lights from wires above the road instead of off to the side.

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gonzo, i'm really enjoying the blogs in the chron., especially the then and now pictures.

i agree, i think it's the same pony in ALL the pictures of little kids...

i realized when looking at the pony picture, i have my own then and now too...

i have the picture of me on the pony in the late 50's in cottage grove, and who would have thought years later, that little kid would be named the US National Champion with her own horses several times, especially with one that was spotted too...

more then and now pictures please...thanks :rolleyes:

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I have no idea. Probably didnt have no one going to those businesses and slowly just got sold off or abandoned and then torn down. In the 2006 picture it looks like there is alot of missing grass patches if those buildings were torn down a long time I would think that the grass would have covered all the area by now.

That is what makes vintage photos so good. I have a small collection now from specific photos I saved between 1950 - 1970.

I think those missing patches is concrete foundation.

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I used to spend a lot of time in this area as a young police reporter and I heard some wild tales about it before I ever saw it from an old Houston cop I used to know. This is the "Little Pearl Harbor" section made famous by its vice rackets and killings and by blues singers like Weldon "Juke Boy" Bonner who wrote songs about it.

The area was in very sad shape as far back as 1980 when I first saw it: lots of abandoned and burned out buildings. It was essentially an urban ruin back then created by the drug plague. Crime drove a lot of people out. Dopers would squat in the empty buildings and burn them down. The owners didn't have the money or the will to rebuild and the place was just wiped out. Same thing is happening in inner city Detroit where there are so many open, unpopulated areas that wildlife are moving back into them.

I drove back to this section of Fifth Ward earlier this year and was stunned at the block and blocks of empty lots where the grass is reclaiming the sidewalks and even the streets.

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  • 1 month later...
Pasadena_Street.jpg

Is this house and the other colonial mansion still around?

I grew up 3 doors down from this house on the corner of Pasadena and Satsuma. For most of my life it was a room and board house but I believe in the late 80s or early 90s it was purchased by a frat. My mom told me that she talked with someone with the frat and they were planning on restoring the house to original condition. He also told her that they had found a set of original blueprints when they cleaned out the cellar. I guess they didn't get around to fixing the place up. I think it was built around 1902. There are a few old mansions in this neighborhood on Alta Vista and Forest Hill but none are Colonials. This area was supposed to have been like another River Oaks but instead ended up a middle class neighborhood.

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I grew up 3 doors down from this house on the corner of Pasadena and Satsuma. For most of my life it was a room and board house but I believe in the late 80s or early 90s it was purchased by a frat. My mom told me that she talked with someone with the frat and they were planning on restoring the house to original condition. He also told her that they had found a set of original blueprints when they cleaned out the cellar. I guess they didn't get around to fixing the place up. I think it was built around 1902. There are a few old mansions in this neighborhood on Alta Vista and Forest Hill but none are Colonials. This area was supposed to have been like another River Oaks but instead ended up a middle class neighborhood.

That same bldg is discussed in East End section under structures past & present I think? I also remember seeing the frat logo hanging above the entry in the 80', 90's? Sure is almost exact image of famed Animal House and it probably was. :D

Forest Hill is a one of a kind neighborhood which must have been built up in the cities true heyday. Very similar to the old and once beautiful nabes in Dallas. Newcomers should BUY/live here.

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  • 4 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Some pics of some buildings in downtown that I took while there for Christmas break.

The red building is the Kiam Building, 1893. The building next door is the Hub, 1900. The rest of the smaller buildings in that block date from the early 1880s.

3193465556_39887a3905_o.jpg

The Dixon Building, 1906. It was partly destroyed in the flood of 1935. I think there are now some people living in it. What a sweet building it is now though. I love it.

3193467250_b386172c95_o.jpg

The oldest building downtown, The Kennedy Bakery Building, 1860.

3193467076_b943a6a01e_o.jpg

The Gulf Building, 1932 I believe and a terribly horribly recladded building that dates from the 1910s I believe. I forget the name of it though. Man, they destroyed it in the 50s or 60s. Uhg

3195038198_4aeb8e49ed_o.jpg

The Franzheim Building, soon to be fn demolished.

3193465106_82dfda6fee_o.jpg

Starting from the left, Byrds Building 1935, next is the Reiners Building 1938, the tall one is the State National Bank Building, built in 1924. Little white building is theBarringer Norton Building, 1877. Lastly is the Public National Bank Building, 1925.

3192622757_cea3f62c55_o.jpg

Edited by photolitherland
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Old Heights Gas Station

Heights_Gas_Station.jpg

If anyone is interested I have two names for the above station which was not really a station by itself it was also a shop.

The very first name I have heard given to this i "Shauer's Garage". Came from family members seeing as my Grandfather bough gas and had some maintance done from them.

But theres still a sticker on the door of the car that says the following.

Harley R. Weyand

Gulf

1402 Oxford St

Houston, Texas

862-1584

The service sticker is dated 10-25-79. So it is fully possible that this "station" used to b Shauer's Garage and then became Harley R. Weyand Gulf. Either way I have phyical proof that it was atleast Harley R. Weyand Gulf station that also did services. The sticker said the transmission and axle was checked.

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  • 5 months later...

If anyone is interested I have two names for the above station which was not really a station by itself it was also a shop.

The very first name I have heard given to this i "Shauer's Garage". Came from family members seeing as my Grandfather bough gas and had some maintance done from them.

But theres still a sticker on the door of the car that says the following.

Harley R. Weyand

Gulf

1402 Oxford St

Houston, Texas

862-1584

The service sticker is dated 10-25-79. So it is fully possible that this "station" used to b Shauer's Garage and then became Harley R. Weyand Gulf. Either way I have phyical proof that it was atleast Harley R. Weyand Gulf station that also did services. The sticker said the transmission and axle was checked.

It's near that you stil have that sticker! I can check some other directories later, but I checked quickly and saw a listing at this address in a 1930's directory for "Oxford Street Service Station".

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  • 2 years later...
  • 2 years later...

Hardy at Opelousas - Old Fifth Ward

Hardy_at_Opelousas.jpg

Hardy at Opelousas - Second View

hardy_at_opelousas_2nd_view.jpg

Brays Bayou - Daniel Shipman Labor Survey

Brays_Bayou_Shipman.jpg

 

isuredid or someone... do you have any idea what this buildings name was? It's very old.I recently ran across it on GoogleEarth, was intrigued.

 

Edited by NenaE
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  • 5 months later...

That one is the Brady House (HAIF mention here). It's got tax issues etc. and so apparently is in legal limbo. The interior is pretty much gutted and there had been a small fire on the 3rd floor.

Great set of photos, isuredid. Preservation is helped by awareness and most Houstonians never notice old buildings still lingering so they are seldom missed once gone.

 

I see that the old gal is for sale again on HAR... low 200's. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Building at Hardy & Opelousas and RR tracks was standing on unpaved road in year 1896. Sanborn Reference #63 posted on U.T. Perry Castenada Map Collection.  (I'm making an educated guess here, with that 3 referring to 3-story structure). See isuredid's post 74 for the better photos of the old building.

 

 

 

 

post-5666-0-26697500-1421290046_thumb.jp

Edited by NenaE
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  • 1 year later...

It's near that you stil have that sticker! I can check some other directories later, but I checked quickly and saw a listing at this address in a 1930's directory for "Oxford Street Service Station".

 

Sad to say I was doing some searching and came across this post and figured I would update everyone.  Some time between Oct 2012 and Oct 2013 that station was demolished along with the whole corner of that street with all the houses.

 

Really sucks as I have not gotten to get a photo of my car in front of the building.  I didn't even bring it home from my grandmothers house till August 2014.

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  • 11 months later...
On April 9, 2009 at 8:11 PM, Rusty_S said:

If anyone is interested I have two names for the above station which was not really a station by itself it was also a shop.

The very first name I have heard given to this i "Shauer's Garage". Came from family members seeing as my Grandfather bough gas and had some maintance done from them.

But theres still a sticker on the door of the car that says the following.

Harley R. Weyand

Gulf

1402 Oxford St

Houston, Texas

862-1584

The service sticker is dated 10-25-79. So it is fully possible that this "station" used to b Shauer's Garage and then became Harley R. Weyand Gulf. Either way I have phyical proof that it was atleast Harley R. Weyand Gulf station that also did services. The sticker said the transmission and axle was checked.

 

Schauer was the name. Weyand was his son-in-law who took over when Schauer retired after almost 50 years as a Gulf station.

Edited by Andy Dufresne
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23 minutes ago, Andy Dufresne said:

 

Schauer was the name. Weyand was his son-in-law who took over when Schauer retired after almost 50 years as a Gulf station.

 

That is what I found out a couple months ago when I had the pleasure of talking to the daughter of Weyand.  Actually seeked me out and sent me a message.  I got confirmation that my 1979 dated service sticker was filled out by her father based off the hand writing but haven't heard back in a few months on if he recognizes the car or my grandfather.  All good information that has been noted in my notebook till I can get a proper scrap book album going.  I also have a old photo of the car in question but don't know the date but have to find it, boxes of photos have been moved around a few times so might take time.

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  • 7 months later...
On 11/2/2006 at 8:51 PM, Guest danax said:

That one is the Brady House (HAIF mention here). It's got tax issues etc. and so apparently is in legal limbo. The interior is pretty much gutted and there had been a small fire on the 3rd floor.

Great set of photos, isuredid. Preservation is helped by awareness and most Houstonians never notice old buildings still lingering so they are seldom missed once gone.

These pix are from 30AUG17-what do y'all think? Someone living there or not? Doesn't look very livable but there is a trash can and a mailbox.

IMAG4320.jpg

IMAG4321-1.jpg

Edited by OjazosNegros
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  • 4 weeks later...
On 1/14/2015 at 8:50 PM, NenaE said:

Building at Hardy & Opelousas and RR tracks was standing on unpaved road in year 1896. Sanborn Reference #63 posted on U.T. Perry Castenada Map Collection.  (I'm making an educated guess here, with that 3 referring to 3-story structure). See isuredid's post 74 for the better photos of the old building.

 

 

 

 

post-5666-0-26697500-1421290046_thumb.jp

 

 

GoogleEarth tells me this really old building and its younger side building are no longer standing... shame... Windows hint  at an extremely old build date.

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  • 3 months later...
6 hours ago, Urbannizer said:

Downtown Houston, 1929

 

Photo was taken where the Buffalo  Bayou hike and bike trail exist today, near 45. The Bayou looked pretty rough back then.

 

high_res_d

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc504919/m1/1/high_res_d/

 

Wow, so much stuff gone now. The foreground across the Bayou appears to be what is now the Wortham Center and Sesquicentennial Park. That would be Preston street bridge. Possibly taken from the roof of the Tennison Hotel? The Bayou was seriously concreted back then. Guess they got tired of all the flooding. 

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10 hours ago, Sunstar said:

 

Wow, so much stuff gone now. The foreground across the Bayou appears to be what is now the Wortham Center and Sesquicentennial Park. That would be Preston street bridge. Possibly taken from the roof of the Tennison Hotel? The Bayou was seriously concreted back then. Guess they got tired of all the flooding. 

Note the pipes that drain runoff into the bayou. How polluted did the bayou end up getting at its peak?

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20 hours ago, Urbannizer said:

Burn Building, 419 Main, 1978, Demolished

 

Parking lot exist here--anyone know when this was taken down? The two smaller structures and one behind it were also destroyed.

 

high_res_d

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth679872/?q=Houston

 

 

The Burns Building collapsed in 1993, the City demolished it in the fall of 93

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10 hours ago, IronTiger said:

Note the pipes that drain runoff into the bayou. How polluted did the bayou end up getting at its peak?

 

For all intents and purposes, it was an open sewer - as was the case with many, many waterways before the Clean Water Act in the early 70s.  What is now the Buffalo Bayou Regatta started out as the Reeking Regatta.

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  • The title was changed to Memorial Dr.

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