Michelle C

During the late 60's I had went dancing there a few times myself. A local country act Bud and Bud the Hooper twins played there some as well as some other great bands that I can no longer remember the names of. Can't remember for sure but I think this picture was made at the gardens circa 1969.

The name finally came to me, it was William Bodenheimer. I Googled it and found out he disappeared July 20th 1959. here is a link to the story. http://www.houstonpress.com/2004-03-11/news/the-icebox-revisited/full/

Another murder from the fifties that comes to mind is the murder of William Boatner. He lived in the Hyde Park area with his parents. He came up missing and several days later his body was found stuffed in an abandoned refrigerator on West Gray. This was in the mid to late fifties. I am not totally sure but I do think I have the name correct. I don't remember who murdered the boy but I do remember the police connecting someone to his murder. Hopefully someone on this board will remember the incident and can add some more information. I do remember when I was going to Lanier Jr. High there was a boy in my homeroom that had been good friends with Bill Boatner.

The Western Skies motel on Katy Freeway was located at 7809 Katy Road. That location is just east of Antoine. The feeder probably occupies part of the old Western Skies property.

It never ceases to amaze me when you get a few thoughts from a few different people a picture will start to evolve. I think you are dead on with the location of the old roadside park, it is consistent with what I remember. If I remember correctly you had to enter someplace east of Bingle perhaps one or two hundred yards east of Bingle. I also remember that it was operated by the state highway department. It is always nice to hear other peoples memory of it because each little piece of info jogs a bit of my memory as well. For years I have had fond memories of this little park and often wondered what was laying on top of it. Now we have a pretty good idea.

Do any of you remember a roadside park located on old Katy Road (I-10)? It was located on the south side of the highway some place between Bingle Rd. and Silber. If my memory serves me correctly it was closer to Wirt Road. When you were east bound you could drive off to the south side of Katy Road and enter the roadside park. Once in the park there were picnic tables and plenty of trees. The terrain was varied with hills and gullies. It was a fun place to ride a bicycle. If four wheelers had been around then, it would have been a great place to ride them. We used to go to church in Spring Branch and would pass the park going to and from church, sometimes my mom would pack a picnic lunch and we would stop there on the way back from church and eat. I do not know how long the park had been there but I knew it from the mid to late fifties. From Google Earth and Historical Aerials I have found a couple of possible places. One is just east of Bingle and the other is just east of Wirt road.

In the 1960's I spent three years in Hawaii courtesy of the US Air Force. It was great duty and I can't believe after three years that they actually sent me back to the CONUS. While there I frequented many of the Polynesian Theme watering holes. I once had the chance to ride a horse named Trader Vic. Ole Trader Vic decided he no longer wanted me on his back and promptly threw me off. Nothing broken but I did suffer a few bumps and bruises. Our friendship quickly parted after that.

It was the Deputy drive in. 1948 West Gray

I have an old detective magazine that covers the whole story pretty thoroughly and there is no mention of it in there. The usual places like the boat sheds and High Island, but no mention of White Oak bayou.

I remember well the Flag pole stunt at Gulfgate. I was but a teen at the time. I heard about it on KILT and my mom and I loaded up and drove out to Gulfgate to see what it was all about. When we got there they were getting ready to send up a bucket with some food in it to Don Keys. He was to stay atop of the flag pole until KILT was number one in Houston. I believe as mentioned KNUZ was at the time. We lived on Sul Ross in the Montrose area and both KILT and KNUZ was very close to where we lived.

I'm posting this picture of the demolition of the MKT depot in 1958. I now live in Smithville and this town had the largest rail yard between Houston and Waco. The MKT was the life blood of this town for many years. When MKT was sold to Union Pacific the operation here was scaled down drastically. I know many former MKT employees here and they can tell some great stories about the MKT. My neighbor's grandfather was an engineer for the MKT and had the honor of taking the last passenger train, the KATY Flyer from here to Houston.

I know why you remember it Dave. Your getting some age on you, that's why. What's so sad is I remember it too. Were aging gracefully. I remember everyone also liked to call it Teeter Totter Airlines as well.

I remember well the Oshman's on Main street in downtown Houston. I think that is the only one I have ever been in. I just remember it was a big store, other then than that, I do not remember a lot about them.

I am very retired and enjoying it albeit I am still pretty busy. I serve on the planning and zoning commission and am active in the chamber and on a couple of other committees around town. I am also active in my church.

That is a great link. The challenge was fun. Thanks for posting.

I thank that photograph came from the TexasFreeway.com site. They are old Texas Highway Department photos.

I could be wrong but to the best of my knowledge Winn-Dixie never made it to Houston, I certainly do not remember ever seeing one. There was one large Southern chain that did come to Houston can't remember the name right now that didn't last over about six months or a year. About the time they built some stores here there was a big problem with some tainted meat or something of that nature at some of their stores in the deep South. The publicity from that killed the stores here and they were soon gone. For some reason Food Lion keeps popping up in my mind but I can't be for sure. We had some Piggly Wiggly stores in Houston at one time but they have been long gone. Piggly Wiggly is very entrenched in the south.

I took a look at Penny's Diner and it sure appears to be alive and well. I also noticed a couple of trucks parked to the left of it, so apparently it is a popular stop with the truckers as well. This screen shot and it reminds me a lot of the Simpson's car that was located at Main and Bell.

I thank everyone for their diligent effort in trying to find an answer to the domed building. You certainly narrowed it down. Hopefully one of these days one of us will be able to find a picture of the structure. As unique as the structure is I know there had to be pictures made of it. Sooner or later one will hopefully surface.

At some point they moved another diner car in and replaced the one on the post card. I am not positive but I think it was built by a company that built diners that looked like rail dining cars. I had been in the one in the picture with the pint sized DeSota in the parade many times and it was a lot wider than a regular railroad dining car, you could tell it was custom built as a stationary diner.

I have this picture showing the Indians albeit its not the best but you can see them pretty clearly.

I looked in my 1937 city directory and came up with Bennett's as well. I would love to find a good picture of the building. It is very unique looking and someplace there should be a picture. Perhaps next time I am in Houston I will have time to stop by the library and do a little digging. If any of you do find a picture please post it in this thread, as I would love to have better look.

Out of a 170 views does no one know what the small domed building is? Come on, I need some help here.

Does anyone have any information about the domed structure in the far left of the photo? The picture was talken about the 2000 block of Main.

I found a couple of pictures of Davis Motor Company. Their used lot at Fannin and Bell. one of their service trucks parked on the north side of Westheimer between Mandell and Kueter with a mess of fish tied to the side of the truck. Someone had found a pretty good fishing hole. The building behind the truck is still standing.