6thgentxn

There was an icehouse on Washington Ave about a mile east of Memorial Park (near Pig Stand??). It was old when I went there in the mid 60s. It catered to the semi-pro and amateur Soft ball crowd at night and the locals in the afternoon/evening.  One evening the owner came to each table and apologized because he was gonna have to start charging a quarter for a longneck. I think they had been 22c.

On 2/3/2006 at 8:17 PM, 57Tbird said:

Wow!! Subdude...You continue to impress me with your collection, or expertise, on where to find things like this. I will forward this piece of memorabilia to the former owners. I am sure they will be most appreciative. Thanks! I have them looking for an old menu from their establishment. They said they have a bunch of them stored away in a box somewhere. I will post, if I get one. Hebert's Ritz was a fine dining establishment in its time. Would be interesting to compare prices with today's menus of comparable restaurants. I am curious about the spelling of McGowen. On the card, it is McGowan. I thought it was spelled with an "e".

Looking through really old memories. I was at Hebert's Ritz a number of times but always at lunch with Dad and business associates. I seem to remember a specialty was a slice of prime rib cooked like a steak ,which was very popular with our group. ALWAYS a pleasant experience.

My Grandparents lived in the Woodland Heights 67 years.

In those years from the late 1920s they had the same 4 last phone numbers.

First ##41, then T##41, then UNderwood ##41, and lastly 861-##41.

Papa also reserved (They set it aside for him) his address number for his license plate number

many years with the help of the service counter folks at the grocery store.

I am wondering when the phone number went from six to seven  places in Houston.

I have a pic of a family homes for sale sign with the number MU-0216

I am guessing 1948 in Oak Forest, but am looking for verification.

Any help out there?

deleted = covered by others

If you want to know more about Meyer & Arrowhead Speedways

check out the history sections of this site

www-lonestarspeedzone-com

I helped with safety 1969 'til it closed

It was a busy place on Saturday nights.

I lived in Woodway Square some years before the fire.

I saw the smoke from the Katy area and saw the details on the TV news.

It was a big deal and it did change rules regarding construction including shingles.

Indelible in my memory is a phone call I got from a buddy a couple of days after the fire.

Friend : Do you know where your old apartment is?"

Me: No "!?!"

Friend: "In your old parking space!"

It was a sobering commentary about the hardships that a whole bunch of

apartment dwellers were going through that week.

Logic tell me that title continues to be clouded in the area. If you look at an aerial,

there is still lots of underutilized real estate in the area.

Except for Pinemont Park(?) and where we built Forest Pines sec 2.,

most parking lots, structures, etc. can economically be cleared away for "higher and better use".

I have some answers to these questions.

Many of the 25x100 lots were, indeed, sold. Most were bought in response to ads in

National magazines in about 1910-15. The area was platted but never incorporated into a town.

Most owners bought "a little piece of Texas" through mail order and never saw there purchases.

When Forest Pines was platted, homes were built from  South to North and clouded titles

began to appear when individual houses were sold.

The builder then spent over ten years "curing" the title. This included sending agents all over the country

to secure ownership.  The Builder had moved to SW Houston by this time and offered the

remaining lots to My Dad.  We and another builder then finished out Forest Pines in the mid-70s.

The closing documents of each house we built there included a 60+ page copy of the suit filed to clear the title.

The other land between Forest Pines and Bingle may still be in clouded title.

The last I knew (90s) it was still leasehold overseen by a trustee.

In the mid 70s we inquired about it and was told that those wit an interest in it

were so at odds that "They couldn't even agree on a place to argue."

The aerial "above" photo does reflect where construction stopped for about 10 years.