Zephyr

As a first grader, I learned to bowl at that bowling alley, when it was known at OST Bowling Lanes. That was in 1958. It became "Monarch" some time after that, perhaps 1960.

I just checked it on Google maps, and it's a Walgreen's drug store now. The weird thing about the original building was that the bowling alley was upstairs. There was nothing downstairs except the structural beams. It might be that it was planned for retail, or possibly covered parking, but that never came about.

The aerial shot of the Breezeway and the aircraft at the American Legion post brought back a flood of memories. Thanks for sharing!

I've had a devil of a time finding information on the old orphanage. Of course, being in Dallas, the Texas History section of the local libraries is limited where Houston info is concerned.

http://www.houstonar...-old-orphanage/

post # 16...Plumber, u did talk about it, Dyer Home. Maybe near Ellington AFB, but closer to the interurban/ Gulf Frwy? Must be sitting in Brazoria County. Can't find any records in the block books (harris co.) or maps.Stilll looking.

http://www.lib.utexa...dswood-1955.jpg

can you tell where it would be from this 1955 Friendswood map? Ellington Field is interesting, so detailed. Guessing the Home was near the Humble Camp?

I'm guess west of the Humble Camp, and on the east side of the Gulf Freeway. There's a T-shaped mark there and that could be it.

Plumber, that's right. The Dyer Home. It was abandoned some time in the mid-60s and then it burned down.

I grew up down the street from the Gulfway. We could sit in the front yard and watch the movie. One night we got creative and had a kid sneak in to hook up a Radio Shack 2-way radio to one of the speakers. It worked through about 3/4 of "Cheyenne Autumn". I suspect a security guard found it.

The entire area from Almeda-Genoa south was ranchland when my family moved to Genoa in 1955. Humble Oil, now Exxon, operated the Friendswood Oilfield and for a brief period in the early 70s it was one of the more productive oilfields in the world. Friendswood started getting more development in the early and mid 60s. Before that it wasn't much but a Quaker church and a supermarket called Baker's that didn't sell alcohol or cigarettes. Humble Oil had some campgrounds for local Boy Scout troops, called Humble Woods, and I spent many a weekend camping there.

Before the development of Sagemont, there was Beverly Hills. The post office was in Genoa. The kids went to Jessup and Genoa elementaries, South Houston Junior High and High schools. In fact, my older sister spent a bit over a year at Pasadena High before South Houston High School was built.

Before Sagemont was built, there was an old building that would now be located in the middle of Beltway 8, just east of the Gulf Freeway. It was an orphanage of some sort.

That's all the memories I can call up for now.

Yep, the lakes at those apartments were the original sandpits. There was another sandpit in Genoa off of Old Galveston Road where it intersects with Genoa-Red Bluff.

Does anyone have any official word on what is going on at Meyer Park shopping center. Luby's is building a new location as a pad site in front of their current location. The AMC theatre is now a pile of rubble except for the front wall. Employees at Randall's say they are going to be unemployed in 2011 because that store is closing.

I am hearing rumors from the Willow Meadows folks that Wally World is going to build a new Super Center there. Also from Westbury and Meyerland Civic Clubs there is a reponse "we've heard rumors" to the Super Center. I've asked several real estate folks and they are worried about the impact on property values if this rumor is true.

Can anyone find anything official as to what is going on there?

Thanks.

Was Meyer Park once known as Meyerland Plaza?

I haven't heard about the A-Train terminus change. All the recent documents I've read still have it ending at Trinity Mills, but I suppose that could change. Is there any room at Frankford Station for another platform?

Apparently the change was considered, then thrown out. As it stands now, the A-Train will terminate at Trinity Mills. You'd think we'd learn something about Intra-agency communication around here.

I think any forum dedicated to Dallas architecture should be called DAFF.

While it isn't an architecture-base site, www.dallasdigest.com has been my favorite here in the metroplex for several years. It's hosted by Dallas radio personality Kevin McCarthy who is heard on Saturday mornings in Houston on KTRH as the co-host of The CarGuy Show with Jerry Reynolds.

The site consists mostly of people who grew up in the DFW area, plus a few Houston ex-pats like myself, and other members from as far away as the UK. Most of the conversations are humorous with a few political arguments and bare-knuckle fistfights thrown in, but I've enjoyed it over the years, as well as the get-togethers and happy hours we occasionally have.

One problem is that spammers have found the site and Kevin requests that new members email him before joining. That way he can open the gates while newcomers join, then close them to keep out the spammers.

Please look around and think about joining. I need a few more hometowners there.

There was a large metal building near the Breezeway Club. It was the old Alpha Fireworks plant. It moved there from Houston after the original location had a fire.

They used to have a big fireworks display every New Year's Eve and we'd stand out in our front yards in Genoa and watch.

What happened to the baseball museum inside the Finger's on Cullen?

Since both Dallas and Houston are a large part of my life, I know there is no comparison. The cities are too different to compare, but I love 'em both.

I was born in Houston, and graduated from high school there. Houston has more green space, especially in and around downtown. Houston has the midtown and Rice areas, especially the Rice Village. The near west side has personality, and Houston has enough quirkiness to keep it interesting.

Dallas, where I've lived for close to thirty years, has finally caught on to the concept of revitalizing downtown. Uptown/Trolley district is a great place to see because its personality changes from block to block. The SMU campus is lovely, and there are other places worth visiting closer to downtown, such as the Bishop Arts District.

Dallas has the edge on transportation, but Houston is a better city for pedestrians.

Houston has River Oaks, West U. and Bellaire. Dallas has the Park Cities and Preston Hollow. That's a tie.

Houston has the edge on zoos, but both are worth visiting. Hermann Park and Memorial Park also bring back very nice memories. That's one area where Dallas might be lagging.

Both cities have a Galleria, and there isn't much difference between them.

Both are great places to live. Like I said, I love 'em both.

As a DART employee (and Native Houstonian), I'm glad to see all the great comments about our system. I'm hoping METRO overcomes all the politics and becomes successful with their plans. It would be a great thing for Houston to have light rail. You won't believe the change it makes.

A question for DFWcre8ive: I believe the terminus for the DCTA A-Train has been moved to Frankford-North Carollton. Have you heard anything on that?

I seem to remember Bunny Orsak and Kitty Borah were the two Kitiriks. There were also two Cadet Dons.

I remember the first one, Don Davis. His real name was Don Eisenmann and his son, Ike, had a brief career as an actor. I don't remember the second Cadet Don, as he arrived during my high school years.

Question: Did anyone else participate in the morning exercises during the first half of Cadet Don?

Giff was one of my all-time favorites of Houston TV news people. As a sports commentator, I would rank him just behind Bill Ennis as my favorite.

Agreed.

I also remember Giff as an Oilers' Quarterback. The year he became a starter I watched the preseason game against Dallas and it was an overall bad night for the offensive line. After the 4th or 5th sack there was a close-up of him walking off the field, and a halfway decent lip reader knew that whatever he was yelling, it was good not to hear.

I had the opportunity to meet him a few years ago and reminded him of that game. He laughed and said that was one time he was glad no one could hear. I found him to be personable, and it was quite pleasant to meet him. Giff is a true class act, and I'm glad he made his home in Houston.

As is the case with many of you here, I am also fascinated with this story. The Joan Hill murder occured my senior year of high school, and many were the times I drove by some of the locations mentioned in the Thompson book.

Sharpstown Hospital was on the outskirts of town, and was more of a country hospital back then. The stables that the Hills owned off of Memorial were actually in a rural area then.

The years have passed, and things have changed. This Houston native has been exiled to Dallas for nearly 30 years now, but I still get homesick. I may pick up my old, worn copy of Blood and Money and give it a read.

One thing I have wondered about over the years is what ever happened to Connie Hill. Does anyone know?

I've heard from sources in the know that METRO is in the process of ****ing up the BRT routes with their preliminary designs.

They seem to be cheaping out on everything. Very few takings for the ROW, so not much room for adequate sidewalks, which is how people would get to the stops. Very infrequent stops with a lack of parallel bus service, so it can be difficult to get to BRT platforms even if your end destination is along the lines...on top of the inadequate sidewalks, which make it even more difficult. My source concluded with a great deal of disappointment that METRO does not appear to be committed to creating the pedestrian infrastructure that is necessary to be supportive of transit on a fixed guideway.

Preliminary plans also lack grade-seperations at any major thoroughfares or even at railroad crossings. It is bad enough that the BRT will be subject to delays from freight trains, but since LRT tracks are being laid underneath the BRT lanes, it will be our future LRT routes that get delayed by freight trains too.

They appear to be undermining their own efforts even though matching federal funding is so much more likely this time around. I have long been concerned that the inadequate design standards of the Red Line would be replicated on future routes...but I was wrong. They've evidently gotten worse.

I'm a Native Houstonian who was exiled to Dallas about 30 years ago. There are a lot of things I miss about Houston, but one advantage Dallas does have is public transportation. The light rail system here is fast and reliable, not to mention well-planned. I never understood the problems with METRO from the beginning but it seems that the organization is always shooting itself in the foot.\

The Dallas Area Rapid Transit authority (DART) mapped the most heavily travelled routes into downtown, and prioritized. The existing lines run north to Plano and Garland, and south to near Ennis and Lancaster. Next will be Carollton and Seagoville, and a possible east-west line from Plano to DFW Airport. I've read that METRO currently plans a line along Westpark and on that runs east along Harrisburg. It seems they could extend the current line out to Missouri City, and go ahead with Westpark. As I recall, Westpark was primarily industrial and business development, so I don't know what the opposition is about.

Eventually, it'll get done. I just hope it gets done before it becomes obsolete.

What a great memory! I am 52 years old and grew up in Bellaire & Sharpstown until I was 9. Mom & Dad used to take me to ride those ponies at OST & Main. One of my early childhood fond memories.

You and I are about the same age. I grew up in Genoa, which was later known as the Almeda Mall area, and now, I think, is called South Belt/Ellington.

It seems the OST area was popular for everyone in southern Houston. I remember the pony rides, as well as the old OST Bowling Lanes.

The movie theater in Bellaire. It was still there as a $1 movie theater when I left Houston in 1985.

Kitirik....wasn't her assistant there a guy named Don Chandler? He also played the part of Nod the Clown.

Drive-Ins: For us in Genoa, it was the Gulfway Drive-In. I could watch the movies from our front yard. There was also the Kings Center on South Loop.

LOL.... "Globe"...Yes, Globe Shopping City was also near Gulfgate. Anyone remember the Sage store on the Gulf Freeway? Or the Sage at Beechnut and 610?

I remember the Sears on South Main...another one on Wayside east of the Gulf Freeway.....and the one in Pasadena.

Anybody remember places called Taylor Hall, and later, Liberty Hall (Downtown)?

I lived off-campus at UofH, and we had several names for the U-Tote-M there....the prices were so high.

"U-Grab-M, We_Stab_M" is the only one I can mention in polite company.

Who remembers day games at Colt Stadium, when you were hardboiled by the end of the game, or night games at Colt Stadium, when you got mugged by mosquitoes?

Meyerland Plaza....it was still a great place to shop until the early 80s, when new owners went in and cut down all the trees in order to make the place a miserable shopping experience. I think they wanted a write-off or some excuse to tear the place down or sell it for redevelopment.

My longterm memory is still holding up.