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If anyone still reads this, here is some info. I have pictures of the old park Kiddie Wonderland that was over on S. Main and Kirby. There is more info on it on my other post. Let me know and I may be able to help you find what you are looking for.

awesome! post the photos, please.

interesting....very interesting. Thanks for the topic.

Here's another interior picture, from an old Fuermann book.

Subdude, awesome photo - thanks!!

There's a cool MCM home just around the corner from me, at 2145 Southgate (photo included). The owner notes:

Restored 1965 mid-century Modern house (architect Charles Thompsen). Quiet and private, this small house feels spacious with all rooms looking onto (with floor to ceiling glass) landscaped courtyards. Has great trees front and back.

My home, at 2134 MacArthur, will go on the market in 2 weeks. It's not "MCM" per se, but an interesting 1952 ranch style on about a 135-degree angle on a wedge-shaped corner lot.

Geez, what is that giant white thing next door? Wonder if they can see into the courtyard from their 2nd story windows...

Hello everyone. This is Martin (Marty) Blaise. I have just joined the forum. I have a (strange?) hobby of interest in abandoned/old highways and roads. I have quite a few photos on several web sites, including some photos of present day Old Main. A lot of Old Main Street is now gone. Some other Houston area streets that include sections of old pavement include Mangum, N Houston Rosslyn, Ora, FM 529, many streets just off Elysian, Rankin Road, Shadowdale, Clay Road, SH 249, Old North Belt, Old Katy Road ..... if you look hard enough you can find many, many abandoned sections of streets or patches of old pavement. I am also interested in the weird history of roads such as - two service road bridges over a bayou for Loop 201 (now 146 in Baytown) near Garth Road were built years before construction every started on anything else. There were just 2 bridges surrounded by grass. The only to get to them was by walking or maybe bicycle. Another weird one was on West Airport Blvd. near the Southwest Freeway. Only one of the two sides of the divided street was completed, but there were two bridges over a creek (both sides were completed, only at the point of the bridges). And of course my all time favorite, well-documented on houstonfreeways.com is the "orphan" bridge that topped IH 45 near downtown from 1962-1972. As a youth I was puzzled why anyone would put up part of a bridge over the top of a freeway. --- By the way, on a different note -- maybe someone can help me -- I am looking for a photo of the old water tower at Andrau Air Park -- it had a unique design. Thanks.

Hey Marty, welcome to the forum! I think I have seen your web page somewhere - the descriptions of your pics sounds familiar. Could you post some of the links?

Here's a link to an article by the Houston Press concerning the brick streets in the Fourth Ward:

Fourth ward brick streets

Some interesting quotes from the article:

Years after former slaves founded Freedmen's Town in the late 19th century, city officials still refused to provide services to the district, Roberts says. Andrews remained a muddy breeding ground for yellow fever until residents eventually donated dollar bills to a local African-American minister, now remembered only as Jeremiah, and built the street themselves.

Local African-American masons fired the bricks on-site, most likely with mud from Buffalo Bayou, Roberts says. Blacksmiths who lived in the district also forged rails for a mule-drawn trolley line that once ran down Andrews, across the current path of I-45 and into downtown as far as Antioch Missionary Baptist Church at 500 Clay.

This is a picture of Houston International Airport (now William P. Hobby Airport), not Houston Intercontinental Airport.

The International terminal shown was constructed in 1954; judging by the car in the foreground and the newly planted trees, I'd guess this photo was taken at about that time.

Ah, thanks - did u see the b&w one I just uploaded?

Don't know the year on this PC, but pretty old.

So is this an old picture of Hobby Airport?

Here's one from December 1954

If you would get in contact with Sharon Lauder at the Houston Tribune I know she would love to run some of your photos in her article about Playland (713) 862-9603. I have sent her a bunch of my stuff and I know she'd love more.

Roy I got your DVD, looks like the Same VHS to me with a few minor exceptions, and actually the sound is in better Sync than mine. When they ripped it to DVD they got a better result. I will send you mine just for laughs, Mack put together miles of footage, some of which is proably the only existing video of Playland I am sure. Not many poeple as dedicated as he was back then. A lot of those neighborhood shots were from the house on Hewitt street off of TC Jester. The McKenzie's were quite a crew. I tell you another old north sider that is still around and still racing. Kent Lewis Sr. is well up in his 70's and still racing sprint cars in the ASCS Gulf-South Region. He ran at Playland, Meyers, and Almeda a lot.

Thanks Mark. Do you know what happened to the original 8mm film? Today that film should be able to be converted directly to digital format and then to DVD. The quality would probably be improved - not so sure for 8mm but it's possible.

Also I bet there are other interesting scenes in the original footage not on the DVD. Sounds like a cool side project.

What do you know about the GND Video? Is that the footage that was used on the PBS production Houston Remember: When Vol.3? I would like to get that footage, but have not gotten a reponse from PBS.

I grew up at Playland track since I was 2 years old so I am anxious to obtain any film or pictures from there. I do hold an extensive collection of stills from Playland, but most are of Archie Lacy's cars and his driver, Billy Wade.

I am very interested in your DVD and any information on the GND video. I would appreciate being included on your shipping list. Keep me posted! Thx

Haven't seen the PBS series - I *think* parts of it were for sale in the past on VHS only. I believe the GND video comes from footage shot by Mack ?? (dont remember his last name) over the years.

You could email Judy Dudek at gill.judy@sbcglobal.net and find out if they have any of the DVDs left.

We would love to see the Playland pic posted here.

Anyone interested in a DVD of Playland Park Speedway and Meyerland Speedway, IM or email me with your contact info. It's a bunch of home movie footage shot in the 50's in 8mm. There was no sound, so we overdubbed some oldies music and Charles did some comentary. I think it came out real good, I am going to burn some DVD's , you'll see it isn't professional, but it is pretty cool. If any of you get the Houston/Heights Tribune, I am helping Sharon Lauder put together some articles to run on Playland and Meyerland Speedways. It should come out this spring, when I get some exact dates on the print I will let you know. I am mainly providing photos and names and dates and she is writing the articles, like I said when I get some exact dates of the print I will let you know.

P.S. There is also newer footage from the 60's and 70's, there is some of old Almeda Speedway, some from Moody andClarey, and some breif shots from old Houston Dragway off of Gulf Freeway.

Hey Mark - is this the same DVD as the GRD Videos Playland Park & Meyers Speedway DVD? Don't remember Almeda Speedway or the Houston Dragway being on that one.

Thanks!

Swarthmore Street in West University sometime in the early 1950s...

you tube link

great video - thanks!

I have a ton of stuff on Meyer Speedway, spent many many nights there racing. Have a lot of photos, but don't want to tie up a bunch of bandwidth if no one's interested.

Yes, please post some pics. Fantastic stuff so far!! Thanks!

The old Monterey House biuldings are still around - at least some of them.

The ones that jump out at me are Alvin and Dickinson. They are my stores, and I know that they are over 30 years old.

Casa Ole acquired Monterey House. It is not Monterey's Little Mexico. Food is GREAT.

Hmmm... For me, Casa Ole fall into the same category as Monterey House, Tortuga, Pancho's and others of their ilk. The food there looks and tastes cheap. The chips are often greasy at these places, the cheese is the lowest quality, the food is not well prepared, the rice is mushy or overcooked, the food tastes reheated and not fresh and on and on... blah...

Is it any worse than "nursing home"? Or Mental Hospital? How would you like to live in a place called by words that mean you can't take care of yourself anymore? Come on people. Get a grip.

Nursing home? I know, I know, terrible!! Mental Hospital? Who would want to live in a place that means you are sick in the head? Oh, the shame! Who made up those terms? Those are just awful and downright mean.

You're absolutely right. I wouldn't want to live at either of those places. Do you live in one of those?

What's wrong with "orphanage"? I've never regarded the words "orphan" and "orphanage" as derogatory terms, and until the age of Political Correctness, nobody else did either.

"Orphan" is not a slang term or a slur. It's a perfectly respectable word that comes from Greek, and it means "someone who has lost one or both parents through death.

"Orphan" is not a slang term or a slur and it's not pejorative. You seem to think it's disrespectful to call parentless children orphans, and a group home that cares for them as an "orphanage". Why?

Now, if just have to weed out the derogatory old words, why don't you go after the word "daughter". It comes from an old English Saxon term for the female member of the family responsible for milking the cows. Clearly it's a word for a subservient family member.

Well 'orphanage' may not be a derogatory word, but to live in a place called by a word that means, "a place for a bunch of kids who's parents have died", isn't very hopeful at all...

Now, concerning the word 'daughter', I wonder if that was what Pearl Jam was writing about? I never did understand that song...

"That is a whole lot of rambling in a topic that is supposed to be about the History of Houston. How did the topic of WWII get involved in this thread?"

Gosh I don't know. Do you think it may be because Houston, and countless numbers of Houstonians, played significant roles in that war back here on the home front? If that's not about "the History of Houston" I don't know what is. I consider myself a student of history, but I've learned a lot of things I never knew about that period right here in this one thread, and speaking just for myself, I find those kinds of things very enlightening and rewarding.

Sorry you're so bored by having to put up with all this stuff about Houston history on a board devoted to Houston History.

The topic was meant to discuss the website and its contents and organization in general, not specific and detailed events from Houston's past...

No that riot did not cause Lee to go downhill. It's the surrounding apartments in the Flea Market area that feed into that school. The last time I was there, it was not a good place to be at night!

Did you know that Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top) graduated from Lee? Ron Stone, as well.

I agree 100% - no 200%! It was the demographics that killed it. I attended Lee in 1980-1981. It was rather a rough place already. And it wasn't just the surrounding apartments near the flea market. Lee's boundaries extended all the way down to Bellaire Blvd. North of Bellaire & West of 59 (maybe east of 59 too?) were Lee HS. South of Bellaire was Sharpstown HS.

Yes, it was Ron Stone Jr. that attended. I think he was a Senior when I was a freshman. My wife has a yrbook from that yr. Maybe I can dig up some pics.

I hadn't thought about that in YEARS! There also used to be a number that you could dial that would ring you back when you hung up...kind of a line test. It was fun to dial it and then walk away and let someone else answer a dead line. I grew up in Northshore and our phone exchange was Glendale. You could tell who'd lived there the longest by the number that followed the exchange. The oldest was GL3, then GL5.

Yep, that was a "ringback" number... a test number. There was one I used to call - I think they were different based on the exchange. Don't remember it now...

When I was in high school - mid 60s - there was a number that I believe was called The Grapevine. When you called it, you could hear several people talking at once. What usually happened, was that you would give someone your number and they would call you to have a private conversation. I never gave out my number, but I did call someone else who gave me his number. We never did meet, though. I guess that was the first chat room.

They did have test lines called loop lines that you could dial into and talk to one or several other people depending on the line. I wonder if that's what it was. There used to be a number in 713 that was just an oscillating tone - I always wondered if that was one side of a loop line. Can't remember the number anymore.

Old loop numbers for Houston (thanks textfiles.com!):

AREA CODE: 713

XXX-1499,XXX-1799;XXX= 442, 960, 666, 664, 780, 667, 668, 489, 455,

988, 524, 356, 351, 376, 447, 466, 342, 493, 492, 482, 441, 354, 339,

324, 484, 487, 526, 686, 555, 466, 481, 781, 771, 458, 681, 682, 471,

665, 997, 224, 341, 661, 976, 469, 462, 468, 759, 367, 977

(713)

486-1499/488-1799 = low high

356-1799/1899 = low high

491-1499/1799 = low high ©

713-442-1499 713-442-1799 713-489-1499 713-489-1799

713-447-1499 713-447-1799 713-354-1499 713-354-1799

713-555-1499 713-555-1799 713-682-1499 713-976-1799

713-960-1499 713-960-1799 713-455-1499 713-455-1799

713-466-1499 713-466-1799 713-339-1499 713-339-1799

713-471-1499 713-471-1799 713-469-1499 713-469-1799

713-666-1499 713-666-1799 713-988-1499 713-988-1799

713-342-1499 713-342-1799 713-324-1499 713-324-1799

713-481-1499 713-481-1799 713-665-1499 713-665-1799

713-462-1499 713-462-1799 713-664-1499 713-664-1799

713-524-1499 713-524-1799 713-493-1499 713-493-1799

713-484-1499 713-484-1799 713-781-1499 713-997-1799

713-468-1499 713-468-1799 713-780-1499 713-780-1799

713-356-1499 713-356-1799 713-492-1499 713-492-1799

713-487-1499 713-487-1799 713-771-1499 713-771-1799

713-224-1499 713-759-1799 713-667-1499 713-667-1799

713-351-1499 713-351-1799 713-482-1499 713-482-1799

713-526-1499 713-526-1799 713-458-1499 713-458-1799

713-661-1499 713-661-1799 713-977-1499 713-977-1799

I hadn't thought about that in YEARS! There also used to be a number that you could dial that would ring you back when you hung up...kind of a line test. It was fun to dial it and then walk away and let someone else answer a dead line. I grew up in Northshore and our phone exchange was Glendale. You could tell who'd lived there the longest by the number that followed the exchange. The oldest was GL3, then GL5.

Hmm... apparently they still exist?

713 234-xxxx Houston, TX

281 234-xxxx

832 234-xxxx

Here's a cool on-line reference on Houston history organized by years/decades, if it hasn't been posted here already.

http://www.houstonhistory.com/sitemap/history4b.htm

Yep, it's pretty good - I wish it even more info and pictures than it does. That would be awesome.

Casa Ole was started by Bobby Forehand in Pasadena, Texas. Casa Ole went public in the 1990s; is listed as CASA on the stock market; and is now known as Mexican Restaurants Inc. They bought Monterrey House and renamed it Monterrey's Tex-Mex after they started the Tortuga's chain. The gentleman in Beaumont owns a number of franchises in the Beaumont/Louisiana area, but he does not own Casa Ole. The processing plant was on Richey and is long gone.

Didn't know those three restaurant chains were all owned by the same corporation. Having eaten at all three restaurants I can say the food is about the same at all three! ;-)

The only ones I'm nostalgic over are the old Monterey House buildings from when I was a little kid. Did used to like going to Poncho's (another chain) and raise the little flag to order sopapillas (yum).

Don't really miss the food... Except for them being rock bottom cheap, never understood their appeal. Tortugas has the best concept of the mix, though.

Thanks for all the great photos and ads!! Great thread!

:)

luckily we lived on a close knit street and knew a lot of the neighbors.

it did cut down on outside kids coming onto our street.

i remember it being pretty deserted on a lot of halloweens after most of us kids on the block got older.

All is know is before the candy poisoning incident we used to literally fill up a paper grocery bag full of candy on Halloween. We had so much candy the bag would be ripping apart by the time we got home. Good times, good times...

Then, the pixie sticks...

Speaking of Playland Park

I was going through old pictures and found this ad in a copy of the 1945 Daily Cougar (my Dad's) from U of H.

Would this be the same roller coaster? Dated May 1943. I believe I found this image online at the Smithsonian.

It's always funny how the papers back then would put the person's name AND address in the article--could you imagine that now? It'd probably land a lawsuit!

Yep - we're all much too afraid of the consequences these days to go around posting our names and addresses all over the place.