gonzo1976

This is from the 1948 Theatre Catalog listing of drive-in theaters:

Houston, Tex. EPSOM DR., Jensen Rd., Highway 59. Exec: W. V. Ratcliff.(M12 C275 D7 SF CH4).

Houston, Tex. MARKET STREET DR., 8601 Market St. Exec: C. H. Mitchamore, Mitchamore and Neves Amusement Co.(M12 C400 D7 SF CH4).

Houston, Tex. SHEPHERD RD. DR., Conroe Highway. Exec: (UNDER) C. C. Ezell, Underwood and Ezell.(M12 C400 D7 ASDF CH4).

Houston, Tex. SOUTH MAIN DR., Old Fort Bend Rd. Exec: (UNDER) C. C. Ezell, Underwood and Ezell.(M12 C400 D7 ASDF CH4).

Houston, Tex. WINKLER DR., Winkler and Telephone Rds. Exec: (UNDER) C. C. Ezell, Underwood and Ezell.(M12 C400 D7 ASDF CH4).

M indicates the number of months the drive-in is in operation

C indicates car capacity

D indicates the number of days a week it operates

SF-DF or ASDF indicates a single feature, double feature or assorted single and double policy

CH indicates the number of changes of show per week

Here is a list (partial?) from this Web site.

I always wondered why it lacked development.

This photo was likely taken sometime between 1901-1910.

The streets were very sketch. The old Rice Hotel, which I had to walk by daily on the way to the courts, was literally a public urinal. During the hotter months, it STUNK badly.

I used to work downtown on weekends back in the 1990s. Walking along the Texas Avenue side of the old Rice Hotel seemed daring in those days.

It is a new sub. Maybe in 50 some odd years or whenever it retires it can be parked along side the battleship in the San Jacinto historic site.

That reminds me, I was reading up on Wiki (yeah, not exactly the gospel truth) and it mentioned that the class of subs the USS Texas belongs to will replace the USS Los Angeles-class subs (which the USS Houston is a part of). Maybe we'll get the USS Houston parked somewhere in town as a tourist site before too long.

Too bad it's not open to the public. I remember when the public was allowed to get a look at the USS Houston when it arrived in town back in the early 1980s.

Great photos!

Generally, during this era, those entering radio broadcasting did it to advertise their own agendas.

I guess some parallels can be drawn between this period and the development of Web sites beginning in the mid-1990s.

There was a Jack In The Box downtown?!? That would have been great.

Heh. My friends and I used to avoid that one and just go to one outside downtown.

Very sad.

My grandparents used to own Mak's Ice House off Cullen and Lamar (?). When I checked last year it was still there.

i think what weingarten means is that the potential for higher leases exist in the area and/or the current structures do not allow for larger stores with more square footage. it is a hotspot and they want to capitalize on it. it must not be meeting their particular profit margin requirements.

Since the company is public, wouldn't we be able to tell by checking out their financials?

Lisa,

Not sure if it's what you're looking for, but you might want to try the folks with the Nickelodeon Theatre here in Columbia, SC. They've purchased a 1930s-era theater downtown and hope to restore it to show art house films.

http://www.nickelodeon.org/fox.php

If that doesn't work, anyone can submit a item requiring correcting to the editors:

http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/revision.html

Wow, now I know where the Harris County Poor Farm was located!

From the article:

The River Oaks Theatre's current occupant, Landmark Theatres, has time left on its lease, Alexander said. He speculated that the art-movie chain would not be able to pay market rates for the location when the lease comes up for renewal.

A residential or office tower on the site, Alexander said, "would do a lot of cool things both for the shopping center and for city life. It would be more of a 24-hour destination. You could have sidewalk dining."

Sidewalk dining. Well I'm sold, then.

What's keeping Weingarten or the architect from releasing site plans?

There are 2 Texas stores in the Galleria. They are located on opposite ends of the mall from each other. They sell all things Texas, including all types of Texas post cards.

Argh, that's right! Most major malls in Houston have a Texas-themed store.

I always meant to ask: How many states have stores that cater to all things related to that state? I mean, can one go to a mall in South Dakota and find a South Dakota store?

You can find South Carolina stores (or kiosks) in most of the malls over here.

I used to see them at Eckerds and Walgreens, too.

I can't remember where in the Galleria the theaters were located. Can anyone help?

The Galleria theaters were part of the General Cinema theater chain for the longest time. I don't think they ever belonged to another theater chain.

Weren't they called Galleria I & II? The last movie I saw there was "Back to the Future."

In 1974, the theaters were showing "Our Time" and the Andy Warhol X-rated film "Flesh for Frankenstein."

Beats me. I guess nobody from the Dunlavy family was around to make a fuss. Recall a few years ago that Lyons Avenue on the east side almost got renamed -- I forget the proposed name -- until members of the Lyons family made a big stink about it. It appears our fearless city council will do whatever they think they can get away with.

I wonder if the city has anyone on staff to let them know of things like that. Someone to tell them that, hey, this landmark is already named after someone. I just view it as another example of erasing our past.

And to answer Gonzo's question, Dunlavy Park WAS renamed. I don't remember if there was a big debate over it, but it's now Ervan Chew Park.

OK. I found the Chronicle article. Dunlavy Park, like the street, was named for Herbert Dunlavy, who was killed in WWI.

Ervan Chew was a prominent member of Houston's Chinese-American community and volunteer. He died in 1999.

Now, I'm not saying Chew doesn't deserve to have something named in his honor, but why did city leaders have to rename something that was originally named after someone to begin with?

Oh...I missed that..sorry. Park Place from Monopoly I think, was from the street in New York just like Broadway was. I think the other monopoly properties were from Atlantic City maybe? Don't know that for a fact. Maybe they were all from Atlantic City.

Park Place is a short street that sort of juts out from the Boardwalk in Atlantic City. It ends at Pacific Avenue.

It's written by local historians, and it's on a website maintained by a group of Houston area computer users. It has probably been around a long time but I just discovered it. Lord I love the Internet. http://www.hal-pc.org/~lfa/Buffalo.html

It's pretty comprehensive. I think I've referenced it a couple of times. I'm curious to know when that book mentioned on the Web site is coming out.