gonzo1976

No kids here, much to my parents' chagrin.

Argh, I used to go there quite often. It was a great place to hang out and chat.

Also- besides its heighth......could someone point out the merits of the tallest Houston tower formerly known as Texas Commerce Tower?

It makes a great avatar.

Virgin Records is the record label. You're thinking of Virgin Megastores.

hello ladies and gents!

I've been kind of lurking around.

I love this site! thanks for having me

Welcome!

Those are cool pics Ron4tx. Thanks I see my last name on one of those buildings. Is the Chas F Parker building still there?

That particular building is long gone. Chase Tower, or whatever it's called today, is there now.

Although the photo is labeled "Looking east on Texas Street," I'd say it's more like looking north on Travis Street.

http://i10.tinypic.com/2d0xd1h.jpg

Interesting. I thought the Metropolitan was a film-only venue by the 1940s.

This aerial picture is from 1923. Although it doesn't cover the entire area in dispute, it should give everyone another view of how the area looked back then.

Many of those schools looked fantastic back then.

Wow, maybe it's just been awhile since I've seen it at night, but it looks awfully lit up at that hour.

It's a nice landmark to see whenever you're landing in Houston.

What's that building next to the Houston House apartments?

A tad more on James Bray and Refugio from a source with the local historical society:

According to Hobart Huson's History of Refugio County, James Bray was an early surveyor along with Samuel Addison White and a couple of others. There are several references to Bray in Huson's work.

Fantastic work, all.

I'm surprised this isn't better known. I would have thought the origins of Bray's Bayou would have been well-known in local history.

Here's a reference in the Handbook of Texas to the James Bray responsible for setting up the town of Refugio:

In 1834 these settlers received their legal allotment of lands from the commissioner, Jos

I thought perhaps it was named in honr of Col. Xavier Blanchard De Bray and they just dropped the "De"

Debray was born in 1819 and emigrated to the U.S. in 1848, decades after the bayou got its name.

Yes...that is the source for the James Bray reference. I looked at the HPL catalog and they do not seem to have a copy, even in the Texas Room. The history is in two volumes. I spotted someone who had both volumes for sale online.

Check out this link. I'll send a note and have my contact check it out. I may put a post up on my blog later tonight summarizing what everyone has found so far.

The reference for the naming of Bray's Bayou comes from:

History of Texas, from 1685 to 1892... By John Henry Brown..

Publication info: St. Louis, L. E. Daniell [c1892-93]

It may be hard to find, but there is a copy in the Fondren Library at Rice University and also in their Woodson Research Center in the Masterson collection.

Is this the source for the James Bray reference?

I have a source at the Houston Public Library who's been looking into the matter. Maybe she can check that out.

I'd LOVE to see Atlanta painted Orange!!!!!!!!!!!

Let me tell you, I went to Atlanta a couple of years back to see the Astros play (Pettitte was pitching). It was like I was in Little Houston. I was surprised to see so many Astros fans in Atlanta.

I never see that many fans of the visiting team when I visit Minute Maid Park.

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This Web site (which I can't seem to access now) should clear up any issues about postcards being in the public domain:

www.postcard.org/publicdomain.htm

I had to check this out when I decided to sell local postcard images on greeting cards.

Back to the subject at hand, are there parts of the Rice Lofts that are open to the public? I'm not sure what's available where all those old restaurants, clubs and meeting rooms used to be, but I wonder if it's only open to residents there.

Also, remember when they tore down the old parking garage on the corner of Prairie and Travis a few years back? It exposed an old sign that was painted on the side of an adjacent building. Did anyone ever get a picture of that?

Download this and see if it has what you're looking for. After a quick check, I didn't see anything about the Capitol Room. I'm sure it existed, but maybe it was renamed by the 1970s.

http://www.jr-gonzales.com/images/houstonrice.pdf

I don't understand. I thought Houston had already swallowed the Frost Town area and Frost Town was just a memory by the 1930's????? Please respond.

It was. Frost Town existed only in name at that point, its heyday long ago. Remember, most of that area still existed when it was cleared to construct U.S. 59 in the 1950s.

From the Handbook of Texas link:

[brias/Reels]received title to a sitio of land now in Harris County on May 1, 1827.

I'm almost certain the Bray's/Brays Bayou name existed before then. John Harris (or someone in his party) must have known or came up with the bayou's name when he first landed in the area.

I also think the name must have been named after someone, like Vince's Bayou or Sims Bayou maybe.

I wonder why the windows on the top floor are different from the rest of the windows. I guess they were replaced at some point.

My 1939 chamber of commerce map identifies the building as the Republic Building.

I had NO idea he was 54. We heard that when he made his announcement. I was thinking maybe mid thirties...I about fell over when I heard it!

I thought he was going to be an editor?

Wow, Khambrel is 54? Bill Balleza looks closer to 54 than Khambrel does.

Really, every time I come back to Houston (a couple of times a year) I see new faces on local TV. I don't see how they can build loyal viewership with so many faces rotating in and out every so often.

Page 23 of the WPA Guide to Houston makes reference to the 1828 diary of Joseph Clopper:

"Harrisburg is laid out on the west side of this bayou just below its junction with Bray's bayou..."

Someone recently asked me how Bray's Bayou got its name. I sent a note to isuredid about it, and I wanted to get some feedback from the other history aficionados here.

I'm almost certain the bayou got its name just before 1826 because that is where John Harris set up Harrisburg. Bray's Bayou also shows up in an 1828 diary as well.

But who was the bayou named after? Maybe a member of Harris' party? Or one member of the Old Three Hundred?

The Coogs have a tough schedule with Miami coming up later this month. Still, when was the last time UH went 3-0?