Firebird65

This thread really needs to be moved to the Houston History thread. I guess the mods read these threads. How about it?

Anyway, speaking of history, now that I'm home and on my own computer, I can start posting some of the things I found during my visit to Aldine Friday.

First off, I found the info I was really looking for. The uppermost part of the 300 hall (that is, the part with the highest room numbers) and the 400 hall were completed in the spring of 1970, according to the school newspapers of the time. I'd heard they were built any time from 1964 to 1973. No, it was 1970. So they came before the front addition to the school. I'm still looking for that date as well, although the marker in front of the main office says 1972. Don't know if that means that when they started or finished the project. The main marker in front of the auditorium, the one that says 1956, that refers to the completion date, so I'm assuming at this point that the one by the office is the same.

I just came not 30 minutes ago from a visit to Aldine High School and I regret to inform everyone here in the Great Bathroom Door Debate of 2011 that I cannot give an update at this time as to whether the restroom stalls have doors. Why? Because the bathrooms themselves have doors with combination locks! And I didn't have the combination. I was too embarrassed to go ask.

I did go through a bunch of yearbooks and old issues of the Comet and Mustang newspapers and have a lot of stuff to report. I'll start posting as soon as I get back to my side of town and can process my pictures on my computers.

I can tell you this: I confirmed via an article in the Comet that the current school did open in September 1956. C.F. Kiefner was the architect and the T.B. Hubbard Construction Co. served as contractor. The school was dedicated in March 1957. I have no idea why it was dedicated six months later. Guess it took time to arrange the ceremony.

For those of you that don't know a new high school and 9th grade center is being built in AISD off 12525 Ella Blvd. It will be called Oliver Davis High School or just Davis High School. It will open in 2012 and the 9th grade center will open in 2013.

http://www.gammaconst.com/portfolio.asp?category=current

http://www.aldine.k12.tx.us/sections/news/specific_article.cfm?articleID=5520

This will be the first major high school built since Nimitz in the 1970s.

Looks like a nice school. Unlike the dump Aldine is. Oh well, guess for a 55 year old lady she looks decent enough.

Last week, I had an opportunity --my first-- to drive past the mall. The Sears was empty, the theater had a really tacky facade, and the old Foley's almost had a shade of green. Was it originally colored green, or was that just the result of fading and weathering?

The Sears isn't just empty, it's closed. Macy's and Dillard's are the only anchors left. That Macy's keeps getting greener and greener. I don't believe it was originally that color but more tannish in appearance. Knowing that mall, it's probably some kind of mold or fungus.

There once was someone on here who wrote she was the mascot for the Aldine High School twirling troupe. I don't remember the person's name, but I do remember she said there was a photo of her as the mascot in the 1940 yearbook and she was wondering if anyone had a copy. Well, I came across a copy and here is that photo. Unfortunately, I do not know how to reach her. So... I hope she someday finds this post and if so, I am sorry I can't remember the name:

Here's a smaller version:

There once was someone on here who wrote she was the mascot for the Aldine High School twirling troupe. I don't remember the person's name, but I do remember she said there was a photo of her as the mascot in the 1940 yearbook and she was wondering if anyone had a copy. Well, I came across a copy and here is that photo. Unfortunately, I do not know how to reach her. So... I hope she someday finds this post and if so, I am sorry I can't remember the name:

Here's a smaller version:

I hate to say it, but after Mr Norman got fired/resigned that school has not been the same.

Here is a list of the principals of Marrs/Aldine High School. Don't have the dates of their tenure, but I do believe this list is complete.

Marrs High

G.C. Cox

J.E. Barden

Harmon Watts

C.O. Dusek

Aldine High

Arnold Orsak (moved from football coach to principal as Aldine High I opened)

Ernest Harvell

W.L. Alvara

G.L. Chandler

Thomas Miksch

Floyd Tiggeman

Jimmy Hailey

Jim Smith

M.B. Donaldson

Vernon Lewis

Ralph Norman

Ron Galindo

Cecil Hutson

Janice DeBlance

It's a real shame the staff doesn't know the history, but it's even a bigger shame the students don't know. Can't remember if I mentioned this before or not, but did you know they no longer have yearbooks or a student newspaper at Aldine? Talk about a real travesty! I have the very first year book ever published at Aldine (from 1940) in front of me right now and it just oozes history of the school. I also have a copy of the sixth ever school newspaper (from 1934) that talks about the first graduating class. I may be one of the few people around who knows who the first valedictorian was (Elvada Middleton) or that the very first classes of Aldine High School were held at Memorial Baptist Church. Everyone else thinks the school was founded in 1936 when in fact that was the second high school (of four). The school was already four years old at the time.

I've really enjoyed doing the history and I am only too happy to share it. The only problem thus far has been finding people to talk about what went on when they were in school. I am hoping the school has kept its old newspapers and that they'll let me take a look through them. I've got a good handle on the beginning, but it's after 1950 I'm missing a lot. If you can tell me of some of the big events that happened during your years, both at school at what life for a high schooler was like during that time (where you hung out, what you did for fun), I'd sure appreciate it. It would make a nice contrast to the stories I have from the earlier days.

I wonder if the attorneys and civil libertarians have put an end to that by now. I haven't been inside an Aldine school in at least 20 years.

I went into Aldine High two years ago and it was still like that... at least in the boys room. I have no idea if it was like that in the girls room two years ago or if it has always been that way.

Cool thanks! The school looked much better in it's original form. The add ons in the late 60s gave the school a very dated look. Sort of like a NYC subway station. The 1973 addition looks modern inside even to today stadards, but the outside is very plain.

Unless they removed them for the addition, the restrooms in the front were not part of the original school. Maybe kids in those days just had really big bladders lol

Speaking of restrooms. What's up with Aldine schools not having stall doors? People that went to other disticts don't believe me when I tell them that. It is this way in even the oldest schools. I'm sure it was to discourage smoking and drug use, but why do it even in elementary schools?

You know, you are right. The bathrooms didn't have stalls with doors on them, in none of the schools. That's an excellent question as to why. I don't know the answer. Sure seems odd, doesn't it?

When did you go to Aldine? I really could use some information from the 1960s. I'm a little patchy on those years.

Hmmmm... come to think of it, you seem to have a point about the restrooms. There had to another one in the old front end of the school. At least one would hope. LOL!

Here are pictures of the front and sides of the school from the 1960-61 Aldine High Roundup yearbook.

Front

Gym

Vocational buildings

Field House and Stadium

Here are the four high schools in chronological order:

The Marrs School (1933-36)

Marrs High (1936-47) and (1954-56)

Aldine High I (1947-54)

Aldine High II (1956-present)

In that 1944 aerial, the building in the lower right hand corner was the gym. It burned down in November 1948, which is why you don't see it in the 1953 photo. The school district was scrapped for money in the mid 1930s and they thought they got a good deal when the Humble Oil Company sold them discarded lumber for nothing more than a song. Problem was that wood had been used on oil tanks and was probably soaked with oil. So it went up in flames rather easily. Just because they worked at a school didn't make them smart, I guess. LOL!

To the left of the gym was the Marrs School. Those two small buildings above the gym were the cafeteria and the band hall. The cafeteria is probably the lower one as that extension on the back of is most likely a kitchen.

The "L" shaped building is Marrs High. The part that makes the L and the two small buildings to the upper left of it were added in 1939. One of the buildings is a home economics cottage. The other is a vocational agriculture building.

In the 1953 photo, going from top to bottom... the backwards "3" building is the first Aldine High School. It was built in 1947. I can't tell what those two squares are to the right of the high school. I can't tell if they are buildings are parking lots. I also notice two additional buildings have appeared next to the ag building and the home ec cottage. No idea what those are either. But I do know where to go to find out. Next time i see my contact, I'll ask him, as he attended Aldine High during this time.

Here is a mid 1940s aerial view from a bit lower and to the side. I've labeled some things on there. Note that the 1912 schoolhouse is in front of the gym. When the gym burned down, the fire also consumed it. Too bad, as that would be a great place for an AISD museum.

Well, now oddly enough, I actually have an answer about whether kids wore overalls and went barefooted to school. I received an e-mail today from a former student who went to Marrs High during WWII and almost as if he had read your question, he mentioned to me that they wore overalls to school. How's that for timing! Nothing about being barefooted. But he did say that they would ride horses to go visit people.

Billy,

I do have an update with all kinds of new stuff added. Don't rembember when I sent you a copy, but I have added lots and lots of things over the years. Right now I'm just checking it over for typos. Dang things keep popping like rabbits. I'm nearly done... sometime later this week I should be finished. I'd be happy to send you and anyone else who wants one a copy.

As for the Gulf Bank/Hill Road areas, yes, they were mostly farmland - small produce farms (aka truck farms because the produce was trucked to market in Houston). That area was owned by a man named W.F. Hill who started selling off the land in the 1920s. Hill Rd is obviously named for him. I've been told the original name for Gulf Bank was Pool Rd, but that it was changed because there already was a Pool Rd in Houston. No one knows where the name Gulf Bank came from.

Everyone who lived along Gulf Bank east of Stuebner Airline would have gone to Aldine schools. That area has always been Aldine, although it is just north of AISD's southern boundary. West of Stuebner Airline was not always in Aldine or its predecessor, District 29. It was part of the White Oak school district (District 26)originally. White Oak became part of AISD in 1937, two years after AISD was formed. I don't know the exact boundary, but pretty much everything south of Gulf Bank and west of Stuebner Airline was White Oak. Pretty much everything north of Gulf Bank and west of Stuebner Airline was part of the North Houston district (District 49) which Aldine absorbed a section of in 1935 shortly after its creation.

I've seen photos dating back to 1912 of Aldine schools and in none of the photos are the students barefooted. Can't remember if they were wearing overalls. But they are dressed as nicely as anyone else at the time, I presume. The earliest yearbook dates to the 1939-40 school year and other than the hairstyles are a little funny, they don't look that different.

Firebird, glad to see you back from your hiatus. Your dilignet research on the Aldine area is appreciated. I'm an Aldine alum (won't give much more information than that other than to say I graduated when Vernon Lewis was principal of Aldine High School). I stay in touch with Mr. Wesbrook and am also aware of his knowledge of the district.

I don't know what to say about the old neighborhood now but it was certainly a great place to grow up in the 60's and most of the 70's. It seemd as if it might have hit bottom and is on its way back up. I'm heading over there now to pick up my parents and take them to dinner for their 51st anniversary. They still live in the same house they had built shortly after they were married.

Great to see a reply! I had a nice response for you, but then my computer crashed. Shoot! I'm nopt going to retype it now. Let's just say that I've gotten lots of great information on the beginnings of Aldine High School. Some of the speculations we made here were right, others were wrong. One on which were were wrong is that the Marrs High School burned down in 1954. That was what I got from the district. They ought to know, right? Nope. That is wrong. It was another school that burned in 1954, and it was called... Aldine High School.

If you have Google Earth, you can see this school. Go to the 1953 view and you will see it. It will be the northernmost set of buildings.

The proper chronology for Aldine High is this:

1932 or 1933 to 1936 - the Marrs School (aka the Lane School)

1936 to 1947 - Marrs High School

1947 to 1954 - Aldine High School I

1954 to 1956 - classes held at Marrs High (then a junior high)

1956 to present - Aldine High School II

Can't believe the district had it wrong. Oh well, maybe I was just speaking to the wrong person. When in doubt, talk to someone who was actually there, which I did, and they set me straight, including me showing yearbook photos of the school.

Anyway, I'm now working on a history of Aldine High. I've got some great information, which I'll be happy to share here if there's some interest. I don't yet have the exact date of when the first high school classes were held (which would be the true starting date of Aldine High), but I'm close. I also have the roster of the first graduating class, the first principal and the first teachers.

thats cool firebird, how did you get all of the original info about the mall?

Wow... hate to be SIX MONTHS late in replying, LOL!, but I just now saw your post. Hope it's not too late!

I got my info from the two local papers. I went back to the July and August 1976 Houston Post and Chronicle editions on the UH Library microfilms. They had special editions on the opening of the mall, complete with a map and roster of all the stores on opening day. I printed them out and posted the results here. Unfortunately, I no longer have the printouts, but they are very easily recovered. I just have to go back to the UH library.

Foley's is definitely a Houston insititution, and in this age of mega big box stores, there aren't too many of those left.

I guess I count as a Foley's alum. I worked at the Willowbrook store for about six weeks during the 1988 Christmas season. I was in the boys department.

What I remember most of my brief time with Foley's was:

1) It was really odd how the permanent staff never seemed to want me to check out the customers I had been helping. At first I wondered if they thought I didn't know what I was doing. I had, after all, worked at Kroger as a cashier for four and a half years. So one day I asked why they kept pushing me off the register. To my surprise, one of the permanent workers revealed that's how they were evaluated at performance review time - by the the number of people they had rang up and the amount of sales they had. So the more time they spent checking out people, the better they looked. As a Christmas temp, I didn't care one way or another, and i didn't particularly like standing at the register anyway, so I was glad to give them my customers if it helped them out.

2) As a temp, I always got the worst hours. I had to work late on Sunday nights when they extended hours. NO ONE came shopping at those times. I remember it being literally hours between seeing customers. So one time I just hung out watching the football games on TV (the TVs were next to the boys department there). I never, ever saw a supervisor (I never even knew the supervisor's name when I worked there or what she looked like).

3) Finally, I remember getting two letters on December 31, 1988. One was from the University of Houston telling me I had passed my final class at UH, and thus was eligible to graduate (hooray), and another from Foley's telling me that now that the Christmas season was over, my services were no longer required (boo). Talk about a weird day that was. LOL!

I also noticed some folks wondering about Acres Homes and that area and how the lines were drawn for the district. Before integration of the schools, HISD was being sued. Part of the suit had to do with number of whites vs. blacks in various areas. The area near Waltrip was at that time in AISD, but since AISD had the Carver schools they weren't being sued. Carver at the time was brand new and had a pool which the then AISD school did not have. The two districts swapped territory to increase the white population of HISD (in that area) and AISD got territory that wasn't miles away by bus from the then high school and junior high location. They made that deal in 1957 if memory serves. City limits had nothing to do with it then and still don't.

James

Oak Forest was still part of AISD in 1958. Sometime in 1958 (and I don't have an exact date), apparently about 2,000 residents in Oak Forest complained to the Harris County School Board that Aldine wasn't doing enough for their area and they wanted out. Among their complaints were that Aldine junior and senior highs were 26 miles (that can't be right, but that's what the reports say) away, while Houston ISD schools were but a mile and a half away. On September 17, 1958, the county school board ruled for the residents and said AISD had to cede 3 square miles of Oak Forest and Langwood to HISD. AISD appealed to the state.

On April 11, 1959, the state rejected AISD's appeal and ordered they hand over Oak Forest to HISD.

One of the reasons AISD fought the measure was because Oak Forest was the richest part of the district and at the time, AISD was in serious financial trouble. A few days after the decision, the district's schools closed for two days April 16 and 17, 1959, when AISD couldn't make payroll. Oak Forest made up approximately 2 percent of the land area of AISD, but contained 17 percent of the district's revenue. So you can see why they didn't want to let it go.

The news stories say Aldine could appeal to a district court. However, seeing how the district had no money and had bigger, more pressing matters immediately at hand, I doubt they did so. All of the stories for the rest of April dealt with the school closing crisis. No mention is made of an appeal. If one happened, it must have been later.

So it would appear, unless I find information to the contrary, that AISD turned over control of Oak Forest for the 1959-1960 school year. Kathryn Smith Elementary and its faculty were part of the transfer.

Smith was still part of Aldine by 1958. I've seen a picture that shows a black family being rejected from admitting their children to the school.

Not sure if anyone still reads this thread or not, but just in case...

I've now started a history of Aldine High School. I've found out that a lot of the speculation in this thread and the other "History of the Area of Aldine" while close, was off. I'll address this one first.

Yes, Oak Forest was still part of AISD in 1958. Sometime in 1958 (and I don't have an exact date), apparently about 2,000 residents in Oak Forest complained to the Harris County School Board that Aldine wasn't doing enough for their area and they wanted out. Among their complaints were that Aldine junior and senior highs were 26 miles (that can't be right, but that's what the reports say) away, while Houston ISD schools were but a mile and a half away. On September 17, 1958, the county school board ruled for the residents and said AISD had to cede 3 square miles of Oak Forest and Langwood to HISD. AISD appealed to the state.

On April 11, 1959, the state rejected AISD's appeal and ordered they hand over Oak Forest to HISD.

One of the reasons AISD fought the measure was because Oak Forest was the richest part of the district and at the time, AISD was in serious financial trouble. A few days after the decision, the district's schools closed for two days April 16 and 17, 1959, when AISD couldn't make payroll. Oak Forest made up approximately 2 percent of the land area of AISD, but contained 17 percent of the district's revenue. So you can see why they didn't want to let it go.

The news stories say Aldine could appeal to a district court. However, seeing how the district had no money and had bigger, more pressing matters immediately at hand, I doubt they did so. All of the stories for the rest of April dealt with the school closing crisis. No mention is made of an appeal. If one happened, it must have been later.

So it would appear, unless I find information to the contrary, that AISD turned over control of Oak Forest for the 1959-1960 school year. Kathryn Smith Elementary and its faculty were part of the transfer.

Re: Coors beer; I remember my dad drinking Coors as a kid, this would have been in the 70s. And as any good movie fan knows, taking Coors beer east of Texarkana is bootleggin'.

Oh yeah... a Smokey and the Bandit reference. A+ LOL!

I remember our neighbor (also my godfather) was a big fan of Coors beer... he always seemed to have one in his hand and other cold one nearby ready to go when that one ran out. It was King of the Hill years before anyone had ever heard of Hank or Rainey Street. Naturally, despite my being only 12, I sneaked in a sip here and there. Ha! This was about 1978. I collected beer cans as a kid (in the late 1970s, who didn't?) and according to my unofficial survey of empty cans along the side of the road, Coors was in third behind Schlitz and Budweiser.

Also, when did HISD High Schools start to include 9th Grade?

Presumably they've always had a ninth grade. In Aldine ISD they had a ninth grade in high school at the very beginning, but in the 1950s, again in the 1960s and then permanently after 1999 they were out as there was no room for them. After 1999, ninth graders had their own dedicated schools.

As for Houston ISD, sorry, that I can't say.

Now, a better question, and one I'm looking for an answer for, is when 12th grade became mandatory in Texas. At Aldine ISD, when the first high school opened in 1933, there was no 12th grade. I know 12th grade existed and that several Southeast Texas schools had it at the time. I've read stories of schools refusing to play one another in football because one school had 12th graders (a few of whom were 19 years old) and the other school didn't. So while it existed, it apparently was up to the individual school district. It wasn't mandatory in the early days of the UIL.

one thing we always liked to do there was the whole name on the back of the Tshirt thing was popular back then so we would wait and when walking we would shout out someones name of their shirt and then just pretend like it was not us and of course we could get them looking around 3 or 4 times at least

Hee hee... I used to do that too. LOL!

I always liked that Alpine Sleigh ride. You're right... definitely a great way to cool off on a hot day.

There's been a topic on this before - but that's OK, it's an interesting topic.

Veterans Memorial used to be Stuebener Airline, meaning Stuebner Airline ran from the North Freeway all the way to near the county line. Now it's just from FM 1960 north.

Airline used to be East Montgomery Road. It also used to be U.S. Highway 75 eons ago, until that designation was switched to North Shepherd.

Aldine-Bender west of the Hardy Toll Road used to once be called just Aldine Road, as it was the road that went to Aldine from U.S. 75. Aldine-Bender was the road that went from Aldine to U.S. 59.

West Mount Houston west of I-45 used to be called Airline Link Road.

Sweetwater Drive in North Houston used to be called Hacker Road.

Not a complete name change, but I remember when I was a kid the exit signs for Little York on the North Freeway said Little York School Road. Anyone know what that was about?

Out west, near where I live now, Harwin used to be called Alief-Houston Road (some machine shop still has a sign out front with that street name).

Part of Briar Forest from Dairy Ashford to Highway 6 was called Goar Road (there's still a tiny sliver of Goar left just north of a curve on Briar Forest).

Not as much a name change as a complete replacement, the West Belt was Roark Road before the West Belt was built.

Not sure if this is still the case, or if anything official ever happened changing or ending this, but parts of FM 1960 and Highway 6 used to have differing names, depending on what part you were on. Maybe the names are still used, I don't know. East of the Hardy Toll Road, FM 1960 was Humble-Westfield Road. Then it became Humble-Atascosita Road east of U.S. 59. The part where FM 1960 crosses I-45 was once called Bammel-Westfield; another part was Jackrabbit Road to U.S. 290. Highway 6 south to I-10 was once called Addicks-Satsuma Road.

Interesting post. I was at the UH Library last Sunday scrolling through old microfilm researching for my history of Aldine High School project and by accident and coincidence I came across the papers for the day Prohibition ended in Houston - September 15, 1933. Both the Post and Chronicle were filled front to back with ads for beer and stories about where you could buy it. It literally was as if nothing else was going on that day.