Firebird65

We primarily shopped at Kroger (Store #159) on West Mount Houston and 45. I actually worked there from August 1997 to March 1999. There was a woman there that I think had worked there since the store first opened. Her name was Pat. She even appeared in a Kroger once due to her long years of service. I have many great memories of that Kroger and the people I met there. I was sad to see it close.

I worked in that Kroger #159 from March 1983 to October 1987. Lot of fond memories there... I was sad to see it close too. I personally have known Pat since I was three years old. I remember my mom checking out in her line and me eating animal crackers there as a kid. LOL!

Funny story... when I was there, an older lady named Margie opened the store in the mornings at 7 a.m. She was the only cashier until 9, when Pat would come in. I went in there one morning on my way to school at North Harris (I worked evenings) and I noticed Margie signed on with a passcode of... ta-da!... 1-2-3. The very thing they tell you not to use. Well, I already knew her checker ID number, so an evil thought ran through my brain.

One night when I was the closing checker and no customers were around, I secretly signed on using Margie's ID and passcode. Then I changed her passcode, logged off, and signed back on as me. The next morning, I made sure I was the first customer in the door at 7 a.m. when the store opened. I got a pack of gum and was the first in line as Margie went to open her register. Well, she couldn't log on the checkstand as what she thought was her passcode (1-2-3) would not work (I had changed it!). Margie tried several times to log on, each time becoming more frustrated. I was turning red trying to hold back the giggles. There would be no one in the courtesy booth until 7:30 a.m. and the line was starting to back up. Finally, exasperated, ol' Margie just sat down on the register totally unable to do anything. Classic! No one ever knew what I had done... good thing too. LOL!

The grocery store originally in that space was a Piggly Wiggly. I'm not certain but I believe a regular Rice Food Market preceded the Price Buster. My mother was so pleased when the TG&Y opened. That meant she did not have to drive all the way to the Hancock Fabric store on North Shepherd at Pinemont to get her "sewing notions" (thread, zippers, buttons, etc.) Where the CVS is located there was previously an Eckerd's. Many Eckerd's became CVS when the latter bought the former. Before the Eckerd's there was a drug store that had a soda fountain. I believe it was called Duggan Drug. I do remember that it was a Rexall store.

My parents had their house built in Hidden Valley in 1961 and still live in it! They have been there 50 years as of last month. At that time none of the places Houstonaltima mentioned were there. I believe there might have been a U-Tote-M store on FM 149 (now State Highway 249) at U. S. Highway 75 (now Interstate 45). This would be just west of the Shell station at the southeast corner of the intersection. There was also an "ice house" across Halls Bayou; I guess near where Turney intersects the southbound frontage road now. It sold beer, of course, and "set-ups" since liquor-by-the-drink was not yet legal in Texas.

My father and Mr. Thorne know each other and speak when they meet but I wouldn't consider them close friends even though they have been neighbors for a long time. Even so, Dad would tell me if Mr. Thorne had passed away and I haven't heard such news yet.

The history of the 9419 North Freeway space in the Hidden Valley Shopping Center is as follows:

Piggly Wiggly 1966 - 1973

Rice Foods #44 1973 - 1985

Price Fighter Foods 1985 - 1986 (wasn't around long)

Aaron Sells Furniture 1987 - 1993

Price Buster 1993 - ???

Family Dollar #3394 1998 - 2000

Caramba 99 Cent Store 2000 - 2004

Giant $1 2004 - present?

The history 9411 North Freeway space is as follows:

Mading-Dugan Pharmacy #10 1966 - 1970

Eckerd Drugs #336 1970 - 2004

CVS Pharmacy #6249 2004 - present

Might as well give the rest, while I'm here... LOL!

The space at 9421 North Freeway:

TG&Y 1969 - ???

The space at 9423 North Freeway:

Weiners #33 1971 - 2001

Also in the Hidden Valley Shopping Center at 9403 North Freeway:

Hidden Valley Enco (latter Exxon) 1964 - ???

Checkers Hamburgers 1993 - 1996

Sonic Drive-In 1996 - present?

It is possible this late at night that I have some of the ones in the grocery store space and the TG&Y space mixed. I'll have to look at my original notes tomorrow and I'll make corrections if needed.

The U-Tote-M was Store #83 and was located at 715 West Mount Houston (or FM 149). It opened in 1963 in a strip center behind the Shell, which opened in as Hidden Valley Shell, also in 1963.

I've done a lot of research on area retail businesses so if you'd like to know when a retail store, a gas station, a restaurant and such community things such as schools and churches opened, just let me know. I do have the name of that bar somewhere, but I'll have to look for it tomorrow too.

Articles like these are usually worth the paper they are printed on - and as they aren't printed, well... there ya go.

The author of this "effort" seems to be basing his rankings of a stadium mainly on the availability of beer, both inside and outside the venue. Like that really has anything to do with a stadium. Pretty funny stuff.

I remember a similarly worthless list from ESPN on baseball stadiums. The writer had all kinds of nice things to say about Minute Maid Park, but since he couldn't possible rank a retractable roof stadium next to his idols (Wrigley, Fenway and old Yankee), he had to ding them for something in order to shave off points. And he even said so in the article! LOL! So what was his "gripe"? The restrooms. They were too "clean and boring". ROTF!

At least writing this article kept the author off the streets and out of the neighborhood bars for awhile, as drinking seems to be his main focus.

While it is clear to any reasonable person that s3mh's claims have been beaten decisively, and that there are reasonable alternative routes to Yale available only 200 feet away, the more important issues are how the City can force Walmart to rebuild a bridge that is not on their property at their expense, and why Walmart is being dragged into a 380 argument when they are not a party to the agreement. s3mh continues to attempt to distract us with dead school children and felonious truck drivers, but the fact is, there is no way to make Walmart pay for these upgrades, and more importantly, no way to prevent Walmart building a store on this property because of the bridge. THIS is why we keep asking for links and sources. We are fine with the City rebuilding the bridge. We want to know how you make Walmart pay for it. The answer is, you cannot.

I am going to buy s3mh a Wal-Mart gift card when the new Heights Wal-Mart opens. Anyone else want to contribute?

If there is one specifically on Greenspoint memories, it must have been buried deep, as I did a search before posting. A guy can only be expected to spend so much time sifting through old threads before deciding to start his own.

Yes, there is one like that. I've posted in it, including putting up a listing of all the original stores when the mall opened in August 1976. The problem is that it is in the "Other Houston Neighborhoods" section. It's not in this Historic Houston section, where it probably needs to be. It's entitled "Greenspoint Mall: Any memories to share?"

This should take you there:

There's a couple of threads there that actually belong in Historic Houston.

(W)ish folks would've fought it then as imagine a Carver High that had community support...

Here is Carver's football record in its 11 UIL seasons:

1967 6-4

1968 6-3

1969 5-5

1970 9-2 (District 10-3A zone champs; lost district title game to Brenham)

1971 6-4

1972 9-2 (District 11-3A zone champs; lost district title game to Brenham)

1973 10-2 (District 11-3A zone and district champs; lost to Belton in Bi-District round)

1974 3-6-1

1975 3-7

1976 0-9-1

1977 1-6-1

So while the team had some initial success in its first years of UIL competition, posting a district championship and two zone titles, they had really bottomed out in the last four. Carver was barely competitive in its last two seasons. So how much their players really truly helped the other Aldine ISD schools in the first years is most certainly open to debate. Carver was no Yates North. It's fair to say they put an already pretty decent and rapidly improving Aldine team over the top, but they were not the sole source of the Mustangs' success, whether in 1978 or in the 1980s and 90s.

Credit for Aldine's success belongs with the coach - Bill Smith. As Bum Phillips once said about Don Shula, "He can take his and beat yours, and he can take yours and beat his." Same goes with Smith. The guy could coach and knew what he was doing. Carver players never really accomplished much of note until they went to Aldine and once Smith left there, the team went downhill, even though they still have and get players from Acres Homes. That's proof enough right there.

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy the Carver players came to Aldine and I'm glad they got to enjoy in the success they helped create. But they were just a one part of the success, not the sole cause.

Now, as for your point about wishing Carver had community support, you could say that about pretty much every school outside of Katy or the Woodlands. It's a function of our highly mobile times. People come in then just as quickly move out. They never become a part of the community. Their home and community isn't a place they live in, it's just a place they "stay". I guess I share in that. I moved from Aldine to the Alief area and, as someone with no kids, the only reason I even pay attention to the Alief schools is because now they are in the same athletic district as Aldine and I can now see them play at least once a year down the street at Crump Stadium.

BTW - I'd sure like to put together a list of all of Carver's football scores and year-by-year records the way I did for Aldine. Unfortunately the local newspapers almost never published PVIL scores. I do have a few game results from each season going back to 1958 and most of the schedules from 1958 to 1966, but its far from complete.

Outside of athletic purposes, which benefited Aldine High instantly

That's a myth. Actually, the school that benefitted the most was MacArthur.

The Aldine Mustangs finished the 1977 season with a 6-3 overall mark (the Carver game had been cancelled) and a 5-2 record in District 21-4A, which left them in a second-place tie with Smiley, one game behind Forest Brook, the district champ. Aldine had beaten Forest Brook. Had the Mustangs beaten Smiley in their last game (a 27-0 loss to the Eagles), then Aldine would have been district champs, not the Jaguars. Aldine was already a contending program BEFORE they received any Carver players.

MacArthur, on the other hand, finished 1977 with a 1-9 overall mark, with a dismal 0-7 district record - the second year in a row they finished 1-9 and 0-7. However, thanks to an influx of Carver players, the Generals suddenly went from doormats to nearly undefeated, posting a 180 degree turnaround in 1978 to finish with a 9-1 overall record (best in the district) and ended district play at 6-1. Their only loss on the year was a costly one - 14-0 to Aldine - that robbed them of not only a 10-0 perfect regular season, but a district title and their first-ever playoff berth as well. Aldine, while finishing ahead of MacArthur in the district standings, finished the 1978 regular season at 8-2, one fewer win than the Generals.

Clearly MacArthur, which improved by 8 full games and in almost any other year would have been district champs benefitted more than Aldine, which only won at best two more games (or maybe just one had the Mustangs played and beaten Carver) than the previous year, where it nearly won a title itself.

Eisenhower, not to be forgotten, went from 4-6 in 1977 to 6-4 in 1978, although they played in District 10-3A at the time. The Eagles did dramatically slice their points allowed from 170 in 1977 to just 98 in 1978.

Apparently, whoever the three schools got from Carver must have all been all-world on defense as neither the Mustangs, Generals or Eagles gave up 100 total regular season points in 1978.

The state shut down the North Houston School district shortly after Aldine ISD was formed in the mid 1930. It split the school district between Klein , Aldine and HISD with Aldine getting most of Acres Homes.

That's close, but not quite. The school district in question was the White Oak District (Common School District 26). It was split between Aldine, Houston and Klein in 1937. I've found no reason as to why the school district was split. However, there were lots of consolidations of county-run school districts in the 1930s and 40s.

The North Houston District (Common School District 49) was another separate district to the north of White Oak and west of Aldine that Aldine, Klein and the Fairbanks district split in 1935. As with White Oak, I've never found a reason why it happened, only that it did happen. But I can assure the previous poster it most definitely not for desegregation purposes... certainly not in 1937. Considering the times, I'd imagine (and I'm only wildly speculating here) no one wanted the White Oak district as it consisted of blacks and rather they had it forced on them. So that lends credence to the idea the state probably shut it down.

Ultimately, for about 10 years, Aldine was no doubt glad it annexed at least part of White Oak, as the then southernmost part of the annexed section was developed in Oak Forest in the 1940s, providing Aldine with a very good postion of its tax revenues until it was forced to cede it to HISD in 1959.

The order was lifted in 2000 (I believe)

It was lifted in 2002.

Here is a map of the first three high school buildings, shown on an aerial from March 2011:

Blue = Marrs School (now the Lane School)

Red = Marrs High (now part of Aldine Middle School)

Yellow = Aldine High School I

Here is a new and improved map of all of the additions to the school since the current campus opened in 1956:

This map includes the recent addition of the fine arts wing, which I didn't have in the last one.

White = 1960 additions

Blue = 1970 additions

Red = 1973 additions

Yellow = 1978 additions

Green = 1997 additions

Purple = 2010 additions

Here is a map of the school as it appeared in the fall of 1970. Additions are in blue.

Here is a map of the school from the February 9, 1969, Mustang. I've taken the original map from the paper, which detailed the upcoming additions to the school, and altered it to make a map of the campus the way it was at the time. Then I colored it and enhanced it so that it would be easier to read.

I'm working on the same map with the additions of the lower 300 hall, the 400 hall and the larger cafeteria included. When I finish it, I'll post it. Might be tomorrow before I can get to it.

Do note that in 1969 the office is next to the library on what is now known as the 700 hall. There was an entryway between the library and the office that has now been sealed off.

Actually Old maps show West Montgomery Road going way past the Shepard/Tidwell intersection area. It ran from the banks of Buffalo Bayou where the University of Houston sits now and ran the route that North Main runs now. North Main now ends on West Whitney St. I'm not sure if it use to continue to run to where West Montgomery sits now. Does anyone know?

West (and East) Montgomery was a rather informal name. Airline was also known as East Montgomery after it joined up with Fulton going north. Going south, East Montgomery followed Fulton to downtown.

As for West Montgomery, it followed Yale after meeting with Tidwell, down to Whitney and then a dogleg over to Main where it went to downtown.

http://www.texasfreeway.com/houston/historic/road_maps/images/1955_houston_humble_highres.jpg

I believe that once you got into "town"... that is, you passed Tidwell, neither of those designations were really used, other than on maps. As far as East Montgomery Road, I don't really see any references to it in phone books after the 1930s. As far as West Montgomery Road... if you were on North Main, I don't think anyone other than the mapmaker called it West Montgomery. It was more of a route name, if I understand it correctly. One road was the way to eastern Montgomery County, the other was the way to western Montgomery County. That's the way I've interpreted it. If I'm wrong, I'm sure someone will correct me.

Here's a few more maps. They're pretty inconclusive:

1913:

http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/arc/maps/images/map0435.jpg

1935:

http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/arc/maps/images/map0436.jpg

I now have a partial answer. The larger building was cosmetology. Still trying to get an answer for the smaller one. My money is on Air Conditioning classes.

That block scheduling sounds like one of the dumbest ideas I've ever heard. Who in the world came up with that?!?

As for those buildings, I'm trying to get an answer. My source says they weren't there when he was there in the early 1960s, but he knows someone who was there in mid-decade and is going to ask. He thought one building might be for cosmetology. That's a good guess I think. Wouldn't surprise me if it was right. I'm thinking the other might be for the air conditioning class, which started at that time. If my source can't get an answer, I also know someone from the class of 1966. I'm oretty sure between the two of us we can find out.

HAIFers don't even care about my opinion...

Well... truth be told...

I am a long time Walmart hater.

Wonderful. Then don't shop there. And that should be the end to the conversation. Somehow I'm thinking it won't be.

Back when boys all wore pants and girls all wore dresses.

LOL! This is the second time you've brought up clothing and soon thereafter I was able to find info for you. According to the 1970-71 Roundup yearbook, girls were allowed to begin wearing pant suits in December 1970. As I mentioned in an earlier post, they were allowed to start wearing jeans in 1975.

The strategy is clear (yet you still missed it). Walmart is trying to get loyal customers. They want to establish a relationship with customers inside of their future market zone, so when the Yale location opens they will already have loyal customers. The business strategy is to get people in their store.

A very nice explanation. Too bad it will go over his head.

Aerial of the school circa 1965:

Aerial of the school circa 1979:

Back when boys all wore pants and girls all wore dresses. In those days shorts and tennis shoes on guys were uncool by high school (shorts were aginst the rules too) unless you were playing sports. How times have changed.

Those windows between the two sets of doors went to the library and is where the 600 hall now stands. When I went there they had the class pics for every school year on the wall to the left of the teachers lounge door. Looking at this pic I don't see where any restrooms or offices could have been on the front that were removed for the addition. I think those doors on the left brought you right by the auditorium and the ones on the right went straight to into the 200 and 700 (think that's it) hall. The main office must have been right behind the nurses office or that room on the 700 hall by the 200 hall.

I wish I still had a map of the school. They took it off their website.

Girls were first allowed to wear jeans in 1975. I'll have to take a closer look to see what they wore before then. It didn't occur to me to notice before.

So those were the library windows. Makes sense. The library doesn't have that many books as it is. If they had a wall of windows, they must have had far fewer books as they had no place to put them.

The class pics were still there when I visited last month on the 600 hall.

When do you think they had a map of the school on their website? It may still be possible to see it using the Internet Archive, although if it were an attachment it would not be archived. If you could give me an approximate date (year will do) I can go check.

Finally, you mentioned block scheduling in an earlier post and I saw a reference to it in the 1996-97 yearbook. Can you explain what that was and how it worked? You said you only took four classes a day? Did it alternate like colleges, with some classes being M-W-F and others being Tue-Thu? And lunch was apparently one hour and was for everyone? The yearbook said you could anywhere, as long as it was on campus. When did all this start? 1995-96?

Thanks.

I won't even go to the one they are building on wayside.

That's your choice and you are absolutely free to make it. Whatever makes your boat float. However, I'd like to be free to decide for myself to go to their store in the Heights, and when it opens, I will, if for no other reason than to support free enterprise and oppose... well, I'll be nice and leave it at that.

Here is the original front of the school, circa 1962:

The yearbook folks wonderfully decided to make sure the binding ran along the right hand third of the pic. This, the only really good shot of the original school facade. I tried to take it out as best I could.

...a 3rd location within a 7 mile radius is unnecessary.

According to you. But are you a Wal-Mart executive or do you own Wal-Mart stock? Then I'd say it's a very safe bet your "opinion" carries no weight at Wal-Mart's corporate headquarters and that soon you'll be joining me and a whole lot of other people shopping at the Heights Wal-Mart. I can't wait. How about you?

The building just above the mini gym is also an addition not show until the 1981 aerial. I believe that is where the other weight room I was telling you about is. Isn't the pool also in this area? I think this was added in 1978 also.

I think those two buildings by the gym are the newer locker rooms also added in 1997. I do remember being told new locker rooms were added with the 1997 additions. I was also told by the auto mechanic teachers that they added a/c and did some renovations to the vocational area in 1997.

The pool has always been there, since the day the school opened. I thought I had posted a story on the pool, but I guess not. I'll post it next go around.

I sent that map to someone I know and he told me that building next to the mini-gym was built at the same time. It's a storage center for old equipment, he said.

Firebird, did you have a time frame when you were intending on scanning the photos? Thanks!

The pictures weren't as good as I had hoped. Oh well. I may be going to the Astros game next Sunday. If so, I'll swing by the UH Library and make copies of the two Greenspoint advertising sections from August 1976.

I think my understanding of copyright law was a little out of date in my last post. Seems as if they added an extra 50 or so years to existing copyrights before 1978, so copyrights on those remain in effect until the 2040s. I kinda doubt I'm going to be posting here then... although you never know.

Still I don't see any restrictions about posting that kind of material here, and it is for historical research, which falls under fair use. So if I get it, I'll post it and if the mods don't like it, they can always remove it. But I seriously doubt anyone is going to have a problem with me posting 35 year old advertisements, many of which are for business that are now defunct. And if Sears doesn't want the free advertising, it's small wonder they're closing shop.

BTW... have you visited the History of Aldine Schools thread? I've been posting a few things there that might be of interest to you.