Firebird65

You mean like the 1970s San Diego Padres? Yeech! Thanks a bunch.

Does any one know what were the school colors for San Jacinto? I've seen them sometimes refenreced in old newspapers as the Golden Bears, so I take it their colors were Gold and White? or at least Gold and something else. Does anyone know? Thanks.

That's a different place. I used to go there too for the batting cages. Celebration Station came later and was at Rankin and I-45. I don't know the name of the place you are referring to at Richey and I-45... hopefully someone else who had been there will remember it.

It was Celebration Station. The Malibu and Watercoaster were further south at North Freeway at North Shepherd. Both opened in 1979. The Malibu lasted longer than the Watercoaster. Wasted plenty of lawn mowing money there as a 14 and 15 year old.

I think that vet was the Cahill Veterinary Clinic. I never heard of that statue of liberty. Might have been interesting to see. I generally stayed away from that area. I once went through those apartments on Airway and the ones behind the Ukranian church on Meadowshire... scary. Like entering another world.

Aldine had to cede Oak Forest to HISD when the city of Houston annexed the area. Apparently, at the time, there was a law or rule that said all the land in the city had to be HISD. Obviously that rule is no longer in effect. It must have gone away sometime in the 1960s, because Aldine didn't have to give Acres Homes to HISD when Houston annexed that neighborhood.

Yeah I played and coached baseball at Dow Park. My biggest Little League memory is hitting a foul ball in the last game of the 1974 pee wee season for my only contact of the year. I wasn't very good, to put it mildly. Allen Office Supply always seemed dead to me too. Another place that you never had to worry about waiting in line was right down the street at the Gulf Bank Auto Supply (now long gone). There was never anyone in there. Good to see this thread has been resurrected. Hopefully some more folks will post here. What other businesses do you remember? Do you remember Springer Oil at Gulf Bank and I-45 (now underneath that Mobil station)? I always wondered what that place was. I never saw anyone in there either, but they had this big, nasty dog out front that was never chained up and would chase you if you came walking or riding a bike past the place. He'd even run across Gulf Bank. One day I threw a glass bottle in front of him (not to hurt him, but to scare him) and when that bottle busted, he yelped and ran off. He never bothered me again! LOL!

That's Allen Office Supply and Printing. It's been at a few different locations in the area before settling in that spot in about 1972. Not sure if it's still in business, but they are listed on CitySearch, so they probably are. I image that business is between 40 and 45 years old. A pretty good run.

Wow! Haven't had a post here in sometime! I have found out more about the Fairview market. It took the place of another, older store that also stood on that site in the 1940s. It was called the Airline Food Store. There was a lot going on at that site, as the 9000 block of Airline (at Gulf Bank) was also the home to the original Windswept Inn restaurant (next door at 9010, where a snowcone place is today) and the Ranch Court Motel (9020). I am looking at a 1957 aerial photo of the area and I can clearly see the grocery store and restaurant, although the motel looks pretty small. The grocery store itself is also much smaller. I'm toggling back and forth between 1957 and 1973 and it appears the structure that's there today wasn't built until the late 1960s or early 1970s. The Memorial Baptist Church across the street is actually not at the corner as it is today, but a little further to the north on their property. That big steeple is not around in 1957. Wish I could post the photo, but the mods of this site get squeemish when you post copyrighted images. But you can find it for yourself at historicaerials.com.

Yes, that's the one. Oak Forest was originally part of Aldine ISD. The initial boundaries of the district were much different when the it was created in 1935. The southwestern portion of the district ended around somewhere between the intersection of West Mount Houston and Veterans Memorial and where State Highway 249 curves to the north. The area west of that was part of the now-defunct North Houston school district. The area south of that was part of the White Oak district, which included today's Oak Forest. From what I've been able to find out, AISD split White Oak with HISD in 1937. That's how Acres Homes and Carver High became part of AISD. AISD split North Houston with Klein and Cy-Fair apparently around 1949. If you've ever looked at a map of Klein ISD, you'll notice a long, skinny finger of land extending south from Klein down towards Acres Homes. That's how Klein got that - from the dissolution of North Houston. In the late 1950s, the city of Houston annexed Oak Forest and Kathryn Smith Elementary. Apparently, there was some kind of law at that time that said anything in the city had to be part of HISD, so AISD had to cede Oak Forest and Kathryn Smith Elementary to HISD. That law must have been recinded a few years later because I've seen articles from the time Acres Homes was annexed in the 1960s or 1970s that said AISD would not be forced to cede that area.

The Aldine ISD's infatuation with the name Marrs can be really confusing. There were not one, but two schools with the name Marrs, believe it or not, and both existed at the same time. The white building at the corner of Aldine Westfield and Aldine Bender you are referring to was not the original Aldine High School, but a separate school built earlier, in 1932, before Aldine ISD was even created. Today it is known as the Lane Center, but when built, it was called the Marrs School. According to AISD's own history it was the first brick school in the district and was built when voters passed a bond issue for its construction. Presumably, the Marrs School was CSD 29's (the predecessor to Aldine ISD) sole school for whites, as the Brubaker school had closed around this time and maybe Westfield and Higgs, too. I do not know if it housed all grades, from elementary to secondary. CSD's original high school was Hartwell, located near Westfield. I do not know Hartwell's years of existence. Marrs High opened in September 1936 down the street and was a totally seperate school. It was on the site of today's Aldine Middle School, but Aldine Middle School was never Marrs High, having been built after Marrs High burned down. However there are some old buildings (maintenance and support buildings) on the Aldine Middle School campus that do appear date from the Marrs High era and the soccer field behind the school was the site of the Marrs High football stadium. A story in the September 10, 1936, Houston Chronicle about the opening of Marrs High also clearly states there are two Marrs schools, one an elementary/junior high and the other being the high school. J.E. Barden is mentioned as the first principal of Marrs High and S.F. Fenner is listed as the district's first superintendent. I believe the article also mentions the principal of the Marrs School as well, along with the number of students enrolled in each, but it's been awhile since I've seen the article. I might be going to the library next week. I'll get that article and repost some of it here, if anyone is interested. I guess the Marrs School was replaced by the original Aldine Elementary. BTW... I do note with some interest the quotes from wikipedia in a later post on this thread. I can't help but notice that the wording in the wikipedia article is word for word from my Aldine High area history report. I don't really mind so much, as I do give away the report to anyone who asks. But c'mon... if someone is going to copy directly from my report, professional courtesy at least calls for giving credit where credit is due.

Yeah, I guess maybe I was. But that particular store wasn't originally a Walgreens... it was a Sage's Drug Store. It became Walgreens around 1981.

That is correct. It was a Rusty Pelican. The El Palenque used to be a Grandy's and later a Miami Subs. The Taco Cabana used to be a Dos Pesos. I moved out this way in 1989, so I don't know about anything earlier than that. But the first time I saw this shopping center, I thought it looked just like North Oaks, although it was no longer a mall by that time.

I don't live far from this one (used to go to the Panchos that used to be there) and grew up to one nearly identical to this at Little York and I-45. Different stores, but pretty much the same layout - an anchor on one end and an airconditioned, glass-enclosed hallway leading to the rest of the stores. The "mall" at Little York at I-45 originally was anchored by Grants, a department store in the vein of Woolco. When that folded, it became the Big Texan Bowling Lanes. I believe now that space is a Food Town grocery store. Next to the Grants was a drug store (I don't think it originally was Walgreens as Walgreens didn't come to Houston until around 1975).

Found my notes on the origins of Greenspoint Mall. The mall opened on Thursday, August 5, 1976, although the Foley's actually opened a few days earlier. Here is the original lineup of stores for the mall's opening: Alberto's Clocks Albert's Hosiery American Uniform Artland B. Dalton Bookseller Baker's Shoes Baldwin-Lively Pianos Baskin Robbins Ice Cream Battlesteins Betty's Maternity Casual Corner Centre Court Restaurant Chandler's Shoes Chess King City Appliance Center Clover Patch Corrigan's Jewelers County Seat Creperie Disc Records E/J's Model Shop El Chico Mexican Restaurant Ellison's Famous Ramos Fashion Conspiracy Florsheim Shoes Foley's (still open, though now branded as Macy's) Fortune Cookie Foxmoor Funway Freeway Arcade The Gap General Nutrition (still open) Gilbert Ortega's Indian Arts The Go-Round Gordon's Jewelers (still open) Greenspoint 5 General Cinema Greenspoint Pet Center Hamburger Hamlet Hanover Shoes Haus Edelweis Hickory Farms Houston Trunk Factory Isabell Gerhart J. Harris J. Riggins Jean Nicole Jeans West Jerry Thompson's Restaurant and Saloon Joan Bari Jovee Betram Bath and Boudoir Kid's Kasuals Kinderphoto Kinney Shoes The Limited Leopold, Price & Rolle Levitt's Jewelers Margo's La Mode Merle Norman Miss Bojangles The Monocle Morrow's Nuts Mr. Calculator Naturalizer Shoes The Oak Tree Organ Exchange Oshman's Palais Royal (still open) Picadilly Cafeteria Pickwick Music Pipe Pub Pizzeria Playhouse Toys Polar Bar Radio Shack (still open) Ramos Pretzel Shoppe Regal Touch Rodney's Roots Natural Footwear Sears (still open) Sherry's Hallmark Shop The Shoe Gallery Showcase Silvermans Size 5-7-9 (still open) So-Fro Fabrics Sounds & Imports Southern Fabrics Steve's Sandwich Shop Stuart's Susie's Casuals Sweeny's Jewelers Taco Spot Texas State Optical Thom McAn Tiffany's Bakery Transcontinental Travel U-Frame-It Ventura's Formal Wear Village Casuals Waldenbooks Western Junction Wicks 'N' Sticks The Wild Pair World Bazaar Worths Zales Jewelers Here are the first movies shown at the premiere of the Greenspoint 5 General Cinema Blazing Saddles Bugs Bunny Superstar Lifeguard One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Ode to Billy Joe JC Penny was added in 1977. Montgomery Ward was added in 1978. Joske's was added in 1980. I do not know when Lord & Taylor opened, although Mervyn's took it over in 1988.

Here's some more info I've dug up. Pre-Aldine ISD schools (prior to 1935) Primary Schools (Grades 1-7) Aldine (1910) (Replaced by Marrs in 1932 and destroyed in 1948) Brubaker (between 1910 and 1920) Higgs Westfield Secondary Schools (Grades 8-9) Hartwell Aldine ISD schools (after 1935) Elementary Schools Marrs (not to be confused with Marrs High. Today it's the Lane Center) (1932) Kathryn Smith (now an HISD school) Colonial Hills (1967) Junior Highs Aldine (1956) Ninth Grade Schools Two opened in 1999 and two in 2000. Don't know yet which ones go with each year. High Schools Marrs (aka Aldine) (1936) Carver (1942) Carver (current campus) (1954) Aldine (current campus) (1956) MacArthur (1965) Eisenhower (1972) Nimitz (1978) Marrs High was expanded in 1939 and 1953. The school opened in September 1936 with J.E. Borden as principal. Aldine High was expanded in 1959, 1971 (approx), and 1992 (approx). AISD total enrollment 1939 - 1,100 1945 - 3,000 1952 - 5,000 1959 - 8,600 1965 - 15,000 1975 - 33,000 1985 - 36,000 1991 - 41,000 2005 - 56,000 In 1977, the district was 72% white, 15% black and 13% Hispanic. 25 years later, in 2002, the district was 56% Hispanic, 33% black and 8% white.

Inez Carroll Elementary opened in 1953 to service the growing area just north of Halls Bayou. The school was named for an early educator in the Aldine district. She died around 1948. I accidentally came across her obituary in t he Houston Chronicle one day, but didn't bother to print it, so I can't give you any details about her. The school was very near the site of the Brubaker School, at Blue Bell and Airline, which was one of the first area schools (predating the creation of Aldine ISD in 1935). Inez Carroll Elementary was destroyed by Tropical Storm Allison in 2001. Here are the opening dates of the Aldine ISD schools within today's Aldine High School attendance zone. There are other schools assigned to the zone, but I only researched the opening dates of the campuses physically located inside Aldine High's zone: Early Childhood/Pre-K Jerry Keeble - 1999 Academies Carroll Academy for International Studies - 1998 Elementary Schools Inez Carroll - 1953 Ralph Goodman (nee Hidden Valley) - 1964 Evelyn Thompson - 1971 Kenneth Black - 1989 Thomas Gray - 1989 Doug Bussey - 2003 Intermediates Stelhik - 1994 Junior Highs Thomas Stovall - 1964 Ninth grade schools Aldine - 1999 High schools Aldine - 1956 Aldine ISD's website, and those of their schools, are just horrible. Not just in terms of current information about the schools, but about the histories too. You can call the main office and the public affairs officer will tell you whatever you want to know, but why they don't put anything about their history on their websites is beyond me. Houston ISD does this for all their schools. If HISD can do it, why not AISD? Aldine ISD's 75th anniversary is coming up in 2010. I wonder if they have anything planned? They had a big to-do back in 1985 on the 50th anniversary. I went to Hidden Valley Elementary and Aldine High (went to a private school for junior high). I also grew up in Northline Terrace. I was supposed to go to Inez Carroll for kindergarten, but Carroll's program was full, so they sent me to Hidden Valley instead. I never switched to Carroll, going to Hidden Valley all the way to 5th grade. No one ever asked why I was going to the wrong school. As I went to a private junior high, I actually never went to school with any of the kids from Northline Terrace until I went to Aldine High. I've written a history of the area and of Aldine's football team. The area history includes dates of when most of the area's major businesses started, when neighborhoods and apartment complexes opened, and when all the big roads came into being. Looks like someone used at least part of it to update Aldine ISD's wikipedia page. Not that I mind. The football part has every Mustang game score and highlights, going back to the very first game against La Porte in 1936. If you want a copy of the 2007 version (I'm not finished with 2008, not that it was a memorable season anyway), e-mail me at aldinefootball@sbcglobal.net.

I had a list of all the original stores at Greenspoint that were there the day it opened in August 1976. I have to dig around my storage shed to see if I still have it. I also had a list of the first movies to be shown at the theatre when it opened. Hopefully I didn't throw it away, although I know that if I did I can get it again next time I go to the downtown library. The original game arcade was called Funway Freeway. Someone was mentioning Mr. Dunderbach's. Man, I loved that place. Seems like I remember a restaurant in the center court of the mall that was situated above a fountain. I was in the mall on Friday, and while it appears about half of it was vacant, the rest was very well maintained, bright and open. Seemed like it's still a nice place. Although I no longer live in the area, I sure get tired of people running the place down based on a few sensational news stories. I worked in that mall for three years (most of the time at night and during the Gunspoint incident period of time) and I never experieced a problem.

Not sure where you got your facts, but the I-45 Drive-In lasted for 10 years (1982-92) and closed because the area was being built up and the owner wanted to put a shopping center there. With a Wal-Mart being built next door in 1989 and the North Freeway being expanded in 1990, that was no longer a viable site for a drive-in, either from a viewing or economic perspective. Here's two stories about the theatre's demise from the Chronicle, neither of which mention violence as the reason for closing: http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive....id=1992_1035533 http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive....id=1992_1039552

No, that wasn't me. But I wonder if he'll want my collection next time he does some renovations? They're for sale if anyone wants 'em. Pabst hasn't been sold in Houston for quite awhile. If you look hard you can occasionally find it in a store or two, but to my knowledge it's never been a big seller around here. If memory serves (and it's been some time since I researched this) I do believe Pabst was trying to market Blue Ribbon pretty much exclusively to blacks, but I stand to be corrected. When I first started collecting in 1977, Bud and Schlitz were the tops. In fact, most cans along the road were Schlitz (as if roadside litter is a sales barometer. LOL!) At least in the places I looked for cans, I gauged them to be in this rough order: Schlitz Budweiser Coors Schlitz Malt Liquor Lone Star Lite Pearl Miller Pabst Falstaff

Really? I did not know that. I had suspected it, but never knew it.

Thanks for the compliment, but I do admit I did look at least part of that up. I knew pretty much all about Lone Star, but I was surprised to learn about Pearl. I had thought Pabst bought out Pearl. No, it was the other way around. Pearl bought out Pabst and Pearl took the Pabst name (I guess because its the more recognizable). I was in San Antonio when the Pearl Brewery closed. It was a big deal. It just seems odd to farm out brewing an entire brand of beer (or actually several). I can see if they did it for a particular region - that's fairly common. Cheaper to do that than build a new brewery if the local guy has some extra capacity. Remember that gawdawful Billy Beer? It was made that way. Falls City made it in Kentucky and farmed it out to Pearl for the Texas market. But to farm out the whole brand is kinda weird. Can you tell I used to collect beer cans as a kid? LOL!

Yes, both are still made, however, not in San Antonio and not by the original brewers. Both Lone Star and Pearl were sold to national brewers years ago and have changed hands multiple times since then. Both San Antonio breweries have been closed, the Pearl one just a few years ago. Both brands are now owned by Pabst. However, Pabst doesn't brew Lone Star, they apparently farm it out to Miller, who brews it in Fort Worth under the name of Lone Star Brewing Company. But it's not a real company in the way it once was. Lone Star hasn't been an independent brewery or brand since the mid 1970s, when Olympia bought them out. It was then sold to G. Heileman, a big Midwestern brewer. Then it was sold to Strohs (the former Schlitz) and the San Antonio brewery was closed and production moved to Stroh's plant in Longview. Then Pabst, (formerly Pearl. Pearl bought Pabst), purchased the brand and brought it back to San Antonio and started brewing it at the Pearl brewery. But now that the Pearl plant is closed, it's made in Fort Worth, as is Pearl. I'm not sure why Pabst farms out its brewing. Talk about outsourcing!

At the Texas Room (aka the Houston Metropolitan Research Center) there are also what's called Zingery maps that provide a map of who owned what for specific years, going back to 1956. There are also aerial photos of Harris County, as well. Using those and the other things mentioned here, I've been able to trace who owned the house (and the land it was on before it was built and what that property looked like) back to the 1940s. And others have filed in the gaps back to the 1830s. You've definitely come to the right place.

West Montgomery Road has always been West Montgomery Road, going from the Shepherd/Tidwell intersection to western Montgomery County. The state also designated this road as F.M. 149. What is today's West Mount Houston Road was originally called Airline Link Road and went from West Montgomery Road to Steubner-Airline. In 1956, the state extended Airline Link Road from Stuebner Airline to U.S. 75 (the predecessor to the North Freeway) and designated the road as F.M. 2430 from U.S. 75 to West Montgomery Road. In 1960, the state realigned FM 149 to deviate from West Montgomery Road at the Airline Link intersection and then proceed to U.S. 75 over the former F.M. 2430. Airline Link Road was also renamed West Mount Houston Road. The remainder of West Montgomery from West Mount Houston south to Shepherd/Tidwell was then given the designation F.M. 2430 (the former designation of Airline-Link). In 1963, West Mount Houston Road was extended from the new North Freeway over Halls Bayou to Airline Drive. West Mount Houston and East Mount Houston never meet and probably never will. East Mount Houston actually passes through the Mount Houston area mentioned by isuredid. West Mount Houston never comes close to it. In case you're wondering if there is an East Mongomery Road, the answer to that is yes. Fulton was East Montgomery Road until it hit Airline and then East Montgomery continued up Airline from that point.