Firebird65

I saw the earlier thread on the Chuck Wagon restaurant, and that got me to wondering about the old Roy Rogers restaurants. Were there ever any in Houston? I swear that erotic clothing store at Westheimer at the Loop (the one that used to be a Luke's Hamburgers) was also once a Roy Rogers back in the early 1970s. I'm sure I went there as a kid. But I found a Roy Rogers restaurant nostalgia site, and they make no mention of there having been any Roy Rogers in Houston, let alone Texas, and where they say there were sites, they were located in states I've never been to. Anyone know?

The only thing I can think of is that I remember from a media law class I took in college that when it comes to copyrights and trademarks that if you aren't vigilant about enforcing it, you could lose potentially lose it, especially for trademarks. But again, we aren't appropriating the Chronicle's name nor are we claiming the Chronicle's articles as our own. Everyone has always given then full attribution. I contacted them once about using a few of their stories and images in an area history report I wrote. They allowed me to use them, provided I gave them attribution (which I was more than happy to do), the images could only be of a certain size, that the report would only be in pdf form, it could not be printed or placed on any website, and that it would go to no more than 100 people. All of these were very easy for me to comply with and placed no burden on me whatsoever as they all were what I was going to do anyway, but I was amazed they went into such detail.

I'm not sure why the Chronicle gets so upset when some of their stuff is used on these boards. It's not like we're not going to buy their paper. They put it on their own web site for anyone to see free anyway. And it's not like we're claiming the work as our own... everyone always says "This is from the Houston Chronicle." Clear attribution. Now a book is different. I can see why the publisher of a book wouldn't want excerpts posted... cause then people might not buy the book. There's only one book. But the paper is different each and every day - by definition. So even if somone posted all of yesterday's Chronicle on this site, it wouldn't harm today's sales.

That is too cool. I've been looking for good, clear pictures of the Airline and I-45 drive-ins. Thanks!!!

That was an interesting website. Kudos to HISD for including that info and to you for posting it. I'll do just the four high schools in the district in which I grew up and the elementary school I attended (went to a private junior high). Aldine High - originally opened in 1936 at the corner of Aldine-Westfield and Aldine-Bender. First campus was officially known as Marrs High School, named for Starlin Marion Newberry Marrs, state superintendent of public instruction, who worked to improve rural education. Also unofficially called Aldine High after the unincorporated rural community in which it sat. Campus burned to the ground Thanksgiving Eve 1954. New campus built in 1956 on the site of the former Gulf Coast Airport on Airline Drive. MacArthur High - opened in 1965 and named in honor of the WWII general Douglas MacArthur, who had died the year before. Eisenhower High - opened in 1972 and named for the WWII general and former president Dwight Eisenhower. Nimitz High - opened in 1978 and named for the WWII admiral Chester Nimitz. Goodman Elementary - opened in 1964 as Hidden Valley Elementary after the surrounding neighborhood. Renamed Goodman Elementary in the late 1990s after Ralph Goodman, former band director at Aldine High and director of musical education in Aldine ISD.

From 1974 to 1985, Spring Branch had six high schools: Spring Branch - opened ? Memorial - opened 1962 Spring Woods - opened 1964 Westchester - opened 1967 Northbrook - opened 1974 Stratford - opened 1974 Spring Branch and Westchester both closed after the 1985. I can see why they would have wanted to close Spring Branch - after all, it was probably somewhere between 40 and 50 years old and proably pretty small compared to newer schools. But Westchester was 18 years old. A member of the final graduating class would have been no older than the school.

just out of curiousity, what does it say about Gulf Bank? I've always wondered about that street name. And I've heard that West Road is named for a farmer. Does the book shed any light there?

Any idea of what they raised on the Okabayashi farm? The neighborhood I grew up in is made up of at least part of their land, including probably the land my parent's house sat on.

pbays, I've responded to the e-mail you sent me about the Aldine Band. As for your post about Gulf Bank, oddly enough, at the same time you were posting this, I was at the Texas Room library looking up some of the very information you posted. According to the Kriss Kross Directory of Harris County, the grocery store you mentioned was named the Airline Food Shop. Sometime around 1948 or 1949 it became Hilliards. In around 1956, according to the Harris County Appraisal District, that store was rebuilt and became the Fairview Food Market (Lucky 7), which it remained until the 1990s. The address today is 9000 Airline; however apparently in 1944 Airline was renumbered when it changed from U.S. 75 to L149. Prior to that the address was something like 8410 (sorry, don't have my notes in front of me as I'm writing this). The gas station was Harvell's Service Station, located right next to the grocery. I believe it was a Texaco station, although the 1944 directory doesn't say (a later one does call it a Texaco). There apparently were three gas stations in that imediate area at that time: Harvell's, Tony Lorino's and Sprads (a Humble station?). As best as I can determine, Sprads opened in 1939. I have no idea when Harvell's and Tony Lorino's opened as unfortunately the Kriss Kross directory doesn't give much info about areas outside of the Houston city limits during this period. Because of that, I am also unsure of when two other business right in that area came into being and sure hope you or someone you know can enlighten me. There was a hotel or some sorts just north of the grocery store at 9020 Airline. In the late 1950s, it was called the Ranch Court Motel. In the early 1950s, it was called the Benoit Tourist Courts. It appears that prior to 1950, it might have had the name Faber, but the directory is kinda vague. It seems like its the same O B Faber who lived on Gulf Bank and for whom the Faber subdivision is named. I was amazed to discover that in the late 1940s the Wind Swept Inn Restaurant was located right next to this hotel at 9010 Airline. Most people know it as being further down Airline next to the skating rink (today it's a Tacos del Julio). But according to the Kriss Kross directory, it was at 9010 Airline until about 1950, when it moved to 13000 Airline (today's North Freeway at Greens Road) and then moved to 10719 Airline in 1963. Was the Memorial Baptist Church there when you lived in the area? I've heard it opened in 1932. What other business do you recall? If you can add anything to this, please do so!

On the northside, West Mount Houston west of I-45 was once called Airline-Link Rd and east of I-45 it was once called Westbrook and Mosher, depending on the segment. One poster mentioned how Fulton was once East Montgomery Rd... that also applied to Airline north of where it joins with Fulton. Sweetwater was once called Hacker. Aldine-Bender east of I-45 and west of Hardy was once called just Aldine Rd while the eastern segment between Hardy and U.S. 59 was Aldine-Bender.

Thanks for the great thread. My grandparents lived in Lindale Park and raised my dad there. They lived on Joyce Street, which was one of the last sections developed and was originally part of the golf course. I had two pairs of aunts and uncles who lived on Caplin in Lindale Courts. They are all dead now, but I know my dad would have gotten a kick out of this thread.

According to the 7/11/91 edition of the Houston Chronicle: "Saturday evening, Gray was riding his bicycle along Goodson Street when a small dark-colored pickup truck sped by. Detective Anderson said the truck swerved and forced Gray off the street. Someone in the truck then fired several shots at Gray, who was struck in both legs and buttocks. The truck, which reportedly was occupied by two black males, was last seen heading east on Goodson. Witnesses told police they heard five or six shots and investigators found several spent 9mm cartridge shells at the scene." As for Acres Homes students attending MacArthur and Nimitz, if you go to the AISD web site, there are finally attendence zone maps for each high school. And you will see that each has a non-contiguous section of Acres Homes zoned to them. It's absolutely bizarre. I have found stories that indicate it has always been that way since Carver closed in the spring of 1978. Either the Chronicle or rhe Post had a story of one former Carver student's adjustment at MacArthur. I presume that all stemmed from the 1977 court case against AISD. I know my parents were quite upset my sister was going to have to be bused to a school in Acres Homes against their wishes. We ended up going a private school for three years until I reached senior high and she junior high.

That's true, but only to a degree. Aldine had some decent teams in the mid to late 1950s (winning the district title in 1958 and coming close in 1960), but the opening of MacArthur in 1965 took away half their players and the addition of Eisenhower in 1972 took even more. When you look at Aldine's past, some of their worst seasons (1965 to 1968 and 1973 and 1974) came directly after AISD expansion. Yes, the closing of Carver in 1978 did move several very good Panthers to Aldine, such as Robert Gibson and Charles Benson. Those two players were highly instrumental in Aldine's 1978 district title team. But don't forget, Aldine was one win away from the 1977 crown too, losing the title only in the last game of the season, and Carver was still open that year. When you look at a map, all AISD high schools split the former Carver attendance zone, so it wasn't just Aldine that got players. Students fome Acres Homes also attend MacArthur and Nimitz as well as nearby Eisenhower. As for the Greenspoint area, that's in Nimitz's attendance zone. I don't believe any of the people who live in the apartments along Greens Road ever went to Aldine as those apartments were all built after Nimitz opened in 1978. I stand to be corrected, however.

Oddly enough, Marini's has just opened a location in the Carillion Center in the back. You can't see it from Westheimer. It's called The Original Marini's Empanada House. I walked by the yesterday and was wondering what they meant by "original" - as in, had there been another? I'd never heard of the place. Now I know. And if you want to go, it's at Westheimer near Beltway 8 in the Carillion Center behind the Chili's.

Higgs was located on Lee Road at Garners Bayou just south of FM 1960. Today it's part of Bush Intercontinental Airport. At best, it was probably little more than a few houses. Maybe a store, although I've never heard of one. An election was held in May 1935 to create Aldine ISD. The polling places were the Marrs School (NOT the future Aldine High, but what is now the Lane Center) in Aldine, Tautenheim's Store in Westfield and Lorino's Store in Brubaker. There was no polling place in Higgs. Not sure why, as I've seen maps from the 1910s and 1920s that show there was a school there. I know the Brubaker school was closed by 1935, so maybe the Higgs school was closed then too, and with no store, there was no place to hold the election.

It was a black school (same as Yates, Wheatley, Carver) that I believe was converted to a junior high or some other use I believe, but stand to be corrected. Other similar schools that are no longer around or have been converted to other uses include Williams in HISD and Elmore in North Forest.

I only went to Square Pan twice, and it was quite good. Pretty chewy and cheesy if I remember. I usually like my crust very thin and crunchy, but I was quite impressed with Square Pan. Which, of course, was the kiss of doom. I think they went out of business soon thereafter. Oh well...

From the looks of things, you and I were about the only ones who liked Pizza Inn! LOL! There's still one at Mangum and 18th street near Northwest Mall and one on I-45 at Tidwell. When my wife had to go to the doctor in the Northwest Mall area, I actually volunteered to go with her (and thus spend 3 hours in a waiting room filled with women's magazines) just so I could go to the Pizza Inn afterwards! We used to go all the time when I was a kid to Pizza Inn buffets - first on Crosstimbers and Airline, then on Dyna. To this day, everytime I hear the Bee Gee's song "Jive Talking" I think of being a kid and going to Pizza Hut.

Ditto. Thanks for posting them!

In the area I grew up, there used to be three bowling alleys: Big Texan Lanes, on Little York Little York Lanes, also on Little York across from Big Texan AMF, on Aldine-Bender and two skating rinks: Hidden Valley, on Turney Airline, on Airline Only the Airline skating rink remains open. Everything else is long gone.

LOL! That didn't take long. I knew I'd come to the right place for an answer. Thanks to both of you.

Anyone know how Kirby Drive got its name? I found an old story from the 1986 Chronicle about street names, but it doesn't talk about Kirby. Anyone know?

The Windswept Inn, formerly located at 10719 Airline (next to the Airline Skating Rink) opened in 1963. It originally was in the 13000 block of U.S. 75 (today's North Freeway) somewhere between Greens and Rankin Roads. Because of the dates involved, it would appear that it moved to Airline because of construction of the North Freeway. The restaurant closed sometime in the late 1990s and today the site is occupied by Tacos del Julio. I grew up in the area, yet oddly enough, never went there. Guess I missed my chance.

No, because those are all the nicknames for drugs and that will get someone upset. Maybe the A's B's C's D's F's G's etc., etc., No, come to think of it, that wouldn't work either cause some do-gooder would object to the F's, claiming the players on that team would associate the name with failure.