Firebird65

Houston has a minor league team - the Astros.

Allright! My over/under on someone posting this was 4. I nailed it perfectly. Whoop! Whoop!

I wouldn't put much stock in this article. It reads like page filler, for one thing. It's very vague, for another. There's not a lot of meat to the story. Finally, and no offense to the author, it was written by an intern. Looks like the paper had a hole to fill, they couldn't sell any advertising for the space and the intern needed something for his clipbook so he could get a grade. He had the Skeeters part owner on the phone for somethng else, the guy makes a quip about a pie in the sky plan for expansion that's actually little more than dream at the moment, but if you're in the news business ya gotta have something to print, so voila, it gets turned into a story when in fact, there's almost nothing there.

I think everyone here is forgetting or overlooking the actual topic of this thread, that is the origin of the name of WEST Mount Houston Road (emphasis on west mine).

West Mount Houston Road is nowhere near the now defunct community of Mount Houston. The road doesn't go to that area. So why'd they name the road West Mount Houston Road? That's what this thread is supposed to be about.

From what I've found, the term West Mount Houston Road didn't even come into existence until 1960, when FM 2430 was redesignated FM 149.  Prior to that, the road going from West Montgomery Road to U.S. 75 was noted on maps as Airline Link Road. In 1963, West Mount Houston Road was further extended to Airline Drive, where it currently ends.

My guess is that at least at one time the plans were to link the East Mount Houston Road by U.S. 59 to West Mount Houston Road, as there are no east-west roads that go from U.S. 59 to the then U.S. 75 (or later the North Freeway) between Little Yorn and Aldine-Bender. This obviously was never done in the 50 years since, probably because since 1979 Keith-Wiess Park has stood in the way. Perhaps the original owners of the park, James and Margaret Elkins, didn't want to sell right of way. Who knows? That's my shot in the dark. 

They do have a new digital movie theater at the mall. Also Greenspoint has access to three major freeways, Sysco Foods just built a major distribution center there, and they have immediate proximity to the airport. Sharpstown doesn't have this.

No, Sharpstown doesn't. But TWENTY YEARS AGO someone was killed in the Greenspoint Mall parking lot, and for whatever reason, that trumps all. The Soviet Union dissolved... we've had four presidents, three governors, four mayors... grunge rock came and went... the internet went from a pipe dream in then Senator Al Gore's imagination to an essential reality today... a kid born the day the shooting happened would be in college today... in other words, change is all around, yet in all that time, whenever you think of Greenspoint, you think of "Gunspoint," even though it was twenty years ago.

I say that not to condemn the place... I'm a big backer of Greenspoint and the Aldine High School area... I'm just stating a fact. That place will never come back, and that's a shame. You can put all the lipstick you want on a corpse, but at the end of the day, it's still a corpse. Having spent a lot of my youth and having worked at the Greenspoint Mervyn's from 1992 - 1995, I wish i weren't so, but that would be denying the obvious.

The store is just a box with shelves and a phalanx of cash registers.

ROTF! Man, nothing slips by you. Red Scare is right. Your posts are freaking hilarious. You ever think of writing for a sitcom? You'd be a natural.

I logged on to see the outrage that the store is opening today, and left disappointed. Walmart shoppers 1, Heights yuppies 0.

Maybe the protestors are inside the store... shopping. LOL!

I know people who work at the store are too busy to be reading this forum now but congratulations to the new Heights WalMart on your grand opening today.

I only remember going in a Weingartens store once with my mom and our next door neighbor. It was located on Little York and I-45 at 440 W LITTLE YORK RD. Its a Food Town today.

Are you talking about the Food Town where the Big Texan Lanes bowling alley used to be? If so, I don't think that was ever a Weingartens. Before it was Big Texan Lanes it was a department store called Grants. Closest Weingartens was in Northline Mall, I believe.

Is the new format just that there are no newsreaders?

This is what I don't get: They say NewsFix has no anchors or newsreaders. Huh? Then who is the idiot (and it's being kind to call him an idiot) narrating the stories?!?

Brian 023 was right... watching NewsFix is like watching a bad junior high video project. Who's the intended audience? It must be either junior high schoolers or those who never managed to get out of junior high.

It would be more productive use of time and a community service for Channel 39 to just show a test pattern during NewsFix's timeslot. The test pattern would probably be better produced and draw a more intelligent audience.

Being native senior citizen raised on North Side, I have no memory of airport anywhere on N. Side.

Not sure if I'm allowed to post this or not. I'll take the chance and if I'm not, well someone can delete it.

Here is a picture of the Gulf Coast Airport from 1953, courtesy of Google Earth:

Here's the same area today:

Gulf Coast Airport was located right where Stovall Middle school stands today and not Aldine High school is as commonly stated.

Well, to be precise, technically, yes, the airport building and runway were located under Stovall. However, it is correct to say that Aldine is located "on the site" (as I word it in my report and is stated on Wikipedia) of the Gulf Coast Airport because it was on the property.

Speaking of Wikipedia, I've gone through the Aldine ISD and Aldine High pages and cleaned up a lot of things as well as added citations. I'm Aldine1984 (someone already has the name Firebird65).

I remember that Huey Lewis concert. It was near Greenspoint, but on the other side of I-45. My friend lived in some apartments nearby and we could clearly hear the concert from his porch.

Got some more information of the beginnings of the education in the Aldine area.

I was wondering the other day about the origins of Harris County Common School District 29 (the county-run predecessor to Aldine ISD). Went to wikipedia to see if the Aldine ISD page had changed since last I had visited it. Lo and behold someone updated the wikipedia page with a lot of great info, just what I was looking for and needing.

According to the latest wikipedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldine_Independent_School_District District 29 was founded in 1884 with the consolidation of two north Harris County school "communities" - Westfield and Higgs - into a single district. The Westfield school started in 1876. No starting date was given for Higgs.

Now with this new information several more questions surface. I sure hope whoever posted that info to wikipedia reads this board and can find the answers. When was the Higgs school started? The Aldine community's first school wasn't until the early 1900s ( I think I read somewhere 1904 was the first school, which was replaced by a larger building in 1912). When did Aldine become part of District 29? Or was it always part of the district? Also, the way the page now reads, the Brubaker school apparently was part of another district that was dissolved and Brubaker became part of District 29. What district was that and when did that happen?

The wikipedia page also mentions the Hartwell School, which had 8th and 9th grade high school classes and I do believe has been discussed in this or some other Aldine thread. This school was District 29's first attempt at a high school and existed sometime in the late 1900s and early 1910s. It closed sometime after 1914 and before 1927.

That's is how Airline Dr got its name from what I'm told.

I do believe Airline was already called Airline before the Gulf Coast Airport existed. From what I've found, the airport opened sometime right after WWII. There's a book at the Texas Room at the downtown library that states Airline got it's name because that's how you'd get to Dallas in an "air line" meaning it was a straight road, much like a line.

Thanks! Found out though the Texas Handbook Online that LaMarque was once called Buttermilk and that Rosharon was once named Buttermilk Station. But the woman I spoke to mentioned Jensen Drive, so she was talking about Houston. Timeframe was the 1930s and 1940s.

Apparently it was an area of Houston or I guess a then-suburb of it.

I was at a reunion of old-timers from the Aldine area over the weekend, talking to them about their experiences growing up when the area was rural, when one of them mentioned something she called "Buttermilk Town." She said it was off Jensen Drive. I'd never heard of it before. Anyone know anything about it?

I saw that two and at first I thought it was going to be another scoreboard. As it blocks half of the train tracks, guess the choo-choo is going away.

Not to hijack your thread, but I have a question as well about Minute Maid Park. I've noticed the last two years that they won't sell you the $5 outfield upper deck seats on the day of the game any more, claining they are sold out. Ha! More than half of the seats are empty in those sections during the game, so what's up with that? Are they trying to force you to buy a more expensive seat?

Well, I figured if they were going to force me to buy a more expensive seat I didn't want, then one bad turn deserves another. I bought a $13 view deck seat and went and sat in the field boxes.

Does anyone know what the story is? This has now happened to me several times in the last two seasons.

Very interesting site. I've lived in west Houston for the last 22 years after growing up on the northside and have been interested in the history of this side of town. I didn't have time to read everything, but I'd really like to see what you have on Alief and Addicks. I always drive by a road called Sugarland-Howell Rd. Any info on what Howell was?

Finally, just to quibble (but not complain), why do you list Spring and Westfield on your site? Those are in far north Harris County, east of I-45.

Having lived in the area, I'd be interested in knowing the origin of Gulf Bank. Anyone have any ideas?

Nice pics. I've been there three times and have never seen the sun. LOL!

The M.D. Anderson library at U.H. has microfilms of the Houston Press. Can't say how far they go, but I've looked at ones from the 1930s.

If I remember correctly, that North Shepherd post office across Shepherd from that ex-KMART was originally a retail store of some kind for a very brief time in the 1970s before being turned into a post office. Anyone from the area remember what that store was?

Firebird that was just mean, but it was really funny. I worked as a cashier for Kroger for a long time. (not the Mount Houston store though) Poor Margie should have just made you get on that register on your own checker number and put you to work!!!! I have a question for you, my dad worked at the Fina station on Airline at West Mount Houston when I was growing up. I believe it closed down in 1978 or 79, and my dad opened up a tire shop at 9020 Airline, right next to The Fairway food store. What I am wondering is how long the Fina station was at that location before it closed down. I remember being up there with my dad on summer evenings and dad letting us pump gas when I was in Jr high school, so it must have been 1974 or 75. Mom and dad or both gone now, so I can't ask them. Any help would be appreciated.

The Airline Fina #1 opened in 1968 at 9601 Airline just north of West Mount Houston. I don't know when it became a Chevron, but your timeframe sounds about right.

I have to give Firebird65 props here. He has done miles and miles of research on this area and the Aldine Mustangs football team and makes it available to those interested, for nothing (free). This is high quality stuff. I have printed it off and bound it. Just for fun I looked up the KFC restaurant mentioned and quickly found it was opened in 1974 at 739 W Mt Houston. You're missing out if you don't take him up on his offer to e-mail you a copy. Thanks Firebird65.

Thanks youbetcha! Yeah, anyone who wants one, it's free for the asking. Haven't updated that area history in about three years. It's just too hard to do living on the westside. Too much going on in the area now. But even missing the last three years, it's still a good read.