isuredid

To be blunt, the answer to the first part of your question is fear and/or hatred of Jews, and the answer to the second part of your question is fear and/or hatred of blacks.

Houston does not have a sterling reputation historically when it comes to blacks and hispanics, but I have never seen any historical evidence for hatred of Jews.

perhaps...the web site doesn't elaborate, either:

Houston postman Jeff McKissack created The Orange Show in honor of his favorite fruit and illustrate his belief that longevity results from hard work and good nutrition. Working in isolation from 1956 until his death in 1980, McKissack used common building materials and found objects

mckissack continuously built the orange show from the mid-fifties until he died (1980). a group got together (led by marilyn oshman) and after two years of restoration, it opened to the public and the organization was created.

just a couple weeks ago was the annual post-yearly-restoration opening party, and the new National Register plaque was unveiled (yay!)

"mckissack continuously built the orange show from the mid-fifties until he died"

I don't think so. He might have been assembling the materials since the mid-fifties, but I don't think he even owned that property until the mid-late-sixties. I remember that as an empty field before he started erecting his vision. I think in 1967 it was still just an empty field.

What was/is her last name?

I think the bowling alley at Gulfgate was discussed in a thread on Gulfgate. I went there many times as a kid and it was indeed, in the basement on the side of the mall facing the I-45. I would call that the North side. That bowling alley was where I was first introduced to pinball. I used to go there to get their french fries. They would hand cut a whole potato, fry it up and serve it on a paper plate with a bottle of catsup. Yum!

Now I, like the previous posts, have subverted the original discussion....so...back to the bowling alley by the Galleria

Wonder what became of that cutie on the right?

I think she got married in 1974 and is still married to the same man and still living in Houston. I would venture to speculate that she doesn't look quite the same almost 40 years later, but I don't know her personally so I can't state that as fact

I grew up close to Orange Show. I went to Jackson Junior High and Austin High School. My mom's route for taking us to school went down Munger to the Gulf Freeway past the Orange show, so I watched it being built from it's inception and beginnings as walls of cinder blocks. As a 15-17 year old (1970-72) I also rode my bicycle down Munger on the way to a friend's house. I stopped a few times to talk to Mr. McKissak. I don't remember him saying anything about Oranges at the time. From what I remember, he thought he was building an amusement park type attraction. I think the Orange thing must have come later. I was certainly surprised when the place gained such popularity.

When they were repaving all of the downtown streets a few years back, they took the streets down to the original level, which was suprisingly far below the current street. On Travis I spotted wooden beams once they got down to the old level. At first I thought I was seeing evidence of the old wooden streets until I saw the spacing and realized I was looking at the RR ties for the old streetcar lines. They had taken up the rails, but left the ties. Some of the streets still had the brick pavers underneath and those they piled up on pallets and hauled away to be stored somewhere. Maybe someone knows where?

These are all excellent replies and information.

Speaking of wooden plank (sidewalks) aside. If you have time one day to read up or see the NPR documentary on The Great Chicago Fire. Check out what a danger the wooden sidewalks became when this tragedy occurred. A combination of bad luck that night. High winds, dry leaves alll over. The gust of wind pushed many leaves under the sidewalks which at the height of the fire helped fan the flames into the main hub of the city. Turned them into instant fuses. Just aweful. The irony of this whole historical event was that Mrs O'leary's was cleared of causing the incident. Several disgruntled youths had stole items from the barn and they tipped over the lantern they brought with them. See the docu!

I think several of the streets were wooden plank....not just the sidewalks...I read several stories about wagon wrecks because of loose or missing planks in the street. Washington Road was a plank road when it was paved.

I believe the original street paving material was wood plank. This was better than mud, but not very practical because the planks would come loose or people would steal them. which left gaps in which wagon wheels or horses hooves could get caught and break. In the newspaper during W.R. Baker's mayorship I saw request for bids in the paper for streetpaving. The request for bids stipulated the materials which were acceptable for use in the bid. The paving could either be done with brick, asphalt, or wood. If the bidder chose to use wood it stipulated the size of the blocks and mentioned that it must be heart pine or heart cypress. Somewhere you might be able to find who was granted the bids for which streets. It may have even been posted in a later paper, but I doubt you can find which individuals did the actual work.

There are quite a few brick sidewalks in the Old Sixth Ward. This has led many to conjecture that the city used to build brick sidewalks, but in the 1890s it was mentioned in the paper that indivudual homeowners were responsible for building the brick sidewalks in the Sixth Ward and the editor was encouraging others in the neighborhood to do the same.

2. Over by Telephone Road and Winkler as Telephone curves going east once stood another huge mansion very similar as the Plantation home also with curved drive. Was in the high Gothic-Victorian style 2 stories with a servants quarters on the side and horse stable. All that remains is the old palm trees that lined the circular drive. Nothing has ever replaced it to this day. Makes you wonder who and why it met such a fate?

What kind of people lived there? Why such a palatial home? What kind of people visited, dignitaries?

Are you sure this was not at Telephone and Wheeler instead of Telephone and Winkler? I know about the house at Telephone and Wheeler with the circular drive and Palm trees. It is next to the Houston Parks and Recreation building.

Thank You all for solving this mystery.

Just love reading stories like this.

As an addition, I wonder if anyone knows what ever became of the huge country clubhouse building that was in The Golf Course grounds? I once helped cater a dinner there as a teenager around 1975. I remember it was very large and looked turn of the century. Must have entertained some notables as well. If anyone can suggest anyone that has knowledge of the golf course grounds and how it came to be and especially that clubhouse. May still be there?

1. Was at Wayside near Lawndale across the street from the Gus Wortham Golf Course. Where there is now an overcrowded, jammed Fiesta market and adjacent strip mall once stood a Plantation-like mansion with tall elegant columns painted white with a huge fountain in the front of the curved/circular expansive driveway. You could imagine Scarlett O'Hara rushing down the grand staircase to meet Rhett. Had tall oak trees lining the drive. Bulldozed around 1975 for this ugly over-developed heap. To make matters worse they crammed an elementary school in there. Pure insanity.

This was definitely the Sims Mansion. We used to run around there at night when I was in high school. From what I remember it had a basement too. I believe the mansion was called Wayside and was a social gathering place in it's heyday.

Ok need help again. My old man was trying to remind me of a restaurant he used to take me as a kid. It was on westheimer near bering where the pappadeux is now.

According to him, it had a circus theme, decorated with clowns and such. The restaurant served typical american fare, i of course always had a cheesburger. This would have been about 25 years ago. Anyone else recall? Thanks!

The restaurant was called Circus

I grew up in the Southgate area. I remember the Shamrock Theater very well. I saw the Halloween movies there, Amityville Horror, and I think the last movie I saw there was Urban Cowboy in 1980(?) I also remember going swimming at the Shamrock Hilton Hotel, and they had a bar there next to the hotel called Trader Vics. Does anyone remember that? How about the Ruby Reds hamburger joint that was close to the corner of Main and Greenbriar? They had great hamburgers. I remember thinking how cool it was when I was a kid, because you could throw peanut shells on the floor. And now the Stables is gone, so that whole main area is completely changed. There used to be a restuarant..was it called the Red Lion? (Next to the Stables, and then the Shamrock was further north, a little closer to Holcombe, I think. )

Red Lion is correct and don't forget Valian's Italian Restaurant. It feels as though some day the only thing left of old Houston will be maps and deed records of where things used to be.

I am trying to picture a route from West University to the East End. None of the ways I can think of would lead through Midtown except along Main Street over to Polk Harrisburg, Navigation,Gulf Freeway,etc.

I think the most direct way from West U to East End would be Holcolmbe-OST-Wayside (all the same street more or less).

How old is your father or during what time period would he have been a kid?

I saw Jaws there (Shamrock) when it first came out, whenever that was.

I don't know if the two theater complex in Meyerland Plaza was the first in Houston, but I saw Dr. No and From Russia with Love when they both played there at the same time in the mid-60's.

Jaws - 1975 - I remember disco was coming on...Van McCoy---"The Hustle" on the radio...10 CC..."I'm Not In Love"... Captain and Tenille - "Love Will Keep Us Together" - I took a road trip during that summer so I listened to a lot of radio on the drive.

I looked at Harris County Appraisal District Records. The Hilton Corporation owned that land until 1985, which is the same year they sold the Shamrock Hotel to the Texas Medical Center. I wonder if that land was part of the original Glenn McCarthy purchase. The Texas Medical Center probably decided they would rather have a parking lot than a theater. I never was a fan of the Shamrock Theater anyway, although I did see many films there. I was more bummed out about the hotel.

Just by chance I happened to be at Glenwood Cemetery during the Glenn McCarthy funeral so I walked on over for the short graveside ceremony.

The original Jett Rink

I think you are giving the theater 2 more screens than they actually had. The Shamrock may have been the first theater to have more than two screens. I remember the theater. It didn't take it long to go down hill. Now the space is a parking lot for the Medical Center.

Part of the name of this topic is Greens Bayou. My dad said that we lived in Greens Bayou when I turned a year old back in the late 1950s. He said that he worked for Todd Shipbuilding. I wonder if that place is still around? I'm also wondering if Greens Bayou was inside the Houston city limits back then, or was it a separate city? Would any of you happen to know?

Todd Shipyard was in Galveston and it no longer exist. There is also a Greens Bayou on Galveston Island and I suspect this is the Greens Bayou your father was referring to. It would be a very long commute from the Greens Bayou in Harris County to the Todd Shipyards in Galveston. Not out of the question, but unlikely.

I'm assuming by the address that this would have been on the ground floor of the National Standard/C&I building. Do you know about when this was taken? There isn't a food store at that location on the "Downtowner" map.

I used to really like A&F in their original incarnation as an outdoor clothing and equipment store. They had some very nice stuff.

The photo is from 1937

The Hosiery Bar - 1010 Main Street

The Mykawa School

I received the following in a PM from a new member of the forum... curious1. I couldn't help him with his inquiry, but possiby someone (maybe sevfiv or suredid) who has been in that area recently can help. Not sure why he hasn't posted this. If someone can offer any information, I'll pass it on in reply to his PM. Thanks!

"I grew up in the Harrisburg/Manchester areas of Houston in the 30s, 40s and 50s. I roamed every street and railroad track in these areas. In 1945, a Harris Elementary teacher told us about a historic marker located east of the Milby home, across Broadway and behind Jack Roach Ford. I found it easily and checked it out several times. The marker basically stated that The Capital of the Republic of Texas was located at the site, and it gave dates. I live in Mississippi now. In 1990, my brother and I looked for the marker and couldn't find it. I think I'm the only person that knows the marker ever existed. Do you know what happened to it? The location was between the Milby home and Glendale Cemetery, but closer to the Milby home. It was north of the railroad tracks that ran by the cemetery. 'Preciate any help you can give. (The Houston Library was clueless)"

I remember seeing that marker back in the 80s. I don't know what happened to it. I have driven around looking for it myself.

Playland Park was at S Main and Murworth. The