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plumber2

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Everything posted by plumber2

  1. plumber2
    There is (or was) a periodical at the Houston Public Library called Houston Quarterly (or something like that). I read an article once, were they interviewed a retired Houston planner from the 1940's. It was very interesting with probably some of the same information that freeways.com has. There was one dialog explaining how Allen Parkway was supposed to cross Buffalo Bayou and merge with Buffalo Drive (now Memorial Dr.) west of Sheperd Dr. The property owners on Tiel Way in River Oaks objected heavily to this plan, so it never happened. Also the Katy Freeway/West Loop interchange was supposed to be east of the present one were property had already been acquired but the Bayou Club, and polo field would have been obliterated using this plan so the interchange was moved west. Wonder why TXdot chose the land on Washington Ave for it's branch offices? 'cause they already owned it.
  2. plumber2
    yeah Pine, what gives? Several years ago (5 or maybe 7) the citizens of Santa Fe in Galveston County stopped the Grand Parkway Association cold in it's effort to route the southern portion of the tollway through Santa Fe. Even though the association visited the city council and gave the citizens an open forum, it was clear that nobody from Santa Fe or the surrounding areas were contacted before the route was drawn. It was our guess that a group from Texas City was behind this southern route. The City of Santa Fe therefore passed a resolution opposing the Grand Parkway at any location in or near it's city limits. It was thus routed north, back to it's original 1970's location through League City, crossing the Gulf Freeway near the FM 646 intersection. The Grand Parkway Association is a suspicious group that needs close watching.
  3. plumber2
    It's called the "Mission River".
  4. plumber2
    My whole family went to the Worlds Fair in 1968. I was age 13 at the time. HemisFair was a big effort econimically for San Antonio back then and all of the building trades in the state participated, especially the union trades in Houston. We had relatives in San Antonio that were also union members so it was a big family gathering for us. All the older guys (dads and uncles) hung out at the Lone Star or Pearl Brewery exhibits for almost the whole event. Us kids thus new were to find them when we needed more money for ride tickets. The "La Quinta Motor Hotel" started out as a new venture in San Antonio that year. Also, very embarrassing to the plumbing industry, a "cross connection" contaminated drinking water at the Hotel Palacio del Rio and caused several to get sick and some deaths. I will look for photo graphs of the trip. I'm sure someone in the family was sober enough to take pictures.
  5. plumber2
    The Jamail family all lived along Fairdale west of Ulrich Rd. (now Fountain View). I remeber as a child breaking my collar bone at one their backyard parties after being chased and pushed down by a couple of the Jamail girls. (they were mean).
  6. plumber2
    It was just a few years ago that the beer & wine selections in Krogers were still refered to as and rung up at the registers as "HenPil" items. It appears that the Texas liquor license required this obscure situation to continue on for years after Kroger bought out Henke & Pilot.
  7. plumber2
    The Post Oak Drive In moved from S. Post Oak (south of present day Williams Tower) to N Post Oak (between Katy Freeway and Hempstead Highway sometime in the early 60's. I remember watching the cartoons from a tree in my front yard in the 5800 block of Norfolk (now Beverly Hill) in the late 50's.
  8. plumber2
    This piece of property north of Country Club Plaza all the way back to Polk St. was at one time a large estate. This part of town was failrly desirable before the Houston Coutry Club moved to Tanglewood. There was a large colonial type home that sat back on this property with a gated entrance on Wayside. In fact, if you look closely at the entrance to the shopping center you can still spot trees and minimal landscaping that was original to the property. The place was vandalized pretty heavily by gangs from rival nighborhoods until finally in 1971 the house was burned down by arsons.
  9. plumber2
    This property is the site of the old "Convent of the Good Sheperd", a former catholic girls school. (Actually a school for girls that had "lost their way" among other things). The school buildings school sat back off the street with big oak trees up front. I think some of the existing oak trees are original. The apartments were built in the mid 60's if I remember right.
  10. plumber2
    Yes, San Jacinto ES was closed this year and Alamo ES is being considered to close next year. GISD is losing enrollment.
  11. plumber2
    It's really ashamed. The current owner has brain cancer, or claims to have, and is behind in IRS and sales tax payments. It took all of this lawsuit crap and Tillman Fertitta to rescue this site for future development, but for now Galveston has to put up with this pitiful place.
  12. plumber2
    The old Seahorse Motel was built by Mrs. Shearn Moody, sister-in law of Mary Moody Northern. Mrs. Moody was married to the side of the Moody family that was at odds with W.L. Moody III. W.L. Moody III, brother of Mary Moody Northern, had just built the exclusive Jack Tar Hotel on the Seawall at 6th Street. These two branches of the famliy were quite good at one upping each other during that era.
  13. plumber2
    Also KHOU Channel 11 started in Galveston as KGUL Channel 11. Channel 11 moved to Houston (Allen Parkway) in 1960/61. That is why Dan Rather was able broadcast "almost" live from Galveston during Hurricane Carla, while the other guys could only make reports over the phone or radio. KHOU was still able to trasmit from their Galveston studio during the storm. The studio building is still standing on the corner of 45th and Video Ln. The transmitter tower located off Highway 6 on Tower Rd. in what is now Santa Fe behind the new Santa Fe High School. The tower was removed last year but the small transmitter building is still standing.
  14. plumber2
    There are feeder streets on all Texas freeways by law because of Texas politics back in the LBJ days mandated that all US funded road projects have them. I think this has been changed up just recently, becuase now TxDOT is rebuilding 1-10 without feeders beyond Katy.
  15. plumber2
    Has anyone ever sat on that concrete bench facing Fannin St. at this location? If you look underneath, it actaully serves as a ventilation for some kind of electrical gear. Real cumfy! Don't get too relaxed!
  16. plumber2
    It sits on Hermann Park property, and not part of the hospital.
  17. plumber2
    And what's up with those smells? Somebody in there is cooking multi-cultural something for dinner!
  18. plumber2
    Exactly....that's why the floors don't line up.
  19. plumber2
    Yes, Highway 6 did exist before Addicks Dam was built, but it was a two laned county road named Jackrabbit.
  20. plumber2
    My grandfather was asked to modify the plumbing fixtures in Jesse Jones' suite at the Lamar Hotel. It seems Mr. Jones was a big and tall man and did not like having to sqaut when using a normal height toilet. Grandpa told me that he built a small pedistal to raise the toilet flange approximately 4 inches, then had the pedistal tiled. He did the same with the lavatory by raising the fixture and nickel plating the support legs for appearance. It seems wealth has it's privileges.
  21. plumber2
    The Royal Coach Inn was in the built in late 60's out of 2 by 4's and plywood. It was a huge place with meetings rooms for small conventions. It creaked and groaned when you walked around in it. It think it was called Dunfies for awhile before it fell on hard times and then the wrecking crew.
  22. plumber2
    My father ran the plumbing crew during the construction of this building. It was 1974-75. The plumbing contractor was the Sam P. Wallace Co. which my father worker for at that time. I remember visiting the site a few times during construction and walking around inside the unfinished units. I couldn't imagine anyone paying $67,000. to live in one of those at the time. Whow! how silly of me.
  23. plumber2
    There was also a number you could call (think it was 999-9999 or something like that) and you could talk on the "grapevine" to total strangers. It allowed 5 or 6 people at a time to talk with each other. A service message would come on every few minutes asking you to hang up and redail, but it was real cool back then to get "on-line". This was like our 60's version of the "Internet". don't foget 78 SUnset (West Houston west of Post Oak) and 68 OVerland (Houston Heights)
  24. plumber2
    Yes....and the railroad bridge across the bayou. Pretty soon KHOU will become an endangered building.
  25. plumber2
    The orphanage was probably the Burnett Bayland Orhpanage on Chimney Rock Rd. These students would have diffinently gone to Jane Long Jr. High. The old structures were torn down in the early 60's, and new buildings built on the southwest corner of the county property, Clarewood and Alder (I think). Most of the property is now county offices and park facilities. The orginal buildings were quite impressive, large spanish style dormitories, similar in look to the Ft. Crockett buildings, still standing in Galveston.
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