templehouston

As I recall, Sakowitz was the premier department store based in Houston. It was "higher end" than Foley Brothers. Joske's was San Antonio's comparable department store and they both competed with that store in Dallas, Neiman-Marcus. When Neiman's opened its first Houston store in the 1950s, Houstonians stayed away in droves. For those who don't know, the Neiman-Marcus building is still on Main Street. When they opened the Galleria store, they closed the Main Street location and Palais Royal took over that building. The building is now the CVS Pharmacy on Main. Sakowitz had a large clientele of wealthy Latin Americans who made Houston a destination for their shopping trips. I won't even go into the stories about Robert Sakowitz.

The list includes a number of houses that aren't even in Houston, so the actual number on the list is closer to 170 than 200. Remember that Houston had fewer than 50,000 people in 1900 and the city's physical limits were considerably closer to Downtown. You should probably sort by zipcode to get a better idea of which houses are actually in what was Houston in 1900. (Or in Houston Heights.) The list doesn't even include the Kirby Mansion, located at 2000 Smith Street (77002). That house was built in 1884, remodeled in 1895 and again in 1925. I don't know if the 2000 Smith Street location is its original location. A number of the older houses were moved from their original locations (in what is now Downtown) to more "suburban" locations (e.g., the Waldo Mansion on Westmoreland).

This house is on Yoakum Blvd. on the block south of Richmond Avenue (just before the Southwest Freeway). It's a law firm office now.

We moved to Memorial Forest (the subdivision along Plantation Road south of the mall) in December 1961. At the time, the only access from Plantation Road to the Katy Freeway was by way of Taylorcrest to Benignus Road. The site of Memorial City Mall was a turkey shoot (a shooting range). There was a tall earthwork (to stop bullets I assume) in the middle of what is now the mall. I understand there was also a small pond near the mound where people would go skinny dipping (or so I heard while riding the school bus to Spring Branch Junior High). Anyway, the Sears could not have opened in 1962. I think it opened in 1964. I remember attending the opening of the Memorial Theater. They had a bagpipe player and some Hollywood starlet made an appearance. The movie was "Nevada Smith." Oh, yeah, I saw "La Dolce Vita" there in 1967, give or take a year.

Hey, it's almost three years, but no one appears to have described the 70s in Montrose. First, the area around Dunlavy and Westheimer is the closest I see today to the atmosphere of lower Westheimer (i.e., Westheimer EAST of Montrose) in the 70s. The antique galleries on lower Westheimer were all in old homes and not nearly as accessible as the ones you find nowadays between Woodhead and Mandell. The original Tootsie's was located across from Dorothy Schwartz's gay bar near Whitney and Westheimer. Dorothy had two bars, Prufrock's and the Round Table. Prufrock's had the text of the poem written around the room just below the ceiling. It had a very eclectic jukebox (Piaf, movie themes [e.g., North to Alaska], etc.) (remember, it's the 70s). Artists frequented the bar and certain politicians were also found there regularly. It was a converted house with a fireplace and several rooms in the back where people played cards and chess. Many foreign beers. Great place to get drunk and lose at chess. It was a mixed bar, so the opportunities were unlimited. In the next block was the Round Table (across from Tootsie's, remember). This was a really rundown old house whose most distinctive feature was a porch swing on the porch. This would be unremarkable, but this was the 70s and the Round Table was a gay bar, so sitting on the swing and having a drink was considered quite daring by many people. During the early 70s, the Round Table was best known for its Sunday afternoon beer bust. In the spring, summer and fall, it was packed with young men (boomers) in cutoffs and not much else who stood around the front yard and spilled out into the street. It was quite a sight. All sorts of things took place on the front steps, but were shielded from view from the street by the sheer number of bodies. Much fun. There were still a good number of four-plexes, apartment houses, and homes on Westheimer at that time, so people were always out and about, walking, talking, sitting on the porch or the steps, drinking a beer or smoking something. It was quite safe to walk along the street in the evening. There were a number of gay bars in the area and people would walk (stumble actually) from one to another. There was only one bar on Pacific Street at the time -- the bars were on Westheimer. Katz's was originally Art Wren's. It served great enchiladas and had a shobar in the back. The meat market was on the steps in the front. Periodically, you wouild see Houston's Finest parked in front busting the hustlers. Mary's was there, of course, but it was smaller -- the right door led to a topless shoe shine parlor. There was a swing out front and the girls would swing on it to attract customers. Real girls. Of course, the times being what they were and when the spirit moved the powers that be in the HPD, Mary's would be raided and everyone would be lined up outside so passersby could see who was frequenting the queer bar. In addition to the bars, restaurants, and residences, there were a number of retail establishments: men's stores, a dentist's office, several convenience stores, a great boot shop at the corner of Westheimer and Montrose, and a number of homes converted into mini-malls. These conversions weren't too successful, but they always showed great promise with their candle shops, beauty salons, and gift boutiques when they first opened. The point is there were people about constantly and there were always places to go and explore and the crusing was constant. Of course, the violence was never too far away. I knew several people who never survived their encounters with Herman Short's boys. And then straight people moved in with their streetwalkers and massage parlors. And then the decline began. Once it was no longer safe to walk on lower Westheimer after dark because of high school boys from the suburbs and their clubs, people stayed away. The bars moved. The shops closed. And then the firebug arrived.

I recall a White Castle in Spring Branch (on Gessner, north of Long Point, I think) in the early 60s. Those burgers were distinctly unacceptable to Texans and appealed only to homesick Yankees. That location did not last very long. We went once.

The Uptown Line is not for the residents of the Galleria area. It's for the people who work in the area and for the people who come to shop. Those are the people who create the traffic in the area. If you give them an alternative to searching for parking in the area by offering the rail line, they will probably take it. The merchants in the area wanted this line and they got it. You are wasting time talking about subways and elevated lines. Metro appears committed to street level for most of the light rail routes and you are 20 years late to be proposing Kathy Whitmire's monorail. There is still nothing to stop you from driving your car anywhere in this city you wish. You do have to use your head and learn the alternatives to direct left turns, however.

I just finished a quick review of all the posts in this thread and I can't find any reference to the Village Theater. Located in the Village, the last movie I saw there was Visconti's "The Damned." That must have been about 1970. The theater declined in the 70s (I seem to recall it became notorious for couples having sex in the balcony). Sorry, I don't have any picture to post. Someone asked about the interior of the Majestic. As I recall, it was "classical," i.e., it had Greco-Roman statuary, etc. The last movie I saw there was "Thoroughly Modern Millie" in 1967. As I recall, the Metropolitan's decor was "Egyptian" and the Loew's State next door was deco.

In 1984 I flew to San Francisco to attend the Democratic National Convention. Among the passengers on my flight were the Singing Boys of Houston. They numbered about 40 or so and were extremely well behaved. They were flying to San Francisco to give a concert at the Cathedral. When we landed, but before we exited the plane, they sang a couple of songs for the other passengers. They sang very well and the mini-concert was appreciated by the other passengers. I didn't know the choir was defunct. That's a pity.

The first bar at the old Hollyfield Cleaners location (now the Empire Cafe) was the Locker. At the time, it was considered to be Houston's first gay leather bar (although Mary's could certainly make a case that it was a leather bar in the 70s). I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Round Table (located next to where the Veterans Center is today). It was very popular on Sunday afternoon during the early 1970s. The crowd literally overflowed into the street (Westheimer) and the crowd was so thick that all sorts of things occurred al fresco in the front yard. The original Tootsie's was across the street. WRT the bar on California Street, my memory is faulty, but I believe it was called the Silver Bullet, not Quicksilver. The late 60s music venue on Richmond was Sand Mountain, but I'm not sure it was at the location later occupied by EJs. My nomination for the most interesting bar: Prufrock's. It was owned by the same person who owned the Round Table and was just a block away. A mixed bar, it only sold beer and wine (no liquor by the drink), had a truly unique juke box, and had the text of the poem written around the walls of the main room. If you found the mistake in the text, you got a free drink. It was a hangout for artists and more than a few politicos. I once saw Dick Wray sign the shadow a lamp cast on the wall as "found" art. There were rooms in the rear that were dedicated to playing card games and chess -- and they were busy.

Quicksilver was on California Street, just east of Montrose. The Chinese take-out place is located next to where it was located, which is now a parking lot for Prive'. Quicksilver had a rather notorious tree limb in the backyard. (If you have to ask, don't.)

I understand that renting an apartment at Isabella Courts is as difficult as getting a place at the Beaconsfield. I also have an impression that they did not rent to men.

I live two blocks from HSPVA, but haven't kept up on the plans after HSPVA moves. Which school will be moved into the current building? BTW, I'm sorry they are moving the school, it has been a good neighbor (unlike some elementary schools on Kirby I could name, or that parochial school on Yoakum).

Good question. Does anyone know when they must make an announcement? I don't mean a deadline set arbitrarily by Culberson for his own benefit, but is there a legitimate deadline for submitting plans for obtaining funding approval? From what I recall, they did not need to do anything before December.

[<pinch> wake up! God I hope that was only a dream . . . . I believe that as long as Culberson is in Congress he has that seat unless he gives it up, regardless of which party is in power. If the Republicans lose the House, the committee chairs are no longer Republicans and no new Democratic chair is going to listen to the likes of Culberson. So he can keep his seat on the subcommittee for as long as he wants, but he won't matter nearly as much. He can just warm his seat on the subcommittee and vote no all day long. He does not have a record of working well with the opposition, so I don't see him putting together an effective coalition to "protect Afton Oaks" from the terrors of light rail. I suspect Culberson has been reading the Cook Report and other neutral observers who say the chances are excellent that the Republicans will lose the House. Culberson is reported to have agreed with Metro to wait until December, but he did not wait. Wouldn't you say he's trying to get his veto in before he loses all relevance? Maybe we should be finding out what Lampson thinks (now that Sekula-Gibbs has undercut Wallace). BTW, was the University Line an issue the Republicans considered when they made their informal write-in selection?

We have had election after election. If you want to have another election, get Culberson to pay for it. I'm sure all those businesses on Richmond will be glad to form a PAC to oppose rail on Richmond. So who is going to pay for the pro-Richmond line side? How about this? There's an election in November and Culberson is on the ballot. True, the district is heavily Republican, but you can still vote against him. I'm sure he won't carry my precinct. Am I correct that the University line as presently proposed was put together to get Culberson (and that creature, DeLay) on the program.? Now Culberson is trying to manipulate the situation to block a useful rail line. I guess Metro can't kill the University line and put the trains where people want them on the North Side and the East End.

Re comment on missing loops. I'm afraid I miss your point here. Those freeways are horrible enough and these looped feeders (610 and BW8) just feed more people onto those freeways. I don't see that they relieve the congestion on those freeways at all. Please explain what you are thinking. Re comment on "removing people from the freeways." If you are saying that the transit system is more than just moving commuters, thank you. The op ed in today's Chronicle (by someone from some property tax group) surely represents the school of thought that any transportation proposal is about commuters and only commuters. It appears that people with that perspective will not "hear" anything being said that's premised on something other than commuters only transport. I guess it's very simple for them: Point A (me) and Point B (my job). Everything else would be irrelevant.

Actually, BART is one part of a transit system that attempts to cover the entire Bay Area. BART is indeed commuter oriented, as are the bus systems operated by several different transportation districts (e.g., SamTrans). They all move commuters to employment centers (which is more than just into the Financial District in SF). Parallel to BART is the Municipal Railroad, which runs buses, the three cable car routes, the trolleys on the F-Line, and the partially underground light rail on the J, K, L. M, and N lines all over the City. I guess these are the local sevice lines you don't care about. For the record, the subway always took longer to get to my office than the buses or the F-Line trolleys. The theory in SF is that you should be able to get anywhere in the City 24/7. Yes, SF is only slightly larger than the Spring Branch I.S.D., but don't forget that transit is not just about moving commuters. 1) Older people and students need alternatives to autos to get about. 2) We need to get cars off the road in order to improve air quality. 3) In case you hadn't noticed, even the President has figured out that continuing to import the oil to make gasoline to run those cars places us at the mercy of people who really don't like us and it makes them rich enough to build atomic bombs to boot. 4) Business visitors and tourists face great difficulty in moving about this city unless they take limos or cabs (and that certainly does not improve our image). 5) Finally, light rail doesn't bunch up like every bus system in ever city in this country. 6) Oh, yes, it's much more relaxing than driving on the Culberson WideButt Freeway.

Forgive me for asking what may prove to be an ignorant question, but what would be the impact on Culberson's "input" on Metro funding if the Republicans lose control of the House in the next election? Am I correct that he has been able to inject himself into Metro planning because he sits on the Appropriations Committee and the Republicans control the committee (and the House)?

I live two blocks north of Richmond near the HSPVA. I drive six blocks and park near the Ensemble station so I can take the train to my office downtown. There's no charge. I could walk it, but walking six blocks in Houston at this time of the year is not something you do if you want to look fresh at your destination. I still have to walk five blocks to my office, but we won't get into Metro's "trolley fraud" in this posting. It's my observation that Anglos in Houston won't get on an inner city bus if their life depended on it. They'll take a "commuter" bus from The Woodlands or North Harris County, but they won't take the other buses unless their car is in the shop. For many, it is the ultimate humiliation to be seen on a bus. I have witnessed people announcing to everyone on the bus (as if they cared) that their car is in the shop and they never take the bus. Considering how unreliable the buses are (I've lost count of the number of times I've seen the Westheimer 82 buses cruise past people waiting at bus stops), I wouldn't blame them if that were the reason. Actually, it's "class." That's social class. We are talking about Republicans and the opposition to light rail was orchestrated by Republican Party activists. I attended one of the "hearings" at South Main Baptist Church and noticed at least one staff person from a Republican officeholder's office (one of the county positions). She greeted and spoke with a number of the people who spoke against the Richmond line. She certainly didn't speak to the more typical "Montrose types" in attendance, limited though their number was. I suspect that the Republican Party would be much more interested in light rail if they had control of who was served and, more importantly, who was awarded the contracts to build it. Until that happens, they will be more than content to concentrate on "commuter rail" -- something that doesn't serve the inner city. By the way, if you want to upset Culberson's staff, call and say you live on Vassar and you have heard that the Congressman wants to continue the line on Westpark along the the south side of the Southwest Freeway past Kirby (where Westpark stops) to Main.

There is a website that displays old postcards of Houston. You might find it interesting. It's called "Carl Seiler's Houston through antique postcards." http://overanalysis.org/postcards/houtoc.htm

The higher sky lobby at Wells Fargo Plaza (1000 Louisiana, f/k/a Allied Bank Plaza, First Interstate Bank Plaza) is located on the 58th and 59th floors. An escalator connects the floors, so you have windows that are two floors tall. There is no charge to visit -- it is a lobby -- and there are tables and chairs on the 58th floor so you can eat lunch if you wish. From the street level take the elevator to the 59th floor or pick up something to eat in the tunnel and then take the elevator from the tunnel level to the 58th floor. The view is to the east and south. There are a number of freelance tour guides who always bring their groups to this sky lobby. The lower sky lobby is on the 23th/24th floors (give or take a floor) and is organized the same way (connecting elevator, etc.) I work in the building, but haven't been to the lower sky lobby in 15 years. The building is open on Saturdays until noon.

I've lived in Montrose since I escaped from Memorial. Except for a period of time in San Francisco during the dotcom boom and one brief foray to the Galleria area, Montrose has been my home for over 30 years. Lower Westheimer in the early 70s was a pleasant street lined with antique stores and restaurants. The increase in crime and prostitution (catering to outsiders -- gay men don't frequent transvestite hookers) caused a severe decline in the area. The oil bust of the 80s caused many gay men to leave Houston in a search for jobs. Apartment complexes lost tenants and turned to the undocumented to fill vacancies. Car theft increased exponentially. High school kids from the suburbs created gridlock on Westheimer on weekend nights and all summer long. During that time a criminal masquerading as a real investor and developer started a string of fires that gutted Lower Westheimer while he collected the insurance proceeds. (He's dead now.) The traffic gridlock and the demise of the restaurants cut down on the foot traffic and, except for the transvestite prostitutes, crime decreased. At some point in the late 80s and early 90s, some developers discovered that they could make a killing by leveling fourplexes and putting in multiple three-story townhomes. That change caused a loss of the 20-somethings and an influx of the affluent who had formerly lived in the suburbs. An incidental result of this development was that the area now floods fairly regularly because they paved over the yards that had absorbed the rain water. Anyway, these new residents, complete with walls and gates, do not want to live in a neighborhood that is not like the suburbs they know. Zoning is not going to change their attitudes. In fact, if past history teaches anything, they would use zoning to force out "undesirable" businesses and neighbors. It's too bad they couldn't all live in West University Place. But then, Montrose wouldn't be as hot a housing market as it could be.