billbremer

Since Harvey, about 10 acres of land behind the old Beechnut Police Substation now sits idle.  I think these 10 acres should become a city park.  

The M. Stubenrauch receipt in the image above was written to Louis J. Tuffly, co-founder of the Krupp & Tuffly shoe store.  Louis was the guardian of his wife's younger brother, Walter T. Tuffly, who, incidentally, was my great granduncle.  Can anyone make out the name of the item?  It looks like  "1 pair Opera Seizzers."

The attached file shows a portion of the 1915 USGS survey map that details how today's Richmond Ave connected to today's Bissonnet. Using modern street names it looks like one went west to Greenbriar, south on Greenbriar to what has been subsumed by the SW Freeway, then west to about Wakeforest, south to Westpark, west to Edloe, then south to Bissonnet.

Notice what looks like an oval racetrack just south of W. Alabama between Edloe and Buffalo Speedway. Could this be "Buffalo Speedway"?

Does anyone know when the road through southwest Houston known today as Bissonnet was first built? Draw a line from Richmond to downtown Houston and it lines up almost exactly with the diagonal portion of Bissonnet.

It's easy to imagine a wagon path or horse trail being cut through the flat, treeless praire of Harris County in the most direct path possible in order to connect Richmond and Houston. Is it possible this road may have been the main route to Richmond back in the 1800's?

I know it was called Old Richmond Road up until the late 1950's or early 1960's. Just how old is it?

There have been three Majestic Theatres in Houston, all owned by Karl Hoblitzelle's Interstate Theatre Group.

The first Majestic Theatre was in converted retail space at 1306 Congress Ave. It began operation about 1905.

The second Majestic in the "Chronicle Block" on Texas Avenue opened on February 21, 1910.

The third and final Majestic, in the 900 block of Rusk, opened on January 29, 1923. Designed by John Eberson, it is widely believed to have been the first of his "atmospheric" theatre designs. Here's a Chronicle ad for the first night's vaudeville lineup:

Immediately after the 1923 opening of the Rusk Ave. Majestic, the Texas Ave. Majestic became a "stock" theatre performing live plays with a regular group of actors who called themselves "The Majestic Players." The theatre and its stock company remained under Hoblitzelle's control.

Bill Bremer

The "Chronicle Block" is that in refrence to when Jesse Jones owned the Houston Chronicle and built around and over the theater.

Yes, that and the fact that the Houston Chronicle building sits on that particular block of land.

Immediately after the Majestic Theatre on Rusk opened, in 1923, the Majestic on Texas Ave. became a "stock" theatre and was re-christened "The Palace". A stock theatre was one in which a regular group of actors performed plays on stage. The stock company at the Palace in 1923 was called "The Majestic Players"

I've attached an ad for their first performance:

Here's another ad for the opening of the Majestic on Rusk in January, 1923:

Notice it's mostly all live vaudeville acts.

The Perry-Casta

Who remembers the big hole in the ground on the south bank of Brays Bayou just west of Greenwillow? We had quite a time riding our bikes down into and back out of that thing.

We regularly rode for miles on the flat concrete bottom of Brays Bayou, occasionally taking side "hikes" into the storm sewers that fed the bayou. There was one big pipe running up the middle of Stella Link in which you could walk (standing) all the way to Bellaire Blvd.

Not to split hairs, but...

The Texas Ave. Majestic on the "Chronicle Block" was actually the second Majestic Theatre in Houston. It opened on February 21, 1910.

The first Majestic Theatre was in converted retail space at 1306 Congress Ave. It began operation about 1905.

The third and final Majestic opened in January, 1923. Designed by John Eberson, it is widely believed to have been the first of his "atmospheric" theatre designs.

Bill Bremer