NenaE

Interesting... This is the park I was referring to in the Colonial Park topic post. It's the park that the Labor Day festivities were moved to, after storm damage at Colonial Park.  I never knew it was called Bismark Park. I've seen "Delmonico" on one map, but never this name. Makes sense that it was Eden Park later. The natatorium was at Eden. Seems that it was a popular place when Magnolia Park neighborhood was being promoted. The carousel was placed at the park front to attract attention, especially at night.

I've done some research on Colonial Park, as well. It was located south of Southmore (as stated above) on land owned by George Hermann. The park sat close to the trolley line that ran parallel to S.Main.

One newspaper article in the Summer/ Early Fall of 1914 stated that a Labor Day celebration had to be moved to another park following storm damage at Colonial Park. Another article in November 1914 described the amusement park lease termination and auction of all park items. This last date correlated with the death of George Hermann (Oct. 1914) and was when he left the land to the city for Hermann Park.

I wonder if the failure of the park had something to due with the start of WW1.

Oakland Pontiac Dealership at 7030 Harrisburg Blvd. Fox Apartments are upstairs. Year -1929.

On 3/16/2007 at 4:57 AM, KewpieCleaners said:

I seem to recall that Luby's sold some of their cafeterias fairly early on, and part of the agreement was that Luby's-owned cafeterias could not bear that name where non-Luby's owned cafeterias existed. This is the reason for the "Romana Cafeterias", which were identical to Luby's (even down to the little girl on the logo).

I always wondered why the Luby's matchbook covers (8440 Gulf Frwy) had the two names Romana's and Luby's. That was in the late '70's.

The newer Luby's (5300 block of Gulf Frwy, east side) didn't last long. The bldg is stll there, stands empty.

On 6/17/2014 at 1:01 PM, Michelle C said:

 

Early in the history of Houston the dealer ships seemed to be not only in the downtown area but were strung along Washington Ave. and Harrisburg and on around the curve onto Broadway. Washington Ave was old Hwy. 90 and continued on to Preston in the downtown area. Milam seemed to be heavily vested with dealerships in the downtown area, I can think of about a half dozen that was on Milam just off the top of my head.

 

Here's a very old auto sales business.

Milby Auto Company was located at 210-12 Broadway. Looks like the business expanded to include 222-24 Broadway.  (source: HPL digital  collections -Images & Directories, Houston (1923,1926). I'm guessing the later address  (8222 Broadway) is an error. Maybe it was supposed to read "at 222 Broadway". Cross streets have block numbers of 8000 & 8100. The original photo's outside staircase with small mid landing is the matchup clue to the GoogleEarth image. The front facade has been altered.

On 6/30/2008 at 1:31 AM, rome said:

Pretty sure about what I am about to tell you.

I come from an old Harrisburg Family.

Milby Mansion was actually located on the left side of Broadway past Harris Elementary School going toward town. I can't remember whether it burned down or was just torn down many many years ago. We are talking somewhere before peace being declared WWII.

The Grandparents of Charles Dow Milby lived there.

Charles Dow Milby lived in a gorgeous plantation style house with servants quarters accross from my grandmothers house. My Mom tells me it was torn down after Charles Dow's parents died or something of that. My Mom is still alive and is 84 years old. She came to my Grandmothers house after peace was declared and knew the Milby's. If you are curious where this house was, I can tell you my Grandmothers address and the house I speak of was located directly accross the street from her front door. We lived there all of my life up till 3 years ago when we sold it and moved with my husband. My Grandmothers house was built in 1927. located at 7924 Channelside Houston, Texas. What is now Channelside used to be Lawndale. Lawndale was changed to Channelside during Mayor Louie Welch's Administration.

Now the house that you are referring to and that most of my age group referred as "The MIlby Mansion" was in actuality "The Hammon House" owned by John Hammon. From what I understand the Hammonds and Milbys were interconnected by marriage somehow.

All these last names are either interconnected by marriages from the very fargone past or by friendships;

Todd, Milby, Deady, Hammon, Harris.

I am thinking councilman Robb Todd is related in someway to The Harrisburg "Todd Family".

By the way I think I am misspelling "hammon" My Mom says it like Hammond but if I remember correctly she told me "no, not Hammond but Hammon or Hamnon. I'll ask her tomorrow. She's went to bed now.

She called and talked to Charles Dow quite sometime back. That had to be late 80's or early 90's.

Most of these families have burial sites in the Glendale Cemetary down by Harris Elementary.

(See Glendale Cemetary Association.

I hope this helps!

I wonder why you ask if we remember the "Milby Mansion"?

I do and it was beautiful.

John Grant Tod Milby was the owner of the house on Medina (x Channelside). He was the son of Charles H. Milby. JGT Milby's sister was Mary Josephine Milby Hamman. She and her husband George lived in the old house on Broadway with her mother. After she died in 1941, Mary Jo. and George Hamman moved to the OGR estate.

The 1920 Houston directory (source: HPL) shows the Medina st. resident as:  John GT Milby, Cattleman, residence - West side of Medina. (N. of Myrtle) st. (later known as Lawndale, then Channelside), Harrisburg, Tx. He married Orlean Allen Milby in 1909 in Harrisburg, Tx.

John GT and Orlean Allen Milby had two children, Abbie Louise Milby Feagin (b.1910) and Charles Dow Milby (b.1912).

So the big house at 920 Medina must have been Charles Dow Milby's childhood home. His obituary was an interesting read. He graduated from U.T., served in the Coast Guard during WW2, and worked in the real estate and oil and gas industries. He loved to sail. That was no surprise, as there were Navy men on both sides of his family history. It also explains why he moved to Seabrook. One home address was on Todville Rd.

There may be a link to the Sam Allen cattle estate through the father of Orlean Allen Milby. Her father's name was Charles Dell Allen (Navy man). He may have been the younger brother of Sam E. Allen. The S.E. estate sat near the intersection of Sims and Buffalo bayous.

John GT Milby died in 1954 and Orlean Allen Milby died in 1958.

Below are Historic Aerial pics of the Medina st. house. It was standing in 1958 and gone in 1962.

Thank you Rome for sharing your mother's story. It had no clue that house ever existed.

I only knew of the 1960's Gulfgate location. It was above the bowling alley.

My grandmother took her car to the Harrisburg Blvd. location in the mid to late '60's. What a surprise. It's still there and has the same name.

The C.E.Schaff residence is listed on this Park Place brochure. (source, on-line - *HPL digital collections, Images).

 The map shows the house in the same place as the George Hamman and Mary Josephine Milby (daughter of Charles H. Milby) estate.

I studied the Park Place Facebook article with news clippings of the "two" houses. I also found old photos of the Schaff estate with fig orchards.(source-*HPL digital collections, Images, Schlueter collection)

It looks like the same place. Note the entrance gate columns in third pic and the line of oak trees in the last b/w photo.

The news articles state that Mrs. Hamman bought land adjacent to her property to create Milby Park, in memory of her father and to develop a Simms bayou neighborhood. But, the depression, chemical plants and sewage treatment plant shut down that idea. At some point, the estate was sold and slowly deteriorated. Historic aerial maps show the house standing in 1973 and gone in 1976.

The Directory of Discount Department Stores, 1980 (digital) Internet Archive (source) lists a Fedmart at 3030 Woodridge. (typed in error as Woodbridge).

It also lists the other Houston Fedmart locations, including the Mykawa store.

One search for Globe Shopping City lists their Gulfgate store at 3030 Woodridge with "later occupants" as Fedmart #291, and Mervyn's #118 (source - BluePages Wiki).

I actually visited that Woodridge Fedmart with my father when I was young (as mentioned in an earlier post).

I don't remember Cargo Houston. I only went to Westbury Square a few times. But World Market reminds me of the 1970's Pier One. I loved that store. It was located on I45S. (Gulf Frwy), just past Bellfort.

I don't remember Globe being near the cinema on 610 Loop S. I remember Fedmart was located  off Woodridge behind those old apartments on Village Way.  So, where exactly was the Globe store?

On 1/19/2021 at 3:36 PM, linearmovement said:

3810 Walker is a cool old house I always hoped would be restored to its former glory; the adjacent lot and the one across the street are both empty and usually overgrown, so the prospect of any kind of construction on those is exciting.

This house is much older than the HCAD - 1930's built info. says..(nothing new). I'm guessing it is at least from the early 1900's, if not older. The property directly behind the pictured house (all the way to Polk) is listed as the "Brady Estate" (Map, year 1908). Wondering if this house has a link to J.T. Brady.

My father drove a two-door '62 Pontiac Bonneville. It was white with a beautiful maroon interior. The upholstery and details were so impressive. 

I wonder what happened to that neon Pontiac sign in the original post photograph.

On 6/2/2019 at 2:02 PM, Avossos said:

 

Zoysia is good, but constant high traffic that doesn’t give the area some breather would be tough for any grass.

Thanks for the tip. I would probably use some gravel and stepping stones, as well. I’ll have to research the grasses of Texas. 

On 3/22/2019 at 10:05 AM, Avossos said:

 

I have been designing landscapes for 3 years and have not once used St. Augustine. There is so many better options.

Can you name a few alternate grasses to use in high traffic (two large dog) areas? I’m not a big fan of St. Augustine grass. The trees I prefer are pines. 

On 12/6/2013 at 10:19 AM, marmer said:

There's been some discussion about what appears to be a pony ride track with some small carousels on the corner of Main and University across from the old Rice Stadium.   It's there in 1940's aerials until the 1957 aerial on historic aerials.com.  After that, it became the site of the Tidelands.  Sanborn maps also show a filling station right at the corner c. 1950.

 

So, what was there?  Was this an earlier location of Kiddie Wonderland?  Or a smaller competitor in the crowded pony ride market?

In the 1950's - 60's, pony rides were very popular. The kiddie park or carnival mentioned frequently "before Holcombe" or "by the Prudential Bldg". was maybe Kiddyworld. I assumed in an earlier post that it was the one near Braes Bayou, called Kiddie Wonderland. Like you said, the one near Rice didn't last long. Maybe it had something to do with the university, due to the location. That's just a guess on my part. 

see link -

https://ricehistorycorner.com/2014/08/26/singing-cowboy-1955/

One thing is for sure, that area in the 1950's had a huge horse presence. There was a circus farm with stables, oval rings, and animal cages. I saw those on Sanborn maps. There were numerous other oval ring tracks, including one at the front of Playland Park, at one time (GoogleEarth). And don't forget the name of (now demolished) The Stables Restaurant that sat at Greenbriar and S. Main. Hmmm....And on the other side of Hermann Park sat the Almeda riding stables.

On 7/28/2015 at 4:09 PM, IronTiger said:

Wasn't at one time Main was completely different, with only Old Main Street Loop Road being the only remnant today? I thought I read something on HAIF about that...

I had no idea there was an old South Main... I've been tracing it tonight, using GoogleEarth - old (1940's-50's) views along with the new maps... you can still detect the road's path. Parts are overgrown or completely covered by new development. There are road blocks that hint at where the old path crosses over other newer roads. And what's up with those loop roads? One is over by Holmes Rd.

You can see where the Old Main St. takes a somewhat sharp turn around Knight and Fannin, forks off right after crossing Old Spanish Trail (Alt 90) and passes behind the Astrodome.

I had high hopes that the old mansion would be fully restored. But the restoration stopped a while back. Scaffolding is still standing and a front window is open to the elements. One of the old topographic maps shows that the natural bayou was located closer to the house. You can see traces of it on old aerial maps. 

All I remember about auto dealerships growing up in the sixties is --- the HUGE Rocket neon sign on Gulf Freeway near Gulfgate (outbound), the auto import place with small cars and round glass showroom, on the Gulf Freeway (inbound, close to Prince's & Finger's) and the mcm auto showrooms on S. Richey (Pasadena).

http://www.houstonisd.org/Page/32479

...an update to the link for finding some of the defunct HISD schools and other school histories.

... wondering --- Why isn't previous Fullerton Elementary (Harrisburg Blvd.) on the list... or have I just missed it?

This link says it was donated to the mission... http://www.opendoorhouston.org/about/our-history/

If my childhood memory is correct, there was a huge old Victorian structure with a double porch that sat to the left of Fullerton Elementary.

In the late 60's, it was a type of halfway house, remember the men all around as we passed by... had a chain link fence, with a gate, long sidewalk entry, and a bus stop waiting area just outside it...it always intrigued me. I have always wondered about it's history. Was a worn wooden structure, 2 story, with porch that ran the length of the front facade. It may have had corinthian columns, not sure. Anyone remember it?

On 1/14/2015 at 8:50 PM, NenaE said:

Building at Hardy & Opelousas and RR tracks was standing on unpaved road in year 1896. Sanborn Reference #63 posted on U.T. Perry Castenada Map Collection.  (I'm making an educated guess here, with that 3 referring to 3-story structure). See isuredid's post 74 for the better photos of the old building.

 

 

 

 

GoogleEarth tells me this really old building and its younger side building are no longer standing... shame... Windows hint  at an extremely old build date.

On 6/20/2017 at 6:24 PM, MIKE SH said:

I lived in those apartments on Plum Creek (Patricia Manor Apts) for 14 or 15 years. Used to sneak over to Stubbs all the time.

You are correct about Globe becoming Fedmart for a while. 

Holy crap! I remember the horseshoe pitch! I used to cut through there all the time.

I only remember the Patricia Manor Apartments (with those window unit a/c and 1950's cedar shingles) located near Ingrando Park, Plum Creek & Evergreen Dr. in the Southmayd subdivision area. Were they also named Patricia at the Gulfgate location? I would guess the Gulfgate area apartments were built about the same time as the Lawndale ones (by the cemetery). They were brick construction with small paned windows (1940's built?) that sometimes wrapped around the corner of the building. I always noticed the huge trees at the Gulfgate area apartments. Plum Creek was their water source, too bad they are gone. See the Aerial maps. A similar apartment complex to the Patricia sits around Telephone, before Park Place Blvd.

Telephone Rd. & Wheeler (yr. 1944 - b/w image & yr. 2011 - color image) source: GoogleEarth. 

The estate sat in the middle of these aerial photos. Follow the circle driveway up from bottom of photos. Palm trees sat near the estate entrance off of Wheeler. Recent (Year 2017) GoogleEarth image shows a park on the land, with a soccer field (guessing) at the location of the previous residential foundation. Note that I have rotated the photos, house would have faced east. 

On January 18, 2017 at 2:06 PM, Manny Castillo said:

My mom used to work at Sage in the early 70's. We lived on Elrod Street. We lived in a duplex with our neighbors named Freeman. Does anyone remember or lived near by. Maguaritte Ray Park was in our backyard.

We moved in like 1972 or 1973 to the Rio Grande Valley (South Texas) but I still faintly remember the neighborhood and park, and of course Sage where my mom worked.

              

Hi Manny. I didn't grow up in that neighborhood, but I'm from the area. Do you have any idea who Maguaritte Ray was? That particular section of Meadowbrook was originally called Sam Houston Gardens, and was linked to government housing, and the military. I find it very interesting.