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That slide bar comparison feature is one I've used quite a bit on the Historic Aerials site. Nice to see GoogleEarth offering it as a research tool.

That name was The Eagle Drive-In. I mentioned it in a recent post about drive-ins. I don't think it lasted very long, 1950's to early sixties. Hurricane Carla may be to blame.

Cinema Houston mentions the Parkway Drive-In at 7300 South Lake Houston Parkway (North Houston) "operated through the late seventies". p.223 I couldn't find anything on the Cedars.

That's a tricky one to pinpoint. It's often confused with the Town & Country Drive-In, located at 4716 Red Bluff. If you use the approximate address of 3903 Red Bluff, it will get you in the general area of the Eagle. Its concession stand concrete foundation is behind and to the right of Amegy Bank. I verified this info. with my brother-in-law. He grew up in the area. The 1950's Eagle Drive-In had a large neon green eagle on the screen backside. The "I Grew Up in Pasadena, Tx" facebook group has quite a bit of info. on all of the Pasadena area theaters. FilioScotia is right, those aerial maps are amazingly detailed. Sometimes, you have to use both HistoricAerials and GoogleEarth to see the progression, through the years. Cinema Houston book mentions Town & Country, but not The Eagle Drive In.

That is one of my favorite books. It utilizes Sanborn maps, diagrams, personal stories, and photos. The oral histories are so interesting. They recount a time when there was a whole blend of cultures in the Galveston alleyways, through the many plants, trees, music and food the workers brought with them. I recall one story of the fragrant air, the sandy path and the moonlight. If you are careful, you can see traces of alleys in some of the older Houston neighborhoods. Park Place, Riverside, and Pineview come to mind.

google: Cite 69 l OffCite - By The Wayside for info. on the Lawndale Village Apartments... p.30, 3rd paragraph. Architect/ developer was William Giddings Farrington. You can find his biography at - Uhsystem.edu - interesting note - he would later develop Tanglewood. The sources mention the strong design of the yr.1944 apartment units, the war defense effort and Hughes Tool. The Lawndale Village Apartments were similar to the ones by the VA Hospital. He designed those, as well. Interesting, about the Redwood Apartments. It is a huge place. The redwood Wahoo Bar sat next to them, facing Lawndale Dr. I wouldn't be surprised if the apartments housed pilots and the families of WWII workers. And after WWII ended, there was a housing shortage. So, they could have had many uses.

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?

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.

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.

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.

Nice photographs. The Foley's in Pasadena had a train engine with cars that kids could climb on and through. It was the size of a miniature train, positioned in the middle of the children's shoe section, not on a wall. I vaguely recall yellow and orange colors of the early seventies. I remember carpeted rail steps, as well.

http://digital.houstonlibrary.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/maps more nice old Houston maps, digitized... Houston Library.

http://www1.pasadenaisd.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=80772&pageId=3303748 This Pasadena school link has a nice list and pics of favorite sixties teen places. Included is a photo of the newer teen hall on S. Richey. I looked it up on GoogleEarth, it's original design is hidden. It's a pawn shop, now.

I couldn't believe it, when I saw this building! The sign near the road is newer, but the building looks original (maybe someone can confirm) and the sign on the facade is how I remember it, originally, in the 60's, or was it the 70's? Alfies. I remember the location on Nasa Road 1, and one on Edgebrook, by a pizza place, close to Old Galveston Road. Address for Texas City location, from Google Earth is approximate, @ 2151 FM 1764 or @ 2170 9th Ave N. and another location with facade, still unaltered, 60's white with brown, Olde English look. 108 E. Edgebrook Dr.

OldHouseLover, I think the second house is the one located in Forest Hill, on Pasadena St. It's still standing, overlooking the bayou, and faces a NE direction. It's also near the old section of Forest park cemetery. We have talked about it quite a bit on this forum. It was originally built by a person associated with the railroads. And btw, the original main entrance to the Forest Hill neighborhood was off of Harrisburg Blvd.

I can remember thinking how strange it seemed, when the 281 phone numbers were introduced. Don't have a clue what year that was.

Linda, you may be thinking of James S. Deady Jr. High School. It sits on Broadway, close to Loop 610. A YMCA sits on 610, south of the junior high school. Gulfgate Shopping City was located at I-45 (Gulf Freeway) and Loop 610, close by (west) of these buildings. Glen Echo Apts., yeah, that name sounds familiar, too.

I finally stopped by the old garage/ Texas Junk Co. on Welch St. about a month ago. I enjoyed it. Talked to the owner of the company, interesting fellow. I bought an old door knob, a small art deco spoon, and an old book about Indianola. His boot collection was impressive. I told him I wanted to just see the building. I like to see buildings with original facades, that still look OLD. That screen door entrance and the interior... oozes of motor oil and the 1930's. Does anyone know the story of the "No Cats Junk"? was that the business before Texas Junk? love those cats! BTW: The boot co. owner was given notice (as some of you may have read) to vacate the building by end of September. Hate to see this happen. Guess he lost his lease.

Oh, yeah. That makes sense, it does look like the Gerland's store style I remember, in the sixties.

Awesome research and documentation of Almeda Mall's birth and design. Enjoyed seeing it all again, the mall layout photos, mall landscape design, colored renderings, and logos. The naming of the two twin malls was an interesting read. I always wondered why the two mall names weren't consistent (ex. Northwest, Southeast).

I guessing it was a Weingarten's. Reminds me of the Lawndale and Gulfgate Weingarten locations of the fifties - sixties.

Ok, I remember that sign, too. I believe the bottom had a red background with white letters, blue planet, green spherical circles. It's not the one I was picturing at that location. But, I may be getting them mixed up. Nice ad!