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I'm surprised to find so many of the 1950's oblong-style gas stations w/ canopies intact, still standing in my old neighborhood; obviously they have gone through changes, not original-looking, in the least. But the shells are the same, found at Ahrens/ Howard Dr. & Ahrens/ Oriole Sts. (Southeast Houston) . I know of one remnant of a 1950's or maybe early 60's style, at Westview Dr./ Witte Rd. (I-10, Beltway area). Have only seen one ranch-style, looks like it's been recently modernized, at N. Post Oak & Memorial Dr. I imagine the gas station toys are highly collectible. I recall Shamrock gas station promotionals, one being beverage glass sets, as well as stations w/ bonus & green stamps, in the late 1960's - 1970's, that could be saved & traded for merchandise.

Oh no, not another one demolished for a parking lot. That's sad. Thanks fro the info. and pic. I know I've heard that bldg. name before, somewhere in my reading.

In post # 32's photo, you can see on the left, towards the bottom, where a strip of vacant land is, between homes, that's where the freeway (loop 610) cut through the land. It curved around the top of the Meyer house and followed the S. Post Oak Road in the right bottom, crossing over the bayou. I watched the property, in later years, in all phases of change, until it became a water holding tank. Att one time, it was a beautiful property with nice trees and grass. Too bad it ended up like that. I never saw the house standing. It must have burned many years ago.

I don't recall seeing that bldg. in pic two. Where is it located? And what's the name on the side of it? Looks like HOGAN ALLNOON DRY GOODS CO. Can anyone confirm? Yeah...Nice pics.

ftp://ftp.dot.state....s_stations_.pdf Nice paper, pics, and diagrams of gas stations, aka service or filling stations. http://www.dfwfreewa...ldroadmaps.aspx note the picture of "city of tomorrow" 1972.

Very interesting topic... hadn't heard of these before...there is a book about Humble Oil (I've listed, might have something about the camps in it), I would check with the Houston library Texas room, says on-line they have a copy, maybe they would look it up for you. They have always seemed very eager to help, they could probably give good advise about where exactly to look. http://www.amazon.ca...9731171-1845502 I recently viewed an old Houston map, and was very surprised to see so many oil fields on the south side of town, where I grew up. That explains all those pumps I saw. It was the area around Winkler, Old Galveston Road, and the Gulf Freeway. Stella Link/ Holmes Road had quite a few, as well. Imagine there were camps there, as well. One link says the houses were often moved. Found a few links: http://www.katymagaz...ike-katy-tx.pdf camp house: http://news.webshots...099034237IItkpI here's the Houston map: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/topo/texas/txu-pclmaps-topo-tx-houston_and_vicinity-1955.jpg

I noticed on the historic aerials (year 1957) & freeway map, above, that two roads led out of the Meyer estate. One is labeled Meyer Forest Dr., roughly where Meyer Park Blvd. is now. The freeway map link photo shows what looks like a sandy or dirt road that led roughly to the neighborhood where the William Jenkins house sat, on Willowgrove St., before W. Bellfort was there. The other road led out to S. Post Oak Rd. (before the freeway took over).

I have never driven through the neighborhood you speak of, Fringe, though I've passed by it a million times. GoogleEarth shows a house at 9015 Cliffwood Dr. with a very sunken front lawn. Looks like it was a naturally occuring ravine; they probably built the original house around it. Do you recall it? From viewing HCAD documents, seems that some of the houses on that street have had flood issues. The original house at 9015 is gone, looks like a new build took it's place, with a bridged front walk. I'll have to drive by that one, and check it out. I really like the design of the one next door, at 9011 Cliffwood Dr. Too bad it has flood issues.

That streetcar map is great. Thanks for sharing it. The landmarks are interesting, had no idea the Buff stadium was that old.

http://www.texasfreeway.com/houston/historic/road_maps/images/1961_houston_enco_highres.jpg This map shows the Spring Branch Country Club between I-10 and Clay road. Maybe that's the golf course you speak of. Historic aerials shows a possible course (manicured land) in the 1957 map, and the school in the 1964 map in that location.

http://houstonmod.or...27&by=lost&ss=1 This link gives the address, 304 East Viejo Rd., it sat off of FM 518 between FM 528 & Bay Area Blvd. GoogleEarth shows a rectangle structure at the end of a long tree-lined drive (East Viejo Dr.) that looks like it stood until the 2002 map. Eventually it disappeared and was replaced by a large angled-roof house. A pool and maybe a garage (changed, new roof?) or guest house (seen in blueprint) seem to have remained from the original layout. Looks like the land all around this spot was divided and sold for lots for residential development.

I stand corrected...here's a link from HoustonMod, with layout. http://houstonmod.or...hausExtract.pdf I get the feeling it was some kind of experiment in elaborate, temporary ranch housing. What a beauty.

http://www.houstonar...ds-on-swamplot/ ...an earlier thread that discusses the round Dr. Lieb house .

This house is in the first Houston Architectural Guide, p. 154. Says: Louis Letzerich, Sr. Ranch FM Road 518-Friendswood 1962/ Cowell & Neuhaus David Haid, Assoc., arch. ...it's a shame it was moved. Love that design. It reminds me of the bank designs of the 1960's that are scattered around Houston.

http://www.golfcrestcountryclub.com/Golfcrest-Country-Club-History_4.html You can still see remnants of the old golf course location, the land and the ponds to the south of the property...see GoogleEarth. Looks like the swimming pool became a bus barn. Happy to know that the Spanish style bldg. is still on the old golf course property.

I've been looking at this house on the aerial maps, it was huge! Does anyone know what style it was? What did it look like? A friend of mine from work who grew up in Bellaire said it burned down, looks like in the 1980's, maybe. Looks like it was built after early 1950's. Didn't realize until today that the front of the house faced north, back was to the freeway.

http://citemag.org/w..._Fox_Cite20.pdf --- Stephen Fox's Cite article - see no. 13 for builder of Skylane Inn and apartments... http://cgi.ebay.com/...R-/140518415984 --- ebay matchbook for sale. ---there is also a picture of the motel sign in the first Houston Architectural Guide, p. 151.

Was the Skylane Inn torn down to build the HISD school? When I type in the address on the ad I get apts. That can't be right. But what's confusing is the street leading into the apts. is nmed Skylane. Wonder what happened to the flagstones, I remember them on the bldg.

Were the Skylane Apts. the huge complex that sits to the south of where the Sage store was? I remember Sage for their toy dept., school supplies, pet store, and record dept. Wasn't a large chain-type, reminded me of a mom-and-pop type of place. But they did have more than one store. Had a neat second story grill in the I-45 store, never got to go up. The fault-line does affect that area, from the ground water removal. Very visible in some neighborhoods in that area.

http://search.har.co...HAR25172763.htm 1014 River Bend house...Harwood Taylor design. seen in above post # 4.

Cool ads Sevfiv...The Skylane Inn was a cool '60's place. I can remember being drawn to the huge neon sign and the name "Orbit Room". Sadly, in later years it fell into shabby-ness, like all the rest. The neon signs in those days were much better looking.

So I guess it's only the warehouse being sold?

In this city, can't say that I'm really that surprised. Figures.

I'm sure it did. I was just reading the history about the Foley's downtown store in a Cite article. It mentioned the elaborate details of the store, one being the package delivery system associated with the Downtown location. They also brought up the warehouse, just outside of downtown. If you look at old maps and aerial maps a lot, you can see how the freeway system chopped up eveything. It bulldozed and cut up whole neighborhoods. The building is actually pretty large. Once again, are both bldgs. being sold, or just the warehouse, not the showroom?

Great news...a Foley's book. I'll be getting that one. Thanks for the heads up.