Native Son

I worked at HL&P off of S. Shaver in 1974 with Dean Coryll's room mate. Dean Coryll had also been an HL&P employee. The room mate said he had never noticed anything strange going on. He soon quit due to harrassment. The boathouse that was in Houston was off Stella Link & Willowbend by the South Main Drive-in. This was blocks from my house. The spot on Bolivar was blocks from my family's beach house.

Houston had been known as the murder capital of the world for years before these monsters but it did help bring awareness that every missing kid was not a runaway and helped start the Runaway Hotline.

the boat storage was south of Main back off of Hiram Clark, just about 2 miles from where I grew up on Wuthering Hts. This horrific event always comes to mind when someone tells me how much more dangerous it is now than when we grew up

the last movie I saw there was "Von Ryan's Express" in my dad's Plymouth Fury III.....I remember it well

I grew-up on O'meara just off W. Belfort and everybody on one side of W. Befort went to madison while the other side went to Bellaire. You drove almost by Westbury to get to Madison. Lucky for me I was able to go under the radar and go to Westbury.

Marlins RULE....class of '79,

er, if I hadn't dropped out to take that construction job

my personal favorite memories of the Astrodome is seeing the cast of Bonanza at the HRLS in the late 60's with my big brother

Thanks for the info - I knew I should'a paid more attention to the Mr. Wizard shows since he probably

talked about this -- what I don't understand is that since under the plastic canopy, where the air was being pumped in, there was still water also -- thus how could people breathe the air being pumped in without getting the water in their mouths ? Or did the air push out the water so that there was an air pocket ?

speaking of smells of the pool area, I'm remembering suddenly the smell of the rink; not the greatest smell

but probably due to so many people sweating and the building itself being hot too since I think it was made

of galvanized metal; I think it had these big fans in the windows trying to circulate the air and always

tried to rest near one of those windows.

the skating rink predates me by a few years, and I ain't all that young.... in my day the big metal building in the parking lot was the indoor pool. I used to have swimming parties in February when I was in elementery school....that was reall cool back in the day....I miss it, but it was something from a different time...

Mel had the best bbq beans I have ever eaten! he use to chop up th fat side of the briskets and throw the meat in the beans for the best artery clogging time you could get as a side dish

a great thread !

going back to the first posting in this thread about what we called the "bubble":

"I remember going to the bottom of the Crystal Pool and entering the air dome made by a B17 plastic canopy. The canopy was chained to the bottom of the pool and air was pumped in from the bottom. The canopy trapped the air and floated about 3 feet off the bottom."

could someone explain more about how it all worked, and about what a B17 canopy is, and how one

could breathe under there -- for the non techical types ? I can't understand how if someone could

get into it, then how could the air remain there ?

I've wondered about how it all worked for so many years - never had the guts to even try to swim

down to it myself and over the years its become one of those unexplained mysteries of childhood;

maybe it would be better to let it be but after seeing this thread, got curious about it again.

I do remember the skating rink - lots of fun, hokey pokey, bunny hop, and the birtthday party

room that could be rented out.

good comments about the postcard and the "hills" ; I don't recall even the pool area looking

anything like the postcard but then the card doesn't show all the kids running around and hanging out.

the tall floating pole I recall was called the "Bobber" and I think you could climb up to the top

of it and swing back and forth on it.

In the mid eighties I drove over there and walked towards the back of what had been the parking lot and discovered the pool was still there; I remember a big metal structure floating in the water and am guessing

it was the Bobber. I tried to see if the bubble was still there but as per my comments in this post,

really didn't know what I was looking for and perhaps it was still there under the deep end.

thanks again for the memories.

the bubble was a Plexiglas canopy which was chained to the bottom of the deep end at 4 anchor points. A pump blew air through a hole in the bottom of the pool. the air stream was regulated so the air captured under the canopy was forced out by new air, therefore it did not become stagnant.

My older brother swears he has some old 8mm reels that relatives from NYC took at Gateway in the late 50's. I have yet to see the films. Like you, I have very fond memories of Gateway, tetherball, zinc oxcide on my nose, burgers and soft serve from the concession stand, and the Archies on the juke box...man, oh man..."Sugar, Sugar" I can almost smell the place now

there was an HISD magnet school called the Contemporary Occupational Training Center (COTC) in the mid 70's. It was located at Travis and McGowan, in an old auto dealership... I went there one year before going to Madison HS. Does anyone remeber this place, or know anything about it?

found this a minute ago...

http://www.houstonisd.org/HISDConnectDS/v/...00052147fa6RCRD

Looking again at the HCAD records, it doesn't appear that Willow Pool Inc. owns that land, only the commercial buildings. Maybe they have a long term lease? It also shows to be in a floodway which I think would prevent anyone from developing that land. Does that area flood regularly?

it sits on city land, as does the private school that is on the front of the property....I have not seen it flood in long time, but I was wondering more about the early years and story behind the construction...and we love it there too flipper..it is our regular summer vacation

Does anyone know the exact back story on the Willowbend Willow Pool? It is a quite, green oaisis off Cliffwood, and my understanding is that it has been there since the fifties, however it is not visible on the large arial photo of the Westbury area identified as the early 60's.....

I also remember when Meyerland Plaza was "dead" in the 1980s. Some of the tenants I remember were JC Penney, Palais Royal, Circus Toy (I think that was the right name), Walter Pye's, Beall's, TSO, Woolworth's, Kenney's Shoes, and the movie theater. I think there was also an Oshman's in the mall, but I may be getting it confused with Sharpstown. Beall's had a big clock on the outside that always showed the wrong time. Circus Toy had a yellow and green linoleum floor with clowns on it. I always liked going there because they were larger than World Toy in the Rice Village, and I was really mad when they closed. I also remember that there was this really creepy enclosed space that you had to pass through to get from the parking lot to the open air part. I think it was between Palais Royal and the Circus Toy space (roughly where Bed Bath & Beyond is now).

it was Playhouse Toys....back when stores could afford to be locally owned and independent.......

Luke's Hamburgers

Strawberry Patch

Harlow's... before Tillman got his hands on it

Dot's Cafe

The Brisket House downtown

Christi's on S. Post Oak

and

the consession stand at Gateway Pool!

I forgot about the great fried snapper at and shrimp and Kapan's

Bill Williams Steak House in old Sugar Land, fried chicken on Sunday, way before there were kids meals!

Wasn't Harlow's open all night? Just the place to go after an exciting evening at Cooters.

yep Harlows was open late back then, we always tried to save emough money after the clubs for an omlet and coffee

when somebody tells me how dangerous things are today I remind them of what it was like to be an 11 year old living a couple of mile from that boat storage shed in 1973.... back then missing kids were not on milk cartons or TV, they were mostly called run aways and written off.... it's not more dangerous, just more coverage.... 35 years later it still makes me feel sick

Luke's Hamburgers

Strawberry Patch

Harlow's... before Tillman got his hands on it

Dot's Cafe

The Brisket House downtown

Christi's on S. Post Oak

and

the consession stand at Gateway Pool!

I know that today that the part of the Shearn Elementary School boundary east of Stella Link is zoned to Pershing for MS and Madison for HS.

during the mid to late 70's we lived in Willowbend, and we were all zoned to Madison, even tough Westbury was less than 3 miles away.

Great post Stu. I was a senior that year and remember the incident quite well. I got in trouble with my hair that year and was threatened with being kicked out of D.E. if I didn't cut it. Not wanting to loose my afternoon job with Foleys and have to go to school all day, I ended up cutting it.

Power to the people!

I was in DE at Madison back in the late 70's. Does Distributive Educations still exist? I have mentioned to some of my friends kids and look at me like I am insane

that is what I love about this place....just for the asking! you guys are the best....

does anyone else remember the gravel loader across S. Main from the Mc Clendon Triple?...we used to climb that beast and watch movies without sound....back when that seemed like a cool thing to do

My father-in-law was a native Houstonian, and he used to talk about an old illegal casino/brothel(?) out Hwy 90. He said it existed after WWII and up into the 1950's. There was an old brick gatehouse just west of the current Beltway on the south side of 90 that he said belonged to the casino...does anyone know about this, or was my late father-in-law yankin' my chain? Jake Friedman Domain Privee Casino At 11620 South Main St.

Edit: This is actually located on Old Main Street Loop Road near South Main Street (Highway 90.)

Does anyone know if there is a relatively new halfway house or residential treatment facility in the Willowbend area? It would likely be between Stella Link and S. Post Oak and works prmarily with late teens?

Are you talking about the new flood control drainage park by the westbound 610 loop feeder, across from the Metro park and ride?

Yep, that's it..thanks, cause I could not read that sign from the loop

First of all, are there any pictures of the old Meyer estate on Brasewood, just east of Post Oak? Secondly, does anyone know what is going up there?

Wow you guys bring back memories,

Can't say I know much about Playland, but I sure spent some time at the various Malibu fun centers around town. Which there were at least three that I went to regularly. First as a young kid, then a teen and later took my kids to as well.

The first where the triple homicides took place was at 59 and Westpark, right at the curve. The place was doomed even before this happened, mainly due to the neighborhood it was in, or near I should say. "The Gulfton ghetto"

The second was probably better known as Malibu "Castle" fun center, on 610 about two blocks up from Old Katy Rd. This place only recently closed down, what a shame! I have so many memories from here, with all the little houses and castles around the golf courses all lit up at night. Took several dates here durring high school. Ahhh....Good Times, Great Oldies! LOL

The third was on the North side of town. This was Malibu/Watercoaster. The water slides were built into the side of a big hill, and were constructed from concrete. This particular one closed down well before the other two. Dont know the year though. There was also another Watercoster place on Galveston Island near Stewart beach.

All three had the same Malibu race cars, but Castle fun center was the only one with mini golf, bumper boats and batting cages. It was far and away the best Mini golf in Houston. Mountasia just doesn't have the same feel this place did.

Games People Play, thats another one. On 1960 in the Champions area. What a waterslide that was, Huge wooden water tower with the three slides comming out of it. (Anyone remember Sawmill run?)

Now the Putt Putt/Games People Play on Fondren and Beechnut was where I went most often. This started life as just a Putt Putt golf center, then later became GPP and added an arcade and go carts. Some of the best times I had as boy with my dad were here, when it was just Putt Putt. If I close my eye's I can still hear KC and the Sunshine band playing over the PA system at Putt Putt, and get a little chill when I do.

Those times down at Sea Arama were great too. BTW in response to a post made long ago. The name of the park next to here was Jungle Surf, another favorite.

Who here remembers the clock/puppet show thing that they used to have at Sharpstown Mall, back when Sharpstown was just a one story shopping center. This thing went off every hour or half hour, and we used to sit in the drug store snack bar waiting till time for it to go off. Those were the days!

Question for anyone,

We went many times to the mini golf place on Belfort. Was it "Gooney" or "Goofy" golf? I seem to remember it being Goofy golf for some reason.

Regards,

Rhino

It was Goony Golf, I worked there for about year while I was in highschool...place had THE NASiEST BATHROOMS IN TOWN!

wasn't Madison primarily white when it opened liked Sterling? Then they migrated to Fort Bend and opened Willowridge and so on and so on...

In 1965 Madison was located on the fringe of a rural area....the farms were old, and the subdivisions were brand new.

I guess it depends on who you mean by "they". My neighbors on Wuthering Hts seemed to all move to Kingwood or the Woodlands in the early to mid 70's...I don't think Ft. Bend was far enough away from whatever they thought they were running from

I can't even imagine "cars" shooting at anything, lol.

that would probably be a lot funnier if I hadn't driven by just before the cops got there....several angry people standing by a pick up with the windows shot out