WillowBend56

I vaguely recall the opening of Meyerland Plaza. Must have been 1956 or 1957. There were spotlights that lit up the night sky announcing its opening. [some of the housing subdivisions in the area also used spotlights to attract home buyers.] Meyerland was such a big deal, we took our visiting cousins from San Antonio there to show off our new shopping center. I remember one cousin buying a set of Kooties---those mix-and-match plastic parts with which you could make your own insect critter. I was envious! Meyerland must be the place in Houston I first saw the organ grinder with a monkey.

I saw many a Disney movie at the South Main Drive-in between 1956 and 1960. We lived not far away off Willowbend. I also recall the kiddie train ride there and the mosquito fogger machines.

There's an interesting church by that name in the Houston area. I found reference to it at the Cavallini Studios stained-glass restoration website. http://www.saintkevork.org/

Did the Diocese ever have Christ the King processions through downtown or elsewhere?

So how many downtown area Catholic churches are there? At least three? I know the Hispanic parish, St. Joseph's, is fairly close to downtown. It was well known in the 1970s for its "mariachi" Mass. Isn't Annunciation church a Nicholas Clayton design? [Oops! That was mentioned above.]

It was the first Catholic church I remember. I returned in the mid 1970s and was not impressed. Most churches built since 1950 are not very spiritual places in terms of inspiring architecture. Here's a modern church I saw in July that elicits a mixture of feelings: http://members.shaw.ca/panthers7/WestminsterAbbey01.html Westminster Abbey in Mission, British Columbia. Definitely a modern concrete structure. It has some redeeming elements though.

It's been around since the 1950s. Definitely a modern style. Has it been renovated since its construction?

Is the Great Mining Company or Montana Mining Company still in business near Westheimer and Gessner?

There's a small Catholic church in Llano--the only one, in fact-- that has a tie-in with the actress Sophia Loren. On a plaque on the building, there's mention that she donated money for the construction or renovation of the church. I forget if the plaque states how she got involved with that particular church in such a small town remote from her native Italy. It's possible a former pastor was from Italy and knew her.

About a year ago I saw a card-size paper railroad pass with that name on it. It was from Houston and dated about 1936. Was this a predecessor of the miniature Hermann Park train? Update: Kiddie Wonderland ticket from the toy train located at 7800 South Main Street.

When I was a kid about 5 years old, I recall my mother picking up a Catholic sister in downtown Houston in the pouring rain and taking her to a convent in South Houston. This would have been circa 1958. The convent was two or more stories and had a really old (I think) cage-type elevator inside. In recent years, I've wondered where that was. Some have suggested Villa de Matel. I also recall this convent of my distant memory had a fairly new and modern girls school on the grounds for the time. In recent years I've have driven around exploring to try to identify it. I'm fairly certain now it must have been the Dominican convent. What had me fooled for so many years was the length of the drive from downtown to the convent. In the rain it seemed we drove forever to some place way south of Houston. By the way, did Houston ever have an Ursuline convent? I know Galveston certainly did and even Bryan, TX for a brief time after the Great 1900 Storm. Dallas, San Antonio, and even Laredo have or had Ursulines.