Marty Blaise

I had been using zxq.net for a host and they have had major problems. Apparently my abandoned roads and highways site is gone. Also my high school website and church site as well, so I have to start over. The good news is I have all my abandoned roads and highways and bridges photos and will rebuild. I have 100 plus photos from the Houston area and near Houston/around Texas. So I just need to find a good webhost. Hope to rebuild even better. Marty Blaise

Agreed. My guess is oid oil well roads, unpaved and perhaps trailers or shantys.

Guess many of them were condemned to make way for the new.

I have been finding some interesting things on historicaerials.com and google earth. For example, if you zoom to the area roughly bounded by Breen Road on the north, Fairbanks-North Houston on the west, West Little York on the south and North Houston-Rosslyn to the east, take a look at the subdivisions that exist today. It appears that many of these subdivision streets were built around 1980-81, maybe a few years earlier. But go to this same part of Harris County on the 1973 map and you'll see faint outlines of a different pattern of roads, VERY different from the subdivision. Go back to 1966 and earlier and the roads seem to be much brighter indicating a more heavily used road (or else the 73 aerials photography was not that good?). One road in particular is even more intriguing, if you go back to the 1953 aerial you can see a bridge over White Oak Bayou. By 1957 it's hard tell if there's a bridge. By 1962 the bridge is not even there. Anyone know if there are any road maps that might provide a clue to these streets. The oldest Houston city map I have is 1955, but this area was well outside the city limits then and not on the map. == I've also found some more clues regarding the James Bays Subdivision and Rosslyn plots if anyone is interested. - Marty Blaise

Some of these roads are built out. I took the photos before they were built, So I guess those were temporarily abandoned. I need to update some of the text. 

I have tried to go through my website of abandoned roads/highways/bridges in Houston (and also around Texas) and fix the broken links. The site is at www.abandonedroads.zxq.net. I hope to add more in the future.

Marty Blaise

It might not have been the airport but a water tower in that area. It had a very unique checkerboard type pattern not seen anywhere else

I am still looking for any photos of the old water tower that was at andrau air park

As promised, I have taken more photos of abandoned streets in Houston. My main page is at http://www.abandonedroads.zxq.net.

Benner Hospital
Established Date: 1937
Address: 202 Hutcheson Street
Hospital Administrator/Owner: Leona Benner-Langston

You can access those new photos directly at

http://abandonedroads.zxq.net/Ball.htm

http://abandonedroad...t/hutcheson.htm

http://abandonedroad...thmacgregor.htm

Hope you enjoy the photos and a small bit of Houston history. -- Marty Blaise

Thanks everyone. I have corrected those two broken links. -- The areas around downtown are a great hunting ground for old roads. Before we had freeways in the downtown area, there were many roads, especially in industrial areas. Some roads still exist, but in a much shorter form. And there are those streets that disappear completely. Before Montrose was extended over Memorial, there were short streets called Winnie, Butler and Brown. Others now gone were Avie, Willia, part of Wichman, Raymond and Barness. Butler Street was where the Scouts used to deliver used newspaper. Today, where these streets were, are lofts and condos. -- John Williams has an awesome site about the west side of Houston - it's been on here, but I'll post the link - http://www.westhoustonarchives.org/ - with great information about roads that existed prior to the building of Barker and Addicks reservoirs. -- One of my favorites my site is Old Katy Road -- today it's a dead end road on two sides of a railroad track. Fifty or 60 years ago it was a major thoroughfare! Another is Neurath Plaza, a real mystery, in which only a tiny chunk of concrete remains, now behind a locked gate. Who is it was named for is up for grabs. -- I'll look up some other roads that have gone away and see if we can perhaps find a little bit of history. -- And no, Breen Road was never Mulberry, except on early subdivision plans.

I have been compiling my photos of abandoned streets in Houston as well as many photos of abandoned highways and bridges. I built a website where you can see the photos and learn a little bit of the history. It has taken quite a while to put this together. I hope you enjoy it. In some cases, I used Google Earth and other sources for aerials that help show the history of the areas. It's not a fancy website, just one that tells many stories. So, here is the link:

http://abandonedroads.zxq.net

Thank you.

Marty Blaise

Houston, Texas

August 2012

On a 1952 Houston road map there is an airport shown north of West Road and west of Airline Drive. Somewhere in the vicinity of where Aldine High School is today. Was there ever an airport at this location? -- Also just curious if anyone has any old pictures of Andrau Air Park.

Old street maps say Mulberry, but I can't find anyone who has known it as anything but Breen. I may have posted this before somewhere, so sorry if this is a dupe.

Thanks for the diagram. It is awesome! How many other subdivisions were laid out like this and even had roads cut, but then things changed. I know of one fancy subdivision called Grand Mission on Grand Mission Blvd. The streets were laid out and built, and a railroad crossing built, but then for some reason the railroad crossing was barricaded and it was several years before houses were built. I know of others were streets were built and then barricaded, without a single house being built.

Modern day Bingle crosses several remnants of these streets. And the service road to 290 is called Poppy Street.

Another unbuilt set of streets is down by where Pinemont crosses White Oak Bayou. Parts of streets exist but others were never built all the way through like Dayport and Balbo. I find it interesting that many old street maps jumped the gun sometimes and guessed that a road would be built.

East T.C. Jester between Rosslyn and 11th St. is a good example. As far back as the middle sixties maps were showing this section open! It was not built for years later!

I had a map that showed a road going over a (street) bridge across a creek somewhere near Greenspoint. When I got there it was a foot bridge!

The other thing that bugged me as a kid was those road maps that showed Loop 610 open with "service roads only" = when the freeway was under construction! Talk about confusing.

I think the highway department or somebody is putting one over on us. The two beams that extend out farther from the freeway (59) are at the points where those original ghost ramps were in place on the east side of the freeway. I haven't checked the other side yet. That is just too eerie. Too coincidental to be ironic.

Here is a good example of stub outs (or ghost ramps) - http://maps.google.com/?ll=29.681871,-95.380283&spn=0.001763,0.001725&hnear=8611+Twisting+Vine+Ln,+Houston,+Texas+77040&t=h&z=19 and here's another, both of these on SH 288 - http://maps.google.com/?ll=29.69816,-95.375893&spn=0.001763,0.001725&hnear=8611+Twisting+Vine+Ln,+Houston,+Texas+77040&t=h&z=19.

There are many stub outs or ghost ramps around Houston for roads that were never (or haven't yet) been built. SH288 was originally going to be two freeways, with the inside an express freeway with few exits, that would have been a quick way to and from downtown. I guess funding issues caused its downfall.

Other stubs in the Houston area:

SH 225 ending before Broadway

Fort Bend Parkway both ends

Grand Parkway

Never built freeways in Houston area - Connection from 610 to Fort Bend Parkway, Fairmont Parkway Freeway, Red Bluff Road Freeway, extension of SH 35 to Alvin and around Alvin, two gaps in US90 Crosby Freeway before BW8, rest of Crosby Freeway to Dayton, Grand Parkway/Tollway sections, SH249 north of Spring-Cypress Road, SH146 sections from Baytown to Texas City.

John - I run a Facebook page for Abandoned Highways, Bridges and Streets. I have taken pictures of abandoned highways all across Texas and a few abandoned streets in Houston. Really enjoyed your webpage. Sounds like we have some common interests and I live in Houston. - Marty

As part of my search for abandoned highways and roads, I look on maps for all kinds of information. I also use historicaerials.com to see how things were in the Houston area in 1957 compared to today. Something I found that is really unusual is that a subdivision appears to have been platted and laid out with dirt roads circa 1957, but does not exit today, except for a handful of streets. If you know your maps, go the area just north of Pinemont Street, and follow Bingle up to Tidwell. Then, go to Historic Aerials and look at that area for Houston in 1957, you will see rectangle squares of roads laid out. Zooming in is inconclusive, but it certainly looks like the layout of a subdivision. If you can find a Houston street map from the late 50s or early 60s, sometimes they have these "streets" on the map. You can still see some of the lines when you view 1964, but as you progress through the aerials, you will see less and less streets as the "subdivision" vanishes. A couple of streets do exist today, and a few are simply stubs, but it seems to me that someone had plans of some sort way back when and apparently things did not go as planned. If anyone has any information on this area of streets, I'm all ears.

I have been trying to locate old photos of where State Highway 225 would have connected in downtown Houston. I remember years ago there were stub outs on U.S. 59 for what would have been exits to and from 59 to 225. I regret that I never took any photos of those stub outs since 59 was completely redesigned a few years back. The best I can place the stub outs is just to the east of where Minute Maid Park rests. Apparently 225 was to follow Harrisburg and then tie into 59 somewhere about the old train station location. Anyone have any photos? I am interested in abandoned highways and roads and this one has me wondering. The aerial photos are not conclusive. I also know there was a stub out not related to 225, but farther up on 59 near Buffalo Bayou. I wonder what that would have been for as well.

I wonder if anyone has noticed that Bellfort is complete all the way now. A small section from Buffalo Speedway to South Main was recently opened. I actually found it quite useful for work as a way to get around the South Main traffic jams at 610. I had a work project in the area and just happened to notice it was there. One interesting thing is that there are barricades where Old Main St. Loop Road once ran. Glad to see someone remembered that road.

With Bellfort complete, I can now realize that those old dashed lines on the map can now be filled in. Looks like Buffalo Speedway is also under construction. What other dashed roads of the old maps of 50 years ago are now under construction?

Anyone drive the new section of U.S. Highway 90? What's up with that? There are two gaps where there are no main lanes. It's a full freeway most of the way, but when you get closer to BW 8 is where the main lanes disappear. Just curious.