Bacliff, TX

[WUPgirl]

I spent a lot of time in my younger years in Bacliff and was wondering how it is today. I remember it as having only churches and beer joints .. maybe a couple of grocery stores.

It's been about 12 years since I've visited, but any major changes in that area?

[plumber2]

I spent a lot of time in my younger years in Bacliff and was wondering how it is today. I remember it as having only churches and beer joints .. maybe a couple of grocery stores.

It's been about 12 years since I've visited, but any major changes in that area?

It's exactly like you left it.

[MidtownCoog]

What's the good seafood restaurant down there? Never been but read good stuff about it.

[mikeybob2]

What's the good seafood restaurant down there? Never been but read good stuff about it.

When I was younger we used to go to a place called "Hillman's" in Bacliff. I always thought it was going to slide into the bay (the building leaned a lot). They had a great little house salad with shrimp and I loved their huge platters of fried shrimp. I haven't been in about 20 years. Not sure if that is the "good one" or if it even exists any longer, but it sure was good back then...

[WUPgirl]

What's the good seafood restaurant down there? Never been but read good stuff about it.

Bacliff used to be called Clifton by the Sea a very long time ago, and I'm *thinking* that's the name of the restaurant there. It's right on the water, right? Back in the days I used to go there, that particular place was just another beer joint, owned by a very nice older couple. Can't remember now what it was called, but it was next door to a liquor store and across the street from a pretty brick home, right on the water. There used to be a nice public peer there, but I'm pretty sure that's gone now.(?)

It's exactly like you left it.

No progress at all plumber?

[musicman]

Bacliff used to be called Clifton by the Sea a very long time ago, and I'm *thinking* that's the name of the restaurant there. It's right on the water, right? Back in the days I used to go there, that particular place was just another beer joint, owned by a very nice older couple. Can't remember now what it was called, but it was next door to a liquor store and across the street from a pretty brick home, right on the water. There used to be a nice public peer there, but I'm pretty sure that's gone now

clifton's burned but it was rebuilt. last time i was down there it was still open. but that has been 2 yrs maybe.

Edited October 27, 2007 by musicman

[plumber2]

"Clfton By The Sea" was the restaurant right at the foot of Grand Ave on the the water and yes it burned awhile back. The fire was suspicious. The new place was not as good as the original, but people still went there because it wasn't as hard to get to as the places in Kemah and Seabrook.

Hillman's was on Dickinson Bayou at 146. It closed after Hurricae Alicia in 1983 because it could not renew it's health permit wthout making extensive improvemnts. The Hillman family still owns the property as it's part of their seafood processing facility. You can buy seafood there but you gotta take it home and cook it.

[WUPgirl]

"Clfton By The Sea" was the restaurant right at the foot of Grand Ave on the the water and yes it burned awhile back. The fire was suspicious. The new place was not as good as the original, but people still went there because it wasn't as hard to get to as the places in Kemah and Seabrook.

Hillman's was on Dickinson Bayou at 146. It closed after Hurricae Alicia in 1983 because it could not renew it's health permit wthout making extensive improvemnts. The Hillman family still owns the property as it's part of their seafood processing facility. You can buy seafood there but you gotta take it home and cook it.

Thanks plumber - I would have sworn Hillman's moved to San Leon. I'd love to get back to that area again - maybe someday! Have a nice weekend.

[TheNiche]

I spent a lot of time in my younger years in Bacliff and was wondering how it is today. I remember it as having only churches and beer joints .. maybe a couple of grocery stores.

It's been about 12 years since I've visited, but any major changes in that area?

I've got family from there, and plumber is mostly correct. Not much has changed of Bacliff proper.

...but 146 has changed a fair bit. I can remember when they got their first fast food restaurant...Jack in the Box, I think...and that was regarded as growth. Since then, they've gotten a few more establishments along 146 and both League City and Kemah have been so thoroughly transformed that Bacliff just doesn't seem as remote anymore.

Btw, the restaurant in San Leon that is so good is Topwater Grill.

[WUPgirl]

I've got family from there, and plumber is mostly correct. Not much has changed of Bacliff proper.

...but 146 has changed a fair bit. I can remember when they got their first fast food restaurant...Jack in the Box, I think...and that was regarded as growth. Since then, they've gotten a few more establishments along 146 and both League City and Kemah have been so thoroughly transformed that Bacliff just doesn't seem as remote anymore.

Btw, the restaurant in San Leon that is so good is Topwater Grill.

Thanks for the info - rarely made it to San Leon, but do remember the spillway on the highway (518?) from Bacliff to San Leon. Wasn't there a little park there with tables and swings for the kids?

Also, come to think of it, wasn't there a club in San Leon called Castaways or was that in Kemah?

[TheNiche]

Thanks for the info - rarely made it to San Leon, but do remember the spillway on the highway (518?) from Bacliff to San Leon. Wasn't there a little park there with tables and swings for the kids?

Bayshore Park on Bayshore Drive. I know it well.

[VicMan]

San Leon used to have elementary school kids sent to K.E. Little ES in Bacliff. Now San Leon has its own school.

EDIT: The Handbook of Texas states that San Leon used to have its own school district, but that was eliminated. Now San Leon has its own school... again... http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online...s/SS/hls12.html

In other words, it seems like San Leon is developing, and perhaps it will cause Bacliff to develop...

Edited October 28, 2007 by VicMan

[Vertigo58]

Our family used to visit Bacliff or rather that area by the spillway/waterway where people fish and there is a park on one side around 1968-72. The other side is now a camp/trailor area? Well that very spot was once open to the public and all cars could park on the edge and kids could swim or most people would go crabbing. The very same concrete (narrow) jetties are still there. It was interesting to walk on it like a cat would to go to the end. We would have to curl up in a ball so other people could walk over you. You got to know everyone quite well of course. Everyone would catch huge blue crabs here.

The best part was the great views of cargo ships coming inot the ship channel from a distance, very picturesque. I recall a lady once painting the scenes on the beach. We have a friend who's mom had a home right on the waters edge in Bacliff. All they had on the property was a trailer then later built this beautiful house. There used to be a very popular biker bar on that dead end near that seafood restuarant on waters edge, but it burned down years ago. You have to take a very slow drive into the neighborhood and check out the beach cottages on waters edge. You get that feeling that your in another place like Florida Keys. Could swear Jimmy Buffet's around somewhere. Fellow Parrotheads would understand.

[Vertigo58]

Typical beach cottage in Bacliff:

Typical kid looking at seagulls in Bacliff:

[TheNiche]

Could swear Jimmy Buffet's around somewhere. Fellow Parrotheads would understand.

Perhaps not Buffet, but I have it on good authority that someone high-profile keeps a residence in Bacliff. A name we'd all recognize but that we'd just brush off as a coincidence if we ever came across it. If you think about it, it really is the perfect place for someone to avoid bringing attention to themselves.

[musicman]

i know dusty hill from zz top just put his san leon house for sale.

dusty hill house

[BigJoeTX]

My mom moved to that area when I was 15 (1997) and has lived there ever since. She lives in a newer but small neighborhood of tract housing by the power plant. Let me tell you, the first time that relief valve goes in the middle of the night scares the hell out of you. It sounds like a jet flying right over the house, we couldn't figure out what was going on until we looked out the window and saw the 200 foot plume of steam rising up in the direction of the plant.

Back when she first moved there 646 was almost empty, now there are two or three new and gigantic neighborhoods going up between 146 and IH-45 and the traffic is atrocious. I remember driving to work over the summer to the OfficeMax on Bay Area Blvd and doing 70 on 646 from 146 to IH-45, nowadays you're lucky if you can get up to 45. (the speed limit now is 50 I think)

It is nice that there is Wal Mart Supercenter, Target, Home Depot, right down the street in Kemah, but I'm not sure it's worth it with League City's sprawlish nightmare ever encroaching on Bacliff and Dickinson. (actually, parts of Dickinson have already been sucked in, 646 at IH-45 for example)

While Bacliff itself is the still same it was 10 years ago, and probably when you lived there, the area immediately around it is changing unbelievably fast. It's probably only a matter of time before Bacliff gets caught in the mess.

[TheNiche]

My mom moved to that area when I was 15 (1997) and has lived there ever since. She lives in a newer but small neighborhood of tract housing by the power plant. Let me tell you, the first time that relief valve goes in the middle of the night scares the hell out of you. It sounds like a jet flying right over the house, we couldn't figure out what was going on until we looked out the window and saw the 200 foot plume of steam rising up in the direction of the plant.

Back when she first moved there 646 was almost empty, now there are two or three new and gigantic neighborhoods going up between 146 and IH-45 and the traffic is atrocious. I remember driving to work over the summer to the OfficeMax on Bay Area Blvd and doing 70 on 646 from 146 to IH-45, nowadays you're lucky if you can get up to 45. (the speed limit now is 50 I think)

It is nice that there is Wal Mart Supercenter, Target, Home Depot, right down the street in Kemah, but I'm not sure it's worth it with League City's sprawlish nightmare ever encroaching on Bacliff and Dickinson. (actually, parts of Dickinson have already been sucked in, 646 at IH-45 for example)

While Bacliff itself is the still same it was 10 years ago, and probably when you lived there, the area immediately around it is changing unbelievably fast. It's probably only a matter of time before Bacliff gets caught in the mess.

Yep, Bacliff is slowly being engulfed by the new neighborhoods. Even the power plant is going to be torn down, the massive chunk of land sold to a developer, probably in a matter of only several years. And although Bayview might see a little infill, the hearts of Bacliff and most of San Leon will probably be fairly slow to redevelop. There's just too much crap in there for most buyers of new homes to stomach, especially families with children.

At some point, Segment A of the Grand Parkway will be built, and it couldn't come sooner. 646 will be expanded to four lanes within just a few years.

[Heights2Bastrop]

What I wouldn

[Vertigo58]

What I wouldn't give for a big bowl of Hillman's shrimp slaw right now. Man, that was some good eatin'!

Then there was Jo Lee's Seafood om the now Kemah Boardwalk. Was very inexpensive too. Wonder what became of them. Guess got outpriced and moved on?

[TheNiche]

Then there was Jo Lee's Seafood om the now Kemah Boardwalk. Was very inexpensive too. Wonder what became of them. Guess got outpriced and moved on?

Its on the north side of FM 2094 in Clear Lake Shores.

[missmsry]

In the late 1950s, my Aunt owned a small place in Bacliff, which truly is the redneck Riviera, and after a day of crabbing on those long piers we would spend the evening catching fireflies. We were too poor to go out to dinner at any of the restaurants mentioned in the blog.

[EastEnd Susan]

My 2 geat aunts owned a house right on the water on West Bayshore (646). I used to go there in the 60's and help my dad trim their trees. It was beautiful there and very quiet. I also dated a boy in the 70's whos dad owned the San Leon pier. Great fishing! But hurricane Alicia took care of that.

[Vertigo58]

We know some long time friends/family that still have a home on the edge of the water. Their name is Utter. I'm afraid that area will never be a sleepy little beach village as I remember it.

Kind of glad to still see the bikers swarming around.

Edited January 22, 2008 by Vertigo58

[okreal]

Edited February 9, 2008 by okreal

[okreal]

What I wouldn't give for a big bowl of Hillman's shrimp slaw right now. Man, that was some good eatin'!

Wanted you to have this.......

Your wish has been answered! My husband got this years ago

from Hillman's restaurant. ...Lynn in La Marque

Hillman's Shrimp Coleslaw

one large head of *Cabbage

1/4 cup finely chopped Bell Pepper

1/2 cup finely chopped Onions

1/2 cup finely chopped Celery

1 cup Wishbone Italian Dressing

2 tsp Garlic Salt

1 tsp Garlic Powder

1 tsp Onion Salt

1/2 to 1 cup Mayonnaise (depends on how moist you like it!)

1 lb small/salad pre-cooked/devein Shrimp

Tip: busy schedule, it helps to buy *Fresh Express Coleslaw

and most groceries have chopped items! More time for eating

[doug stegall]

does anyone know if grandmother hillman ,s grand daughter still around in 1981 she was about 17 blonde,went to dickinson highschool played in band..flute.drove a light blue ford 4 door.have been looking for her 25 yrs..she was a good friend, i moved away lost contact with her.doug