Houston In The 1930s

[lockmat]

Wish I could help. I'm clueless. Hope you find something.

When is it due?

[bachanon]

corbin713, welcome to the forum. you picked a good place to ask that question. we have some real history buffs and a couple of librarians.

harris county might be the easiest county for you as well. can you elaborate on the criteria for your story? and, when is it due? if you do not get a response in the next day, i can IM a couple people who may be just who you should speak to.

i'll watch the thread to see if anything is coming up.

[corbin713]

corbin713, welcome to the forum. you picked a good place to ask that question. we have some real history buffs and a couple of librarians.

harris county might be the easiest county for you as well. can you elaborate on the criteria for your story? and, when is it due? if you do not get a response in the next day, i can IM a couple people who may be just who you should speak to.

i'll watch the thread to see if anything is coming up.

the paper is due sometime mid march but my teacher wants a topic paper in soon...i just need something to get some sources on and research a little

[marmer]

Here are some of my favorites, obviously some may not grab you. The Poe Elementary bombing is, unfortunately, too new (1959)

Camp Logan and race riot during WWI

William Marsh Rice murder and the founding of Rice University

The development of River Oaks

The development of Riverside Terrace

Biographies of colorful figures: Hugh Roy Cullen, Glenn McCarthy, Jesse Jones, Ima Hogg

Creation of the Ship Channel and the Port of Houston

...and a handful of Galveston County ones just for fun:

The Texas City explosion of 1947

The Hitchcock Naval Air Station (briefly the largest wooden structure in the world)

The Inter-urban Railroad

Gambling and the Maceo family (Balinese Room)

U-boat attacks in the Gulf during WWII

[bachanon]

Here are some of my favorites, obviously some may not grab you. The Poe Elementary bombing is, unfortunately, too new (1959)

Camp Logan and race riot during WWI

William Marsh Rice murder and the founding of Rice University

The development of River Oaks

The development of Riverside Terrace

Biographies of colorful figures: Hugh Roy Cullen, Glenn McCarthy, Jesse Jones, Ima Hogg

Creation of the Ship Channel and the Port of Houston

...and a handful of Galveston County ones just for fun:

The Texas City explosion of 1947

The Hitchcock Naval Air Station (briefly the largest wooden structure in the world)

The Inter-urban Railroad

Gambling and the Maceo family (Balinese Room)

U-boat attacks in the Gulf during WWII

are any of these stories connected to current figures? that would be really interesting.

[TheNiche]

i have an assignment in my Texas history class to write about a certain county in texas. being from houston, of course i chose Harris county. we're supposed to find a story 50 years or older and then write a few pages elaborating the story.

i really wanted to write about the icebox murders but unfortunately that's 7 years too young for what i need.

anybody with any information would be GREATLY appreciated. thanks

The Galveston Daily News is the oldest newspaper in Texas, and Galveston probably has the richest most colorful history of all, especially prior 1900. Off the top of my head, I'd suggest the 1900 Storm or Nicaraguan Filibusters. If you're interested in changing counties, I suggest you browse Galveston by Gary Cartwright for ideas.

Houston history doesn't really ramp up until Galveston declines, but there's Jesse H. Jones, a major developer of downtown highrises, and for a brief period of time during the Depression, probably the most powerful man in the United States. Also consider the dredging of the Ship Channel (easy to elaborate on), or the founding of UH and its growth as a result of the GI Bill, or perhaps the opening of the Gulf Freeway, which was the first one completed in the State. Along those same lines, the first railroad in the State ran from old Harrisburg to Stafford, and since the City of Houston's seal features a locomotive and the old motto was 'where fifteen rails meet the sea', that might be very appropriate.

are any of these stories connected to current figures? that would be really interesting.

If he does Texas City, he gets to make fun of the French--always enjoyable--and comment on Marvin Zindler's career.

[mwkellner]

the paper is due sometime mid march but my teacher wants a topic paper in soon...i just need something to get some sources on and research a little

I find the Camp Logan story (mentioned earlier) very interesting. I show a PBS video to my to my class about it every year. I think it would be very easy to develope because there were mistakes made on both sides (police and soldiers). The fact that it was such a large courtmatial and execution and very few people are aware of it is curious as well. Good luck with your paper.

[nativehou]

The story of Jesse Jones, as others have mentioned, is really interesting. There's a great documentary, "Brother, Can You Spare a Billion?", from PBS, written by Steven Fenberg who works for the Houston Endowment, which Jones started decades ago.

http://www.pbs.org/jessejones/

[Firebird65]

An earlier poster mentioned a lot of things, but the great majority of those were in Galveston County. But one he did mention probably would be an excellent topic for you, a very colorful story, and one you could probably find lots of info on quite easily: the William Marsh Rice murder and the founding of Rice University.

If I were you, that's the one I'd go for.

[ricco67]

I agree that Camp Logan riots and the William Marsh Rice murder and the founding of Rice University would be interesting. Never really found out that much about the River Oaks founding, so that would be cool to know about to.

[sevfiv]

Rice is an interesting subject - and can be kinda sorta loosely connected to the present because of Rice's valet's (not the one that murdered him in NY) family house being demolished recently in the Sixth Ward.

[tanith27]

I don't have much knowledge of Houston history, but every so often I will head into Glenwood Cemetery which has its fair share of historical Houston figures including Howard Hughes. There are quite a few historical Texas plaques in there, and I would bet they will give you some good ideas to follow up on.

[sevfiv]

Just to follow up on William Marsh Rice, here are a couple links for some general information - and his ashes are on campus under the statue in the quadrangle...

http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/...es/RR/fri3.html

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?p...gr&GRid=869

http://www.media.rice.edu/media/NewsBot.as...3192&SnID=2

[ricco67]

Wasn't it Rice's Daughters (who died in the 1900 Galveston storm) had streets named after them in montrose? Anita and Rosalie?

I was struggling trying to remember WHOSE daughters those were. Someone was asking me about the montrose history and my mind went blank.

I blame it on the drinking binge a few days ago. It destroyed the brain cells that held montrose history.

[nativehou]

More info on William Marsh Rice: A movie called "The Trust"...

http://killgore.info/killgore/Kfeatures.htm

It's historically accurate (what I've heard) and incredibly interesting. I think many of you would find it worthy of your time. The writer/director works at Rice still.

[bachanon]

ya'll are making me excited about the rice u GHPA walking tour next month.

[sevfiv]

Wasn't it Rice's Daughters (who died in the 1900 Galveston storm) had streets named after them in montrose? Anita and Rosalie?

I was struggling trying to remember WHOSE daughters those were. Someone was asking me about the montrose history and my mind went blank.

I blame it on the drinking binge a few days ago. It destroyed the brain cells that held montrose history.

Rice didn't have any children - Anita and Rosalie were the daughters of Samuel K. McIlhenny:

http://www.heritagesociety.org/Hinton-Name...ts%20071907.pdf

[ricco67]

there we go!

I knew it had something to do with a street name.

In fact, I recently met someone whom had something to with Hadley street. Unfortunately I had an appointment to keep before I could pump any information out of her.

EDIT:

thanks for the link!

[marmer]

Yes, "The Trust" is very worthwhile and Doug Killgore is a good guy, and yes, he does still work in the A/V department at Rice. There is a connection to the 1900 Galveston hurricane and the murder of William Marsh Rice, to wit, that Rice had authorized the repair of some of his storm-damaged properties in Galveston and the conspirators were afraid that he would spend too much of the money that they hoped to steal from his eventual estate. So they had to hurry his death along a little.

There are lots of interesting facts about Rice and its founding. Two of my favorites are that Grace Kelly's father was an Irish stonecutter who worked on the early buildings and that the Rice area was originally swampy farmland without a tree in sight. The trees we now associate with the area were planted by the University and by the developers of the surrounding residential areas.

[FilioScotia]

i have an assignment in my Texas history class to write about a certain county in texas. being from houston, of course i chose Harris county. we're supposed to find a story 50 years or older and then write a few pages elaborating the story. i really wanted to write about the icebox murders but unfortunately that's 7 years too young for what i need. anybody with any information would be GREATLY appreciated. thanks

What about the Battleship Texas? It was built between 1912 and 1914, served with great distinction in both World Wars, and it's the last survivor of that generation of warships known as Dreadnoughts -- the ships that brought naval warfare into the 20th century. It's a major artifact of Navy history.

It was decommissioned in 1948, and thousands of Texas school children emptied their piggy banks to help the State of Texas buy it from the Navy, so it could go on permanent display at San Jacinto State Park.

It's rusting away and is in pretty bad condition after sixty years in the salt water of the ship channel, but now, even as I write this, the state and private donors are providing money to repair it and preserve it for future generations. The actual work could begin later this year.

The Battleship Manager's name is Andy Smith, and I bet he'd be delighted to tell you all about the ship and its history. His phone number is 281-479-2019 ext.236.

[bachanon]

i think corbin713 has to find something with a newspaper article that's more than 50 years old.

[KristinDaugherty]

How does one tell?

Are there criteria for determining vacancy or abandonment?

[devonhart]

How does one tell?

Are there criteria for determining vacancy or abandonment?

If the property taxes aren't being paid, it's abandoned and in theory would eventually be up for auction.

[OnTheOtherHand]

I would appreciate some advice on how to find or create a Geographic Information System (GIS) for presenting local historical information.

1. The primary navigation/geographical interface would be through a current map or aerial view of the area. This would be from Wikimapia, google, or some similar map that allows moving around and zooming in and out.

2. The user could click on a box to get a list of all of the historical maps of the area (each with a box that could be clicked to turn the map on or off). These would be scaled so that they could be superimposed over each other.

3. The user could click a box to reveal links to photos. The links would then appear on the map at the location where the photo was taken identified with a date and an arrow showing the direction the photo looks. Ideally, current photos could be taken to compare with historic ones taken at the same location.

4. The user could click a box to reveal links to site histories. This would expose links on the map with information related to particular sites such as buildings. The links could have brief descriptions or detailed websites. The link activation might be triggered by the dates of the selected maps (information on building wouldn't appear on maps prior to the building

[CampLogan1917]

The theory we used in Detroit, Michigan and Gary, Indiana when I have been on Urban Exploration Photographic Expeditions was if it was abandoned we didn't get shot at or have security guards chasing us and if it was vacant it was just the opposite. I don't know if that will help but that's my experience with that topic. Oh, I forgot to mention when we went to Gunkanjima we definitely had to have government permission even though it was abandoned. I hope this helps, too!

[roym]

There is already a Houston wiki available through this site. Wiki's are not difficult to maintain and operate. I don't know about the mapping features. You would need a team of developers to implement all the other features you mention, videos, blogs, pics, etc. and lots of volunteers for the information. Plus, probably some permissions to use copyrighted material for the site.

Not that it all has to be done at one time. I haven't seen much info in the current Houston wiki, even though the HAIF forum is rich in information. Sounds like an interesting project, but you need a lot of time and some resources. Such as a domain, a hosted site, LOTS of time, etc.

[editor]

I think it's a great idea, but roym is correct -- there are a number of hurdles ahead of you.

I'd say the biggest one is the interface. To do what you're proposing you're going to need some web site developers who really know what they're doing. There are packages that will serve each of the ideas you have, but there is no unified way to tie them together at this point -- that's why you're going to need some extremely talented people to do the visuals, and even more talented people to handle the database integration on the back end.

The HAIF Houston wiki was doing pretty good for a little while, then interest fell off. Like most internet sites, people get out of it what they put into it, but as a percentage of visitors, very few people are willing to contribute to a wiki. Wikis were designed with simple language to make it easy for anyone to participate, but most people don't know the difference between writing on a wiki and writing a web page and assume one is as hard as the other so they never try. The problem is that the people who are tech-savvy generally aren't the ones with the knowledge of history and geography, while those who do know these things generally can barely navigate HAIF.

What you propose is far from a one-man operation. At this point I have my hands full with the sites I currently operate. But if you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me and I'll give you what advice I can offer.

[cmcgrail]

Could a site like wikimapia work for something like this?

[sevfiv]

^My first thoughts were something like Wikimapia (an internet obsession of mine) or communitywalk.com

[editor]

Could a site like wikimapia work for something like this?

It could, but the problem is that Wikimapia is too general. It is focused on things that presently exist, while the project described above looks for more historical and anecdotal content. Wikimapia is, unfortunately, patrolled in a manner similar to Wikipedia, which means that someone with no knowledge of a particular topic thousands of miles away can decide that a particular story about a particular Houston location isn't worthy of publication and delete it.

Most of my contributions to Wikipedia have been erased by people in other countries who were not there to witness events that I witnessed as a journalist but somehow consider themselves experts on what happened. It's why I've given up on contributing to Wikipedia.

If there was a smart HAIFer who knew how to combine Google maps with the Wikipedia engine and restrict the geography to just the Houston area, I'd be happy to integrate the whole shebang into the Towrs wiki. Or maybe there's another way to do it without Google maps...

Hmm.... (mental wheels turning).