Sears At 1101 South Shaver St.

[NenaE]

I found this link when researching the Bellows Construction Company, a name I got from the "Life" b/w picture of the Wayside at Harrisburg Rd. (Magnolia Park) Sears store. Their resume is impressive. Be sure to also check out the pic galleries of 1920 forward. The Sears pics are located in the 1940 and/ or 1950 category. Click on each picture for a close-up view. The architect info. & year are located on each pic.

link: http://www.wsbellows.com/timeline.asp?decade=1950

Looks like George L. Dahl was the architect for the N. Shepherd (Oak Forest) & Southmore (Pasadena) stores.

There's also a pic of Meyerland & the Prudential Bldg.

Edited January 29, 2009 by NenaE

[kylejack]

Thanks for the link. My grandfather used to work in the Prudential building.

[Randyt7801]

Wow what a great find.

[sevfiv]

Wow - the Meyerland Plaza picture is great. Mading's, Thornhill's cafeteria, and Meyer Bros...

Browsing through the other decades is really interesting, too...thanks for the link!

[kylejack]

http://www.wsbellows.com/showimg.asp?ptype...00&imgy=800

Look at the cute little now-doomed YMCA building kneeling in the background.

[cosmic08]

The Sears on Shepherd looks pretty much the same (from the outside anyway) and that large red neon sign is still there.

[NenaE]

The Houston - An Architectural Guide - 1st Edition (1972) AIA book lists the Pasadena store's official address as 1101 South Shaver (it fronted Southmore), and the architect as Cowell & Neuhaus. Their name is alongside Dahl's in the Pasadena store photo, it's hard to read.

You sure can see, from these photos, the lack of detail in the 1950's stores. The first two stores (Buffalo Dr. & S. Main) are still, by far, my favorite designs.

Edited January 29, 2009 by NenaE

[rreini]

Thanks for the link to the pics. It was great seeing the Pasadena Sears store again. That was the store my family used to shop at until the Baybrook store opened up.