seoid Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 Part of my drive home is along here and it's a little out of my way but I love this area and I've been wondering about those old storefront buildings at this intersection. Kaboom Books moved here and it appears there may be a residence in the one with all of the windows, but what is the story with that area? Does anyone have any old photos or info? I just moved to the area and love the historic touches, having grown up in another city's historic district. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NenaE Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 (edited) Part of my drive home is along here and it's a little out of my way but I love this area and I've been wondering about those old storefront buildings at this intersection. Kaboom Books moved here and it appears there may be a residence in the one with all of the windows, but what is the story with that area? Does anyone have any old photos or info? I just moved to the area and love the historic touches, having grown up in another city's historic district.http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/i...mp;#entry158397see the map in post #2...note that there is a Bayland Orphanage in Woodland Heights. Found on area stamped "First" (for Ward), click the area to enlarge. Edited April 29, 2009 by NenaE 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NenaE Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 (edited) History of Bayland Orphanage: http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/...es/BB/ynb1.html & http://www.woodland-heights.org/default.htmyou may be familiar with this one, already. See "About Us", history. Edited April 30, 2009 by NenaE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crash Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/i...mp;#entry158397see the map in post #2...note that there is a Bayland Orphanage in Woodland Heights. Found on area stamped "First" (for Ward), click the area to enlarge.unless I'm mistaken, the orphanage was located further west - near Bayland and Julian not Bayland and Houston. I believe one of the buildings that is a photography studio now used to be a pharmacy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaggieMay Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 unless I'm mistaken, the orphanage was located further west - near Bayland and Julian not Bayland and Houston. I believe one of the buildings that is a photography studio now used to be a pharmacy.Hey, according to that map I live on or very close to the grounds of the Bayland Orphanage. Coming West on Bayland from Houston toward Studewood, after you cross Julian the fine homes of Woodland Heights become the more modest cottages of a subdivision built later. That little cluster of shops is the edge of an area destroyed when I45 went through; surely one of them was a pharmacy. Did the freeway take the route of Montgomery Road? According to Wikipedia:The last alignment of US 75 before the North Freeway was built left downtown Houston to the northwest on Main Street, turning north at Airline Drive, and then northwest along the present alignment of I-45, then known as Stuebner Airline Road, Shepherd Drive, and East Montgomery Road.I'd definitely love to see some old pictures of the neighborhood. Including those shops teetering on the edge of the freeway.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmariar Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Yes, check old Houston maps first to see the general development of Woodland Heights. And there is a lot of interesting information you can find easily on the internet about the Bayland Orphanage.Woodland Park (formerly Highland Park) and the old streetcars played a big role in the history of Houston Avenue. The former home of Woodland Heights developer William H. Wilson, at 205 Bayland, is a notable structure not too far from those commercial buildings.As for the buildings themselves, the old city directories at the Julia Ideson library willl show you what businesses were located there over the years (there are listings by address - very easy to use).I looked up one address (Kaboom Books - 3116 Houston Ave.) online, and saw that someone whose name looks like C.B. Gennusa applied for a building permit to build an addition at that address in February 1915.A 1910 article mentioned that Bayland Avenue was in the process of being paved (with shell), and referred to the buildings at the intersection of Houston and Bayland as Woodland Heights' "business district" - it also said that the city was considering a bond issue to pave Houston Avenue up from Spring Street to connect with Bayland, as Bayland would otherwise have no paved connection.In 1907, there was a wood yard - W.T. Weeden's Wood Yard - at 3108 Houston Ave. (Possibly this W.T. Weeden.)If you do the city directory research, let us know what you find! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Just to add information about those addresses c. 1932:3020 Houston - Sportsman's Commissary Sporting Goods3024 Houston - Woodland Service Station3108 Houston - AC Werner drugs3112 Houston - Woodland Drug Co.3114 Houston - Nunez Barber Shop3115 Houston - CB Gennusa/rear Ann Turner3116 Houston - Gate Cleaners/Chas Marino Shoe Repair3118 Houston - Great A&P Tea Co. No. 323120 Houston - AH Osteen Auto Repair--Bayland/Alexander--3200 Houston - La Petite Beauty and Barber Shop3202 Houston - Elkins Cafe3209 Houston - apartments3215 Houston - Boggs Apartments3216 Houston - Woodlands Methodist Church Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwrm4 Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 I looked up one address (Kaboom Books - 3116 Houston Ave.) online, and saw that someone whose name looks like C.B. Gennusa applied for a building permit to build an addition at that address in February 1915.I'm curious, where did you find this information online? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmariar Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 (edited) Just to add information about those addresses c. 1932:Thanks!I'm curious, where did you find this information online?NewspaperArchive.com - It's a subscription service - I think it's $15-$20/month. But it gives fairly good text-searchable access to the Galveston paper all the way back to I think the 1860's, and some other local paper archives as well (no Houston papers, though).EDIT: Posted before I finished - I was going to add that I've found the Galveston paper to be an incredible resource wrt Houston history. Hence my frustration over Houston newspaper archives not being equally accessible. Edited April 30, 2009 by tmariar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanith27 Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 3120 Houston - AH Osteen Auto Repair Hi, yes, I'd like to have my flat tire fixed and a couple Hail Mary's to go. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seoid Posted May 1, 2009 Author Share Posted May 1, 2009 My apologies, I'm really new to Houston and am just getting to know my way around and exploring a bit.Yes- the old drug store and the other storefronts and not the orphanage is what I was inquiring about! Although, the orphanage information is also really interesting and I plan on reading up on that as well. Thank you for the leads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NenaE Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 unless I'm mistaken, the orphanage was located further west - near Bayland and Julian not Bayland and Houston. I believe one of the buildings that is a photography studio now used to be a pharmacy.Yes it was, I was just pointing out info. regarding to the street name...knew those shops would be harder to find info. on, without having an old directory, or visiting the library, or the newspaper on-line link. I tried using the Galveston newspaper link, didn't have as much luck as tmariar, but found the newspaper advertisements very interesting. I've often wondered about those shops, as well. BTW - there is also a good HAIF topic about the amusement park in the area. A note to remember, as seen on the old map, Woodland Heights was not part of Heights, originally, was it's own separate little subdivision, I guess with it's own mini-town shops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NenaE Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 Ran across a tidbit about an area associated with those Woodland Heights shops, called "Grota Homestead", never heard of that, before.http://www.preservationtexas.org/endangered/2006.htmWilshire Village is also included, directly below it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NenaE Posted September 25, 2010 Share Posted September 25, 2010 http://www.archive.org/stream/keytocityofhoust00city#page/218/mode/2uphere's what the entrance gates to Woodland Heights looked like...always wondered about those. thanks to the "Houstorian" site - Library, once again for the great links. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan the Man Posted September 26, 2010 Share Posted September 26, 2010 The book "Houston Electric: The Street Railways of Houston, Texas" has some great information about the development of Woodland Heights and the streetcar lines that served it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seoid Posted October 26, 2010 Author Share Posted October 26, 2010 Thanks, Dan. I'll check that book out.I just caught your response as I haven't logged on much lately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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