Meyerland Plaza History

[DrFood]

Ran across some images related to Meyerland, not sure they are here or not.

New (Ed Wulfe) General Cinema. Note the Meyerland "steeple" was located on the theatre. Now is located down by the day spa.

http://www.sunbuildersco.com/Projects/Gene...eral_cinema.htm

Here is a photo of the Original Cinema I, II & III. Weird angle but you get the gist.

http://www.cinemahouston.info/multicinema.htm

A diagram I found on a mall blog

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AcUdTl7Aq-s/SHfy...d+plan_1971.jpg

In this diagram the #1 is in fact what became Palais Royal. Prior to JCP building their new store (current building) JCP occupied the space that is Palais Royal in the drawing. Palais Royal was in the spot to the right of #2 Lews Records. It became Walter Pye's when PR moved.

I'm sure I will think of other things, but that is it for now.

Are there any photos out there of the interior open space of the old Meyerland mall? I have what's in my head (and it includes an Oshman's and a pet store of some kind), but something concrete would be nice..

[IHB2]

here's a couple more random Meyerland Plaza memories:

in its 1st few yrs of existence MP had a July 4 fireworks display from the sw corner of the parking lot (in the yrs before the Cinema was built). not as cool in my memory as the Miller Memorial fireworks but our parents let us ride our bikes to the MP display - freedom!!

before 610 was built there was an annual Easter egg hunt (sponsored by a radio station?) across Post Oak Rd from MP where Hobby Lobby, Outback, Lowes, and the office bldgs and high rise apt now stand. it was a huge field with a few oaks and rose in elevation on the east side (you can still see that elevation behind Beth Yeshuren).

[NenaE]

Are there any photos out there of the interior open space of the old Meyerland mall? I have what's in my head (and it includes an Oshman's and a pet store of some kind), but something concrete would be nice..

I'll bet there was a postcard made of that plaza like the one of Gulfgate, showing the inside walkways. Subdude? Anybody?

[EEKWestMeyer]

I remember when they chopped down all of the beautiful, old trees in the interior courtyard. What a sad day that was. I don't even remember why they did that - was there a plan to enclose the mall? What a silly thing to do.

I remember as a little girl going into a gift store with my mom (on the end where Woolworth's was) and buying little ceramic birds. I also remember eating at a restaurant called 'The Rumble Seat." There was a big antique mall there for a while, too. (Right before they bulldozed the entire thing.)

The Rumble Seat was awesome!! Do you remember the "Red Telephone" restaurant; I believe it was owned by the same people. It was one my favorite places (along with Astroworld and Goonie Golf). There was a red telephone on each table and you placed your order by using the phone. My older brother and I enjoyed picking up the phone to quote dialoge from the live-action series Batman. "Yes, this is Commissioner Gordon here. That's right Batman..."

[cadetdonfan]

I grew up in the late 50's/early 60's a couple of blocks from MP. As a kid there were plenty of attractions there. I remember an organ grinder and monkey making appearances in the courtyard and Easter chicks in rainbow colors for sale I believe at Woolworth. I also seem to recall them selling tiny alligators like the ones that will eventually end up in the sewer system

Maddings Drug had a fine soda fountain with occasional promotions where you could draw prices out of a hat for a banana split (3-33 cents). Maddings was my favorite haunt to get all the 10 cent comics and baseball cards keeping a lookout for those 1962 Colt gems. Woolworth also had a snack bar. The pharmacy was on the front side of the store near the parking lot and the snack bar was in the back near the door to the courtyard. Both stools and booths.

Playhouse toys used to hold Duncan yo-yo and spinning top competitions. I used to get clothes at Meyer Bros as well as Hardy Boy books from their book dept. Woolworth always had a dazzling Halloween section with all the vintage goodies that collectibles now.

My mom shopped at Henke's.

I recall Meyerland losing its appeal after the enclosed Sharpstown Mall with cool A/C and more stores opened up.

[WillowBend56]

I vaguely recall the opening of Meyerland Plaza. Must have been 1956 or 1957. There were spotlights that lit up the night sky announcing its opening. [some of the housing subdivisions in the area also used spotlights to attract home buyers.]

Meyerland was such a big deal, we took our visiting cousins from San Antonio there to show off our new shopping center. I remember one cousin buying a set of Kooties---those mix-and-match plastic parts with which you could make your own insect critter. I was envious!

Meyerland must be the place in Houston I first saw the organ grinder with a monkey.

[Alpha]

I vaguely recall the opening of Meyerland Plaza. Must have been 1956 or 1957. There were spotlights that lit up the night sky announcing its opening. [some of the housing subdivisions in the area also used spotlights to attract home buyers.]

Meyerland was such a big deal, we took our visiting cousins from San Antonio there to show off our new shopping center. I remember one cousin buying a set of Kooties---those mix-and-match plastic parts with which you could make your own insect critter. I was envious!

Meyerland must be the place in Houston I first saw the organ grinder with a monkey.

I'm pretty sure that it opened on October 31, 1957. I remember it, but I also think I read it somewhere in this forum.

[sevfiv]

^Yep

During the October 31, 1957 center Grand Opening, two around the world hot air balloon trips were given away

http://www.meyerlandplaza.com/meyerlandplaza/about.html

[WillowBend56]

I asked my mother about Meyerland.

She recalls grocery shopping at "Hinky Pinkies" as she called it. Also clothes shopping at Meyer's (sp?). Both of us recall the escalators there for some strange reason.

She vividly remembers the furnished model homes opening around Meyerland. The night sky lit up with spotlights. The one model house with a completely enclosed swimming pool.

She also mentioned a "new" strip mall that opened up around 1955-56 on OST. A cousin won a Davy Crockett coonskin hat there in some contest or giveaway!

Edited August 14, 2009 by WillowBend56

[SchwinnChopper68]

Both of us recall the escalators there for some strange reason.

If you mean inside Meyer Brothers and if memory serves correct there were escalators to the second floor. There was a fairly compact Boy Scouts area upstairs that we visited often.

If you mean outside then I'm not sure. There was the second story for loading and unloading so perhaps yes somewhere. More than likely though the loading area would be using elevators.

[theoriginalkj]

I grew up in the late 50's/early 60's a couple of blocks from MP. As a kid there were plenty of attractions there. I remember an organ grinder and monkey making appearances in the courtyard and Easter chicks in rainbow colors for sale I believe at Woolworth. I also seem to recall them selling tiny alligators like the ones that will eventually end up in the sewer system

Maddings Drug had a fine soda fountain with occasional promotions where you could draw prices out of a hat for a banana split (3-33 cents). Maddings was my favorite haunt to get all the 10 cent comics and baseball cards keeping a lookout for those 1962 Colt gems. Woolworth also had a snack bar. The pharmacy was on the front side of the store near the parking lot and the snack bar was in the back near the door to the courtyard. Both stools and booths.

Playhouse toys used to hold Duncan yo-yo and spinning top competitions. I used to get clothes at Meyer Bros as well as Hardy Boy books from their book dept. Woolworth always had a dazzling Halloween section with all the vintage goodies that collectibles now.

My mom shopped at Henke's.

I recall Meyerland losing its appeal after the enclosed Sharpstown Mall with cool A/C and more stores opened up.

Here's a few photos showing Mading's Drugs (one 'D' not two) and Meyers Brothers, as well as a few arials. All of these are from 1957, the year it opened.

[sevfiv]

Such fantastic pictures - hard to imagine just little 'ol Post Oak Rd. and Beechnut not going through...

[57Tbird]

Here's a few photos showing Mading's Drugs (one 'D' not two) and Meyers Brothers, as well as a few arials. All of these are from 1957, the year it opened.

That car on the far left, in picture #2, sure looks like a '62 Chevy. TJones... help!

[e streeter]

i remember a cafeteria in meyerland in the 70's. was it a wyatt's or a thornhill's?

and nothing better than going to madding's and getting a vanilla coke.

[sevfiv]

On one of the previous pictures I thought I saw a Thornhill's but I definitely remember a Wyatt's being there until or almost until the redevelopment (and it's on the 1976 directory list).

[sevfiv]

I found these hiding on my computer:

1990

1993

[JLWM8609]

I found these hiding on my computer:

1990

1993

Those pics look familiar. I remember going to the Meyerland area with my mom around that time when she went shopping. She would take me to this pizza place when she was done shopping, and I always thought it was in the strip center at N. Braeswood and Chimney Rock, but that pic of the atrium at Meyerland Plaza looks familiar. Was there a pizza place in there in the early 90s?

[cadetdonfan]

Thanks for the wonderful pictures. They really help jog the old gray cells. A bonus for me is that my childhood Meyerland house is shown in #4. Back in the days when there were "free-range" kids, I walked the 2 blocks to MP as primary after school entertainment.

Did Playhouse toys have a clown logo?

[readam]

Thanks for the wonderful pictures. They really help jog the old gray cells. A bonus for me is that my childhood Meyerland house is shown in #4. Back in the days when there were "free-range" kids, I walked the 2 blocks to MP as primary after school entertainment.

Did Playhouse toys have a clown logo?

Not just a logo but I think they had a clown model ( head and shoulders) sticking out of the araea above the entrance to the store. Maybe there was a record store next door as well.

[NenaE]

Thanks for the wonderful pictures. They really help jog the old gray cells. A bonus for me is that my childhood Meyerland house is shown in #4. Back in the days when there were "free-range" kids, I walked the 2 blocks to MP as primary after school entertainment.

Did Playhouse toys have a clown logo?

I remember colored building blocks (blue, red, & green) on the sign at Gulfgate, think it was a Playhouse Toys. Don't recall a clown, mid-60's.

[Dan the Man]

Did Playhouse toys have a clown logo?

I seem to remember the floor of Playhouse Toys had green and yellow linoleum tiles in a checkerboard pattern. Some of the tiles had clowns on them.

[cadetdonfan]

I seem to remember the floor of Playhouse Toys had green and yellow linoleum tiles in a checkerboard pattern. Some of the tiles had clowns on them.

The tiles sound familiar in that I entered a Duncan Spinning Top contest at Playhouse in Meyerland and one of the tasks was to hit a colored tile with the top and keep it in the square.

[e streeter]

anyone have a photo of the meyerland sign when it fell during hurricane carla? i remember walking around it when i was a kid.

[Gurgis]

The Rumble Seat was awesome!! Do you remember the "Red Telephone" restaurant; I believe it was owned by the same people. It was one my favorite places (along with Astroworld and Goonie Golf). There was a red telephone on each table and you placed your order by using the phone. My older brother and I enjoyed picking up the phone to quote dialoge from the live-action series Batman. "Yes, this is Commissioner Gordon here. That's right Batman..."

I can remember two restaurants that featured the telephone-ordering approach. One was Kings restaurant, next door to Goonie Golf (opposite side from library), and Across the Street, on Hillcroft just south of Westheimer. For some reason I remember eating onion rings at Kings, and curly fries at Across the Street.

[Gurgis]

Those pics look familiar. I remember going to the Meyerland area with my mom around that time when she went shopping. She would take me to this pizza place when she was done shopping, and I always thought it was in the strip center at N. Braeswood and Chimney Rock, but that pic of the atrium at Meyerland Plaza looks familiar. Was there a pizza place in there in the early 90s?

Great pictures! I remember the atrium area not so empty and open. It seemed more cluttered and filled with planters, trees, concrete benches, etc.

[Gurgis]

What is the link to the historic aeriel maps site? I grew up in Meyerland from 1964 to 1973 and do not remember seeing a grocery store there. Perhaps it was before or after my time.

I do however remember the toy store adjacent to Meyer Brothers. A Lost In Space robot for $7.99 and the Time Machine 400 degree cooking machine for $10 that turns lumps of plastic into smelly multi-colored monsters.

If something like that came out today every lawyer in the country would have a wetdream. Aaahh...the good ol days when folks took responsibility for their actions.

Another great picture! Wow, this really goes back to my early days. I do remember heating up the colored squares / flat cubes in the plastic chamber, and slowly seeing the small creatures emerge

[robertgartner]

Those pics look familiar. I remember going to the Meyerland area with my mom around that time when she went shopping. She would take me to this pizza place when she was done shopping, and I always thought it was in the strip center at N. Braeswood and Chimney Rock, but that pic of the atrium at Meyerland Plaza looks familiar. Was there a pizza place in there in the early 90s?

My Comment:

At some point the spire had a stacked wall arrangement built of scalloped terra cotta on either side of the spire. I remember this well because I thought it a disaster when the mall was bulldozed. Why? Because the wall had become a gathering point every evening beginning at about 710 PM for Purple Martins to come to it and the immediate trees behind it to rooost for the evening in preparation for their migration to the south after raising their young here. The Martins would literally fall out of the sky to land there, an onto those trees.

Edited April 3, 2011 by robertgartner

[Dave W]

Uncle Lew The Meyerland Record Man 10C Trade Tokens

[Gurgis]

I first went in the mid 1960's as a child, with my family. Later went there as a teen in the late 70's.

I remember a model shop, which was popular back then. Could assemble a kit of a car, plane, ship, etc. and paint it. Someone previously mentioned a possible name: Kits Inc. Hobby. A friend worked at Walter's Pyes (business suits, etc.). I remember the open atrium, TSO, Wyatt's Cafeteria, Hickory Farms, etc. All my early movies were at the cinema. 

Lots of meals at Los Tios across the street to the north (which I guess is still there, wow). And much farther back in time, across the freeway to the east, Globe department store (where Lowe's is now).

[Gurgis]

On 6/23/2008 at 5:35 PM, albertnurick said:

Brown's was actually in the Maplewood center, down Beechnut from Meyerland Plaza at the intersection of Hillcroft. Brown's was actually a five and dime store, with (as you walked in) toys ahead and to the right, and sundries to the left.

Maplewood was a classic 50's and 60's strip center, with an air conditioned public space in front of all the stores. Brown's was near the middle of the center, near Dr. Wishnow's optometry shop and near the fountain that later was drained and finally removed.

Yes, Maplewood Center, not too far away on Beechnut at Hillcroft. I remember many meals at a Mexican restaurant on the left / east end, with a grocery store at the right / west end. Foodarama has been there decades (I used to take my grandmother there to get groceries). In the middle it was enclosed, like you say. I remember it being a bit dark in there during the day, but a nice way to shop outside of the heat. Farther to the west there were a few more stores, including a record store. Then continuing west across Hillcroft, the Jack in the Box that's still there.

 

Edited September 28, 2023 by Gurgis