My Northwest Freeway page

[IronTiger]

So a while back I was touting my new 290 Demolitions page, which was an attempt to catalog demolitions on Highway 290 as they happened. A funny thing happened, though, and I decided that I would be better off not cataloging demolished buildings but more about my memories of the freeway and what I liked it about it. Things I've seen consistently dozens of times, and things that are no longer.

So I began revising it and taking it apart, coming up with a new version that maintains the URL, and in the process, a whole new original endeavor. While I'm working up a "v2" of the page that includes new pictures, and covers everything from Frenchy's to Northwest Mall, it's something I wanted to share and wanted feedback on. It covers some history before my time as well, including an appearance of a Handy Dan Hardware store...

link.

[tiger198619]

a great start, i like to read all of your memories of this side of town as i grew up off of 290 and remember different things, like the kroger on 290@W. Little york(where track 1 is now) and the other kroger on 290@ Fairbanks N. Houston rd. I cant remember the name of the restruant before bravos mexican, but it served food like dennys or ihop for the life of me i cant remember the name. there was another restruant of the same name(that the former bravos replaced) down the freeway at 290 and West 34th, this was still open when randalls was in the former academy space. Keep up the great work.

[IronTiger]

Yes, having two Krogers within the same proximity of each other is a bit confusing--they maintain that set-up for at least a decade, then both close within 3 or 4 years of each other.

...wait, Academy closed? Really?

[tomv]

290 trivia: The shopping center at 13147 NW Freeway was used as a filming location for the movie Arlington Road starring Jeff Bridges and Tim Robbins.

 

 

 

 

[Purpledevil]

Hey tiger, that was Jojo's, in the old Festival 6 parking lot, down from ol' Los Bravos. I loved that restaurant, followed by a couple of games of pool right behind it. What the hell was the name of that pool hall? Damn, I'm thinking Fat Freddie's, but that was on Antoine...

IronTiger, Academy is still very much there at W. 34th and NW Fwy. As the other tiger said, it occupies the spot where Randall's once was, before moving into the old Kmart across the freeway in the Luby's strip. If you ever find yourself lost on something that once was around the NW Fwy and North Loop area, feel free to give me a shout. That's part of my old stomping grounds, lol.

Here's another memory jolt for you tiger. In that Luby's strip, there used to be a cloth store called Hancock's, that as a kid, my grandmother would spend hours in. I hated going there and to Cloth World next to Food City on W. 18th. Bet you know the name Trade Winds, too.

Edited May 31, 2014 by Purpledevil

[IronTiger]

Hey tiger, that was Jojo's, in the old Festival 6 parking lot, down from ol' Los Bravos. I loved that restaurant, followed by a couple of games of pool right behind it. What the hell was the name of that pool hall? Damn, I'm thinking Fat Freddie's, but that was on Antoine...

IronTiger, Academy is still very much there at W. 34th and NW Fwy. As the other tiger said, it occupies the spot where Randall's once was, before moving into the old Kmart across the freeway in the Luby's strip. If you ever find yourself lost on something that once was around the NW Fwy and North Loop area, feel free to give me a shout. That's part of my old stomping grounds, lol.

Here's another memory jolt for you tiger. In that Luby's strip, there used to be a cloth store called Hancock's, that as a kid, my grandmother would spend hours in. I hated going there and to Cloth World next to Food City on W. 18th. Bet you know the name Trade Winds, too.

So it was actually an old Kmart that the Randalls moved into, probably late 1990s after the Venture reopened as a Kmart? Fascinating...but why would Randalls move into a smaller location, and why would the Randalls location be bigger than the Kmart location in the first place?

[mkultra25]

Clearly a frustrated commuter, although I suspect it's photoshopped.

 

[IronTiger]

One more for you--some of the things on the page were taken from a video I shot, which you can view here on YouTube. It does do a few jump cuts. Can you identify the areas filmed?   

[Purpledevil]

Yeah, IronTiger, Kmart was originally on West 34th, where the Randall's now sits, before moving up 290 to West 43rd and setting up shop next to Service Merchandise as a relaunched Big K. The West 34th Kmart was one of the ooooold ones, with the big red "K" and little green "mart" sign on the front.

[Purpledevil]

Haha, that license plate is hilarious, photoshopped or not! Thanks for posting that mkultra, made my day. IronTiger, your video is facing west heading down 290 towards town. The Phobia sign jogged a memory of a very scared wife getting chased by a chainsaw and promptly falling on her rear trying to escape it. That warehouse building you passed with all the neon signs on it, was an ice company named Sparkle, if memory serves correctly. I wish my brain could be played out on a video for you, because it would show you nothing but a couple of those old warehouses, Gulf Pacific's silos, and pastures of cattle from Cypress clear up to what's now BW8. Jersey Village was absolutely nothing, near the highway.

[IronTiger]

It's Sparkle Signs nowadays, I mentioned in the new version of the page (seen here) that until relatively recently you could see an old McDonald's sign and other stuff behind it, but it's too overgrown from the highway to see anymore.    I always liked that sign.

 

New updates:

Last updated 6/1/14 - Added Waller Co. Line BBQ, Frenchy's discussed, Gringo's added, more pictures, talks about Randalls, Randalls distro center, Stewart & Stevenson added, Gulf Pacific mentioned, Phobia, Sparkle Signs mentioned, more of those fast foods linked, mention of Texaco, JVA, Brake Check, discussed a former AppleTree turned indoor track racing facility, Fairbanks Plaza, more on NW Freeway Center (photos and more), added photos back for the old demo'd areas which were in the original version, Nick's Grill, Monterey's Little Mexico.

[Ross]

Wasn't there a Texas Instruments plant out past Jersey Village? I forget exactly where, but in the early 80's, it seemed like a long way out there.

[IronTiger]

Yeah, it's closer to Cypress and is now a facility for Sysco.

[tiger198619]

thanks for jogging my memory purpledevil, it was most certainly JoJo's, and yes i remember Hancock fabrics, but i dont remember spending alot of time there, and the Tradewinds roller rink, ah the memories, the skating rink building is still standing but is now for sale, and i remember going to the davis food city on West 43rd and Hempstead Hwy. I love going down memory lane lol.

[crooow579]

The 290 corridor was my old stomping grounds as well.  Here are some updates that you may find useful-

 

-I'll start at 14900 Northwest Freeway at W. Little York, the location of the old Kroger.  I worked there from 1998 until it closed in July 2005.  A colleague who was a Safeway veteran told me the store opened in 1981.  Eckerd was next door to us until it closed in 2004 when CVS (who bought Eckerd) opened their location at Gessner and Phillipine.  Way back in the 80s, there was a pizza parlor called Spanky's in the parking lot.  No clue as to when it opened or closed.  The Kroger at 14147 Northwest Freeway closed in 2009, IIRC.  It was open during Ike.  Next door to it was a Walgreens. It closed in the late 90s.  Shipley Do-Nuts is the only tenant that's been there from the start.

 

-Moseying on down 290 to Bingle,  the Handy Dan sat vacant until the early 90s when Academy took it over.  They just painted the building and put their sign up.  They relocated to their current location in 2004.

 

-The strip center at 43rd opened up in the early 90s with Venture and Service Merchandise as tenants.  Toys R Us opened up around 1994.  Venture went under in 1996 and Kmart moved in around January 1998 as part of their "Big Kmart" launch.  

 

-The Northbrook shopping center at 34th opened up circa 1970.  It included Kmart, Walgreens and Weingartens.  Weingartens closed in the early 80s and it was briefly 2 independent grocery stores (Moore's Foods and Sun Foods) before Office Depot opened in the mid-80s.  There was another Walgreens next door to Randall's across 290 in the Northway shopping center.  That opened up in the late 70s.  Randall's took over the old Kmart around 2000.  Walgreens closed around the same time and there was also a theater-the AMC Festival 6.  Office Max later took over the spot.

 

-The strip center at Mangum stands out to me because there was a wonderful bookstore there for over 10 years-Future Visions Books, a science fiction/fantasy/horror bookstore that also sold comics and gaming supplies.  It opened around 1987 and closed in 1999.  I also recall seeing an early Blockbuster open up in the mid-80s. It was called "Blockbuster Videos" with the "Videos" in a different font.    

[Marcus Allen]

Although I didn't grow up in that area, I remember seeing it developed beginning in the early 80s because that was the route we would take from the College Station area to HTown to collect rent houses $$$ from tenants. I remember when it was a two lane Hwy, then four lane Hwy from 34th heading northwest. I was so jazzed when the freeway ( with the giant fwy lights) expanded to Hwy 6. Then it expanded again toward Cypress. Then I moved away for twenty years. Omg! The development is staggering, but I am always amused how some areas have virtually not changed. When I was a wee lad, I always thought the 290 Corridor would develop similarly to the I10 corridor (aka Energy Corridor). I wonder why it hasn't. Thoughts?

[Tower26]

I believe 290 is on its way to becoming a interstate like I-59/69 . There is a webpage called my290.com for info on the 290 project and  you can use AA Interstate Guide .com and Texas Freeways.com for more information . I remember when I was young , the SP (Southern Pacific Red/White/Grey/Orange/Black) followed it way before the UP 96 merger . It is called the Presidential Highway because it runs directly into Austin . Northwest mall was a busy and crowded mall back in the day . Montgomery Ward and Foley's ( Before Macy's buyout (Federated) ,Store no.35, I worked at the warehouse ; closed )was apart the mall at the time . Before RAC was Colortyme . I remember Kmart on 34th . Radio Shack was on Antoine at the time before it moved to 34th .Rice was on Antoine before it closed . The skating ring used to be open nextdoor to Randall's aka Kmart . KFC was on Antoine before it was moved to what is now Northwest Crossing shopping district at Tidwell@290 . I went to visit Prairie View , College Station , and UT on that highway when I was in high school . I believe there used to be a hotel that sat across the street from Northbrook Square that was torn down that was behind that night club at the corner of 34th@290. Before the giant interstate lamps was the "Y'' overhead expressway lamps up and down the freeway . Those giant interstate lamps would only illuminate the interstate stacks (Freeway Intersections) at night or during storms before they were posted up and down the city's interstate corridor's. Known as''Crowns'' or ''Halos'' because the lamps were arranged in a illuminated circular shape at the top . They didn't have the red aircraft lamps at the time . Today they do. A mile or so east was the BN (Burlington Northern , White/Black/Cascade Green) Route at the time way before merging with Santa Fe in 95' . If you go up 34th east a mile from 290 and turn north on Mangum/Watanga and proceed to the Watanga crossing near White Oak Bayou , you would see trains coming and going . 

[Marcus Allen]

Wow! You paint a nostalgic picture! Bravo! Yes, to all. Is my memory correct? ; those y fwy lights used to be bluish rather than orange? My memory dreams seem to think so. LoL!

[ldogg]

I grew up in Inwood Forest so 290 has been one of my stomping grounds forever. If I recall correctly, there was a movie theater in the place where Office Depot is. And the Goodwill was once an Oshman's Sporting Goods.

The Latino night club at NW Mall was also a movie theater. I think it was an AMC 4.

[IronTiger]

Third update created. Now that it's done, I'm going to try to cycle with other projects I've been meaning to do...

[Purpledevil]

Ldogg, the theater was AMC's Festival 6, and yes, that was an Oshman's where Goodwill is now. The last I paid attention to it, it still had the Oshman's entry way.

Marcus: when I was growing up, they were all white. I guess if you looked at them long enough they had a blue hue to them. Back then, there were typically only street lights on intersections, with few along the stretch of roadway. All the freeways had the "Y" lIghts, and a chaIn link fence separating the two sIdes of the highways. The white blue lights were sodium vapor, the newer orange colored ones are mercury vapor, as I recall. Didn't start seeing the orange lights around town until the early 80's. The tower lights along the freeways weren't installed until 1988 or 1989, and I believe the North Freeway was the first to see these erected in Houston.

[Purpledevil]

The scariest part of all this 290 work is that I can clearly remember when 290, the freeway, was actually built. When I was a kid, the Northwest Freeway was a stub that came off of the North Loop and died at Mangum. It was highway from there on out.

Now...where's my walker?

[JLWM8609]

The tower lights along the freeways weren't installed until 1988 or 1989, and I believe the North Freeway was the first to see these erected in Houston.

 

The high mast lights first appeared at the Gulf Freeway/South Loop interchange in the 70s. They started getting widespread use in the mid 80s.

[IronTiger]

Ldogg, the theater was AMC's Festival 6, and yes, that was an Oshman's where Goodwill is now. The last I paid attention to it, it still had the Oshman's entry way.

Marcus: when I was growing up, they were all white. I guess if you looked at them long enough they had a blue hue to them. Back then, there were typically only street lights on intersections, with few along the stretch of roadway. All the freeways had the "Y" lIghts, and a chaIn link fence separating the two sIdes of the highways. The white blue lights were sodium vapor, the newer orange colored ones are mercury vapor, as I recall. Didn't start seeing the orange lights around town until the early 80's. The tower lights along the freeways weren't installed until 1988 or 1989, and I believe the North Freeway was the first to see these erected in Houston.

The ones near my house (near being a relative term, of course, they're pretty visible) are yellowish but those aren't mercury vapor. Mercury vapor is being phased out (probably banned, but not sure) and typically takes on a greenish hue.

[Purpledevil]

The high mast lights first appeared at the Gulf Freeway/South Loop interchange in the 70s. They started getting widespread use in the mid 80s.

Wow, that early? I don't remember them from that far back. When the North Freeway was slightly widened in the late 80's, the mast lights were installed then. Northwest Freeway got them right around the same time as the North Freeway, either right before or right after. I want to say right after. The North Loop didn't get them until just a couple of years ago. Thanks for the correction, I wasn't aware those lights were even produced that early. Surprising to me they were installed around Gulfgate, instead of being near the Astroworld/Astrodome area, just down the South Loop.

[IronTiger]

By the way, the old Bravos@Bingle is being torn down. What was it again? Jojo's?

I want to say it's for the 290 widening, but there's some ROW that wasn't utilized yet as of the last aerial, and a new Carl's Jr. is pretty close to the frontage too.

[Gator80]

Saw that demo driving home tonight and was wondering the same thing about the new Carls Jr.

[NenaE]

Have you talked about that very old small Victorian age house that faced the railroad tracks, just west of the Sparkle sign company? It has gingerbread details.

The two things I remember from passing through as a sixties kid are the Cy-Fair High School ( blt. Early 1940's) and Carl's BBQ ( not Carl Jrs) nearby. It's also a very old business.

[Purpledevil]

Los Bravos was Champ's, not Jojo's, IronTiger. Jojo's is now a Denny's, on West 34th.

[IronTiger]

Page updated with new info, and not just on Champ's and Jojo's. Not a big one, though. One picture was added.