NASA Farnsworth And Chambers Building/Gragg Building At 2999 South Wayside Dr.

[Heights2Bastrop]

When Houston was chosen to be home to the new space center, NASA built a temporary facility in Houston while the Johnson Space Center was being constructed in Clear Lake.

Does anyone know where that facility was? It is still in operation today as an office park.

[H-Town Man]

Hmmm... could it have been the Schlumberger park on I-45 S?

[Heights2Bastrop]

could it have been the Schlumberger park on I-45 S?

Nope.

[Original Timmy Chan's]

Ooooh! I know, I know...

...but I'll let guessing continue.

I do know you gave away half the answer in your message.

[Guest danax]

I think it was the Office City complex, a now fabulously dumpy early 60s set of two low-rise office buildings on Office City Dr., across the freeway from Gulfgate.

I live up the street in Pecan Park and we have a very old resident who used to be a photographer for NASA and has told us a little of that era. There's still an apartment complex in the neighborhood where the staff and astronauts stayed near Ingrando Park. It's seen better days. Our neighborhood was fully built out and in it's prime back then.

Apparently part of the reason for selecting this spot was due to the convenience of the then-modern shopping facility of Gulfgate.

Musicman, who also lives in Pecan Park, has spoken to this woman more than I, has seen some of her photos (one of JFK visiting the day before he was shot) and would have better info.

[MidtownCoog]

It's my shortcut to UH.

Up Telephone near Wayside, I think. Near the bayou. The city uses it

now.

The answer is in the Houston Arch Guide.

[57Tbird]

I asked a good friend of mine who worked at NASA in it's early Houston years. This was his reply...

"According to my close friend, Pete ........, whom I called to ask about your question, there were no less than 14 locations scattered around town. NASA/JSC was created in Jan/62, and Pete arrived, age 19, Jan/64. (I arrived Jan/66.)

Ellington Field was occupied by NASA and was, by far, the location with the largest number of employees. Other locations were the Lane Wells bldg, with the oil rig out front, across from Gulfgate Mall, Palm Center Apts (Graphics), Rich Bldg on Telephone Rd. When NASA first came to Houston, Jan/62, there were 40-50 total employees."

[gnu]

It's my shortcut to UH.

Up Telephone near Wayside, I think.  Near the bayou.  The city uses it

now. 

The answer is in the Houston Arch Guide.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yep, they used that too. That is the current City Park Department Headquarters Building (Wayside at Telephone - in the park there).

I think they used several buildings. I have heard about Office City and I have also heard they also had an office inside Gulfgate.

I do know they used the current Ambox building - Telephone at Westover - too.

President Kennedy visited there when he came.

[Heights2Bastrop]

According to my late dad, the first location was at 6100 Gulf Freeway in what used to be (may still be) the Houston Office Center. It is the one with the oil derrick in front. If you look at the buildings, you might agree that it is obvious since the place looks like it was designed by an engineer rather than an architect.

[MidtownCoog]

Somebody look it up in your Houston Arch Guide. Mine is home burried in closet.

Pretty sure the one in the park was the "HQ".

[gnu]

Somebody look it up in your Houston Arch Guide.  Mine is home burried in closet.

Pretty sure the one in the park was the "HQ".

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

from arch guide on 2999 south wayside drive

Farnsworth and Chambers Building (1957)

MacKie & Kamrath

The building also functioned as temporary headquarters for NASA while the Manned Spacecraft Center at Clear Lake City was under construction.

[gnu]

found the following list on a NASA history site.

I saw a map online once that had all of these buildings pin-pointed, but I couldn't find it this morning.

Activities of the new spacecraft center were housed in temporary facilities: Farnsworth and Chambers Building, Site 2, headquarters; Rich Building, Site 3, Spacecraft Research Division and Systems Evaluation and Development Division; Lane Wells Building, Site 4, Life Systems Division; Houston Petroleum Center and Stahl and Meyers Building, Site 5, Project Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and Flight Operations Division; East End State Bank Building, Site 6, Personnel and Security Divisions; Office City, Site 7, Flight Crew Operations Division; Ellington Air Force Base, Site 8, Procurement, Financial Management, Photographic Services and Supply; Minneapolis-Honeywell Building, Site 9, Public Affairs Office; Canada Dry Building, Site 10, Technical Services Division; KHOU-TV Building, Site 11, Data Computation and Reduction Division; Peachy Building, Site 12, Facilities Division. Later on the center occupied additional temporary quarters in the Franklin Development Center and in a building formerly occupied by the Veterans Administration, and these became sites 13 and 14. The designation Site 1 was given to the Clear Lake site. "Manned Spacecraft Center Interim Facilities"

[gnu]

Here is the map I was searching for (from the jsc history site) showing all the NASA interim facilities:

I also found a picture from the JFK library showing President Kennedy and others standing in front of a model of the Lunar Lander at the Rich Fan Company building (current Ambox bldg - Telephone at Westover).

[TexasHome]

I remember the one at Office City with the oil derrick out front among other scattered all over the Ellington area.

Neat photo of JFK in front of the model. The LEM sure changed a lot.

[TJones]

My mother worked for IBM back in the 60's across from NASA in Clear Lake, she helped put the first man on the moon also.

[FilioScotia]

My mother worked for IBM back in the 60's across from NASA in Clear Lake, she helped put the first man on the moon also.

Every one of those office buildings on the other side of NASA Rd 1 from the space center also served as temporary space for NASA in the early days. Mission Control and that multi-story Building One were the first to be built onsite, and Mission Control was in operation during most of Project Gemini, while the Public Affairs Office and the NASA auditorium were still under construction in the mid 60s.

I was a local reporter who started out covering the Gemini flights in 1965. and even then, the news center and all the NASA news conferences were in a temporary media center off site across NASA Rd 1. By 1966 though, the official press center was finished and we all said goodbye to that temporary place. I still carry a scar from that time. One night in the temp news center, I dropped a heavy table on my left foot and mangled my big toe. To this day that toe-nail is ugly looking and ingrowing, and a source of considerable discomfort when it needs to be trimmed. (all together now: awwwww)

As for the answer to the original question, we can thank then Vice President LBJ, House Speaker Sam Rayburn, and the late Houston Congressman Albert Thomas for the decision to build the space center in Houston. With that much Texas born political clout working for us we couldn't miss.

[MidtownCoog]

The Gragg building comes up from time-to-time. Nice link on the NASA history from the City of Houston Parks and Recreation Department.

http://www.houstontx.gov/parks/images/Parks/Gragg003.jpg

http://www.houstontx.gov/parks/graggflash.html

[isuredid]

This building comes up from time-to-time. Nice link on the history from the COH Park (Green) Department.

http://www.houstontx.gov/parks/graggflash.html

Thanks for posting this. I grew up about 2 blocks away and rode my bike over there many times as a kid to watch the comings and goings. At the time it was Nasa there was a gate with soldiers where the neighborhood ends before S.Wayside passes in front of the building.

I have always wondered who owned that 11 acres behind the building and this posting has given me enough clues to go find out. There used to be a fairly large house on that land. It had a circular driveway lined with Palm Trees. Some of the palm trees are still there. There was a life sized concete deer in front of that house that you could spy through the trees. I always tripped out on that deer as a kid, when passing by in the car.

The old house was abandoned and eventually collapsed, more or less, and had to be torn down. People used to abandon houses all the time back then. You don't see that much anymore.

[Firebird65]

People used to abandon houses all the time back then. You don't see that much anymore.

Maybe because rather than abandon them, they can foist them off on some Carlton Sheets wannabe? LOL!

[MidtownCoog]

I know those palms. I think part of the drive is still there. This was my route to UH in the 90s. I used to see packs of wild dogs there - seriously.

There was debate on this board if this buidling was actually the NASA HQ. I think this link pretty much seals the deal - it was.

[isuredid]

Regarding that house that used to sit on that 11 acre tract, I remember that if you went back a distance in the woods past where the house had sat there were old barbed wire fences and cattle guards so the guy must have had cattle on the land around there at one time. There was an old man you could see sitting out in the front yard sometimes. When he died was when the house was abandoned.

Members of the Kuhlmann family owned a lot of the land around there, but I don't think they had owned that parcel. There is a deep gully right across the road from the Gragg building behind the woods and the neighborhood called Kuhlmann's gully. Some think the Houston toad may still exist down in that gully. I know we found those toads often when I was a kid.

Edited October 20, 2006 by isuredid

[isuredid]

I went and traced back that 11 acre tract today where the old house had been. This was the most interesting item I ran across. It is an affidavit sworn to by the son of the man who had owned the property. There is a lot of good information in here. He talks about the fences that I remember and some other interesting twists. Those deer I remember seeing as a child were real. Actually I did have memories of seeing real deer, but I believe those were replaced eventually with the concrete deer.

This affidavit was taken when the land was sold to the Gragg family. It started out as 12 + acres, but after some easements had been carved out by the city for roads and sewers it left about 11.5 acres. W.D. York was a partner with the Gragg family and the land he is talking about with the cyclone fence is the Parks Department Land.

Edited October 20, 2006 by isuredid

[isuredid]

This deed was interesting to me. It has Daniel Shipman granting his labor of 177 acres to Rufus K. Cage. Part of this land became the Parks Department land. Daniel Shipman was an old Texan who first came to Texas in 1822. I found this deed interesting because it says he was residing on this land in 1835, the year before the revolution. I also found it interesting because he sold to Rufus K. Cage. I assume this is the father of Rufus T. Cage for whom the old Cage elementary school was named. You can read more about Shipman at the Texas Handbook Online site:

Texas Handbook Online - Daniel Shipman

Edited October 20, 2006 by isuredid

[isuredid]

In 1918 Mary E. Harris and her husband George L. Harris purchased the 12 + acre tract. They are the ones that built the house that the Gordon Cleaves McDannald afidavit refers to as an old residence on the property used as an office. The 1930 census shows Mary E. Harris and George L. Harris living on Telephone road with two daughters, Dixie K. Harris-22, and Mary G. Harris-15. George is 62 and Mary is 48.

By 1935 Mary E. Harris was a widow and had sold the land to R.Y. Smith (mentioned in the affidavit) and Arthur T. McDannald. The 11+ acres stayed in the McDannald family until sold to the Gragg family in 1970.

Edited October 23, 2006 by isuredid

[isuredid]

I went and explored the 11+ acre tract today because it is now part of Gragg Park. Still many remnants of the old McDannald Oil Company. Here is the foundation of the old house that used to serve as the headquarters

Here is the cattle guard that I remembered. That road used to go further back into more woods. Now there is a maintainence facility back there:

Here is a boat shaped pond that looks to still be in decent shape after 40 years

The asphalt road looks like it would still be usable. You can see the palm trees up towards Telephone Road. The road used to be lined with palms, but now there are just a few left. I didn't see any remnants of the old cedar fence that used to surround the property.

Edited November 5, 2006 by isuredid

[isuredid]

I know those palms. I think part of the drive is still there. This was my route to UH in the 90s. I used to see packs of wild dogs there - seriously.

There was debate on this board if this buidling was actually the NASA HQ. I think this link pretty much seals the deal - it was.

I believe you about the wild dogs. There used to be packs of wild dogs running around in Washington Cemetery in the 80s. Now there are coyotes.

[musicman]

don't know if this will help any but i mentioned this to my dad. he said when he was younger he used to caddy at the golfcrest country club. he would get off the bus at telephone/winkler (near telwink) and walk down Golfcrest to fairway (before 610 was built). the former golf course is now it's hisd's barnett stadium. well anyway...after he was done caddying, many times he and my uncle would go eat at a red bricked restaurant which is where the palm trees are now. he is saying this is about 1950 or so. so it may have been a restaurant at one point.

he said back then wheeler didn't connect to telephone (where the palm trees are. you used to access the restaurant via telephone.

Edited November 5, 2006 by musicman

[isuredid]

don't know if this will help any but i mentioned this to my dad. he said when he was younger he used to caddy at the golfcrest country club. he would get off the bus at telephone/winkler (near telwink) and walk down Golfcrest to fairway (before 610 was built). the former golf course is now it's hisd's barnett stadium. well anyway...after he was done caddying, many times he and my uncle would go eat at a red bricked restaurant which is where the palm trees are now. he is saying this is about 1950 or so. so it may have been a restaurant at one point.

Hmmm....I think that building was headquarters for McDannald Oil Company from 1935 to 1965 and then it was torn down, but it was a red brick building. There was a restaurant down the street from there called "The Famous Chicken House" which may have also had palms around it. A lot of those business around there had palms. The Helena Motel down the street also had many palm trees.

When I was a teenager the Golfcrest Country Club had been abandoned and had completely overgrown and gone back to the wild. There was a lot of wildlife back there including rabbits, squirrels, racooons, ducks, etc.. The club house was still there and the swimming pool was growing a green culture and aquatic plants.

Another restaurant close to there was the Galli Spaghetti House. That was closer to Tel-Wink grill and was back in some woods. I thought the woman who ran the place was old back in the 70s, but I think she just died not long ago. I guess when you are a teenager you think everyone over 40 is old.

Edited November 5, 2006 by isuredid

[musicman]

Hmmm....I think that building was headquarters for McDannald Oil Company from 1935 to 1965 and then it was torn down, but it was a red brick building. There was a restaurant down the street from there call "The Famous Chicken House" which may have also had palms around it. A lot of those business around there had palms. The Helena Motel down the street also had many palm trees.

When I was a teenager the Golfcrest Country Club had been abandoned and had completely overgrown and gone back to the wild. There was a lot of wildlife back there including rabbits, squirrels, racooons, ducks, etc.. The club house was still there and the swimming pool was growing a green culture and aquatic plants.

Another restaurant close to there was the Galli Spaghetti House. That was closer to Tel-Wink grill and was back in some woods. I thought the woman who ran the place was old back in the 70s, but I think she just died not long ago. I guess when you are a teenager you think everyone over 40 is old.

you must be my age cause i remember the golf course as you do. i also remember you could see if from long dr before they built the low income housing.

now my mom's getting involved. they both knew the chicken house place. that is closer to the present day wayside and telephone according to them. he said there was also a theater near there as well (near present day maxwell) but it turned into a club called jimmy or johnny minutes (sp). my mom said that she saw chuck berry perform there in the 50's.

i know the spaghetti house that's on the other side of telwink (towards 610). He said that that's definitely not where he's talking about. he said near the theater there was also a headquarters for an oil company but he said he didn't remember the name.

he said that the people he caddy for would take them to the restaurant in the red brick building right there where the palm trees are currently. on my last phone call he said that he would even bet they served mexican food.

he said the old kmart property (new dollar store) was all woods at this time.

if we go to telwink tomorrow i'll have both of them drive by again to see if it causes any flashbacks.

[isuredid]

you must be my age cause i remember the golf course as you do. i also remember you could see if from long dr before they built the low income housing.

now my mom's getting involved. they both knew the chicken house place. that is closer to the present day wayside and telephone according to them. he said there was also a theater near there as well (near present day maxwell) but it turned into a club called jimmy or johnny minutes (sp). my mom said that she saw chuck berry perform there in the 50's.

i know the spaghetti house that's on the other side of telwink (towards 610). He said that that's definitely not where he's talking about. he said near the theater there was also a headquarters for an oil company but he said he didn't remember the name.

he said that the people he caddy for would take them to the restaurant in the red brick building right there where the palm trees are currently. on my last phone call he said that he would even bet they served mexican food.

he said the old kmart property (new dollar store) was all woods at this time.

if we go to telwink tomorrow i'll have both of them drive by again to see if it causes any flashbacks.

Here...you can show your mom this picture of Jimmie Menutis Club from another thread, and quess who is on the marquee... It was a movie theater before that. Follow that thread down to the Las Vegas Inn...a Mexican Food Restaurant. See if that rings a bell with your Dad.

Tour of Telephone Road

Edited November 5, 2006 by isuredid