Talk A Walk Down Telephone Rd.

[Ashikaga]

yes - i was just there to take the pictures

Why is there what appears to be a locked gate? Is that motel located in a high crime area?

[sevfiv]

it's a pretty seedy area - keep in mind that across the street are the eagle lounge, happy lounge, and the little toy club.

it looked like the gate served as a checkpoint to access the houses. maybe they don't like visitors...heh

[Ashikaga]

Why is there what appears to be a locked gate? Is that motel located in a high crime area?

I remember from back then (1962-64) we went to a Monterrey House restaurant on Telephone Road near where it intersects with Reveille. Many someone out there could swing by it, snap a photo, and post it.

[gnu]

Jimmie Menutis Lounge and Club

3236 Telephone at Wayside

Demolished

"Houston's newest and finest ballroom". Looks like they attracted some big names.

[sevfiv]

awesome!

when did it finally bite the dust?

[Subdude]

Cool. Where did you find that?

I think that nightclub didn't last too long. From what I could find it was out of business in the early 1960s.

[marmer]

Wasn't there a reasonably spectacular big wavy slide (the kind kids slide down on a piece of cardboard or waxed paper) at Almeda-Genoa and Telephone? There where it makes the one-block jog north to continue to the east? ISTR a ?junkyard? there on the lot in the 80's and remnants of the slide structure still being visible.

Marty

[Ashikaga]

that's your lot by griggs rd? heh

Does anyone happen to have recent photos of Telephone Road and the businesses on it?

[sevfiv]

Does anyone happen to have recent photos of Telephone Road and the businesses on it?

check out http://maps.a9.com

it has a pretty good collection of telephone rd. pictures

[musicman]

Wasn't there a reasonably spectacular big wavy slide (the kind kids slide down on a piece of cardboard or waxed paper) at Almeda-Genoa and Telephone? There where it makes the one-block jog north to continue to the east? ISTR a ?junkyard? there on the lot in the 80's and remnants of the slide structure still being visible.

Marty

it's gone. it is right where the 2 lane almeda genoa ends at telephone, next to mr. charburger.

[Ashikaga]

Thanks! I wasn't around then, but is so cool in a way that Houston, and especially Telephone Road, used to have such a rough, funky, down-in-the-dirt image. Maybe a little bit dangerous. Maybe we come off as a little bland as compared to back in the day. Our image then seems like it was a lot more larger than life than it is now. I also get that impression from the Fuermann books.

Now I'm wondering how Telephone Road got its name. Did Southwestern Bell/A.T.&T. have an office on that road?

[nm5k]

Cool. Where did you find that?

I think that nightclub didn't last too long. From what I could find it was out of business in the early 1960s.

Judging from the look, I bet it once was a movie theater. Sure looks

like one anyway...

MK

[Subdude]

Judging from the look, I bet it once was a movie theater. Sure looks

like one anyway...

MK

Yup, Wayside Theater.

[Ashikaga]

Yup, Wayside Theater.

I looked on a street map of Houston. Telephone Road is much longer than I thought it was. It starts on the far south side of town. It doesn't go all the way to the far north side of town, but it goes quite a ways up there. It should have an extensive history behind it.

[Ashikaga]

Jimmie Menutis Lounge and Club

3236 Telephone at Wayside

Demolished

"Houston's newest and finest ballroom". Looks like they attracted some big names.

Turner Motel

3250 Telephone

Demolished

Christensen Hotel Courts

3500 Telephone

Extant

"Free Radio in Every Unit"

Las Vegas Inn

3706 Telephone

Demolished

DuBose Tel-Wink Grill

4318 Telephone

Extant

Old Hickory Stick

4521 Telephone

Demolished

Cool cars in the lot.

"We Like It" Trailer Park

4535 Telephone

No longer there.

Notice where someone circled their trailer.

Sembera's Furniture

4661 Telephone

Extant

Skylane Inn ("Home of the Orbit Room")

6747 Telephone

Demolished

I guess I'm behind the changing times. Earlier today, I finished up taking all of the pictures on a Fuji disposable camera and dropped it off at Wal-Mart for developing. I still don't have a digital camera, but both of my parents each have their own. Am I the only one on this forum who still takes photos the "old-fashioned" way? I think I can say that about 99% of you use digital cameras, especially Subdude.

[Ashikaga]

Jimmie Menutis Lounge and Club

3236 Telephone at Wayside

Demolished

"Houston's newest and finest ballroom". Looks like they attracted some big names.

Turner Motel

3250 Telephone

Demolished

Christensen Hotel Courts

3500 Telephone

Extant

"Free Radio in Every Unit"

Las Vegas Inn

3706 Telephone

Demolished

DuBose Tel-Wink Grill

4318 Telephone

Extant

Old Hickory Stick

4521 Telephone

Demolished

Cool cars in the lot.

"We Like It" Trailer Park

4535 Telephone

No longer there.

Notice where someone circled their trailer.

Sembera's Furniture

4661 Telephone

Extant

Skylane Inn ("Home of the Orbit Room")

6747 Telephone

Demolished

I try to look at photos such as these from a historical perspective. Say you're standing today on the spot where the Skylane Inn and Turner's Motel once stood. Look and try to envision those people in the photos who were once on that spot of land. Then you start to wonder if those people are still around. If some are, then you wonder where they are, what they're doing, what they now look like, etc. That's how I try to view what used to be.

[Ashikaga]

Jimmie Menutis Lounge and Club

3236 Telephone at Wayside

Demolished

"Houston's newest and finest ballroom". Looks like they attracted some big names.

Turner Motel

3250 Telephone

Demolished

Christensen Hotel Courts

3500 Telephone

Extant

"Free Radio in Every Unit"

Las Vegas Inn

3706 Telephone

Demolished

DuBose Tel-Wink Grill

4318 Telephone

Extant

Old Hickory Stick

4521 Telephone

Demolished

Cool cars in the lot.

"We Like It" Trailer Park

4535 Telephone

No longer there.

Notice where someone circled their trailer.

Sembera's Furniture

4661 Telephone

Extant

Skylane Inn ("Home of the Orbit Room")

6747 Telephone

Demolished

Subdude,

Out of all of the photo topics that you've started, this one is the best one.

[Ol' SEHouston Girl]

Wow, memories! My aunt had a bookstore, Colleen's, on Telephone until a few years ago. In the sixties, we frequently ate at the Old Hickory Stick and my parents adored the Orbit Room! And the Santa Rosa...we saw zillions of movies there.

[musicman]

Wow, memories! My aunt had a bookstore, Colleen's, on Telephone until a few years ago. In the sixties, we frequently ate at the Old Hickory Stick and my parents adored the Orbit Room! And the Santa Rosa...we saw zillions of movies there.

Sorry to hear about your aunt's passing. I used to go to her store.

[texianjoe]

Jimmey Menutis looks a lot like the Santa Rosa Theatre. Are they the same building.

joe

[musicman]

Jimmey Menutis looks a lot like the Santa Rosa Theatre. Are they the same building.

joe

no that was up near wayside and telephone

[Subdude]

Jimmey Menutis looks a lot like the Santa Rosa Theatre. Are they the same building.

joe

No, Jimmy Menutis I think was originally the Wayside Theater. They were probably built around the same time.

[Ol' SEHouston Girl]

Sorry to hear about your aunt's passing. I used to go to her store.

Thank you musicman, we miss her desperately. She loved her location even though it was dangerous. She was robbed early on but insisted that Telephone was the best place for her kind of store.

[texianjoe]

no that was up near wayside and telephone

Oh ok, thanks I know where you mean. Over by Bob Robertson Chevrolet. I loved that Chevy building. White art deco looking with a big neon clock on the front.

joe

[mkultra25]

Thank you musicman, we miss her desperately. She loved her location even though it was dangerous. She was robbed early on but insisted that Telephone was the best place for her kind of store.

I spent many an afternoon browsing the mazelike stacks in her store - for anyone even remotely interested in Texana, it was a goldmine. I was saddened when she closed the store, but not nearly as saddened as when I spotted her obituary in the Chronicle some time later. She was a great lady.

[texianjoe]

Reading on another thread about the Meyer property reminded me of a big house on the SW corner of Telephone and Bellfort. It was a big brick house with ivy growing on the walls. It looked like it may have pre dated Garden Villas.

I was once told that most of that area of town was once horse ranches. There were large mansions everywhere. An example is the big house off Dixie near Broadway, the house next to a church on Dixie near Chaffin and the old construction office on Mykawa off Dixie. They looked like some of the anti-bellum homes you would see in the old south.

joe

[isuredid]

Thank you musicman, we miss her desperately. She loved her location even though it was dangerous. She was robbed early on but insisted that Telephone was the best place for her kind of store.

I can trace my interest in Houston history directly to Coleen's books. I bought a copy of Sig Byrd's Houston from Coleen as well as Theodor Dresel's Houston Journal. After reading the Sig Byrd book I wanted to find the source of the "Queen of Vinegar Hill" story. I did...Queen Caroline Riley...who lived in the 1870s during Vinegar Hill's heyday. The thing I like about Coleen is that is you wanted to talk she would talk all day, but if you didn't she would just leave you alone. Does anyone have the obit to post? I missed it.

[mkultra25]

I can trace my interest in Houston history directly to Coleen's books. I bought a copy of Sig Byrd's Houston from Coleen as well as Theodor Dresel's Houston Journal. After reading the Sig Byrd book I wanted to find the source of the "Queen of Vinegar Hill" story. I did...Queen Caroline Riley...who lived in the 1870s during Vinegar Hill's heyday. The thing I like about Coleen is that is you wanted to talk she would talk all day, but if you didn't she would just leave you alone. Does anyone have the obit to post? I missed it.

From the Chronicle, 4/16/2006:

A noted bookstore proprietor and Texana collection owner, Colleen Urbanek dies at 88

[musicman]

Reading on another thread about the Meyer property reminded me of a big house on the SW corner of Telephone and Bellfort. It was a big brick house with ivy growing on the walls. It looked like it may have pre dated Garden Villas.

I was once told that most of that area of town was once horse ranches. There were large mansions everywhere. An example is the big house off Dixie near Broadway, the house next to a church on Dixie near Chaffin and the old construction office on Mykawa off Dixie. They looked like some of the anti-bellum homes you would see in the old south.

joe

Know exactly what you're talkin about. I think one of those on Dixie is a B&B

From the Chronicle, 4/16/2006:

A noted bookstore proprietor and Texana collection owner, Colleen Urbanek dies at 88

bad link for me.

[isuredid]

Know exactly what you're talkin about. I think one of those on Dixie is a B&B

bad link for me.

Paper: Houston Chronicle

Date: Sun 04/16/2006

Section: B

Page: 2

Edition: 4 STAR

A noted bookstore proprietor and Texana collection owner, "Colleen Urbanek" dies at 88 / Her dedication to readers, writers spoke volumes

By LYNWOOD ABRAM

Staff

Colleen Urbanek, the witty, high-spirited proprietor of Colleen's Books, a used bookstore that attracted literary lions, seekers of rare volumes and ordinary readers to Telephone Road, died last week in her southeast Houston home. She was 88.

Her husband, Dan Urbanek, found her dead in her bed last Sunday afternoon when he returned from a trip to Nashville, Tenn. He said she apparently had suffered a heart attack.

For 30 years, Colleen Urbanek swapped jokes, stories and wisecracks with such writers as Larry McMurtry, David Westheimer, Leon Hale and Mickey Herskowitz.

Hale, the longtime Houston Chronicle columnist, recalled that one day, "I walked in the store and she seemed angry. I asked her what the matter was. She said, `Oh, these people keep coming in here and buying my favorite books and taking them away.' "

In her store in the 6800 block of Telephone Road, near Hobby Airport, Urbanek was renowned for the aphorisms that she posted on slips of paper.

Two samples tell a lot about Urbanek: "Old Age Comes at a Bad Time" and "Be the First on Your Block to Own a Book. Amaze and Stupefy Your Friends."

Hale said he first visited the store on the recommendation of a friend.

The friend confided: "You might not like the books, but that old gal who runs the place is worth the trip."

"I did like the books," Hale said, "but he was sure right about Colleen. I went back there many times, and Colleen became one of the few special friends I've made in more than a half-century in Houston.

"I mean, if I called her at 2 o'clock in the morning and said I was in jail, she would come get me out. That kind of friend."

Hale once quoted Urbanek in his column as saying that the funniest remark she ever heard in the store came from one of two customers who were discussing a gift. One said: "You're gonna give him a book? He's GOT a book!"

In 1971, tired of being a housewife, Urbanek opened her store with about 5,000 books in 1,600 square feet of space.

When she closed the store in 2001, it had expanded to 3,000 square feet of space and housed 75,000 used and out-of-print books, including one of the state's finest collections of Texana.

When he first visited the store, Hale said, he "first thought that somewhat seedy stretch of Telephone Road was a curious place for a used/rare bookstore, but it was an excellent location because of Hobby Airport.

Collectors and other dealers could fly in there and come across the road to Colleen's and stock up and fly out."

Dan and Colleen Urbanek met 57 years ago when they were technicians in the Shell Oil research lab at Deer Park.

Born in Sweetville, La., Colleen Stockford Urbanek was the daughter of Louis G. Stockford and Myrtle Anna Morris Stockford. She graduated from the University of Arkansas with a degree in English.

Dan Urbanek said his wife's motto was, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead."

When she retired, he said, she continued her lifelong habit of reading. She also missed the people who came to visit the store.

Besides her husband, Colleen Urbanek leaves four sisters, Eloise Campbell, of Fort Pierce, Fla.; Bobbie Ann Commander and Mary Gail Cox, both of Brenham; and Lucille Ferguson, of Houston.

A memorial service was held Thursday at Crespo Funeral Home.