Susquehannah Dr.

[Goatman79]

I saw Susquehannah Drive mentioned in a post from 2007 and wanted to shine some light on it, as I spent several months in 2014 researching the area and what happened to it.  Apparently, in the very early 90's, the neighborhood of Tower Oaks Plaza, which sits just south of today's Cypress-North Houston & Eldridge, was bisected by the extension of Eldridge Parkway from FM 1960 to Grant Rd.

   The neighborhood looks to have been built in the 1950's, and consisted of a loop known as Morgan Drive/Morgan Loop, and included the streets Mills Ln, Lieder Dr., Oralia Dr., and Susquehannah Dr.

Susquehannah Dr. ran south from Cypress-North Houston Rd. into the heart of Tower Oaks Plaza, touching Mills and Lieder, and finally ending on what is now West Morgan Dr.  When Eldridge Parkway was extended through the middle of the neighborhood, it completely overshadowed the Susquehannah right of way, and the road was done away with altogether.  The only traces left today are a wide bank of grass on the east side of Eldridge as you approach Cypress-North Houston, with a drainage ditch placed much further from the roadside than you would normally see. 

   Where Susquehannah ended at W. Morgan, very close to Oralia, there is only a portion of raised earth sitting in an otherwise uninterrupted drainage ditch on the side of the road.  There seems to be zero traces of the actual old road surface anywhere.  However, a local resident of the community saved a street sign for Susquehannah Dr. and posted it in their front yard, as some sort of permanent homage to their beloved neighborhood street that was erased from existence in the name of progress.  I could imagine the community was quite upset over the ordeal, but I have yet to speak with anyone who was directly affected by the project.  I'd love to have a chat with the folks who own the Susquehannah street sign and hear their story.

 

 

[Goatman79]

Three crude drawings I made of Tower Oaks Plaza, showing the configurations 1) Before the Eldridge Extension. 2) The planned extension of Eldridge overlayed on the original map. 3) The end result after the project was completed.

[The Pragmatist]

It's always interesting to see how an area changes over time. When I go into street view on Google Maps, it still marks Eldridge as Susquehannah Drive in that area. Thanks for sharing!