Historic Houston Ice Houses

[roym]

My grandparents and mom lived on E 11th between Oxford and Beverly-right next to Walker's-a kind of ice house. I have a great pic of my mom looking kind of loopy after graduation from Reagan in the mid 40's over a couple of beer bottles in that ice house on Beverly and E. 11th where Berryhills is now.

Another one that still exists is Jim's at Wakefield and Alba in Garden Oaks.

Post that pic, man!

How to spot an icehouse: "If there not 46 zillion bottlecaps laying in the parking lot crushed by 46 million pickup trucks -- you're in the wrong place."

Bingo! That one little picture says a lot. Thx!

[FreakyDude]

Bingo! That one little picture says a lot. Thx!

I used to collect bottle caps and the best place to find them was at an icehouse! That may have been cheating a little, but it did the trick!

[Absinthe_1900]

There used to be one in Rice Village called "The Poor Mans Country Club".

Another at Holcombe & Kelvin was called "Toot-N-Tell'em".

[EastEnd Susan]

Does anyone remember the old ice houses that used to dot the east end? I remember one on Canal and 67th across from Richeys grocery store, and another on Harrisburg right by the railroad tracks and yet another on Navagation close to Wayside. They actually had bar stools outside on the sidewalk pulled up to a bar.

[gonzo1976]

My grandparents used to run Mak's Ice House, off Cullen and McKinney. Learned to play pool there!

[musicman]

My grandparents used to run Mak's Ice House, off Cullen and McKinney. Learned to play pool there!

been biking thru that area and cooled off there.

[brerrabbit]

My Father's hang out was Sheffields on Telephone Road and its still standing although the neighborhood has change dramatically over the years. I spent a lot of time in that old building.

[Vertigo58]

Almost embarrassed to admit in the early 80's we would go to a joint called (I think) Ken's Club but it was way out by Hobby Airport. Last I saw it was near collapse, funny!

The owners were cool they let us bring in our own brew and stuff it in the air condition rack while we played pool. You should have seen the winners at the bar. Like a scene from Barfly or Leaving Las Vegas. Foster Brooks & Dean Martin look-a-like's all over this joint/dive! They all came in with their own 1/2 gallon bottles of moonshine.

This place was so unusual as we played pool; customers would careen their cars into the building and hit the wall shaking the lamps, dust coming down and all, but everyone just kept on playing as normal. Surprised I lived to tell about it!

[musicman]

harrisburg country club is another popular one...

[TJones]

Perhaps our next HAIF get together should be at an Icehouse. Is the Icehouse on Sage still open ?

[Vertigo58]

Perhaps our next HAIF get together should be at an Icehouse. Is the Icehouse on Sage still open ?

Maybe we should, before we all meet in a sanitarium!

[Racehorse]

Does anyone remember the old ice houses that used to dot the east end? I remember one on Canal and 67th across from Richeys grocery store, and another on Harrisburg right by the railroad tracks and yet another on Navagation close to Wayside. They actually had bar stools outside on the sidewalk pulled up to a bar.

Sep 19 2009 The Avalon theater 75 th & Lawndale is gone as of this day "Open lot' Also at 75 & Lawndale sOUTH SIDE was the " Wahoo Ice House "

[Retama]

Boy, am I glad that this subject was posted because it has been on my mind the past few weeks.

It really surprizes me how quickly the ice house disappeared (though it shouldn't). As a kid growing up in Baytown in the 1960s and 70s there were still quite a few of them particularly on Houston's east side, in Pasadena down in Kemah and Texas City, Galveston had some rough ones, Sonny's in Baytown was a good one. My dad used to drop by an ice house off Hwy. 146 in Bacliff when I was a kid. Mom thought they were "common" and "low class." As a high schooler my friends and I used to roll into some ice houses and play shuffleboard and shoot pool (drink beer, too). Seems like they just dried up almost overnight.

If people have photos of ice houses, post them, please! Also, I'd be interested in hearing about the social life of these places because some were just "beer joints," where old men sat around complaining and drinking Lone Star and Shiner while others were very lively places where people danced to the jukebox. Damn, I'd love to sit in an ice house drinking a Miller High Life listening to Webb Pierce or Hank Thompson again! That is a lost cultural experience!

[kylejack]

"Icehouses inTexas have a long history of being THE cornerstone of a neighborhood:once the only place to get ice, they soon became gathering places todrink beer, eat and hang out with neighbors."

http://www.beavershouston.com/allaboutbeav.html

[crunchtastic]

"Icehouses inTexas have a long history of being THE cornerstone of a neighborhood:once the only place to get ice, they soon became gathering places todrink beer, eat and hang out with neighbors."

http://www.beavershouston.com/allaboutbeav.html

You did not just quote a $12 cocktail/hipster restaurant website in a thread about icehouses! Shame!

LOL, maybe you forget it's the HAIF, not Stuffwhitepeoplelike.com.OK, I'm kidding. But only a little!

[kylejack]

You did not just quote a $12 cocktail/hipster restaurant website in a thread about icehouses! Shame!

LOL, maybe you forget it's the HAIF, not Stuffwhitepeoplelike.com.

Its a former icehouse, though!

[Flashman]

Little known fact:

Beaver's Ice House was an ice house. It was going to be run by Louis Beaver. Beaver ran an ice house on Shepard at about 29th street - just inside the north loop - from about 1988 to about 1995, maybe 1996. That, too, was named Beaver's Ice House. (It is now called Buffalo Fred's. Fred is Vietnamese)

After he shut down that ice house, Beaver started a tape copying business. (Seismic mag tapes) If you were so inclined, you could meet Beaver at The Shiloh almost any afternoon.

Then he decided to open up another ice house. He got the lease there south of Washington (where the restaurant is now) and proceeded to build his ice house.

I called them on the day it was supposed to open and asked for Louis. They said that he had a heart attack and died that very day.

That is, indeed, the rest of the story.

[kylejack]

Beaver's was previously called Doodie's.

[westguy76]

I grew up just south of Gulfgate mall down the street from the Reveille Ice House.

Only one I have been too in Houston was the one on West Alabama saw a girl get bit by a dog while drinking beer.

[kylejack]

That's what happens when dogs drink beer.

[Flashman]

That's what happens when dogs drink beer.

Excellent!

[AtticaFlinch]

That's what happens when dogs drink beer.

I'm having a little difficulty understanding the mechanics of it all. How is it possible to simultaneously drink beer and bite someone? It seems impossible to me... unless, maybe the dog was using a straw and a beer helmet.

[24zulu]

Boy, am I glad that this subject was posted because it has been on my mind the past few weeks.

It really surprizes me how quickly the ice house disappeared (though it shouldn't). As a kid growing up in Baytown in the 1960s and 70s there were still quite a few of them particularly on Houston's east side, in Pasadena down in Kemah and Texas City, Galveston had some rough ones, Sonny's in Baytown was a good one. My dad used to drop by an ice house off Hwy. 146 in Bacliff when I was a kid. Mom thought they were "common" and "low class." As a high schooler my friends and I used to roll into some ice houses and play shuffleboard and shoot pool (drink beer, too). Seems like they just dried up almost overnight.

If people have photos of ice houses, post them, please! Also, I'd be interested in hearing about the social life of these places because some were just "beer joints," where old men sat around complaining and drinking Lone Star and Shiner while others were very lively places where people danced to the jukebox. Damn, I'd love to sit in an ice house drinking a Miller High Life listening to Webb Pierce or Hank Thompson again! That is a lost cultural experience!

Remember my old hang out, Silver Wings, on 146 in Baytown? Seemed that the air was always cool in the evening, as the ceiling fans harmonized with Merle's every song. I was there the night that everyone found out that Charlie Pride was black. What a shocker that was. We had all played his music, and bought the albums, and then ... the bomb-shell. What a night! Didn't stop us from playin', and buyin' his music. Anyone had a cold one at, Bully Paul's Ice House on Telephone Road?? There's some stories there brother! Give me some feedback, or better yet, a cold one ... or two, or ten...

[6thgentxn]

There was an icehouse on Washington Ave about a mile east of Memorial Park (near Pig Stand??). It was old when I went there in the mid 60s. It catered to the semi-pro and amateur Soft ball crowd at night and the locals in the afternoon/evening.  One evening the owner came to each table and apologized because he was gonna have to start charging a quarter for a longneck. I think they had been 22c.

 

[Chasbro]

I was with my Dad and I remember listening to a Floyd Patterson - Sonny Liston heavyweight championship fight on the radio at Bangs on Bissonet. 

[Melon8855]

Does anyone remember an outdoor bar in memorial park in the late 70’s? I think it was called West”something” Drive in.

 

[mkultra25]

32 minutes ago, Melon8855 said:

Does anyone remember an outdoor bar in memorial park in the late 70’s? I think it was called West”something” Drive in.

 

 

Westcott Drive Inn? It was located where Canyon Creek is now (6603 Westcott).

 

If that's the one, it was there well past the late 70s - I think it closed only a few years ago. 

[Earlydays]

I remember an old ice house on Almeda, it was next to the riding stables on the edge of Herman Park. My recollection is from the late 50's when I was a kid and loved ice-cold Cokes pulled out of an icy cooler!

[roym]

On 8/18/2019 at 5:32 PM, Chasbro said:

I was with my Dad and I remember listening to a Floyd Patterson - Sonny Liston heavyweight championship fight on the radio at Bangs on Bissonet. 

 

Oh wow, someone else remembers Bangs!  Tell me more.  I found an entry on 4504 Richmond in 1957, and one on 4504 Bissonnet in 1964.  There were two locations.