Pictures Of Houston's Skyline During The 70s & 80s

[Montrose1100]

I always pondered why there are basically no pictures of the growing Houston skyline in the 60s, 70s, and 80s? I'm sure Downtown looked interesting with all thos skyscrapers and cranes. Does anyone know of a collection or website that has such photos? I've seen only 3 photos of Downtown before 1986, which didn't include the Heritage Plaza, and it looked very interesting. One was a postcard, which still sells today.

The only ones I've seen are 1 bad shot on texas freeways, and the small handful of wonderful shots HAI recieved from that construction worker on the JPMCT.

Anyone know something I don't?

[TheNiche]

I always pondered why there are basically no pictures of the growing Houston skyline in the 60s, 70s, and 80s? I'm sure Downtown looked interesting with all thos skyscrapers and cranes. Does anyone know of a collection or website that has such photos? I've seen only 3 photos of Downtown before 1986, which didn't include the Heritage Plaza, and it looked very interesting. One was a postcard, which still sells today.

The only ones I've seen are 1 bad shot on texas freeways, and the small handful of wonderful shots HAI recieved from that construction worker on the JPMCT.

Anyone know something I don't?

I've been wondering that myself. I've got a Texas Highway Map from the 1950's that shows the Houston skyline on the cover. The Gulf Oil Building and Esperson Building were still the tallest ones at the time.

[MidtownCoog]

You mean that have not made their way to the Web? Have you tried the old Library?

My tax accountant has some great shots in his office taken by an aerial photography company based in Houston.

[Subdude]

Here you go. This is from about 1961.

There's plenty more available.

[57Tbird]

Here are a few from the 60's, with a couple of 50's thrown in...

http://www.cah.utexas.edu/db/dmr/dmr_resul...ricted&folder=4

[uncertaintraveler]

Locate some old National Geographics, either in print or on microfilm. I know there were a few published during the 70's and early 80's on Texas and Houston---they have some decent arial photographs of downtown.

[Montrose1100]

You mean that have not made their way to the Web? Have you tried the old Library?

My tax accountant has some great shots in his office taken by an aerial photography company based in Houston.

Actually, as Idiotic as it might sound, I have not checked the old Library.

But I was talking in general, like actual photos & on the internet.

Subdude: Thanks! That postcard is awesome. How did you find it? I always google/ask/momma/yahoo/etc. old texas/houston post cards. I think I'm just handicaped when it comes to finding things.

And thanks for the website 57Tbird.

[Subdude]

Subdude: Thanks! That postcard is awesome. How did you find it?

No prob. I have stacks of them.

[citykid09]

What is the are in the front of Downtown? Thats amazing! It looks very dense. Does it still exist? Or was this area and all these building torn down?

[citykid09]

That's Allen Parkway Village (aka San Felipe Courts), a public housing project. Much of it was torn down a few years ago, but some of the original buildings remain.

Why did they tear it down? Because it was a housing project? Was it a bad area? What is there now?

Look at this these sites I found about it: http://www.pbsj.com/what/Core/ArchaeologyC...arkwayHistoric/

http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/fea.../06/09/apv.html

[citykid09]

[editor]

Why did they tear it down? Because it was a housing project? Was it a bad area? What is there now?

Allen Parkway Village was a crime-infested run-down ghetto. It was bad. Real bad. The city of Houston put all the legitimate residents up in hotels for over a year while they tore the place down and re-built it. These people got to live in a hotel with maid service FOR OVER A YEAR FOR FREE in rooms that were sometimes bigger than their previous apartments, AND THEY STILL WENT ON TV EVERY FEW MONTHS TO COMPLAIN ABOUT IT.

[dalparadise]

Here you go. This is from about 1961.

There's plenty more available.

Cool pic. If that said "Greetings from Cincinnati" and was from 1990, or so, I wouldn't have noticed the difference.

It's amazing how much the look of our city changed in the period of 1969-1986 -- roughly bookended by One Shell Plaza and Heritage Plaza. That period, for better or worse, shaped the kind of city we either have tried to embrace or shake off for the twenty years since then. And it just goes to show you how important a CBD can be, because this influence is more than just visual -- the repercussions of this period spread across socioeconomic lines, from Allen Parkway Village to Uptown, to The Woodlands, to Pearland and all across the region.

[Subdude]

I thought the area around City Hall and the Colisseum wasn't considered part of 4th Ward. Originally there were some nice houses in that area. But you are correct that the Pierce Elevated and Allen Center were built in an historically African-American area, as were San Felipe Courts (APV). That was a common tactic for routing freeways at that time. The land value in poor neighborhoods was less, making acquisition cheaper, and the residents tended to be less politically organized to fight it.

In Houston the Pierce Elevated was built right through the Fourth Ward, bisecting the neighborhood. The third photo posted by Torchlight is a perfect illustration. This dates from approx. 1968 (One Shell is under construction). You can see the original east-west street grid of the Fourth Ward, except almost all of the buildings have been razed. Ultimately all in that section would be, with the exception of Antioch Church. Now not even the original street alignment remains in that area.

[brucesw]

There are quite a few of them here: http://users.ev1.net/~plhailey/hpat/index.html

Three pages from the Bailey studio collections, mostly of the 60s, mostly downtown.

There are others scattered throughout the site. Click on Topics and browse.

[Montrose1100]

Here are some from the early 70s.

!

Those shots are amazing!!! Thank you so much for sharing! Where did you find these pictures?

[Montrose1100]

Amazing how bad the surface lots were then, was it Urban Renewal?

[Ashikaga]

I always pondered why there are basically no pictures of the growing Houston skyline in the 60s, 70s, and 80s? I'm sure Downtown looked interesting with all thos skyscrapers and cranes. Does anyone know of a collection or website that has such photos? I've seen only 3 photos of Downtown before 1986, which didn't include the Heritage Plaza, and it looked very interesting. One was a postcard, which still sells today.

The only ones I've seen are 1 bad shot on texas freeways, and the small handful of wonderful shots HAI recieved from that construction worker on the JPMCT.

Anyone know something I don't?

Now there's something else I'm starting to wonder. The old Houston International Airport was located not far from downtown. Was the reason why it was relocated on the far north side of town because of the downtown skyscrapers? I mean, say, a plane coming south from Chicago or New York during fog might crash into one of the buildings. Now downtown is a good ways south of Houston Intercontinental Airport. Not too many airlines have flights coming from directly south. Just a thought.

[dalparadise]

Now there's something else I'm starting to wonder. The old Houston International Airport was located not far from downtown. Was the reason why it was relocated on the far north side of town because of the downtown skyscrapers? I mean, say, a plane coming south from Chicago or New York during fog might crash into one of the buildings. Now downtown is a good ways south of Houston Intercontinental Airport. Not too many airlines have flights coming from directly south. Just a thought.

Houston International became Hobby Airport. It's still there and big planes fly into and out all day...even right over Downtown.

IAH was built on land at the end of Jetero Blvd. (a mistype of Jet Era Blvd.), which should give some clues as to why it was built. With the coming of larger jets needing bigger runways, it was time -- simple as that. Hobby is criticized today as being too tightly packed in and offering runways that are too short. I've heard landing a 737 there takes some nerve.

[gonzo1976]

There's a guy on eBay who sells panoramic shots of Houston dating back to 1909. I'm not sure where he got the source pictures from, but it's interesting to see, nonetheless.

In my opinion, the Houston skyline wasn't much to look at back then. You had some individual jewels (Gulf & Esperson buildings), but that was about it. Things changed when the new Texaco Heritage Plaza building opened in the 1980s. I think it really defined the Houston skyline at the time. Heck, the whole skyline made a great backdrop for Jean-Michel Jarre!

John

[Ashikaga]

Here you go. This is from about 1961.

There's plenty more available.

Houston means the good life. Having Class 5A high school football teams is so fine!

[uncertaintraveler]

Hobby is criticized today as being too tightly packed in and offering runways that are too short. I've heard landing a 737 there takes some nerve.

Which is, of course, the only kind of plane that Hobby's dominant tenant (Southwest) uses.

[Pumapayam]

I don't even recognize half those building, are they torn down, that big chunky one in the middle is not around anymore, or is that the one with the new top.

[TJones]

Just rent Urban Cowboy. Beautiful sequence at the beginning of that movie. That is 1979 to 1980 Houston.

[Ashikaga]

Just rent Urban Cowboy. Beautiful sequence at the beginning of that movie. That is 1979 to 1980 Houston.

Back in 1987 there was a TV series called "Houston Knights." It starred Michael Beck and Michael Pare. I remember my dad saying that it wasn't true-to-life because, in his words, "It makes Houston look like a goat-roper town."

[artistpro]

I always pondered why there are basically no pictures of the growing Houston skyline in the 60s, 70s, and 80s? I'm sure Downtown looked interesting with all thos skyscrapers and cranes. Does anyone know of a collection or website that has such photos? I've seen only 3 photos of Downtown before 1986, which didn't include the Heritage Plaza, and it looked very interesting. One was a postcard, which still sells today.

The only ones I've seen are 1 bad shot on texas freeways, and the small handful of wonderful shots HAI recieved from that construction worker on the JPMCT.

Anyone know something I don't?

I still have a 16mm film I shot of the Houston Skyline in 1972. It was shot over the course of a whole day in time-lapse. The Shell sign was just a spinnin like a top.

[artistpro]

I still have a 16mm film I shot of the Houston Skyline in 1972. It was shot over the course of a whole day in time-lapse. The Shell sign was just a spinnin like a top.

CORRECTION: I made a mistake; it wasn't a Shell sign...it was Gulf. With that said, look for this film to be screened at CinemaBomar this summer.

[rsb320]

I don't even recognize half those building, are they torn down, that big chunky one in the middle is not around anymore, or is that the one with the new top.

That was the former Tenneco Building it is now El Paso. I think it is the one with the hole in the top. That building is currently undergoing major updating.

[Justin Bryan]

I thought the area around City Hall and the Colisseum wasn't considered part of 4th Ward. Originally there were some nice houses in that area. But you are correct that the Pierce Elevated and Allen Center were built in an historically African-American area, as were San Felipe Courts (APV). That was a common tactic for routing freeways at that time. The land value in poor neighborhoods was less, making acquisition cheaper, and the residents tended to be less politically organized to fight it.

In Houston the Pierce Elevated was built right through the Fourth Ward, bisecting the neighborhood. The third photo posted by Torchlight is a perfect illustration. This dates from approx. 1968 (One Shell is under construction). You can see the original east-west street grid of the Fourth Ward, except almost all of the buildings have been razed. Ultimately all in that section would be, with the exception of Antioch Church. Now not even the original street alignment remains in that area.

 

This is a map of the defining inner boundaries of the 4 original wards, the 5 & 6th wards were added later (above the Bayou). The Wards projected outward from what this map shows.

[hindesky]

1983