Memories Of Rice Military

[WesternGulf]

Does anyone have any pics of these two areas before all of the townhomes started coming in. There are still some old homes in Midtown that look like they will see the wreking ball any day now and there are some squezzed in between two multi story townhomes because people refuse to sell. I cannot say the same for Rice Military because what was there beofre is pretty much gone.

Anyone have a clue what was here before all of this came in?

[Orikal]

Does anyone have any pics of these two areas before all of the townhomes started coming in. There are still some old homes in Midtown that look like they will see the wreking ball any day now and there are some squezzed in between two multi story townhomes because people refuse to sell. I cannot say the same for Rice Military because what was there beofre is pretty much gone.

Anyone have a clue what was here before all of this came in?

I don't have any pics, but RM (at least when I first looked at the neighborhood in '94) was a noticeably run down area, which I imagine is why so many developers were able to get land relatively inexpensively, plop down two or more townhomes, and make a nice profit.

[MidtownCoog]

Calling Midtown "gentrified" may be a stretch.

And that's 4th Ward, right? Not Midtown.

[eelimon]

Calling Midtown "gentrified" may be a stretch.

And that's 4th Ward, right? Not Midtown.

correct that is 4th ward

I remember by 1993 most of the Homes in Midtown were leveled. There used to be rampant drug use in the area in the late 80's and early 90's. I watch cops sometimes and they did quite a few episodes in the area of Rice Military, 4th ward and Midtown. It is fun to catch those episodes sometimes. FOX should think about packaging the Cops show in a DVD format. Have Box sets of Houston Dallas, New York, Miami, and Dumbest criminals

Well sorry for getting off topic I guess I would say if you want to see what the area looked like before it was transformed. You should see if you can find the Cops episodes I am talking about.

[RedScare]

Does anyone have any pics of these two areas before all of the townhomes started coming in. There are still some old homes in Midtown that look like they will see the wreking ball any day now and there are some squezzed in between two multi story townhomes because people refuse to sell. I cannot say the same for Rice Military because what was there beofre is pretty much gone.

Anyone have a clue what was here before all of this came in?

Back in 1980, I worked summers for a metal building contractor whose office and shop were on Oak Place, which is only a block or so from where that picture was taken. The neighborhood was 4th Ward, with mostly wood frame and shotgun homes. There were several light industrial businesses in the area as well, similar to the company I worked for. I remember on our block was an electrical contractor, plumbing contractor a sign company and a neon company.

As you might guess, it was pretty dicey at night, but in the daytime, it wasn't bad. We used to shoot the bull with several of the neighbors who would walk by. I was stunned to see what had happened to the street when I went looking for Oak Place a few years back. I believe the address was 115 Oak Place, which would put the shop at the corner of Oak and Helena.

[MidtownCoog]

When I first moved to Midtown, I spent a lot of time poking around the areas of those old houses.

I was able to assemble quite a collection of antiuqe bricks.

It was always a trip to still see seasonal flowers in beds where a house once stood. The hard core guys showed up on weekends with their metal detectors. Nerds.

But both areas have a LONG way to go. I just wish we could do something with all the abandoned buildings along San Jacinto and Fannin.

[mrfootball]

What's the history behind this area?

[cooper]

I could be somewhat off, but I believe the name goes back to the pre-Memorial Park days, when that area was the site of Camp Logan and the 24th Infantry.

The Rice family (Rice University) also owned land adjacent to the area.

Maybe there was some association between the two (real or imagined), but this is just a guess.

[sevfiv]

from the ghpa site:

http://ghpa.org/news/

Interestingly, the Rice Military subdivision, bounded by Buffalo Bayou, Westcott, Asbury, and the old Houston and Texas Central Railway, predates Camp Logan by nearly eight years. The neighborhood was created after land owned by J.S. and W.M. Rice was sold to Bankers Trust Co. on August 29, 1910. Within a few months, much of the Rice estate's remaining land holdings were sold, presumably in preparation for the groundbreaking of the new Rice Institute (now Rice University).

Although the meaning behind the "Rice Military" name remains something of a mystery, the association with the William Marsh Rice estate is clear. There is even a connection between Rice Institute and Camp Logan, albeit a tenuous one. For a brief period during America's involvement in World War I, Rice Institute was converted to an ROTC-type curriculum, complete with morning Reveille and evening Taps. On occasion, the Rice Owl teams even played against their Camp Logan rivals. Apart from a few World War I reminders, Camp Logan, Rice Military, and Rice University have all settled into decidedly more tranquil roles.

[jm1fd]

What's the history behind this area?

Well, its a long story, but suffice to say, it involves the Japanese Army.

[JakTx1]

I bought in early '98 and there was an old guy who lived across the street. His son was a Houston Cop and we talked often about the neighborhood. He said the lots where my townhouse is located used to be a old metal scrap yard and extended from Lacy to Detering and back towards Memorial. There was one HUGE Pin Oak tree on our lot that unfortunately died a year into my residence (they obviously did not protect the roots). The older gentleman said they used to have a big scale on that tree to measure the scrap metal - similar to the one at C&D's Scrap Metal. I don't have any pictures of the neighborhood, but I also heard there used to be a lot of Pecan trees, too, and they used to have a Pecan company off Detering that supplied a lot of nuts to the food supply, until they started producing larger Pecan groves in the Hill Country. That's my old story about Rice Military. The older gentleman died back in 2002 or 2003 and after a few years, his son finally sold the place that was falling apart and there are now two brand new three-story town homes on the lot that sold for mid-$400s.

[Dan the Man]

Rice Military was not a very attractive area, compared to many other older Houston neighborhoods. There were a few neat Victorians and bungalows back in there, but, for the most part, housing stock was really low quality. Most of the houses were in disrepair, abused by renters, or had been remuddled to the point of removing most of the historic value. The residential fabric had been broken up by strings of vacant lots or light industrial metal buildings. Parts of the area had a semi-rural feel with ditches next to the streets, and huge trees.

Nevertheless, it did have some degree of character, especially Washington Ave. There used to be an artist's compound on Feagan. Is it still there?

[rps324]

Rice Military had very few architecturally interesting houses. It was pretty bad. I worked at Memorial Club apartments years ago and people would be hesitant to lease there because of the "scary" neighborhood behind it. There was an Artist Colony that has all been bulldozed for a gate community.

There were a handful of townhomes back there. Ones built right before the oil bust I think. They were very out of place at the time. A few of the modest houses were somewhat maintained, but for the most part it was ratty. Roznovsky's hamburger place was on Feagan too.

As for midtown, it was a wasteland prior to 1998 I think. Of course at one time it was the "south end" and was full of great Victorian mansions.

[dbigtex56]

As for midtown, it was a wasteland prior to 1998 I think. Of course at one time it was the "south end" and was full of great Victorian mansions.

My understanding is that much of the demolition of older buildings in Midtown came about in the 1970s, when the EPA ordered the city of Houston to stop issuing new sewer permits due to the lack of sewage treatment facilities. A that time many neighborhoods (including River Oaks) simply dumped their raw sewage into Buffalo Bayou.

However, existing permits were transferable, so developers bought low-cost properties in Midtown and reassigned the sewage permits to new buildings. Because the existing buildings were useless without sewer hookups, they were demolished wholesale.

By the time I moved to Houston (1981) Midtown was already pretty much a vast wasteland.

[rps324]

2016 Main

Others in that area

This was a little north on Main, the block south of Foley-oops I mean Macy's.

[Original Timmy Chan's]

I was stunned to see what had happened to the street when I went looking for Oak Place a few years back.

My wife and I drove down Oak Place a few weeks ago...I hadn't been down there in over a decade. I couldn't believe it was the same street I drove around one night, smoking rocks with a crackhead, waiting for the Bad Livers show at Emo's!

It's definitely a different place. I can't quite tell if the change is good or not. It's different.

[plumber2]

My grandfather and father worked for a plumbing contractor who's shop was on Washington Ave. Actually in the same building as Wabash Antiques. The old gentleman who owned the company lived in back. My first truck, a '71 Chevy, was actually his last vehicle. It was in a shed behind the building with two flat tires, but it started right up after I put a new battery in it. I drove it until after I got married.

Anyway, I'm just now going through my parents old photos. I have tons of negatives to sort through. I'm sure some of them will be of this building from the late 1940s and early 50s.

Just one block west of this building was the Camp Logan Drug Store, a wood frame building with screen doors on the front.

I may find pictures of that building too. We went there for ice cream and fountain drinks often.

[Ross]

Does anyone have any pics of these two areas before all of the townhomes started coming in. There are still some old homes in Midtown that look like they will see the wreking ball any day now and there are some squezzed in between two multi story townhomes because people refuse to sell. I cannot say the same for Rice Military because what was there beofre is pretty much gone.

Anyone have a clue what was here before all of this came in?

A colleague was the first owner of a townhouse around the corner on Gilette from this space. He said it was the site of a dry cleaning establishment and that there are contamination issues with the property, hence th ereason the City owns it rather than some developer.

[fortbendtomontrose]

Didn't they used to call this the West End?

My mother was born in 1918 in a house on Center St between Sandman

and Roy. They were quite poor and my sense is this was simply not the

best part of town and that house (which was torn down to nobody's surprise)

did not seem worthy of restoration.

The only good thing I see about Rice Military is proxmity and you pay

almost as much as nicer areas where there is still some period flare to admire.

[NenaE]

Rice Military was not a very attractive area, compared to many other older Houston neighborhoods. There were a few neat Victorians and bungalows back in there, but, for the most part, housing stock was really low quality. Most of the houses were in disrepair, abused by renters, or had been remuddled to the point of removing most of the historic value. The residential fabric had been broken up by strings of vacant lots or light industrial metal buildings. Parts of the area had a semi-rural feel with ditches next to the streets, and huge trees.

Nevertheless, it did have some degree of character, especially Washington Ave. There used to be an artist's compound on Feagan. Is it still there?

Does anyone know why it was named Rice Military?

[sevfiv]

Does anyone know why it was named Rice Military?

I think it refers to William Marsh Rice and Camp Logan