Mansions On Park Place

[PapillionWyngs]

On Park Place Blvd., where the apartments are now, on the right side going towards Highway 3 (Old Galveston) were some real, honest to goodness mansions. My Mom and I had permission to go into one before it was torn down. It had a "Gone With the Wind" staircase, a ballroom, a HUGE swimming pool in the back, and a hugh yard. It was, at one time, palatial. Just wonder why someone didn't try to save these beautiful homes!!!

Does anyone have any pictures of them?

[PapillionWyngs]

On Park Place Blvd., where the apartments are now, on the right side going towards Highway 3 (Old Galveston) were some real, honest to goodness mansions. My Mom and I had permission to go into one before it was torn down. It had a "Gone With the Wind" staircase, a ballroom, a HUGE swimming pool in the back, and a hugh yard. It was, at one time, palatial. Just wonder why someone didn't try to save these beautiful homes!!!

Does anyone have any pictures of them?

Nobody else remembers them?

[Guest danax]

Just wonder why someone didn't try to save these beautiful homes!!!

Just the common big-city growth cycle; large landholders with big homes, owner dies, family doesn't live there, house is either sold and land divided up or house sits abandoned until nature takes its course, then is demolished and land sold.

I think this has happened to all large cities but some keep a few around. Ours have been obliterated, except perhaps in River Oaks, and that is happening now.

[texianjoe]

I remember them. There was a street that cut over from Park Place over the bayou and over to Hwy3 that had some big homes with huge yards. The bridge was washed out several years ago so you can't cut over anymore, but most of the homes are gone now anyway.

joe

[brerrabbit]

My mother in law lives right behind the Glenbrook pool and I remember those houses. I think some of them are still there. The only way to get to them is from Highway 3. One of the houses over there actually had a dock on the bayou and kept and old cabin cruiser type boat there. I always thought that was pretty neat that you could live in Houston and still have a dock with a boat. It was a long haul to the ship channel and anywhere else but I still thought it was pretty cool.

Also along those lines there is a piece of property at the end of Neal street behind the pool that a doctor has purchased and is building a huge house on. As neal bends and becomes another street there is a driveway that serves the house on Neal but continues up a little hill and goes back near the bayou. My wife and mother in law walked up there one day and looked around. It's a huge house with a concrete domed entry way and looks like it will be 5,000 sq ft plus house. Years ago a man by the name of mr. Boyd owned the house on Neal, and the house that used to sit on the hill. The house on the hill burned years ago and Mr Boyd and his wife moved to the house actually on Neal. After his death the property was pieced out and sold. Now someone is actually building a mansion where the old house stood.

[PapillionWyngs]

My mother in law lives right behind the Glenbrook pool and I remember those houses. I think some of them are still there. The only way to get to them is from Highway 3. One of the houses over there actually had a dock on the bayou and kept and old cabin cruiser type boat there. I always thought that was pretty neat that you could live in Houston and still have a dock with a boat. It was a long haul to the ship channel and anywhere else but I still thought it was pretty cool.

Also along those lines there is a piece of property at the end of Neal street behind the pool that a doctor has purchased and is building a huge house on. As neal bends and becomes another street there is a driveway that serves the house on Neal but continues up a little hill and goes back near the bayou. My wife and mother in law walked up there one day and looked around. It's a huge house with a concrete domed entry way and looks like it will be 5,000 sq ft plus house. Years ago a man by the name of mr. Boyd owned the house on Neal, and the house that used to sit on the hill. The house on the hill burned years ago and Mr Boyd and his wife moved to the house actually on Neal. After his death the property was pieced out and sold. Now someone is actually building a mansion where the old house stood.

Was that the same Mr. Boyd who owned a Texaco station on Park Place? Probably not, but just wondering.

[PapillionWyngs]

I remember them. There was a street that cut over from Park Place over the bayou and over to Hwy3 that had some big homes with huge yards. The bridge was washed out several years ago so you can't cut over anymore, but most of the homes are gone now anyway.

joe

I remember that. There's also some on streets behind Park Place.

[brerrabbit]

Was that the same Mr. Boyd who owned a Texaco station on Park Place? Probably not, but just wondering.

I'll have to ask my wife but I don't think so. This man was ex Military and had servred as a Major in Viet Nam. He owned several rent houses and apartments and spent most of his time taking care of them. He also rented the house my wife grew up in until her mother finally bought it from him.

[brerrabbit]

Does anyone remeber the old bridge that was actually on the Glenbrook Golf course. If you drive down the Gulf Freeway feeder north from Howard you will pass over Sims Bayou. Right after you cross it if you turn right you will be on a street that parralels the bayou for a ways and then turns north and eventually comes out on Park Place between St Christophers and Charlton Park. At one time about a 1/4 of a mile down that road from the freeway there was a bridge over the bayou. Eventually they closed it to street traffic but it was used for the course for many more years. As a child my wife used to go that way to church with her Mother at St. Christophers.

[musicman]

Does anyone remeber the old bridge that was actually on the Glenbrook Golf course. If you drive down the Gulf Freeway feeder north from Howard you will pass over Sims Bayou. Right after you cross it if you turn right you will be on a street that parralels the bayou for a ways and then turns north and eventually comes out on Park Place between St Christophers and Charlton Park. At one time about a 1/4 of a mile down that road from the freeway there was a bridge over the bayou. Eventually they closed it to street traffic but it was used for the course for many more years. As a child my wife used to go that way to church with her Mother at St. Christophers.

I think it was used for a par 3 hole.

[brerrabbit]

Number 10 came away from the clubhouse and played your second shot over the bayou. There was a footbridge across and then the 11th was a short par three back across the bayou. When you stood on the 11th tee box if you looked to your right there was the two lane bridge. The road that connected it went straight across the course to Glenview.

[PapillionWyngs]

Does anyone remeber the old bridge that was actually on the Glenbrook Golf course. If you drive down the Gulf Freeway feeder north from Howard you will pass over Sims Bayou. Right after you cross it if you turn right you will be on a street that parralels the bayou for a ways and then turns north and eventually comes out on Park Place between St Christophers and Charlton Park. At one time about a 1/4 of a mile down that road from the freeway there was a bridge over the bayou. Eventually they closed it to street traffic but it was used for the course for many more years. As a child my wife used to go that way to church with her Mother at St. Christophers.

That street is River Drive, the street I grew up on. The bridge became a bridge for foot traffic only when I was 10 or so, but before that, we could drive on it to get to the Glenbrook Pool. There is another bridge over Sims Bayou to the golf course - for foot traffic and golf carts - but it is back on the bayou side.

[brerrabbit]

In post number five I mentioned a house being built near Glenbrook pool on a piece of property near my Mother in laws house. Well I went looking for it on Live.Maps and look at what I found. The guy is building a dome house and apparently its all concrete. Guess he wants to be ready for the next hurricane.

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&...;scene=10479588

Edited February 21, 2007 by brerrabbit

[Texasepies]

My mother in law lives right behind the Glenbrook pool and I remember those houses. I think some of them are still there. The only way to get to them is from Highway 3. One of the houses over there actually had a dock on the bayou and kept and old cabin cruiser type boat there. I always thought that was pretty neat that you could live in Houston and still have a dock with a boat. It was a long haul to the ship channel and anywhere else but I still thought it was pretty cool.

Also along those lines there is a piece of property at the end of Neal street behind the pool that a doctor has purchased and is building a huge house on. As neal bends and becomes another street there is a driveway that serves the house on Neal but continues up a little hill and goes back near the bayou. My wife and mother in law walked up there one day and looked around. It's a huge house with a concrete domed entry way and looks like it will be 5,000 sq ft plus house. Years ago a man by the name of mr. Boyd owned the house on Neal, and the house that used to sit on the hill. The house on the hill burned years ago and Mr Boyd and his wife moved to the house actually on Neal. After his death the property was pieced out and sold. Now someone is actually building a mansion where the old house stood.

We had many boats over the years , the oldest dock goes back to the 1940s. That belonged to Mr. Miles, his house he built in 1938 close to Old Galveston Road. He always had boats and his boat house even had a ramp for launching and retrieving boats. When he passed away in the 80s his cabin cruiser was moved to my neighbors dock close to the main channel on the same street. Since then most of the people that where into boats have move on, and the storms have done a lot of damage to the docks that where left. That and since 9/11 the Coast Guard really doesn't want pleasure traffic in the ship channel. Here are a few pictures of some of the boats we had.

[NenaE]

Pleasure traffic in the ship channel! uuuu...not a good idea. I would stick to the bayous in little boats.

Thanks for sharing your pics, Texaspies. That whole area is fascinating. I just read the first posts. I never knew there were mansions on the land that the 1960's apts. sits on, on Park Place, near OGR. I'll have to look that up when I have more time. One of those apt. driveways dips down quite a bit, there's a lot of slopes in that land.