Houston Area History 
There are currently 14 blog entries related to this category.
Glenbrook Valley In Houston Texas Gets Groundbreaking Historic Designation
Wednesday, August 17th, 2011 at 10:59am. 6249 Views, 0 Comments.
In 1956 Glenbrook Valley was just hitting its stride. The Parade of Homes had singled out the residential area, exclusively featuring Glenbrook Valley for all 30 homes on their annual tour. The development had previously been included in a citywide Parade of Homes in 1954, but not for the entire event.
Nestled along Sims Bayou between I45 and Telephone Rd., Glenbrook Valley originally opened in 1953 with a lot of fanfare. It was designed by the renowned Kansas City landscape architecture firm Hare and Hare, which was known for many Houston layouts, including River Oaks. The subdivision also received a lot of interest when Better Homes and Gardens featured 7923 Glenview on the September 1954 cover for an article titled “The Home for All America” and was the…
Montrose - One Funky Neighborhood in Houston Texas
Sunday, August 7th, 2011 at 1:42pm. 4092 Views, 0 Comments.
Look at an early picture of Montrose Blvd., circa 1911, and you'll see a grand avenue complete with wide, treed esplanade and sidewalks, freshly carved out of Houston dairy farmland. You'll also see echoes, however faint, of the Montrose we know and (mostly) love today.
When the area we now call Montrose was still being grazed by cows, in the late 19th century, suburbs were starting to come into favor in other cities around the country. New York City, in fact, had had commuters traveling to and from Brooklyn by ferry since the 1850s. But for a young, inland city like Houston - bayous and ship channels notwithstanding - it would take an entirely different mode of transportation to make the suburbs take off. And that happened in 1891, when the electric…
Texas Cyclone, Greased Lightning, Snow, and Fresh-Baked Bread: Astroworld USA in Houston Texas
Sunday, June 26th, 2011 at 10:48am. 4048 Views, 0 Comments.
For almost 40 years, summer in Houston meant two things: air conditioning and Astroworld. Our own private Disneyland, the Astroworld theme park was a requisite childhood destination, someplace everybody went at least once and a repeat trip for many. And like so many Houston landmarks, it was the brainchild of an exceptional person.
That person was Roy Hofheinz, a Rice University-educated lawyer, who served as Harris County judge (thus securing his most enduring title, "Judge Roy") and later as Houston mayor. After presiding over two contentious terms, during which he was impeached and had four city council members arrested for boycotting a special meeting he'd called, he returned to private law practice and business ventures.
Part of that business was the…
Rice, Oil and Mudbugs. The Cajun Journey from Canada to the Houston Bayou
Wednesday, April 27th, 2011 at 2:50pm. 3495 Views, 0 Comments.
Aiyeee, y'all! Eh?
One look at your grocer’s seafood counter will tell you - it’s officially mudbug season in Houston (that’s crawfish for you recent transplants). This is the time of year when we break out the boilin’ pots and get ready to do some serious stompin’ to Cajun tunes - all thanks to our neighbors to the east.
Just as having Mexico to our south has given us an excuse to celebrate Cinco de Mayo and our beloved Tex-Mex, our proximity to Louisiana has brought Cajun culture to our doorstep. In fact, so many Cajuns have settled just to our east - near Orange, Port Arthur and Beaumont - the area is sometimes called “Lapland,” where Cajun and Texas cultures overlap. With our bayou buddies so linked to our own culture here, it’s easy to forget…
Houston Backyard Brouha Heard Around the World
Wednesday, April 13th, 2011 at 5:56pm. 3240 Views, 0 Comments.
Last month, Texans celebrated 175 years of independence; nearly two centuries ago Texas settlers shook off the yoke of Mexican rule to become a sovereign republic (how many states can say that?), and later the 28th state of our union. And while March 2, Texas Independence Day, marks the day revolutionaries adopted a declaration of independence at Washington-on-the-Brazos, an equally (if not more) significant event in the fight for independence took place a stone’s throw from modern-day Houston: the battle of San Jacinto.
First, though, let’s go back to the 1820’s, when the United States territories stopped at Louisiana and Mexico was fighting a revolution of their own to win independence from Spain. In an effort to protect their northern borders from…
The Long and Winding Road ~ A History of Houston Freeways
Thursday, March 17th, 2011 at 1:46am. 3093 Views, 0 Comments.
As the last section of the Sam Houston Tollway opened last month, nearly 23 years after its first section opened, it seems an apt time to take a look back at how Houston’s freeways came into being.
At once a salvation and the bane of our existence, these concrete roadways define our daily lives. Their names, such as I-45 or the Gulf Freeway, Hwy 59N or the Eastex Freeway, I-10W or the Katy Freeway (amongst many many other numbers and names) are part of a Houstonian's vernacular, as well as a source of convenience, commerce, traffic congestion, and constant conversation.
There was a time, of course, when Houston didn’t have freeways. In fact, it barely had a system of roads. After the Allen brothers diligently laid out a downtown grid that lives on today,…
The Changing Face of Riverside Terrace: The Other River Oaks of Houston
Thursday, February 24th, 2011 at 12:40pm. 2196 Views, 0 Comments.
Tobias and Simon Sakowitz were something akin to local celebrities around Houston. Their store, Sakowitz, was a local institution - known for its high-end wares and genteel service. They gave frequently to local charities and regularly made news with their lavish store openings. But, when they wanted to move into tony River Oaks, the neighborhood where the wealthiest and most successful Houstonians lived, they were denied. They were Jewish.
Such was life in the 1930’s: the so-called “five o’clock curtain” was in force to keep Jews and Gentiles separate after business hours. The Houston and River Oaks Country Clubs didn’t allow Jews as members, and the various club rooms in which business deals were made over cigars and brandy were closed to them as…
Texas-Sized Personalities - and Wallets - Shaped the Texas Medical Center
Monday, January 31st, 2011 at 12:27am. 1511 Views, 0 Comments.
For those casually familiar with Houston, the city conjures a number of images: oil fields, cowboy hats, barbecue, perhaps even spaceships. But for those needing medical care, Houston means one thing: the Texas Medical Center. This 1,000-acre complex is renowned for having many of the top medical facilities in the country, or the world, drawing upwards of 6 million patients every year, including many from outside the U.S. It shouldn’t be surprising, then, that this expansive center began with a similarly grand vision, and a Texas-sized helping of generosity.
One of Houston’s most prolific philanthropists died long before the Texas Medical Center came into being, but he helped it come into being nonetheless. George Henry Hermann was the son of early…
Houston Heights Homes Make Old New Again
Saturday, January 8th, 2011 at 10:50am. 3807 Views, 1 Comments.
Take a stroll through the Houston Heights neighborhood and you’ll find home after home built at the turn of the 20th century - Greek revival homes with expansive porches and Victorian mansions with soaring turrets and gabled roofs. Given that some 116 properties in the Heights are on the National Registry of Historic Places, it’s no surprise that this area is steeped in history - one of the few parts of Houston where original structures remain and the past easily mingles with the present.
The Heights - like the rest of Houston - owes its origins to (gasp) northerners. The famed Allen brothers bought the league of land upon which the Heights sits for $1 an acre in 1836, but quickly had to sell it to settle debts. The land changed hands several more times…
Apollo 8 Touched Houston and the World on Christmas Eve
Saturday, December 11th, 2010 at 5:42pm. 2231 Views, 0 Comments.
1968 was a tough year. The dual assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy, along with the mounting conflict in Vietnam, created a pervasive climate of tension and unrest. NASA and Houston’s Johnson Space Center - while so separate from much of that - was also facing difficult times. A launch pad fire had claimed the lives of three astronauts in 1967, and major hardware issues had put their promise to land astronauts on the moon - and return them safely home - in jeopardy. NASA faced an uphill battle - culturally, politically and technologically.
Of course, NASA had enjoyed enthusiastic support in Houston ever since relocating their Manned Spacecraft Center here in 1961. Parades had been held in their honor, welcoming committees had…
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