Historic Houston Streets Read online

  Includes streets in Brazoria, Galveston, Montgomery, Ft. Bend, Waller, Harris and Liberty Counties

  bright sky press

  HOUSTON, TEXAS

  2365 Rice Boulevard, Suite 202,

  Houston, Texas 77005

  www.brightskypress.com

  Copyright © 2011 by Marks Hinton.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval devices or systems, without prior written permission from the publisher, except that brief passages may be quoted for reviews.

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file with publisher.

  Editorial Direction by Lucy Chambers

  Creative Direction by Ellen Cregan

  Design by Marla Garcia

  Printed in Canada

  Includes streets in Brazoria, Galveston, Montgomery, Ft. Bend, Waller, Harris and Liberty Counties

  The Stories

  Behind the Names

  * * *

  A definitive tale about our community’s people, politics and power, courage and sacrifice, heroes and scoundrels, humor and tragedy, myths and legends—all told on the streets you drive every day.

  by Marks Hinton

  2nd Edition

  OTHER WORKS BY MARKS HINTON

  Tanglewood Tales: A History Series

  The Catalyst: Historic Series

  Afton Village Streets: A History

  Inside Sacred Spaces with Aaron Howard

  The Great Houston History Quiz with Aaron Howard

  Paved in History: The Colorful Stories Behind Houston’s Historic Streets

  And Death Came from the Sea: In the Catastrophic Wake of Hurricane Ike

  One Ocean and Seven Seas: A Grand Voyage

  A Modern Tour of the Spanish Main: Exploring the Isthmus of Panama and Cartagena

  Visitors Guide to the Beer Can House: An Annotated History of the Environment’s Creation and Guided Tour

  WORKS IN PROGRESS

  The Short Stories of Marks Hinton

  Houston’s Historic Cemeteries: Tales from Beyond the Crypt

  The First Map of Houston – 1836 Houston Metropolitan Research Center

  BRIGHT SKY PRESS

  DEDICATION

  This book is dedicated to my wife Barbara, my best friend, strongest supporter, travel companion and the most wonderful woman I have ever known

  and

  to the memory of my parents, C. Marks Hinton Sr. and Mocco Dunn Hinton whose unyielding belief in education made me the man I am today

  and

  in memory of George W. Donehoo, Jr (1935 – 2009)

  PREFACE

  I wrote Historic Houston Streets: The Stories Behind the Names for three reasons. First, no one in the 174 years since Houston was founded had produced such a book. I felt the information discovered during the nine years of research I conducted would be of interest to the citizens of Houston. I received a letter from Mayor Bill White following the first printing thanking me for my efforts. He said “we will put it to good use.” Second, while considerable historical information existed there was no central place that one could go to easily get an answer on “Who is this street named for?” This book answers many but not all of those questions about the highways and byways of our area. Today it is available in 38 Houston libraries and 8 Harris County libraries, as well as the Houston Metropolitan Research Center’s Texas Room at the main library downtown. Librarians tell me they are constantly taking calls from people who want to know who their street is named for. For the answer they turn to Historic Houston Streets: The Stories Behind the Names. Citizens must be interested in the subject judging by the number of invitations I receive to address historical societies, civic clubs, senior citizen groups, church gatherings and professional societies to mention a few. My talk at the Houston Heritage Society still holds the record for attendance at almost three times the average turnout for their monthly lecture series. And lastly, I wrote it for my own pleasure. Houston area streets have always been an unending source of fascination to me. I sincerely enjoyed looking through old books, maps, newspapers and anything else I thought might yield another answer. In addition I was able to interview a large number of Houstonians who were willing to share any information about streets with me. Despite publishing this second edition I will never stop gathering information about our areas streets and will continue to publish new discoveries on my web site, archivaltexas.com.

  I truly believe that after over nine years of researching this subject I have succeeded in amassing in one book a huge amount of information about not only Houston streets but hundreds in cities, towns and rural areas of Harris, Galveston, Brazoria, Montgomery, Waller, Liberty and Ft. Bend counties. My goal is to make sure this book remains the seminal source of information on our streets and roads for the next 174 years.

  Marks Hinton

  The Street Whisperer

  Houston, Texas

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Jessie Anderson – black historian

  Thomas Anderson – attorney-at-law

  Thu Nhi Barrus – opera expert

  Vivian Bennett – my second biggest supporter

  August C. Bering III – multigenerational Houstonian

  Trevia Wooster Beverly – Texas historian

  Kelly Blakley – Gandalf of Graphics

  Lou Carvelli – CBI Corporation

  Katherine Center – Heights resident

  Betty Trapp Chapman – Houston historian

  Sherrie Chisholm – Norhill Historic District

  Karla Cisneros – Spring resident

  Daughters of the Republic of Texas

  Carl Detering Jr. – multigenerational Houstonian

  Deborah Detering – multigenerational Houstonian

  Gay Donehoo – editing assistant

  George Donehoo – main man & research sidekick

  Susan Smith Dorsey – Texas General Land Office

  Joel Draut – Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Archives

  Ivon Dupont – Heights resident

  Lynn Edmundson – Historic Houston

  Christine Farrier – Old West End Association

  Kirk Ferris – Houston historian

  Jan Gibson – Westmoreland Preservation Alliance

  Dora Guerra – Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library

  Virginia Hancock – Houston historian

  Mary Lou Henry – Vernon Henry & Associates

  Nancy Hernandez – Houston Chronicle

  Barbara Bennett Hinton – chief editor and publisher of 1st Edition

  C. Marks Hinton Sr. – old time Houstonian

  Mocco Dunn Hinton – old time Houstonian

  Dorothy Knox Houghton – Houston historian

  Houston Heritage Society

  Will Howard – manager, Texas Room, Houston Public Library

  Vivian Seals Hubbard – Houston historian

  Flossie Huckabee – Heights resident

  Lee McClellan – River Oaks Property Owners Association

  Leslie Mickellis – George’s Diner

  Mary Catherine Farrington Miller – author

  Syd Moen – Historic Houston

  Terri Mote – Bellaire Library

  Tracy Murley – Texas Medical Center

  Randy Pace – Historical Preservation Officer, City of Houston

  Patricia Smith Prather – Houston historian

  Imogene Pulleine – LaPorte resident

  Mary Ramos – Texas Almanac

  John Raia – Senior Planner-Planning & Development, City of Houston

  Tim Rice – thoroughbred-racing expert

  Yvonne Robertson, Houst
on historian

  Sister Wilfred Shorten – Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word

  Staff at Texas Room (Ellen, Nina, Mirasol & Doug) – No request was too much

  Harvey Strain – black historian

  Mike Stude – multigenerational Houstonian

  Courtney Key Tardy – Greater Houston Preservation Alliance

  Paul Teten – Texas historian

  Texas General Land Office and Texas Veterans Land Board

  Texas State Library and Archives Commission

  Bart Truxillo – architectural preservationist

  Jerry Wood – Deputy Assistant Director-Planning & Development-City of Houston

  A

  A. J. FOYT: A Houston native, Foyt was the first racecar driver to win four Indianapolis 500s (1961, 1964, 1967, 1977). He also won the Daytona 500 and the 24-hours of Le Mans. 1

  A. P. GEORGE RANCH: Albert P. George (1873-1955) and his wife Mamie (1877-1971) owned a large ranch in Fort Bend that they inherited from her family. In addition to raising cattle, oil and gas was discovered in 1923 and again in 1931 dramatically increasing their net worth. In 1945 the Georges established the George Foundation for “…religious, charitable and/or education purposes… for the use and benefit of the people of Fort Bend County.” Over the years these philanthropists gave grants to establish the Polly Ryan Memorial Hospital, George Memorial Library, George Observatory, George Ranch Historical Park and many other projects in the Richmond/Rosenberg area. 2

  ABBOTT: Newton C. – Born in New York in the 1850s, Abbott came to Houston in 1900 and opened his law practice. He gave some of his westside land to the city for the construction of a school. Consequently the street and the school were named for him. The school no longer exists but the building had a short reincarnation as a hamburger stand in the early 1980s. 3

  ABERCROMBIE: The Abercrombies were significant landowners in Houston. However, they made their fortune in the oilfield equipment business. James “Jim” Smithers Abercrombie invented the blowout preventer to keep an oil well under control when large pockets of high-pressure gas were hit while drilling. He partnered with Harry Cameron to found Cameron Iron Works, a company that became a world leader in the manufacture of oil well equipment. 4

  ACADEMY: Developers of West University Place chose to name many of the streets in their addition for famous colleges and universities in keeping with the neighborhood’s proximity to Rice University (nee Institute). Since academy is defined as “a secondary or college preparatory school, especially a private one,” it only makes sense that it is located in this community with its focus on higher learning. 5

  ACADIA: See sidebar Laissez les bon temps roulez (Let the good times roll), page 188.

  ADAGIO: See sidebar It’s Music to My Ears, page 218.

  ADAMS: John – Based on the historical evidence of accomplishments during his term as President of the United States, it would seem this street is named for John and not his son John Quincy. A revolutionary hero, signatory of the Declaration of Independence and George Washington’s Vice President, John Adams became the 2nd President of the United States (1789-1801). He was the first President to live in the White House. 6

  ADDICKS LEVEE: Addicks Reservoir is on South Mayde Creek in western Harris County. This rolled earthen levee is 61,166 feet long, 121 feet high and covers 129 square miles. It was built by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1948 to provide flood control for Buffalo Bayou and the San Jacinto River. (See Addicks and Mayde creek.) 7

  ADDICKS-HOWELL: T. E. Howell was a principal landowner of a village on the Harris/ Fort Bend County lines named Howellville. It was a stop on the Texas & New Orleans Railroad. Except for the street named for Mr. Howell, Howellville has passed into history. 8

  ADDICKS-SATSUMA: (See Dairy Ashford.)

  ADDICKS: Henry J. – “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stayed this courier from the swift completion of his appointed rounds” and as a result Mr. Addicks was honored by several roads in west Houston bearing his name including Addicks-clodine, Addicks-Fairbanks and Addicks-Howell. He was the first postman in Addicks, Texas, a village named for him in 1884. Prior to that date, the town was known as Bear Creek (named for the nearby waterway), Bear Hill and Letitia. 9

  ADDISON: Joseph – Often in an attempt to make a neighborhood appear more intellectual than those around it, a real estate developer will name the streets for well-known authors, poets and playwrights. This practice caught on in our fair city many years ago. Addison was an Englishman who wrote poems, prose and essays. These works were often published in The Tatler, a magazine he founded. 10

  ADKINS: Elbert E., Sr. – He came to Houston in the early 1900s from Ripley, Ohio. His wife, Grace Noble, was the granddaughter of Houston Mayor I. C. Lord (1875-6). Adkins established a very successful real estate development and insurance business. (See Noble.) 11

  AFFIRMED: Winner of the 1978 Kentucky Derby and the last Triple Crown (Derby, Preakness and Belmont) winner. His battles with rival Alydar were the stuff of racing legend. While Affirmed defeated Alydar for the Crown, each race was closer than the previous one. 12

  AFTON: See sidebar All things English, page 175.

  AFTONSHIRE: See sidebar All things English, page 175.

  AGASSI ACE: Andre Agassi was an American tennis professional. An early phenom, he gained a reputation of not being able to win the big matches. He eventually proved his critics wrong by capturing major titles at Wimbledon (1992), the U.S. Open (1994 and 1999), the Australian Open (1995 and 2001) and the French Open (1999). He is one of only a few tennis players to have won each Grand Slam tournament. 13

  AIRFIELD: This short street leads to Williams Airfield, a private airstrip in southern Montgomery County. 14

  AIRHART: This Baytown street is named for a family of early settlers. 15

  AIRLINE: On a 1930 Houston city map North Main appears to dead end at Airline, a street that goes north on the map straight as an arrow. Near the outskirts of town Airline became U.S. Highway 75, the main route to Dallas before the construction of Interstate 45. The story is that the street was named because this was the route an airline would fly to go directly to Dallas. 16

  AIRLINE: This unique neighborhood, Polly Ranch Estates, southeast of Friendswood, has its own airstrip. In 1953 Raymond Kliesing developed this area prior to earning his pilot’s license. He also created a park with an island he called Monkey Island. It received its name when his brother, Donald, was given a monkey as a pet. Donald thought his pet needed female companionship so he acquired another monkey from a local pet shop. It was not long before the island was teeming with their offspring. Unfortunately the monkeys were wiped out in a huge flood in the 1970s. 17

  AIRPORT: This boulevard is the main thoroughfare fronting William P. Hobby Airport from which it derives its name. One of Houston’s longer streets it runs from the Gulf Freeway on the east into Fort Bend County on the west. (See photograph on page 12.) 18

  ALADDIN: He was the boy hero of Arabian Nights who possessed a magic lamp that contained two genies. When he rubbed the lamp they would appear and do his bidding.

  ALAMO: This street is named for the most recognizable site in the state of Texas. It was originally named San Antonio de Padua Mission and then changed to San Antonio de Valero Mission in 1718. The cornerstone of the building we see today in San Antonio was laid in 1744. The mission’s purpose was to Christianize and educate the local Indians. It was abandoned in 1793. Ten years later it was occupied by a troop of Mexican soldiers. It was at this time that it became known as the Alamo, most likely resulting from its location near a grove of cottonwood (alamo in Spanish) trees. Of course, it is remembered for the famous 13 day siege that occurred here during the Texas Revolution. (See Travis, Crockett and James Bowie.)

  » AIRPORT: Houston architect Joseph Finger designed this terminal in 1940

  ALBANS: See sidebar Southampton’s English Streets, page 255.

  ALDEN BRIDGE: This street is named for the Louisiana hometown
of Woodlands Operating Company president, Roger Galatas. 19

  ALDERNEY: See sidebar All Things English, page 175.

  ALDERON WOODS: Susan Vreeland-Wendt, marketing director of the Woodlands Operating Company, names the streets in that neighborhood. Although this one is misspelled (it should be Alderaan) it recalls the home planet of Princess Leia from the movie Star Wars. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker hire Han Solo in the famous scene in the Mos Eisley Cantina to fly them to Alderaan. She named Millennium Forest for the Millennium Falcon, a modified Corellian freighter, flown by Han Solo and his first mate, Chewbacca. 20

  ALDINE: This small village on Houston’s north side was a station on the International-Great Northern Railroad beginning in the 1890s. The place and the streets were named after a family who owned a farm in the area. Today Aldine is usually connected with another name such as Aldine-Mail, Aldine-Bender, Aldine-Westfield, etc. 21

  ALEXANDER: C. Q. “Kid” – He was the mayor of Goose Creek before it was annexed by Baytown. 22

  ALEXANDER: Robert – This early Baytown citizen was a well-known Methodist missionary in the 1840s. He founded what is today known as the Cedar Bayou United Methodist Church. This sanctuary was originally called Alexander Chapel. 23

  ALGOA: This is a small village in northern Galveston County. It was founded in 1880 along the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe railroad line. Up until 1957 Algoa was mainly an agricultural community raising figs, pears, oranges and strawberries. Then oil was discovered nearby and Milwhite Mud Company, a manufacturer of drilling fluids became a major employer. 24

  ALIEF-CLODINE: The earliest settlers of the town of Dairy were John S. and Alief Ozelda Magee. Mrs. Magee’s first application for a post office was rejected because of possible confusion with another Texas town so the citizens decided to honor her by changing the name to Alief. In the early days she operated the post office out of the front room of her home. clodine, in Fort Bend County, was a station on the San Antonio & Aransas Pass Railroad. It was named for a railroad employee named Clodine King. 25, 26