That looks like a fascinating read. I need to get a copy of that. I was born in 1966 at Hermann Hospital, so one of those few natives. Great place to grow up and I'll always have fond memories of my years there.

What it has become is a topic for another thread and Texags board altogether, so I won't go there.

Thanks for sharing.

I need to add that to my list. Thanks for sharing. It blows my mind to think of living in Houston in the summer before the advent of air conditioning and insecticides.

Like back in the 50's and 60's? I grew up off the Gulf Freeway near Hobby airport. We didn't have AC in the house until I was 10 and that was a window unit in my parent's bedroom. Guess it got too steamy in there!

Most cars didn't come with AC either. My dad was in sales and got tired of showing up to a client in a sweaty suit. He purchased a Frigidaire under dash aftermarket AC when they first came out.

Insecticide was primarily the mosquito truck that sprayed DDT. We'd ride our bikes behind it. Brilliant!

Father in Law moved to Galveston in 1943. Was a doctor in the Coast Guard and was walking the beaches every morning looking for survivors of torpedoed ships or saboteurs and spies.

After the war, 1946, bought a house on Bellair Blvd between Kirby and Buffallo Speedway ( between Brompton and Annapolis to be exact) Stayed in that house until 1997. It didn't have central anything. Gas room heaters and window AC and only in the bed rooms. With all of the "upgrades" going on the last 40 plus years in West University I would have thought that little house would since been torn down...

Google Earth Pro has 1944 Aerial for Houston. The house is on there.
It's still there to today.

Looks good. Copano has some neat stuff; I think some of their prints are hanging around my home office.

I waste a great deal of time researching local history, and that era of entrepreneurs who settled here between the Civil War and early urbanization left an incredible legacy.

Was doing some newspaper archive digging on my neighborhood the other night, and came across this ad:



Just scrolling down the list you see namesakes for a couple towns, couple major streets and neighborhoods, a couple colleges, a major partner at Baker Botts whose son and grandson both served as notable judges. A significant real estate company that's still managing some of the early investments.

Must've been a great time for ambitious young men to come to Texas. Even a distant relative of mine got a small town in South Texas named for him, decades after arriving in Galveston on a boat as a lone teenager without a penny.

That's a pretty interesting ad. The one name that jumps out to me is the W.M. Rice. I would think that would be the Rice of Rice University fame, but that ad appears to be from 1910 and he died in 1900. Maybe they listed past directors as a way to generate more trust with their customers.

I wasn't sure about that either; looks like he had a nephew who went by William Marsh Rice Jr.