I remember Montrose and Westheimer in the 1970's (Houston, Allen: homes, neighborhoods)

[SundayLaundry]

I remember back in the early 80's, we lived in Alief at the time,me and my friend would cruise around looking for something to do, a lot of major roads run through Alief, Bissonett, bellaire,west bellfort being some, Westheimer being one, one night we got on Westheimer in Alief and just decided to follow it and see where it went, we passed all the topless bars in the galleria area, that was topless barland in them days, we were just kids exploring town, we didnt know where anything was,and we eventually wound up on lower westheimer-i remember passing the oak farms Dairy(I think it was oak farms in those days) and the hardware store was there, we stopped at the Utotem,which is now the Montrose Cafe, and the laundromat that is still there,Mr Peabody's Way Back Machine was there, the true resale shops before they got expensive-lol-there was a beautiful, tall blonde woman on the pay phone, I told her how beautiful she was and she gave me a kiss on the cheek, leaving a big lipstick print that i wore proudly, later I would learn it was more than likely it was a drag queen prostitute-we were just kids exploring town in a pale yellow 1973 Chevy Malibu stationwagon that was a hand-me-down from my Mom when she got a 1979 Toyota Celica,it was a beast,but it was wheels, baby-that car drove like a dream compared to these little front wheel drive cars of today,I remember seeing The Black Dragon tattoo parlor, the building is still there, it has a leopard print on the outside now-there werent tattoo parlors everywhere then, the only people that had tattoos were convicts, bikers and sailors.Moving further down, there was the Chicken Coop(I think) on the right, heading towards 59,moving further down, Mary's was there, Chance's was the coffee shop-Joe's I think, there was Jim's Gym,Q.T's, the Midnight Sun,andmany more bars , that whole bottom half past Montrose was all bars wasnt it? In the old houses, it seems to me it was(maybe fuzzy memories)they were in the big old houses that lined the end,some are still there, there was a little beer joint that is still there, it's a little purple building on the right today, we went in there and shot some pool, and there were 2 girls making out I remember, the adult book store was there(they werent everywhere either), I think numbers was there, I remember seeing punk-rockers with Mohawks, leather jackets, chuck taylor-type sneaks, one of them had the ear feather thing that was popular, and one of them had a safety pin on his cheek,that convenice store that is Hollywood now,on the end,I remember going in there for beer or smokes and seeing they had "Blue Boy" magazine and then the Oriental massage parlors that were in the big old houses at the end right before Bagby, and remember there was like a place that had llamas and exotic animals? that was always a trip to me, anyways, that was my rememberance of driving down Westheimer-I'll post more stories of specific occurences as i remember them, like the night Rob Halford walked down Westheimer and we all flocked around him and there was a big crowd-who else was there that night? there were thousands of people cruising Westheimer by then

[flutecat]

Originally Posted by kimoInHouston

You mention a dealer in hording gold and that caught my eye because I knew a pawn shop owner that did the same and I had the opportunity to see hundreds of pounds of gold in several safes but this was back in the late 60's
and early 70's. I passed this pawn shop on Montrose on my way to my favorite club (Slugs) a three story house located on Sul Ross St. right off of alabama street.

I am a jazz musician and played around the clubs such as Chelsea 804, Anderson Fair Retail Restaurant, Theodore's and Corky's back in the 70's. I'm trying to remember exactly where Corky's was (?). Thanks to a certain habit I had at the time, my memory is a little fuzzy!

[MikeJone'sBloodyNose]

Originally Posted by gy2020

You twisted my arm.

I was only at the store for about two weeks and this pretty prostitute walks in and starts telling me these experiences she had. It appeared she worked for a ring and saw too much. She feared for her life. I never saw her after that night. The next day, I was having breakfast and reading the Houston Post. An article caught my attention. There was a prostitute ring working the Warrick Hotel. The women would seduce the rich guys in the hallways of the hotel and then lure them to a sleeze ball hotel across the street. It appeared this rich guy was seduced and when cameras were used to take pictures of him in compromising position, this particular guy refused to pay. More later. I contacted the newspaper and told the reporter about the girl I saw the night before. He got me into contact with the vice squad. I met this officer and he repeated the story. It appears that this rich guy was the President of Penn Central Railroad. Some of you old timers might remember how influencial Penn Central was back in 50's and 60's. Anyway, he refused to be blackmailed. The guys tied him up, gagged him and took him to the sticks. The set gasoline on him and made him into a torch. I saw the photo of the poor guy afterwards. Anyway, vice set up camp around our store and I was suppose to id the girl when I saw her. I saw a girl who I thought was her, but it was one of the two sisters from NY that I ID.

I spent weeks apologizing to the NY girl and we in time became good friends. We looked back and laughed it off. Apparently the girl I had seen had been wisked off to either Dallas, San Antonio or Austin, the circuit. Either that or they got rid of her for knowing too much.

Thats enough, more later. I hope this story was toooo heavy.

you sure that prostitute was a woman???? cause it was prolly a man if she was selling sex on montross.

[nwyearsevebaby]

Wow, what a collection of memories this is. To think that it all started with a search for "Austin Opry House".

I grew up off the 2200 block of Westheimer, behind St. Anne's. I had family living there until 2006.

I think I know who a couple of posters are just by the way you describe your memories.

It was a heck of a place to grow up, and just as good to go back and visit after moving away. Lately, it is undergoing such changes that I'd have a hard time recognizing some places if I were away too long. Sad, but probably inevitable.

[Desdicata]

hmmm.... if this is true nwyearsevebaby, you might be a Barnaby, Miggins, Cooney, Reese, or Esquivel!
Regardless of the "who", you are welcomed to spin yarns in the group concerning the day. I categorize St. Ann as being on the very extreme edge of Montrose and just on the leading edge of entering the Upper Kirby, River Oaks posh region.
Anyhow, thanks for the shout out! Reply.

[TVC15]

I came to Houston in 1967 when I was 3 years old and grew up in this very interesting city... that is how I experienced Houston. It was never a dull moment except when the hurricanes knocked out all of the power! My story about Montrose back in the days...it was the place to go for excitement when I was in high school. We would go to the Happy Buddha for special dinners as well as Michael Angelo’s. It was "cool" to drive along Montrose and be among the droves of people watchers. It was so busy with all kinds of interesting people wandering around as well as the little HPD staion right there. I remember when the Happy Buddha burned down but Michael Angelo’s still remains. One night right after I had graduated from high school I had gone down to Montrose to just walk around and observe the night scene. That night I stumbled upon a murder that had occurred in front of a bar with the outline of the body in white chalk on the pavement in front of the bar while the detectives questioned people. It was sad and scary at the same time and all of the prostitutes were balling their eyes out over the white chalk outline of the body. I decided that it was time to leave and I walked as quickly as I could to get away from that scene. As I walked along the sidewalk a man was walking towards me and as we passed he said very kindly that I looked pretty... I just ignored him and then he turned and said are you really a girl? I could not help but to laugh and tell him that yes I really was a girl! Montrose was a very exciting place back in the late 70's and very early 80's until the oil crash occurred.

I remember seeing Simple Minds at Number's perform their hit Don't You Forget About Me in the 80’s right before the oil crash.

I just found old photos of me at the Westheimer Art's Festival in 1982! What a fun and exciting time that was. If was a very festive time and everyone dressed up for the event and every artist, animal lover, misfit and curious mind could be found there. It was so much fun! Montrose is completely different today but is still colorful but not quite like back in those days.

[nwyearsevebaby]

I just read someone’s post from a while back, about “Tooneyville”. Now that’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time.
Exactly where this was is a matter of opinion. There are those who say it was the entire Glendower Court neighborhood (Kingston, Westgate and the streets connecting them). However, the folks who lived on Dunraven Lane will insist that it only applied to their street. I vote with the latter category, even though I didn’t live on Dunraven.
I don’t know where the name came from. I first recall hearing it around the time I was 12 (about 1970). Looking back, I suspect it might have had something to do with the fact that a few of the Dunraven brats were “almost famous” (they were members of Don Mahoney and Jeanna Clare’s Kiddie Troupers, and appeared on their TV show). The name “Toonerville” (with an “r”) is sometimes associated with the music business, and I think that “Tooneyville” is a mispronunciation of that word. Just my opinion, but I bet there’s not a better one out there.
That neighborhood was an interesting place back then. No fewer than ten large families (three or more children, some with as many as twelve or thirteen) lived in those few square blocks, and all but one or two of those families sent their children to St. Anne. If you throw in Normandy Place (Persa and Peckham and the east end of Fairview up to South Shepherd), the number nearly doubles. In the late 1960’s, it was likely that more than ten percent of the student body at St. Anne came from those two subdivisions. The school ‘s enormous playground, ball fields, and jungle gyms served as the de facto neighborhood park, and it was rare not to see a dozen or more kids there at just about any time. And during the school year between 7:30 and 8:00 in the morning it was an interesting sight to see dozens of children walking down Kingston and Dunraven and Fairview heading to class.
I think that maybe four of those families are still living there, and I doubt that many of the kids at St. Anne these days live close enough to walk to school. It’s hard to raise a big family and pay the mortgage on a million-dollar house.
The old neighborhood was a reflection of the times. Big Catholic baby-boomer families, affordable houses, cheap tuition (and an excellent school, I might add), all coming together to create, for a brief, unforgettable time, a great community in which to grow up. I am proud to be from there.

[latetotheparty]

don mahoney and gena (sp?? jena??) claire ..... now THERE'S a blast from the past......

[Over]

Wow.. what a great thread.. Being born and raised in L.A, when I moved here, I was always curious as to the history that isn't in the history books about Houston... thanx for the stories..

[Hounative]

Does anyone remember Miss Kiterick. She wore a little kitty cat costume - even an 8 year old could see how tight it was - wow!!!