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Oh do I remember Miller Park, sold newspapers every Tuesday on the corner of Montrose and Westminster seeking to talk to anyone who was living there in 1970 especially at Family Connection, saw many great groups at the Sam Houston Convention Center amongst others.
In 1968 I was living with my first wife across from Bell Park on Banks St. Bell Park is a small park on Montrose. We were living there when my oldest son was born. Not only was I born in Montrose (1943), so was my son. I saw many changes in Montrose. The 'beatnik and hippie years' were the best. Out of all the threads on this forum, this one brings back the best memories.
As one who didn’t get out much in his youth, my memories of restaurants, bars, stores and other places of public accommodation in the 70’s is somewhat limited. My experience with a particular place is in direct proportion to how far it was from home. Since I come from around Shepherd and Westheimer, my experience is naturally more extensive with places near there. That makes this area as good as any for a place to start!
Next, my remembrances of Westheimer and other east-west streets, full of places mostly long gone.
I'm asking for research purposes, do you have any information or pictures of Sybil Leek's Cauldron which was originally at 1100(1102) Westheimer Rd, Houston, TX 77006 (which then became Charlie's Coffee Shop, then Chances, and now, semi-ironically, another restaurant named Underbelly) then moved to approx 2537 University Blvd?
I too frequented Slugs (almost nightly). I lived a few blocks away in an old house turned into 4 apartments on Kipling St. Slugs is what brought me to this website. I remember it being amazing: dance floor & bar on the first floor, air hockey (my favorite) on the second, and seemingly another bar & foosball on the third floor. And the yard was really cool. I especially remember an old dentist chair out there. Slugs was my home away from home. Lots of great memories of Montrose: The Palace, Damians, Herman Park, Westheimer Rd. Does anyone remember a little dance bar at the edge of The Heights? I believe it was called Miss (something). This was early to mid 1970s. Great times!
I too went to Slugs although not as frequently as you. I lived a few block away on Portsmouth Street. Like I said before, I met my second wife at Miller Theater and I worked at Houston Blacklight and Poster Co. which was across from Allen's Landing. I met my third wife at Houston Blacklight.
Boys From Houston: Bayou city was unlikely '60s hotbed The following is reprinted from Vicki Welch Ayo's new book, Boys From Houston, about the city's thriving '60s music scene. Houston native Dreyer, now editor of The Rag Blog and host of Rag Radio, was active in alternative media and community organizing in late '60s-early '70s Houston. http://theragblog.blogspot.com/2013/...ikely-60s.html
Last edited by VictorD2; 10-27-2013 at 09:05 PM..
Reason: formatting
Boys From Houston: Bayou city was unlikely '60s hotbed The following is reprinted from Vicki Welch Ayo's new book, Boys From Houston, about the city's thriving '60s music scene. Houston native Dreyer, now editor of The Rag Blog and host of Rag Radio, was active in alternative media and community organizing in late '60s-early '70s Houston. The Rag Blog: Thorne Dreyer : Houston Was an Unlikely '60s Hotbed
Vicki Welch Ayo is also a member of a site on Facebook dedicated to former employees of Houston Blacklight and Poster Co. I cannot provide the link because I'm no longer a member of Facebook.
Way late to the party here, but this thread was linked in a more recent thread, and I couldn't help but add my two pennies. I grew up in the Montrose. More specifically, we moved there from West U just before my 10th birthday, in the summer of '78. So, a little later than the time frame that the OP is referring to, but only by a few years. It was still pretty much the same kind of place at that time, except maybe a little less "hippie". I lived at home with my mom in the Castle Court area from '78 until '86, then lived a year in a tiny apartment behind Numbers, on Avondale St. before moving to L.A. in late '87. My memories of the Montrose during the late 70's/early 80's are nothing but great, though anything after '85 gets a little hazy, for reasons I probably shouldn't divulge here.
I just remember it was during the pre-gentrification era of heavy suburban white flight, and with the exception of the weekend "cruisers" from the burbs on lower Westheimer, most so-called "normal" people avoided the Montrose like the plague. It was a misfit's paradise. Tons of street life, and you could really let your freak flag fly high. I would even go so far as to say that it almost matched Hollywood (which is where I moved to in the late 80's) for street life in those days. There was nowhere like it anywhere else in Houston, and probably not even anywhere else in Texas at that time. Artists, hippies, punks, drag queens, bikers, winos, junkies, prostitutes, hustlers, pimps, urban animals, guardian angels (remember those guys?), skaters, and various other social outcasts who couldn't fit in anywhere else. The streets were alive 24-7. It was nirvana from my youthful perspective, and I feel fortunate to have grown up there.
I still go back to visit every year or so, and of course it has changed pretty drastically. Much more benign and tame, though definitely much safer and cleaner, without having completely anbandoned it's bohemian vibe, even if it is signifigantly more muted. I was happy to see that Numbers still stands, like some proud survivor that refuses to die. I saw so many great shows at that place. And another survivor - Lucky Burger at Richmond and Mandell. Everything else is gone though. It definitely feels like a much different place today.
Before moving to Houston for good, I came to Houston and spent the summers of '78 & '79 with my sister who lived here at the time. Her then husband used to work for Entex and he took me with him to work a few times. Now I don't know if the entire Montrose area was like this (north of Westheimer between Waugh and Brazos), but I recall seeing mostly only Latinos in the area. Closer to downtown in Fourth Ward there were more Blacks of course, but I seem to recall only poor Latinos living in those now nicely restored Bungalows and Victorians, or Foursquares. I did not get the sense of "this is a nice neighborhood" back then.
After moving to Houston, sometime during the early to mid eighties, I recall little "riots" between the Latinos and whites along Westheimer during those 'cruising' days. The Latinos did not want the white suburb dudes coming into their neighborhoods.
And if you think Montrose club scene is okay now, you should have seen it in the early 80s! All I can remember were lots of crusing, drinking, partying and all sorts of people walking the streets, it had a little French Quarter flair during the weekends. In fact, if you ever travel down Bagby before it merges with Spur 527, you can still see the old 'LULAC 60' headquarters building in Midtown. LULAC only puts headquarters in their "barrios", so that should tell you something. It is not used anymore, BTW, but someone does maintain the building ($$).
Instead of snuffing the life out of Montrose/Lower Westheimer, I wish that Houston and HPD would have controlled the scene instead. Some thirty years later, I wonder what would have become of that part of Houston had the popularity continued. Chicago has their boulevard, LA has the Sunset Strip, New Orleans has the French Quarter, and New York has their thing, I just think if controlled, it may have evolved to a point where things were legitimized, and the landscape would have changed for the better to make it an attraction, one where people from other cities would say they were going to 'Montrose' for the weekend. Oh well.
Now I don't know if the entire Montrose area was like this (north of Westheimer between Waugh and Brazos), but I recall seeing mostly only Latinos in the area. Closer to downtown in Fourth Ward there were more Blacks of course, but I seem to recall only poor Latinos living in those now nicely restored Bungalows and Victorians, or Foursquares. I did not get the sense of "this is a nice neighborhood" back then.
It wasn't a "nice" neighborhood. At least not in the conventional sense. The Montrose of that era, though definitely not a ghetto, was a place where you definitely kept your doors locked at all times, but it was a different kind of danger from places like the wards or the East end. If you were a local you rarely or never got messed with, but if you came down there looking for trouble, it didn't take long to find it. And yes, there were a lot of minorities in the Montrose back then as well. It was much more ethnically diverse than it is today, but that's not what made the area "dangerous". Just as many crimes were being committed by white people as any "minority". Besides, Houston was the murder capitol of the nation back then. The whole city was dangerous, unless you lived in one of the way-out suburbs, River Oaks, or Memorial.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HookTheBrotherUp
After moving to Houston, sometime during the early to mid eighties, I recall little "riots" between the Latinos and whites along Westheimer during those 'cruising' days. The Latinos did not want the white suburb dudes coming into their neighborhoods.
I remember a lot of those suburban cruiser types coming down to lower Westheimer in packs, with the sole intention of starting fights. And they usually got their a**es handed to 'em by the locals. I don't recall too many racially motivated disturbances, but I do remember TONS of fights between bonehead cruisers and the gay contingent. Homophobia was rampant in those days, and in the Montrose we had what I recall being something like the 2nd largest gay community in the country (at that time). Many of them were extremely OUT, and very flamboyant... but they knew how to defend themselves and they watched out for each other very effectively.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HookTheBrotherUp
And if you think Montrose club scene is okay now, you should have seen it in the early 80s!
Definitely. There was something for everybody back then. I was a punk rock kid. The main punk club in Houston at the time was the Island on Main, but it was more in midtown than the Montrose. Still, there was the Omni, Numbers, Rudyards, and a little later on the Pik-n-Pak. Not to mention back then you could walk down the street with spiky blue hair, a leather jacket, and ripped clothes, and nobody was going to treat you any different from anyone else. Well, at least the locals weren't going to. Looking like that may not sound like a big deal today, but believe me, in 1982 it was almost unheard of (anywhere else in Houston besides the Montrose) to be able to walk down the street looking that way without somebody yelling obscenities out their car window at you or throwing stuff at you. I still have a visible scar on my head from a beer bottle that struck me from a moving car over 30 years ago.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HookTheBrotherUp
Instead of snuffing the life out of Montrose/Lower Westheimer, I wish that Houston and HPD would have controlled the scene instead. I just think if controlled, it may have evolved to a point where things were legitimized, and the landscape would have changed for the better to make it an attraction, one where people from other cities would say they were going to 'Montrose' for the weekend. Oh well.
I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "controlled". The whole appeal of the Montrose back then was that it was pretty much out of control. Besides, the HPD in those days were absolutely HORRIBLE. Those were the days of "throwdowns", where a cop would pull someone over, plant a gun in their car, shoot them, and claim that you had pulled a gun on them first. People who aren't old enough to remember that era think I'm lying when I talk about this, but it really happened. Many times. Not so much in the Montrose though. The lower Westheimer division of the HPD were a lot more tolerant (and less psychotic) than a lot of other parts of the city. Plus, the city of Houston did take control of lower Westheimer, right around the time I moved away. Mayor Whitmire, in an agreement with greedy real estate developers, shut down Westheimer from basically Shepherd on the West, to Bagby on the East, for "routine street maintenance", which lasted for about 3 years. It effectively diverted all traffic away from the heart of the Montrose, and choked out all those local businesses. It was very underhanded and calculated IMO, and it killed off a lot of the old spirit of the area... but it cleared the path for gentrification and the bright, shiny Montrose of today.
Last edited by Bobloblawslawblog; 11-05-2013 at 08:34 PM..
I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "controlled". The whole appeal of the Montrose back then was that it was pretty much out of control. Besides, the HPD in those days were absolutely HORRIBLE. Those were the days of "throwdowns", where a cop would pull someone over, plant a gun in their car, shoot them, and claim that you had pulled a gun on them first. People who aren't old enough to remember that era think I'm lying when I talk about this, but it really happened. Many times. Not so much in the Montrose though. The lower Westheimer division of the HPD were a lot more tolerant (and less psychotic) than a lot of other parts of the city. Plus, the city of Houston did take control of lower Westheimer, right around the time I moved away. Mayor Whitmire, in an agreement with greedy real estate developers, shut down Westheimer from basically Shepherd on the West, to Bagby on the East, for "routine street maintenance", which lasted for about 3 years. It effectively diverted all traffic away from the heart of the Montrose, and choked out all those local businesses. It was very underhanded and calculated IMO, and it killed off a lot of the old spirit of the area... but it cleared the path for gentrification and the bright, shiny Montrose of today.
Yes, that is what I meant. I meant that the city put an end to the partying, the cruising, etc. Yes, the streets were bumper to bumper for miles, but that was part of the excitement of being in, or wanting to go to Montrose. I lived in West Houston at the time, but the desire of most people was to cruise down Westheimer. The city had the intention of killing that vibe, not controlling it.
In upper Westheimer, you had the drag scene, drag as in racing. The people used to hang out in the parking lots, drinking openly. If I recall, it started at about the Briargrove area because I still recall that repair/transmission shop at the north corner of Briargrove and Westheimer. From that area all the way to Chimney Rock and if I recall, there was a Weingartens. Then you crossed 610 and headed to the "party" which began (at least the bumper traffic) at about Shepherd all the way to Bagby. I was not old enough to go into clubs until 82 when I turned 18, right after the drinking age was changed to 21, but people my age were grandfathered in.
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Lower Westheimer
Oh well.
