Things you don't see in Huntsville anymore (Butler, Triana: houses, theater)

[Charles]

Originally Posted by mm42

Huntsville Rewound (AL/USA) Rocket City USA

Beyond excellent. Thanks.

Noticed they labeled Monte Sano Mountain and the community up there "HSV Mountain". Huntsville Mountain is actually the mountain the Ledges Community is built on and Monte Sano Mountain is, Monte Sano Mountain.

Don't miss the Huntsville Song:

http://home.hiwaay.net/~mdsmith/hunts.mp3

It's on the neat TV/Radio tab with a great history of media in Huntsville. There's a neat pointer to this historical Huntsville media site: http://www.31alumni.com/

What a great site!

[skinem]

Seeing this reminded me of one other thing you don't see around Huntsville anymore...people selling "fresh" gulf shrimp and other seafood from the trunks of their cars on the side of the road.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by skinem

Seeing this reminded me of one other thing you don't see around Huntsville anymore...people selling "fresh" gulf shrimp and other seafood from the trunks of their cars on the side of the road.

Or hear the consumers of that seafood vomiting later that night....

[lgeorgehsv]

You might want to check out Huntsville Rewound (AL/USA) Rocket City USA for Huntsville Metro Memories (also Huntsville Rewound on facebook)
Lots of memories posted there!

[shopgrl]

the original fountain that is shown in the first post is showcased in the roundabout where the mall used to be. in between home depot and costco on north parkway.
i remember going there with my mom and having my ears pierced there when i was a little girl....

[skinem]

Originally Posted by Charles

Or hear the consumers of that seafood vomiting later that night....

Yep, that's what I was always afraid of, so I never bought any--I could just picture that stuff baking inside a hot trunk on the drive up here...

Along these lines, I don't see small farmers along the side of the road with their pickups loaded with fresh produce for sale anymore, either.

[padmaster]

I remember "The Mall", Penny's, Hickory Farms, Bill's, Picadilly, Lovemans and there was a music store....can't remember the name but that was my favorite place. There was also the Alabama theater there in the parking lot, last movie I saw there was Flash Dance.

I vaguly remember the drive-in on North Parway. It was called Parkway drive-in (duh) and it was actually a double drive-in. Although it closed in the early '70's, the lot is still untouched and you can still see it on google earth maps (see attached pic). I did some metal detecting there a couple of years ago and found a pocket full of wheat pennies, several silver dimes and a silver franklin half dollar. Woody's drive-in was on Meridian St. where they are now building the new Lee HS.

I also remember when there were no overpasses in Huntsville except the "useless" overpass on South Parkway.

Anyone remember the Blue & Gold twin theater?

[cornutt]

Dunnavant's Mall and Heart of Huntsville were two separate malls. Dunnavant's Mall is now the Huntsville Hospital Medical Mall. The Dunnavant's department store and the Brietling Cafeteria were the anchor stores, both facing the intersection. Breitling's was huge. I remember that it had this network of enclosed conveyor belts that you put your tray and dirty dishes on after your meal, and it took them back to the kitchen. The other end of the mall had a big Goodyear store, with garage doors that opened out onto the portion of St. Clair Street that used to run behind the mall. And there was a bridge that crossed Huntsville Spring Branch and connected it with Heart of Huntsville Drive, which might have given some people the impression that both malls were part of the same complex. They weren't. Dunnavant's Mall had a bad fire in 1982; it started in A. B. Stephens which was in that mall at the time, and it burned six stores and damaged the central area.

Heart of Huntsville really only had one anchor store, and it was Sears, at the south end. (The outbuilding which ended its life as LBJ Tire was originally the Sears auto center.) In the mid-60s, it was the place to shop in Huntsville. Note that both Heart of Huntsville and Dunnavant's Mall were originally built as open-courtyard malls, with the center portion exposed to the sky. They had big concrete planters where trees and shrubs grew. The Mall was the first enclosed mall in Huntsville. When it opened (1966 IIRC), HofH and Dunnavant's launched crash construction projects to get their interior courtyards enclosed and air conditioned. HofH had a water fountain in the courtyard at the end opposite Sears. When they enclosed the courtyard, they replaced it with a glycerin fountain, which was pretty strange. It was kind of neat when it worked, but it didn't work very often.

All the malls when down during the early '70s. The interior of The Mall was revamped in 1981 and they picked up for a while. But the next year, the Lovemans company went out of business, and their store sat empty for years. When Madison Square opened in 1985, it took The Mall's other anchor store, JC Penny, and Sears which was Heart of Huntsville's only anchor store. That was the beginning of the end for both malls.

Parkway Place is the third mall to be built on that site. The original strip mall was Huntsville's first mall, opening in 1959. Several outbuildings were added over time, as another posted pointed out: Pizitz at the south end of the strip mall, Montgomery Ward at the north end, and the Madison Theater behind the mall at the northeast corner. For years, there was a thing called the Super Slide next to the theater. It was a big fiberglass children's slide with about eight separate sliding lanes, and about 25 feet tall. You paid a dime to slide down on it, on a burlap bag. In 1974, the strip mall was devastated by a fire and a tornado. The owners decided to tear down the strip mall and build an enclosed mall. It was built further back on the property than the original mall, and it incorporated all of the outbuildings. That was what was torn down a few years ago when Parkway Place was built.

[DvlsAdvc8]

Wow! Parking! ... and a vibrant downtown! Gee wiz.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by cornutt

Dunnavant's Mall and Heart of Huntsville were two separate malls. Dunnavant's Mall is now the Huntsville Hospital Medical Mall. The Dunnavant's department store and the Brietling Cafeteria were the anchor stores, both facing the intersection. Breitling's was huge. I remember that it had this network of enclosed conveyor belts that you put your tray and dirty dishes on after your meal, and it took them back to the kitchen. The other end of the mall had a big Goodyear store, with garage doors that opened out onto the portion of St. Clair Street that used to run behind the mall. And there was a bridge that crossed Huntsville Spring Branch and connected it with Heart of Huntsville Drive, which might have given some people the impression that both malls were part of the same complex. They weren't. Dunnavant's Mall had a bad fire in 1982; it started in A. B. Stephens which was in that mall at the time, and it burned six stores and damaged the central area.

Heart of Huntsville really only had one anchor store, and it was Sears, at the south end. (The outbuilding which ended its life as LBJ Tire was originally the Sears auto center.) In the mid-60s, it was the place to shop in Huntsville. Note that both Heart of Huntsville and Dunnavant's Mall were originally built as open-courtyard malls, with the center portion exposed to the sky. They had big concrete planters where trees and shrubs grew. The Mall was the first enclosed mall in Huntsville. When it opened (1966 IIRC), HofH and Dunnavant's launched crash construction projects to get their interior courtyards enclosed and air conditioned. HofH had a water fountain in the courtyard at the end opposite Sears. When they enclosed the courtyard, they replaced it with a glycerin fountain, which was pretty strange. It was kind of neat when it worked, but it didn't work very often.

All the malls when down during the early '70s. The interior of The Mall was revamped in 1981 and they picked up for a while. But the next year, the Lovemans company went out of business, and their store sat empty for years. When Madison Square opened in 1985, it took The Mall's other anchor store, JC Penny, and Sears which was Heart of Huntsville's only anchor store. That was the beginning of the end for both malls.

Parkway Place is the third mall to be built on that site. The original strip mall was Huntsville's first mall, opening in 1959. Several outbuildings were added over time, as another posted pointed out: Pizitz at the south end of the strip mall, Montgomery Ward at the north end, and the Madison Theater behind the mall at the northeast corner. For years, there was a thing called the Super Slide next to the theater. It was a big fiberglass children's slide with about eight separate sliding lanes, and about 25 feet tall. You paid a dime to slide down on it, on a burlap bag. In 1974, the strip mall was devastated by a fire and a tornado. The owners decided to tear down the strip mall and build an enclosed mall. It was built further back on the property than the original mall, and it incorporated all of the outbuildings. That was what was torn down a few years ago when Parkway Place was built.

Great post. Thanks for all the interesting history.