Things you don't see in Huntsville anymore (Birmingham, Decatur: live, restaurant)

[brzzz]

A good ole fashioned lynching.

[deesonic]

Originally Posted by Dirt Grinder

Here's a few I doubt anyone will remember:

The old paperboy shack on Triana Blvd near Fouche Dr. It was a plywood shanty where paperboys of the area would get their stack of papers and band them for delivery.

Yarbrough's (sp?) in the Merrimack mill village - you could buy tamales and a soft drink. Made the perfect stop for a bike-riding paperboy.

Jack Shelton's grocery at the corner of Triana Blvd and Johnson Rd - a great place for kids of the time to get a soft drink and candy. He also sold made-to-order sandwiches using the freshest white bread I have ever eaten - it literally stuck to the roof of your mouth.

I grew up in SW Huntsville in a few different spots in the 70s and 80s, mostly Holiday Homes, Merrimack Village (Huntsville Park in those days), and in Jackson Square Apartments on Triana...

The paperboy shack... I think I remember that spot. It became a little store at some point and when I was a kid walking to catch the bus at McDonnell Elementary to Stone Middle I would stop in and buy snap n' pops or whatever they were called. Those things we would throw at each other at school that would pop.

Don't remember Yarbrough's, but I remember when the old Joe Bradley Gym was still upstairs in what is now Merrimack Hall. Me and a bunch of friends would get $5 each from our parents to rent that place out for like $50/night in high school and shoot hoops and bs all night.

The paperboy shack could've been Jack Shelton's as well. Not sure. I also remember the old Country Food Town. It was a little shack of a store on Triana on the southwest side of Drake close to Archer Park. There's some other convenience store built there now. Old wooden floors that creaked and I'd run down there and buy a loaf of bread and those little cups of vanilla ice cream there with food stamps from my grandma. We was poor folks. I remember feeling so ashamed with those food stamps, but for ice cream it was worth it.

I also miss the old Huntsville Park baseball field which was on Ivy near Triana where the office buildings sit now. It was a great old ballpark where we played Babe Ruth League.

And the old Sertoma Playland in Brahan Springs Park. I used to run the rides there. They would pay us in $1 bills once a week in a popcorn sack. I remember my best ever payday being 99 $1 bills and I counted them over and over on the walk home to Holiday Homes.

[Dirt Grinder]

Originally Posted by deesonic

...I also remember the old Country Food Town. It was a little shack of a store on Triana on the southwest side of Drake close to Archer Park...Old wooden floors that creaked.

I remember Country Food Town - and the most vivid memory of the place is the creaky wooden floor. I mean that floor didn't just creak - it wailed. I've never heard a floor creak so loudly. Even the Outdoor Omnibus floor wasn't THAT loud. They could have sold that floor to a movie lot to use in a horror movie.

As for Sertoma Park - we used to go there and ride that ridiculous roller coaster and the Merry Mixer. Occasionally we'd ride the train around the lake.

[ghostrider7811]

Yes, I am glad Dirt Grinder brought up the Super Slide in the corner of the old Parkway City shopping center, it was in the corner between Montgomery Wards and a movie theater I think.

Does anyone remember Whitesburg Elementary and Jr. High back then, Since there was no AC, the windows were kept open. When rocket engines were being tested @ Redstone Arsonal, it would shake the school and interrupt classes.

Sertoma's, with the Merry Mixer, roller coaster, and those little go karts that looked like tractors. I loved the place!

Little League Sports with "city league" next to Whitesburg Elementary and the YMCA in SE HSV.

OK, here is an odd one, there was a toy store shaped like a wedge of cheese. It was on Whitesburg Dr., heading north toward the Hospital. I never got to go in there, I would ride by and see the toys in the window.

Car dealers, my dad would like to look @ cars. We stopped at Woody Anderson Ford, Royal Chervrolet, Superior (?) AMC, the VW dealer on the north end of the Parkway, and the Dodge place, I forgot their name.

What about the old Hardies off the Parkway, north end of town, it was a walk up window only. I loved that burnt charcoal taste.

Dairy Queen across from the Parkway City shopping plaza.

Ben Franklin 5 and Dime, caddy corner from the old Whiteburg Drive In. we did all of our shopping there before Kmart came to town.

The Alabama Highway Patrol office, across from the Whitesburg Drive In. they had the old Fords like on the Andy Griffith TV shows.

sorry folks, I can go on and on !
Those years were one of the best times in my life !
Jim

[Maledictorian]

This thread is TLR and I apologize if it's already been said but..

I miss bands that play original music they wrote. This used to be the norm here back in the 80's and early 90's.

[oldschoolcarnage]

Originally Posted by maledictorian

this thread is tl:dr and i apologize if it's already been said but..

I miss bands that play original music they wrote. This used to be the norm here back in the 80's and early 90's.

amen

[Geekwithabass]

Hey, maledictorian...shameless plug here. While there are less and less, there still are some good bands that play/write their own music from here in town:

mine for example

Check us out: dgn on Myspace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads
(we're changing our name soon, so the myspace isn't pretty but our music is the same)

[Maledictorian]

Originally Posted by Geekwithabass

Hey, maledictorian...shameless plug here. While there are less and less, there still are some good bands that play/write their own music from here in town:

mine for example

Check us out: dgn on Myspace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads
(we're changing our name soon, so the myspace isn't pretty but our music is the same)

Super kudos to you and your band. You've got my support.

[3Djunkie]

I remember "The Mall" since it was right up the street from my house. My brother and I would walk down there once in a while. I also remember it because my mom's friend owned the hanbok store (Korean traditional dress) that was there. I don't remember being anywhere in it but Toys R Us though

I also remember the strip mall that used to be on Clinton & the Parkway next to the post office, now it's torn down since they're going to put two hotels or something there now. It still looks strange to me when I drive by, I've still got the image of that long white building. That's where the original Huntsville Burlington Coat Factory & Gold's Gym used to be forever ago. My brother's kung-fu school was over there too, Bell's Martial Arts Studio. They also had Sandollar (?) tanning salon over there, I went there with my friend in high school a couple of times.

Where Huntsville's Medical mall sits I remember for one single place. Anyone remember the buffet that was on the corner of the building?! I can't remember the name, but the door I remember (LOL strange, I know). It had three chefs on the door all with mustaches... It worked kinda like Ryan's but bigger and cleaner! OMG, they had the best baked chicken and mac & cheese. Yeah, it was so good I still remember what it tasted like! That had to be what close to 20 years ago. I think I was 7 when we went up there for our Sunday dinner and they were closed. I don't know what happened, they were so popular and even though it was cheap, they should have been raking in the money. Health code violations? If you remember this place please chime in!

We have a picture from when my dad bought our house and it shows the "end" of the street. You can see my neighbors' house and even more houses going down a street. Now when you walk outside our house you see the I-565/Parkway overpass & Pulaski Pike! I remember when they were doing construction because the now end of the street dropped off about 10 feet! We used to ride our bikes in the construction zone (bad kids...). I'll have to get a scan of that picture, it's really a transformation.

For the military people, remember how the base used to look with all the housing? I don't remember living over there since I was only a baby before we shipped out to Germany, but I remember going with my mom to see her friends all the time growing up. I can still tell you where their houses were. Now it's just open land that they were supposed to build a base hotel on.

I'm sure I could come up with more if I thought about it. I've lived here for 20-something years now, it's amazing how much has really changed. Also funny what hasn't...

[Dirt Grinder]

Originally Posted by 3Djunkie

...Anyone remember the buffet that was on the corner of the building?...

Britling's