Gone But Not Forgotten in San Antonio! - Part I (Laredo: hotels, dollar movie)

[GWhopper]

Originally Posted by OzzyRules

My one problem with Whataburger is that the burgers are never "hot enough". It's like everything is sitting open faced and five minutes later someone puts it together. That's why I have to take them home and heat them in the microwave first.

One thing you can do is ask for the bun to be "extra toasted". I do that and the whole burger usually seems hotter.

[GWhopper]

Originally Posted by daddy-O

Did anyone use to go to the old Lone Star Brewrey? At HemisFair they had a pavillion with wax figures depicting Texas history. The coolest one was an indian scalping what looks to be a calvary soldier. After HemisFair they moved it on the brewrey grounds along with the Hall of Fins. Back then if you visited the Buckhorn Hall of Horns you got free beer...later they gave each visitor 2 wooden tokens each good for one beer.

Here is a picture of it!

[GWhopper]

Here are some other pictures from the riverwalk from 1971. Does anybody else remember the peddle boats on the riverwalk? I remember them vaguely and thought my memory was playing tricks on me, but then I found these pictures:

[GWhopper]

And I found one small picture of the interior of North Star Mall when it first opened. I think this shot was taken where the Mervyn's is now. I apologize for the image size, I couldn't find on any bigger. The text accompaning it said:

At North Star Mall in San Antonio, an effort was made to reflect southwestern regional motifs in the architecture and decor.

[Macgrad89]

GWhopper,

Yep, that's the long gone fountain which was in front of Frost Bros (now Mervyns). The view appears to be toward what is now Saks. Back then it was a mall entrance with LOTS of glass. Nice find! I suddenly remembered Gildemeister's Jewelers and Stovall's when I saw the shot.

Add another old Whataburger A-frame to the list - Naco Perrin off of Perrin Beitel. That one is now a seafood restaurant; the Whataburger moved out of there around 1989-1990 over to the old Grandy's in the Perrin Plaza parking lot. That building is now Las Palapas. There should also be another A-frame on Broadway south of 410.

My Mom still refers to McAllister Park as Northeast Preserve. The old city maps from way back when used this moniker...

Macgrad89

[GWhopper]

Here is something for a little perspective on all the stuff we are remembering here. I was just in Italy, and got to spend two nights on Lido island in Venice. We were staying at this really cool hotel, Art Noveau style, that had all these pictures of the hotel and surrounding area from the 10s, 20s, and 30s. I was coming back to the room one night and remarked to my wife, "I wonder how old this place is?" There was an old british couple in front of us and the woman turned to me and said "Oh, this place is new. It was built in 1906!"

[GWhopper]

I think I read earlier in the post that someone asked what this building was (see thumbnail, I shamelessly stole mjr7025's pic!) and someone else answered that it was the old Humble Oil Station. I just found out this history of the place:

"The last Humble station still has it's sign. An interesting mosaic on the side of the building marks it permanently as an outpost for Humble Oil. Before there was Exxon, there was Esso. And in Texas there was Humble Oil. Humble Oil was once the most important oil company in Texas with service stations stretched across the state and huge refineries that supplied both Texans and motorists across the country.

Some of the old Humble stations have been abandoned, others have been remodeled with a new corporate logo affixed above the station. All the Humble stations are gone. All but one.

The building is located just south of downtown. Bypassed by thousands of cars daily, it exists in a void. Too small for redevelopment, but saved from demolition by being far enough away from the highway, the station sits empty as a monument to the past."

[Fujifrontier]

someone should buy, restore, and restart it.

so, has anyone dug up any pictures of mccreless or wyatt's for me?

[GWhopper]

Stumbling about on the web, I came across this postcard. The text says:

THE BLUE BONNET
San Antonio's Newest Hotel
Centrally Located
250 Rooms - 250 Baths
Circulating Ice Water
Ceiling Fans
San Antionio, Texs
(from late 1930s postcard)

Anybody know where this was? Also, what the heck is Circulating Ice Water?

[majormadmax]

The San Antonio Historic Preservation web site list (http://epay.sanantonio.gov/historic/listscreen.aspx - broken link) said the Humble Oil station was at 1019 Laredo Street South...and when I looked it up on Maps.Live.Com, it showed it; but on GoogleEarth it looks like the building is gone. Does anyone know if it is still standing?

Cheers! M2