Gone But Not Forgotten in San Antonio! - Part I (Houston: worth, settlement)

[OzzyRules]

Originally Posted by dr101z

The lower area of NSM that you are referring to used to have several stores down there in the 80's. The arcade that you're thinking of was a store called Expensive Toys for Big Boys, which sold computers (Apple II, Atari 800, etc), high end audio/video stuff and even arcade video games.

Thanks for that reminder. I did a search on ETFBB and found the North Star Mall entry in Wikipedia. Pretty cool. It says there was an arcade down there called the Music Court. I didn't play video games much but I'm certain I remember a guy working there who wore one of those "change aprons" or some kind of belt full of quarters, which he would exchange with customers who had paper money. Those guys were always employed by the arcades.

Here's from Wikipedia...

"North Star Mall

"...Additional information

"There used to be an underground arcade, called the Music Court. Added in 1982 near the north entry between the recently vacated Macy's (to become J.C. Penney) and Saks Fifth Avenue, it was accessible only by escalator. In the early 1980s, the arcade's tenants included Expensive Toys for Big Boys, a record store, and a music store. An Oshman's Sporting Goods store leased the entire arcade space in the late 1980s and moved the escalator to the main corridor of pedestrian traffic for prime access. The Oshman's closed in the 1990s when it opened a superstore across the highway (now The Sports Authority), and the underground space has since been closed off.

"The parking garage added in the mid-1980s between Saks and Dillard's displaced the mall's movie theater complex. The Texaco fuel station located in the mall's original underground garage (at the corner of Rector and McCullough) was also closed during 1980s renovations."

[Dwangle]

Originally Posted by dr101z

Wonderland Mall (the first phase) opened on September 14, 1961 with Montgomery Wards as the major anchor tenant. I don't remember the actual opening though as it was about six years before I was born.

That is about right..I was nine years old. I remember my Mom and Dad going to something in the Town Hall-- I think--It might have been the opening. I remember the entire bottom floor empty with plywood walls except for the Betty and Glen studio. We used to watch Betty and Glen on TV. Winn's and Woolworths were open on the top floor as well as Mongomery Wards. I remember it all closed at nine o'clock and we went home

[Dan G]

I moved from San Antonio to Fredericksburg and my daughter who still lives in San Antonio turned me on to this web site so I got registered and I'm just learning basically how it works. I grew up on the southern edge of downtown in the 50's and 60's and I was interested in telling Brian W a little more about the area his church was in. I believe it was called Central Baptist Church in the 1200 blk of S. Presa. There was a tiny park bordered by Labor St, Presa St. and I believe Florida St.just across the street from the church. I'm very familiar with that neighborhood which like he or someone said was now called Southtown. My street was just past the 1400 block of Presa, a one block long street called Kearny St., a dead end. My street came to a dead end at the backyard fences of the people who lived on Carolina St. Complete manuscripts could be written about nearly every block in every direction of that area.
Just learning how to handle this "forum", I'll try to keep the basic idea going but obviously I don't want to compose a book quite yet about being an original "dead end kid". That previous life is very far from my life now on the ranch in Fredericksburg. More to come...

[Bo]

Welcome to City-Data! If you're looking for an easy way to contribute on a topic, look for the "Search This Forum" feature on the page showing the list of topics for San Antonio. Use that feature to search for existing threads (previous discussions) about the topic. When you find a thread that interests you, feel free to add a reply of your own to revive the discussion.

[SnappyBob]

Welcome to the forum Dan. Brian W and myself grew up in the same neighborhood in the mid 50's and 60's. We have had numerous discussions about life in that area in that time frame although I have not seen him post recently. I did not live in quite that area that you grew up in but my grandparents lived in the senior citizens center just north of Carolina street and just south of Durango. The 9 story building across from Victoria Courts. I will be looking forward to reading your posts.

BTW, I will be attending a wedding on a ranch in Frediricksburg on Saturday and spending Sunday in the area as well. I don't guess there is any chance that your having a wedding at your ranch this weekend is there? That would be a coincidence.

[BrianW]

Hi Bob/All,

I'm still around...just got real busy and was also out of the country for a week or so. Just now catching up on the forum. I didn't have much to say for a while, as most of the discussion tended to focus on the northside, which is "foreign" to an "old" southsider like me.

Bob, I remember the Victoria Plaza. Half of the old people from our church lived there. Does it still exist? I never could understand why it was there - a fairly nice retirement facility literally in the shadow of "the courts", as we called them. I guess they had good security there!?

Dan G, I got your PM. Good to hear from you. I'll respond back to you soon.

Brian W

[Dwangle]

Does anybody remember a store that had a Taffy making machine in the store front window? I think it was on Josephine street. I also remember a Royal Crown Cola Bottling plant in that area. North of Downtown and south of the park.

[monica1296]

I'm a lurker on here as I was born in 1980 and don't have nearly the amount of awesome info everyone else has to share on here. But I do have a mind filled with questions about this city that I love dearly. I was wondering if anyone knew the real story of the mansion at the top of the hill on the NW corner of Judson Rd. and IH35. FYI they just tore the place down last month, probably to make way for another ridiculously expensive neighborhood.
--Monica (daughter of Dan G)

[Dan G]

Just reading some of the comments and I saw one from my own daughter. Monica the house on the hill at Judson and 35 used to be owned by the guy that built the houses in Valley Forge. At least that was what I was told years ago. My old brain is not letting me remember his name yet. I guess it's not an old enough memory. They say when you get older your long term memory is much better than your short term memory.

[Nix54]

Originally Posted by Dwangle

Does anybody remember a store that had a Taffy making machine in the store front window? I think it was on Josephine street. I also remember a Royal Crown Cola Bottling plant in that area. North of Downtown and south of the park.

Back in the middle 60's there was a salt water taffy making machine that was always operating at a little teeny candy store under the canopy of the Majestic theatre. It was a one aisle candy store. Fresh taffy was 3 for a dime! They would put the 3 wrapped taffies in a little white bag.