Dulles Class of '73 Reunion

The Class of '73 will celebrate its 40th anniversary on October 12th at Regal Ranch from 7pm to Midnight. You can contact Belinda Spear Makins, Janet Davis Blake, Glen A. Nordt, Terri Weeks Weinman, Dawn Proctor Pugh, Beth Brookshire Mitchell, Sharon Marshall Rush, Susan Fox Morrison, Tom Cook Bigbee, or Cindi Cooper Cornelius on Facebook.

Here are a few pictures from the '70 Viking yearbook (when they were freshmen). 

      

More From The Houston Guide and Handbook, 1968

Here is a list of Houston media in 1968.  I recognize most items on the list, except KVVV-TV Channel 16.  I vaguely recall the station, but I don't remember watching it.  KFMK-FM is on the list - I listened to it quite a bit.  Until recently I'd forgotten KLOL-FM began broadcasting in the early '70s.  It's not on the list.

 

Once again, thank you Terry Bates for letting me scan this booklet.

 

The Old Machine Shop

The following sign used to hang on a wall in the bathroom of the old refinery machine shop.  My father collected it when Imperial Sugar was 'cleaning out its closets.'  It now hangs in the garage bathroom at my mother's home.  Someone in the refinery's paint shop made this sign.  I wish I knew when it was made.

  

Here is an undated (pre-1932) photo showing the old machine shop.

  

More From The Dierks Family Scrapbook

I've borrowed more photos from the Dierks family scrapbook.  Thank you, Margaret Phillips.  

When I first saw the following picture, I noticed a couple of things that led me to think it showed construction of a home on Imperial Blvd.  

After a closer look, I think it shows the construction of a Dierks home on the south side of Highway-90A near the present location of the Windstream and old Frost Bank buildings.  I've learned there were two Dierks family homes in that area; I can't be sure which one this is, but if I'm correct, that's Highway-90A behind the barbed wire fence.  The Salvage Buildings are in the background.  It's hard to see, but there's a billboard promoting Imperial Sugar in front of the buildings.

Here are three pictures of the dredging operations south of Highway-90A.  I don't have an exact date, but it's sometime in the early 1920s.  Although it's not a good picture, you can see in the last one (which was probably taken in or around Alkire Lake), they had to dredge some very marshy areas with primitive equipment.

 

More Photos from the Buehring Family Scrapbook

I think this picture must have been taken at the 1968 Dulles prom at the Warwick Hotel.  That's Matthew Hall (Class of '68) and Cindy Buehring Gustin (Class of '70).

I don't know whose birthday they are celebrating, but the location is the Buehring family home on Oyster Creek Drive.  The date must be 1969 or '70 because exchange student, Nilginn Serdaroglu, appears in the photo.  (She is third from the right.)  That's Claudia Rozelle and Cindy Buehring on the right.  Bunnye Buehring is wearing the red sleeveless sweater on the left.  I'm not certain who the others are.

 

I found this newspaper clipping very interesting.  I never knew the Neals hosted Brian Bourne, the second DHS exchange student.  I thought Nilginn was the second.  I didn't know Gary Buis (DHS '70) was an exchange student in Spain.

   

San Felipe de Austin Golf Tournament

Some of you may know that the Texas Historical Commission manages a historical park on the northern boundary of today's community of San Felipe.  It is the original location of San Felipe de Austin, the town Stephen F. Austin founded in colonial Texas.  

This park shouldn't be confused with Stephen F. Austin State Park which lies a few hundred yards upstream of the Brazos River.  The State Park is managed by the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department.  It offers a variety of recreational activities, like hiking, biking, and camping.  A visit to both parks offers a good opportunity to combine education with recreation.

The San Felipe de Austin Park is launching a considerable expansion project which includes a modern museum and  exhibitions of artifacts relating to Austin and the colonial period of Texas.  (I've posted a previous entry on this blog that includes a video presentation on this topic by Bryan McAuley, park manager.)

The Historical Commission organizes an annual "Links To The Past" golf tournament to raise funds for the San Felipe de Austin Park. Proceeds from this year's event will fund historical panels to be placed on the San Felipe Golf Course.  The panels will highlight the area's historical significance and, hopefully, spur an interest as golfers play the course.

Click this link to view info on the golf tournament.

The following image is a sample of a panel on the community of San Felipe de Austin.

The next image is a sample of a panel on William B. Travis, resident of San Felipe de Austin.

      

The Salvage

I don't know if it was a common term, but most everyone I knew called the large building near the corner of Main Street and Sugar Land Street (now Kempner Street) 'The Salvage.'  It was an old building that served various purposes over the years.

I checked a 1940 Sanborn map, and it says the building contained a storage warehouse, printing plant, and a meeting hall among other things.  It doesn't show the large upstairs room I knew as the KC Hall.  That must have come later.

I have two aerial photos that show that area of town.  One was taken in 1956; the other in 1970.  I'm a little puzzled by the latter picture.  It doesn't show the stairs to the KC Hall on the east side of the building.  Maybe they had taken it down by that time?

The 1956 photo is a black & white version of the color picture used on large postcards many people have in their scrapbooks.  A large version of the color photo (maybe 5' x 3') hangs in the Sugar Land Museum.  You can see it any Saturday morning if you drop by for a visit.
   

More From The Buehring Family Scrapbook

I've linked to a few more family photos Walt Buehring has posted on Flickr.  The Buehrings lived at 418 Oyster Creek Drive.  You see what the area looked like before Sugar Lakes was built.

I told a fellow recently that George Lane, the local crop duster, used the open field along the east side of Oyster Creek Drive as a refueling spot when he dusted Industries crops.  The fellow seemed skeptical, but I can verify it as an eyewitness. 

 

Here's a view of the Buehring children in their backyard on the east bank of Oyster Creek.

Here's another view of Oyster Creek behind their home.  The houses on the opposite bank face Venice Street.

  

Here is my classmate, Mitchell Hall (DHS '68) in the Buehring's driveway.  This was taken in the fall of '67 because he's wearing his drum major's uniform.  You get a view of the open field George Lane used as a landing strip.

I'm not sure who this young fellow is, but you get a good view north toward Highway-90A.  The city park and Shell station are in that vicinity now.

  

Dierks Family Photos Showing Highway-90A

I wish I knew exactly which branch of the Dierks family lived in the house located where the Frost Bank building now stands.  Regardless, here are a couple of pictures of their children in the front yard of their home.  

You get a view eastward along Highway-90A toward Houston.  You also see a little bit of the pasture/marsh that became Venetian Estates.

I'm reminded of a story an old timer told me.  He said Mrs. Dierks called Curtis Hall one day and told him there was a big alligator under her house, and she wanted him to get rid of it.  (Like most other homes in Sugar Land, her house was raised off the ground on brick columns rather than sitting on a concrete slab.)

Apparently, Curtis took his time getting to her house, which ticked off Mrs. Dierks a little bit.   He looked under her house, looked up at her and said, "There sure is an alligator under your house, and it's a big one."  That irked Mrs. Dierks a little more.

Then he said he'd have to go back and get his gun to shoot it.  Well, that sent Mrs. Dierks over the edge, and she chewed Curtis out.  (That's kind of impressive because few people chewed out Curtis Hall.)  

She said, "The next time I call you and tell you there's a big alligator under my house, you better believe me, and you better bring your gun!"

    

Houston Guide and Handbook, 1968 (continued)

Here is a map of the Houston Ship Channel from the Houston Guide and Handbook published in 1968.  I've taken the Boliver ferry recently, and I can confirm that the Ship Channel is a very busy shipping lane.
  

The Channel was dredged to 25 ft. when it opened in 1915.  In later years, it was dredged to a depth of 45 ft.  Click here to view a Wikipedia article on the Houston Ship Channel.

  

Sugar Land Elementary Class Pictures

Class of '32 as 3rd graders in 1923

Appearing in the picture are Ferg Pierce, James Feuhs, Robert Welborn, George McMahan, John Schiller, Charles Spangler, Robert Torres, Lima Johnson (teacher), Aubrey Johnson, LeRoy Starr, Ruth Blades, Lorene Skelly, Lilie Stephens, Hilda Draemer, Lazora Ramos, Lupe Gomez, Justine Thompson, Ida Belle Abernathy, Janie Loper, ? Gomez, Mary Loper, Genevieve Lisenby, & Lois Enquist.
 

Class of '33 as kindergarteners in 1921

Shown in the picture are Alex Horn, Ruth Blades, Kathleen Herder, Nellie Boyd, Hazel Reid, & T. C. Rozelle.

Class of '52 as 2nd graders in 1942

Class of '53 as 1st graders in 1942

Class of '58 as 1st graders in 1947

   

J. J. Watt and Breanna

Those of you who are fans of the Houston Texans may have seen this story on KPRC-TV or read it in The Houston Chronicle.  You probably didn't know that Breanna is the granddaughter of Janice Jenkins Girard and Bill Gremillon, both 1968 graduates of Dulles High School.
 

Link to story in Houston Chronicle.

 

View Of Oyster Creek Looking North From The Refinery

Here's a photo of Oyster Creek looking northward from the Imperial Refinery.  The Main Street bridge is just out of view on the right.  Mayfield Park is on the left.  I don't have a date for this photo, but it was probably taken in the early 1920s.

 

  

More On Last Week's Photo Of Main Street

Here is an aerial photo from the mid 1920s which gives a good view of the north end of Main Street.  As I mentioned last week, Main Street didn't flow into Burney Road as it does today.  Main actually veered off to the northeast in North Prairie Farm Road.

You can see there was quite a little community at the north end of Main.  You can also see what looks like a dirt road that eventually became Burney Road.  I've marked other items of interest on the photo.

 

  

Sugar Land Super Market, 1954

I found these images in an old archive.  They were dated as 1954 with no attribution, but guessing from the 'look,' they probably make up an article from The Texas Coaster.  The grocery store, as many people called it, was a town hub since there were no other local 'super markets.'  

I've posted other pictures of the store in earlier posts, but for those who have forgotten, the grocery store was located in the west end of the shopping center on Highway-90A.  It began operating in January 1952 when the shopping center opened.  The old Mercantile Store across Highway-90A included a grocery store although the meat market and produce store were in separate buildings.  The 'Before' photo was taken in that store in 1925.

 

Lakeview Cow Pasture

I found these images in scans from the Dierks family scrapbook.  (My thanks go to Margaret Phillips for sharing them.)  I don't know the date these pictures were taken (probably the 1940s), and I can't identify the young woman who appears in them, but I thought it was amusing that someone kept a cow in the vacant area on Lakeview Drive just east of the school campus.

It may have been a temporary arrangement, but it shows the resourcefulness of Sugar Land's residents.

(Update) I got this note from Leon Anhaiser: "We kept a cow at our home on 6th street for milk and cheese.  The cow was taken to pasture each day North of what is now Kempner stadium.  I am not aware of how many people did this."

  

A Prescription for Mr. Eldridge, August 2, 1909

Here's another image I found in some scans from the Dierks family photo collection.  (Thanks again, Margaret Phillips.)  It is a prescription form for W. T. Eldridge, Sr., who seems to have been suffering from a gastric complaint.

I don't know enough about medicine to decipher the compounds, but I can see that the last element is bicarbonate of soda.

I can't decipher the  abbreviation  beginning with a capital 'M', but what follows is "5 capsules - (another abbreviation I can't decipher) - begin date this evening & later one capsule every hour or two: until bowel acts well: if needed act off with salts." (Signed) W. D. Morris, M.D.

To refresh your memory, here's a picture of the Imperial Drug Store (including doctors' offices) around 1909.

  
Here's a photo of Mr. Eldridge in his office.