This is a blog for old timers, plus their friends and families, who are linked by memories of Sugar Land and its schools or have an avid interest in the history of Sugar Land.
I've posted various photos of the old shopping center before, but I thought I'd collect them plus a few more items into an album. I thought this would give a better idea of what it looked like in the 'olden days.'
We start with an invitation to the opening on January 24th, 1952. Notice there was a jewelry store. I assume it was in the back near the elevator & stair well - in the office eventually housing the insurance agency. I don't remember it at all.
The first link takes you to an album of photos, most from the 1950s, but a few from the 1960s.
Link to album of photos This last link takes you to a short video of the shopping center during the 1950s. My thanks to Tommy Laird for posting it.
I received a request to post the complete newspaper article on the Quarterback Club banquet in December, 1952 just after the victory over Hempstead. (Just a portion appeared in the previous post.) The article appeared in The Texas Coaster. Note that poor Hal Husbands, Sr. had to defend Rice's honor by himself against a legion of Aggies.
ALSO notice, the reference to the PeeWee team that won the Bellaire Bowl. My thanks to Leon Anhaiser (& stellar PeeWee!) for sending me the photo, article & scores. They look like a ferocious pack of peewees to me.
I may have mentioned this before, but I recently received a box of 16-mm film from Fred Melton, Jr. He's a graduate of Dulles High School (Class of '66) as well as a former coach there. He collected this film when the athletic department decided to 'clean out its closet' & dispose of unwanted items. Among the reels was a real treasure in my opinion. It was an 18-minute film of the Regional Championship Game Sugar Land played against Hempstead in December, 1952. Carlos Tarver (SLHS '53) & I have had it digitized to DVD format.
I've provided the following post-game article printed in The Texas Coaster, which gives you necessary details. As you can tell, Kenneth Hall had a whale of a game. (My thanks to the Chuzzy Jenkins family for giving me this clipping. Of course, my thanks go to Fred for letting me digitize the film.)
I've made a 4-minute sample of the film which you can see by clicking the link below. If you're interested in a copy of this rarity, send me an email message or post a comment to this blog entry. I'll make you a DVD with additional documents & photos if you'll contribute $10 to defray shipping & handling. I want to remind you that Ron Miller (SLHS '51) has written, Halling The Ball, his memoir of playing football for the Gators in the early 1950s. Click here for a table of contents. Send me an email message or post a comment if you're interested in a copy.
I want to thank the Rozelle family for this unique photo. It shows the interior of the original Imperial Sugar & Sugarland Industries office on March 20th, 1921.
Some one (I don't think it was T. C.) annotated the people appearing in the photo. Some I recognize; some I don't. It's a high-quality photo, so the detail is very good. You can see things on their desks: old telephones, ledger books, pens, paste bottles - even the calendar.
General Manager, W. T. Eldridge, Sr., is the only person with an enclosed office. He's labeled #15. You may not be able to make him out in the uploaded photo, but he's leaning over his desk & facing the window in his office.
E. E. Edwards is #1. He was the marketing man for the operation. He was instrumental in developing the Sealy Mattress franchise for Sugarland Industries. (That's another interesting story that deserves further elaboration.)
I hope an old-timer can set me straight on a couple of things. First, I assume the camera is situated in the southeast corner of the building and shows a northwest view. Eldridge's office faces the drug store, I think. The bank & post office are behind the left shoulder of the cameraman. The heart of the refinery is off to the right, toward the end of the building that's not in view of the camera.
Second, what is that against the far wall of the building? I'm referring to the area extending to the right of Eldridge's office. It's not file cabinets or other offices. Maybe it's a store or file room? I can't tell what it is.
I have several images of the entrance to Imperial's refinery. I chose 5 pictures to show the changes over the years. I'm reasonably certain Bob Laperouse took 3 of the 5. I'm not sure of the source for the 1933 or 1947 snap shots.
He wasn't exactly certain of the date, but T. C. Rozelle says in an issue of The Crown that Imperial built its main office by the refinery entrance around 1900. In '52 the office moved across Highway 90-A to the 'new' shopping center, where company headquarters are still located.
I've put captions on the photos to help identify the scenes.
Rick Kirkpatrick (DHS '67) & Linda Hagler Mosk (DHS '68) saved their driver's tests & temporary licenses. I think I have my temporary license, but I'm sure I didn't save my test sheet. I remember I had 10 points deducted, which I interpreted as a 90% grade. I recall Dale Meyers took the exame when I did. He got a 100% grade.
You'll probably remember we also took a written exam, so the sheets you see below covered just the driving test in which a DPS officer rode with you through Richmond (the area around the court house) & monitored your proficiency. I think there were occassions when a student driver violated a traffic law (like ran a stop sign) & flunked the test immediately in which case the officer would halt the test & command the miscreant to skulk back to the courthouse in shame.
You can see that Linda & Rick did pretty well although they had a rough time with parallel parking. (Linda seemed to have a lead foot at times.) I've included a scan of the standard text on the reverse of the test sheet.
Rolund, Runge & Walker are the offers' names on these forms. I don't recognize any of them. Officer Mladinka is the only DPS man in Sugar Land that I can recall.
I had never heard that Frank Fisher, Principal of Dulles High School in 1964, met Allen Dulles, brother of the late John Foster Dulles for whom the school was named in 1959, until I found this article in Rick Kirpatrick's archives. (My thanks to him.) Somebody gave Allen a pretty good briefing because he was aware of the football team's success the previous fall.
Who knew there was another Dulles High School in California? And, a lamb named 'Stormy?' Red Binford & Andy Prikryl have some 'splainin' to do."
