I got a call from an old timer this week about last week's photo of the old commercial district. He said the building I identified as the produce store was a bit misleading. He said it was actually the first meat market. Mose Norvick had his produce stand in the back.
I knew he was right because I'd always heard the building identified as both the produce store (fresh fruits & vegetables) & the meat market. I was unaware of the arrangements inside the building. (If anyone has pictures of the interiors of any of these old commercial establishments, I'd love to have scans of them.)
Here's another angle of the same area in the '20s. Notice the cars, so the photo is a few years later than last week's. I think the photographer's interest was the train approaching from the west. (It may be pulling out of the Sugar Land depot.)
Here's one more photo of the same vicinity. I posted it a few weeks back. It is shows 'down town' during the 1913 flood, so it's more contemporary with last week's photo. You can see the meat market/produce store from another angle. (It's on the far right of the scene.)
The old timer told me about home deliveries in old Sugar Land. I knew various vendors provided this service. The tamale man was long-remembered in my family.
The old timer moved to Sugar Land in 1939. He remembers Mose Norvick delivering vegetables. He remembers the Hispanic clerk at the meat market making home delivieries, too. He had a horse-drawn chariot. It had an icebox to keep the wrapped bundles of meat cool. The clerk stood on the open deck over the single axle as he drove the horse, which he never tied up when he knocked at a customer's door.
The old timer said the clerk tore around Sugar Land in his chariot. He'd often give kids rides, which was a real treat as the old timer remembers it. The old timer said people in cars would rarely give rides, but people on horse drawn vehicles, like cotton trailers, would often take on hitch hikers.
(Update) Notice the 3 comments Bruce has added to this post. Click the word 'Comments' just below this paragraph to view them.
Perhaps the following info will jog old-timers' memories of the people and organizations associated with the Meat Market and Fruit Stand.
ReplyDeleteRent Records indicate portions of the meat market building were rented out to several people and organizations. Tenants include the following:
CIO Congress of Industrial Organization; date not given, but it probably would have been prior to its merger with the AFL in 1955.
A listing of renters of "rooms over meat market" include--
Pete Borowski, 1944 - ?;
G. S. Gathright, 1947 - ?;
I. L. Lisenby, 1944;
J. E. Knight, 1940;
Leonard Norvick, 1940-1941;
Errol Hughes, date unknown,
Leslie (Rancher?), 1941;
Lee (or Leo?) Lubojasky, 1941.
One of the rooms is listed as the Red Cross room with the following tenants:
C. A. White, 1944-1945;
Mose Norvick, 1945-1947;
George Hachman, 1947-1948.
The "Meat Market Fruit Stand" was rented to Mose Norvick, 1923 - 1947 (note that rent records commenced in 1923, and Norvick probably had the fruit stand there prior to 1923) It was later rented to George Hachman , 1947.
About home deliveries:
ReplyDeleteMargaret Dierks Phillips told me that after her father died, the Sugarland Industries employed her mother, Elsie Dierks, so that the family could continue to live in Sugar Land. She operated the horse-drawn Imperial Dairy wagon during the WWII years.
The new movie "War Horse" reminds me that horses and mules played a very important part in the company town, especially in the days before cars and trucks. Early maps indicate several stables, barns, and blacksmith shops were scattered throughout the area. Even a small stable sat behind the Sugar Land school auditorium for commuting students.
Another story related to the Meat Market/Fruit Stand appeared in the following article:
ReplyDelete"A sweet life / Morales marks 60 years with Imperial Sugar, and with wife"
by BARBARA KARKABI Staff
SUN 04/07/2002 Houston Chronicle, Section Lifestyle, Page 8, 2 STAR Edition.
[Qoute] When Morales was in second grade, his father drowned. The oldest of seven siblings, Morales dropped out of school at the age of 8 to help support his family.
That was the end of his [George Morales's] formal education. Morales shined shoes and did odd jobs till he was hired at the local fruit stand.
"I'm not ashamed of any of the work I did," Morales said. "I worked hard to get where I am today."
His informal education continued under fruit-stand owner Mose Norvick, who helped Morales with his English, while Morales helped Norvick with his Spanish.
"He was like a second father to me," Morales said. [Unquote]