February 22, 2007

Rosenberg - night and day

"Rosenberg is within the limits of the Mexican land grant to Stephen F. Austin, and was an unnamed shipping point on the Brazos River in the 1830s.

By 1865, Crazy Town (Houston) was the leading railroad center in Texas, and most of Galveston's (a city approximately 60 miles from Rosenberg) business went through that city. However, train traffic in and out of Galveston was sometimes blocked to quarantine goods suspected of spreading yellow fever.

Henry von Rosenberg migrated from Switzerland to the United States in 1843. His early ancestors were from Bohemia. He was born June 22, 1824 and died May 12, 1893. He was a very wealthy man dealing in railroading, banking and wharfs. Mr. Rosenberg was the first president of the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad. He settled in Galveston, Texas. He was a very generous man and, since he had no children, he left his wealth to many charitable organizations. Additional information on Henry Von Rosenberg can be obtained from the Rosenberg Library, Galveston, Texas, 77550, as the library was named after Mr. Rosenberg." (History from this site)


Herfort Diamond Ring Factory - when my family would drive from Galveston, Texas (my hometown), to see my grandparents in Eagle Lake, Texas, Rosenberg/Richmond was on the route. I knew we were close whenever I saw that neon. I was so happy to see it was still there, even if the grandparents aren't.




Cole Theatre - the old "colored" theater



The next morning (after leaving Wharton)...
Rosenberg Railroad Museum mural

A companion to this shot from Henderson:










Another Time, indeed


Reese Building - constructed as a bank (the J.H.P. Davis Bank & Office Building) in 1907 and then completely restructured in the modern Art Deco look in 1947




This guy was walking a cat...on a leash...

Bee Unique Awards & Embroidery

Would you buy insurance from someone named Guy McNutt?

6 comments:

Lisa said...

Wait, Houston is "Crazy Town?" That kind of makes sense, but where did that come from?

Becca said...

Wow that's one big cat!

Some more great pictures, you really have an eye for this, you should look into doing a book.

Chris said...

Yes, lisa, Houston is Crazy Town. I just call it that. That comes from having to drive through it from time to time. Driving on Houston freeways (especially at rush hour) is Hell on Earth. Crazy Town.

Thanks, becca. That's very nice of you to say! You've got me started thinking about that......

Anonymous said...

I saw "Grease" in 1978 at the Cole Theater! I'm also glad you got to get a picture of the 2-Ms Burger Joint neon!

What I think is so cool about your photography is that you capture the essence of these places that you know the people who live there don't appreciate.

And you should really think about doing a book!!!

Chris said...

That's cool, leslie! And what a great, perfect movie to see there.

Thanks, leslie. I do my best. There are bound to be people in those towns who know what they have. I appreciate many things about Nacogdoches. But I'm sure you're right - most people are probably so wrapped in life's minutiae that they don't notice what's around them.

Wow, this book idea!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for including the sign for Guy L. McNutt Insurance. Guy Landes McNutt was my grandfather, and I have always been proud of all the things he accomplished! <3 Deborah "DeDe" Sullivan