November 23, 2008

Gulf Coast Deco


Inspired, as well as educated, by the fantastic Houston Deco website and armed with a Garmin, I have been able to locate the following examples of vintage, Art Deco architecture in Houston (and I hope to get more):

humble oil filling station no. 157
Humble Oil Filling Station No. 157, built in 1930

This is one of two Art Deco, Humble filling stations left in the city of Houston to date from the 1930s. The architect, John F. Staub, designed the prototype for all new Humble Oil stations in 1929. I'm always amazed this kind of thing is still around.
different view of humble oil filling station no. 157

Originally a place called Albritton's Eats, this is from 1945, and the streamlined detailing is still intact:
different view of albritton's eats

Even with a GPS, this next place was tricky to find. I'd given up on it after the GPS sent me in a bizarre circular pattern, which I repeated, just for good measure. But I caught it peripherally as I drove past it and nearly slammed on my brakes.
looking up at rettig's heap-o-cream
Rettig's Heap-o-Cream, built in 1947

front of rettig's heap-o-cream
Rettig's was a local ice cream manufacturer. The company operated Heap-o-Cream confectioneries throughout Houston, including one in a Moderne building on Yale Street. Aside from having had its front windows and doors boarded, the Wayside Drive location remains largely unaltered.

I came across this Texaco by accident, and took both of these from my car:
texaco in houston
front view of houston texaco

Built in 1935, this endangered structure was the Sterling Laundry and Cleaning Co. Most people would easily recognize this as being "Art Deco." What a thrill it's still there!
front view of sterling laundry & cleaning co.
sterling laundry & cleaning co.
side view of sterling laundry & cleaning co.


  • Gulf Coast Deco II
  • Gulf Coast Deco III
  • Gulf Coast Deco IV
  • Gulf Coast Deco V
  • Gulf Coast Deco VI
  • Gulf Coast Deco VII
  • Gulf Coast Deco VIII
  • Gulf Coast Deco IX
  • Gulf Coast Deco X

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  • 3 comments:

    Gunnar and Sherry said...

    Howdy. I think your blog is great! I take long roadtrips and love these kind of places. I've posted a few similar places on my Eccentric Roadside blog: http://eccentricroadside.blogspot.com/2008/04/sublimely-mundane.html
    and
    http://eccentricroadside.blogspot.com/2008/05/roadtrip-journal-blackfoot-idaho.html
    Check them out some time. Keep up the good blogging!
    Gunnar Johnson

    Chris said...

    Thanks, Gunnar. I appreciate it. I like your blog, too!

    abrahán said...

    sadly, the Sterling Laundry and Cleaning structure have gone down to make room for a new Metro Rail Station, from what I heard.

    But I also thought I had read that Metro was going to use the building for said Station. Maybe I read that they were going to use the LAND.