Gulf Coast Deco XII

Liberty County Courthouse, 1931 (Liberty)



Temple of Rest, Beth Israel Cemetery, 1935
(Houston's Fourth Ward*)



*Had a surreal experience as I tried to get a decent picture of the Temple of Rest. The Temple of Rest is a historic Houston landmark because it was designed by architect Joseph Finger, who is also buried there. The Beth Israel Cemetery is the first Jewish burial ground in Texas. It was established in 1844. So it is a very old part of Houston. The area's historic name is the Fourth Ward and it has a reputation, I think, for being a rough neighborhood at some point in its history. I happened to drive down an alley in the neighborhood pictured above, and drove past a gang a group of five or six young men who were sitting on the backdoor stoop of a house backed-up onto the alley. One of the young men either flashed the neighborhood sign or signaled to me he was "holding" as I drove slowly past him and his friends in that tight little alley. For a brief, terrifying moment I didn't know what to do. Do I wave? Do I acknowledge him at all? I figured it probably wouldn't be wise to flash him the sign back, seeing as I wasn't one of the gang members one of his pals. So I kept looking straight, straight ahead, with both hands planted firmly on the steering wheel.

Chambers County Courthouse, 1936 (Anahuac)



Goose Creek Federal Building and Post Office, 1937 (Baytown)



Eldorado Ballroom, 1939 (Houston)

The good old days.

1837 Branard St., 1939 (Houston)


First National Bank of Goose Creek, 1941 (Baytown)



Sixth Church of Christ, Scientist, 1941 (Houston)


According to Houston Deco, this place is endangered. There's also a picture of the cornerstone with the word "COLORED" engraved in it.

St. Joseph Catholic Church, Late Gothic Deco, 1958 (Baytown)



What has come before:

Gulf Coast Deco

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

Gulf Coast Deco XI

R.I.P. Dennis Hopper

From my my post about the 1956 epic, Giant

Vintage gas in Lufkin

These are a couple of old and older gas stations I've driven past numerous times in Lufkin. They are both fairly vintage, and it's nice to have things like this so close to home - a lot less driving!

I think this one must have been a Gulf:
I know for a fact this one is a Humble Oil, Art Deco, and built around 1930:

It is virtually identical to this one in Houston, which is Station No. 157:

"The Music Goes 'Round and Around"

The music was written by Edward Farley and Mike Riley, the lyrics by Red Hodgson, and was published in 1935. The song was recorded by Tommy Dorsey and became a hit in 1936. The song was the musical interlude for the Columbia movie The Music Goes Round in 1936.

Edythe Wright with Tommy Dorsey
The New York Times wrote: "If we really wanted to be nasty about it, we could say that this Farley-Riley sequence is the best thing in the new picture. At least it makes no pretense of being anything but a musical interlude dragged in by the scruff of its neck to illustrate the devastating effect upon the public of some anonymous young busybody's question about the workings of a three-valve sax horn. Like the 'March of Time,' it preserves in film the stark record of a social phenomenon—in this case, the conversion of a song hit into a plague, like Japanese beetles or chain letters." (Wikipedia)

Ooold Lufkin

The Texas Historic Sites Atlas is an amazing resource for identifying historic structures. I used it extensively to identify and find information about these in Lufkin. Many of these old homes could be easily overlooked if a person didn't know to look for them. As is currently the case, I am most interested in finding old Victorian homes, built from 1880s to 1900s. I seem to be fixating a bit on the Queen Anne "school" of Victorian architecture. These are in the order (chronological) I found them, and not all of them are Victorian:

The Lockett House, Victorian (1890s)


The Clark-Whitton House, Late Victorian (1900)From the Texas Historical Commission Atlas National Register information:

Good example of architectural style. Built for Dr. Clark, the Angelina County Lumber Company physician. Example of high style residence built for a high ranking official t the mill. Closely associated with sites No. L-526 and L-529, also Angelina County Lumber Company residences. Described by Lita Maberry as a "Type A" house distinguished by their size, spacious fenced yard, and location in the community. Each house was painted white, had eight to 10 rooms, and was equipped with all modern conveniences. Each Type A house was usually attached to a garage and could be found in groves of oak trees.

The Kurth-Glover House, Queen Anne Victorian (1900)

501 Mantooth Aveneue (1915-25)

502 Mantooth Avenue, looks like Classical Revival to me

404 Mantooth Avenue, Victorian (1900-10)

The Byus-Kirkland House, Craftsman (1900)


The Everitt-Cox House, Victorian with Classical remodel (1900)


The Walter C. Trout House (1900)From the Texas Historical Atlas National Registry listing information:

Good example of style (Bungalow/Craftsman). Mr. Walter C. Trout (1874-47) moved to Lufkin from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1905 as general manager of Lufkin Foundry and Machine Co. He helped to expand the company from the lumber industry to include oil industry. W.C. Trout and his father, W. H. Trout owned a number of patents on sawmill equipment. He joined Lufkin Foundry nd Machine Company after being a sawmill machinery salesman for Allis - Chalmers Company. In 1938 he was one of the organizers of the Texas Foundries, Inc., another major industry in Lufkin.

It still has its horse hitching post out front:


The Dr. Edward Percy House, Vernacular Victorian (1900)

113 West Kerr Avenue, Late Victorian (1910-20)

118 West Kerr Avenue, Late Victorian (1915-20)

The Boynton-Kent House,
Mediterranean Revival/Italian Renaissance (1920s)

410 East Groesbeck Avenue, Victorian Cottage (1900)

319 East Groesbeck Avenue, Victorian Cottage

418 East Groesbeck Avenue, Victorian Cottage

The Abercrombie-Cavanaugh House,
Queen Anne Victorian (1900)



It had a cool, matching carriage house:


And that wrap-around:


And kitties: