25 more neon signs

1.
Pasadena, Texas

Due to the the overwhelming response to the previous....

25 neon signs

1.
Tyler

There is something about a vintage neon sign that just thrills the heck out of me. I've driven a lot of Tejas (and elsewhere) to find them, and I hope to find more. But the very nature of them (vintage) makes them increasingly difficult and rare to find. Add to that factors such as the climate, like it is down along the Gulf of Mexico (where I grew up, down in Galveston). The salty air causes stuff to rapidly rust away, and the occasional hurricanes do their fair share of destroying signs from the past. So, due to my difficulty in locating them, the joy when finding or stumbling upon one is great. These are some of my favorites (out of a set of 336, taken from December 2005 to April 2011).

Island Relics, part 2: residential structures

There's a two-story Victorian there - can you see it?
Overwhelmed. That's the best word to describe how someone (such as myself) infatuated with turn-of-the-century Victorian architecture feels when down on Galveston. It's easy to become overwhelmed to the point of brain shutdown due to overstimulation. It is remarkable how many of the homes in the Silk Stocking District, and elsewhere, survived the 1900 Storm. After growing up on the Island, and seeing pictures such as these, I'm stunned and pleased to find so many of the old structures still around, and in many cases, renovated and restored. But as is more often the reality, these treasures end up like the Darragh House (its ghost is pictured above). So, let's celebrate those that which have, thus far, survived.

Island Relics, part 1: non-residential structures

So, the man said you can't go home again....What harm is there in trying?

EBiN vs. Godzilla!

Galveston Island, 1967

Toot, toot (continued...sickening, isn't it?)

Texas Architect magazine used my picture of the First Presbyterian Church in Galveston, Texas, in its current issue. This is extra special for me, because I was born and raised on the Island, and the "First Prez" was the church of my youth, where I was baptized, went through Communicants Class, and regularly (religiously) attended until I went away to college. The photo was taken nearly a year after Hurricane Ike devastated the church, which is just now beginning to come back to life. The church was constructed between 1873 and 1883 (this means it survived the 1900 Storm) and was designed by Nicholas J. Clayton in the Norman Romanesque style.




What with this, and now this, maybe I should start charging? Kidding. And something could possibly come from an email I received just today from a reporter at the local paper, concerning an article they are writing about renovations taking place at Diedrich Rulfs's office/workshop, here in Nacogdoches. This might lead to a review of my book about Diedrich Rulfs appearing in the paper:

We are working on a piece about his office restoration. Would like a comment from you about it and need to know if you ever got any press for your Rulfs book in the Daily Sentinel. Will Godwin.

Galveston in a fog

The John Gross House, built in the Greek Revival style in 1866, expanded in 1889 in the Queen Anne/Victorian style, with among other things, a turreted ballroom by Nicholas Clayton. This was the summer home of Texas Governor Richard Coke through 1876. It survived the 1900 Storm relatively unscathed.

Located in a "rough" neighborhood where housing projects were leveled due to Hurricane Ike damage, this is the Henry Beissner House. Built in 1890-91 in a mixed Victorian (Stick, Eastlake, and Queen Anne) style, it was once known locally as "Noah's Ark" due to its use as a sanctuary during the 1900 Storm.


Trube Castle, c. 1890, Victorian, Eclectic style


These are across the street from Trube Castle, probably Art Deco.



The J.C. League House, c. 1892-93, architect, Nicholas Clayton


1709, 11 & 15 Avenue H, c. 1894, Victorian



The Beissner House, c. 1887, Eastlake Victorian style


The Joel B. Wolfe House, c. 1894, Queen Anne Victorian


House at 1701 Avenue H, c. 1880s, Victorian


"The Cottage," built 1882, late Greek Revival, high Victorian, survived many storms, including the 1900 Storm.


The M.W. Shaw House, c. 1900


The Julius Ruhl House, c. 1874, Italianate Victorian



The George Fox House, c. 1903, Queen Anne Victorian


Charming little house at 1301 Avenue J (Broadway), c. 1885, mixed (Queen Anne, Eastlake, Italianate) Victorian style


This is the former Coca-Cola factory, designed by architect Ben Milam in the late '30s or early '40s. It was a couple of different Mexican food restaurants during the time period when I was growing up in Galveston ('70s and '80s).

Take me where my future's lyin'

Yes kids, life really was a little bit like St. Elmo's Fire, back in the day...
The future was so bright, we should have been wearing shades:
Christmas 1984
I've been unfairly compared in this picture with Jack Torrance at the end of The Shining, right?

Wait a minute. I blew it up (so it's blurry) and just noticed this....

Ben Milam

The granddaughter of Ben Milam recently emailed me some scans of newspaper clippings and black and white photographs associated with her grandfather's architectural career. She granted me permission to post them. Milam was an architect of some acclaim who resided on Galveston Island. His period was the 1930s through early '50s, his most prevalent style appearing to have been Art Deco or Streamline Moderne.



Stephen F. Austin Junior High School, c.1939


A 1939 Houston Post article about the school


The Original Hill's Restaurant, c. 1940
I ate there a few times as a kid during the '70s. It is no longer there, I believe. Demolished by man, it once sat on Seawall Blvd.

I'd never realized this building was originally the Coca-Cola factory in Galveston. By my time, '70s/'80s, it was a series of restaurants, usually Mexican food.


"Four Apartment Building" plans


The S.S. Galveston/U.S.S. Galveston/Mayflower Hotel

Drove or rode by this place many times. Such a shame it was demolished (2006)! It had become sort of seedy by my time ('70s, '80s). It was also up on the Seawall.


Galveston Cotton Exchange, c. 1940
And a couple pictures of mine, of the 1950 circa, Pennington Buick Co.:

The Face...

Here is an article a friend and I did for our high school newspaper back in October 1984. It was about a "legendary" marking on an UTMB (University of Texas Medical Branch) building in Galveston, called "the Face." There are various stories and explanations as to its origin and who is supposedly depicted - disgruntled former UTMB patient, the owner of the property on which the building is now located, for example - but it just as easily could have been our theory...

Click on it to make it bigger (that's what she said)

Gulf Coast Deco VIII

With all due respect to the awesome Houston Deco site, which has been my "bible" during these numerous Deco hunts, I'm now calling these posts "Gulf Coast" rather than "Houston" Deco. As a Galveston BOI (Born on Island), I just can't give credit to Houston when most of the structures within this post are in my hometown, Galveston(!). So suck it, H-Town.

Medical Arts Building, 1929




Santa Fe Building/Union Station, 1932




Alamo Elementary School, 1935


Good one of that van, huh?

Galveston Post Office, Custom House and Courthouse, 1937


Martini Theater, 1937

I saw On Any Sunday and Foul Play (among other movies) at this theater.


terrazo sidewalk detail




Windsor Court Apartments, 1937



Stephen F. Austin Junior High School, 1939



Webster High School (Webster, Texas), 1939




Galveston Cotton Exchange and Board of Trade, 1940


Sears, Roebuck & Co., 1940


Town House Arms Apartments, 1948


Pennington Buick Co., 1950




Previously:

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 IX

Gulf Coast Deco X