Back to the Past

In my previous post below, we took a look at a very futuristic, chrome circle street sign from Houston's Galleria area. So it is only fitting that we now take a trip back in time to another era in the Bayou City's developmental history.

In the 1960s, developer Frank Sharp was building his community of the future, Sharpstown. While the subdivision has been through a number of ups and downs over the years, it was at one time a very happening place. It was home to the long gone Sharpstown Drive-In Theatre, the still existing Sharpstown Center, one of America's early air-conditioned indoor shopping malls, and lots and lots of houses! Sharp had such sway that the routing of the Southwest Freeway was largely due to his lobbying to have the new limited-access highway act as an express route between Sharpstown and Downtown.

The street sign you see here is a concrete obelisk at the corner of Langdon Lane and Bintliff Drive. These street signs were all over Sharpstown at one time, but have one-by-one disappeared to the ravages of time until there are only a few left standing. Still, they are a part of my childhood memories. I don't know if these were common anywhere else, as Sharpstown is the only place I have ever seen them.

Now, let's all sing the Sharpstown Center advertising jingle from the 1960s! Remember it? Sure you do!

Summer, Winter, Spring and Fall,
Stroll in the air-conditioned mall.
With one stop to shop for all,
At Sharpstown Center!