Bayou City History
Skip to main content
Turn off refresh
Subscribe
Subscribe
e-Edition
Sign In
Subscribe
Legals
Classifieds Marketplace
Local News
Houston
Suburbs
Education
Immigration
Environment
Health & Medicine
Texas Sports Nation
Texans
Astros
Rockets
Dynamo & Dash
College
High School
Business
Fuel Fix
Texas Inc.
Real Estate
Top Workplaces
Retail
Tech
Food
Restaurants & Bars
Restaurant Reviews
Barbecue
Recipes
Lifestyle
Religion
Home & Garden
Home Design
HC Magazine
ReNew Houston
Wellness
Nutrition
Fitness
Health
Preview
Movies & TV
Music
Arts & Exhibits
Classical
Dance
Theater
Politics
Houston
Texas
U.S. & World
Interactives
Texas Flood Map
Top 100 Restaurants
Power Outage Tracker
Opinion
Editorials
Letters to the Editor
Columnists
Essays
Newsletters
The 713
Morning Report
Afternoon Report
Breaking News
Investigations
Podcasts & Video
e-Edition
Obituaries
Shop the Chronicle
Archive
Careers
TV Listings
Puzzles
Privacy Notice
Terms of Use
Local
Bayou City History
Houston 30 years ago: See old Chronicle photos from March 1993
From Shaquille O'Neal's H-Town debut to spring break in Galveston, archive Chronicle photos show the city as it was 30 years ago.
By J.R. Gonzales
Sig Byrd: The belle of the ball at the Old Light Guard Armory
By Sigman Byrd
Leon Hale: The winds today are worrisome
By Leon Hale
Leon Hale: Who's afraid of a big bad dog?
By Leon Hale
Biggio, Selena highlight old photos from Houston in February 1993
By Jordan Ray-Hart, J.R. Gonzales
Bayou City History
Why is there a big blue house sitting in a Houston parking lot?
Built in 1905, the Queen Anne home is sitting in a parking lot until I-69 work gives city the chance to move it for fourth time.
By Dug Begley
Bayou City History
Leon Hale: With trend to 'quitting,' he's through with fishing
This column originally appeared in the Houston Post on Jan. 24, 1964.
By Leon Hale
Bayou City History
1950s sports cars show off in vintage 16mm film
A 16mm film from July 1958 shows a gymkhana at Houston's Palms Center.
By J.R. Gonzales
Bayou City History
Old photos show what Houston looked like in 1992
Ever wondered what Houston looked like 30 years ago? Take a trip into the past with these archive images from 1992 of the Astrodome and other city sights.
By J.R. Gonzales, Jordan Ray-Hart
Bayou City History
Leon Hale: The finest gift lives inside us
This Leon Hale column originally appeared in the Houston Chronicle on Dec. 22, 1988.
By Leon Hale
Bayou City History
Houston 30 years ago: Old photos from December 1992
From CompUSA to the Longhorn Saloon, here's where our Chronicle photographers went 30 years ago.
By J.R. Gonzales
Bayou City History
Sig Byrd: Going home for Christmas is no treat for parolee
This Sig Byrd column was originally published in the Houston Chronicle on Dec. 21, 1955. *** You could spend the Christmas season in worse places than inside The Walls, at Huntsville, I reckon. The prisoners' Christmas dinner menu offers roast...
By Sigman Byrd
Bayou City History
Leon Hale: Christmas by computer
This column was originally published in the Houston Post on Dec. 20, 1964.
By Leon Hale
Bayou City History
This day in Houston history, Dec. 16, 1951: 'Bottle-slinging youths' terrorize cafes
A gang of youths apparently caused a disturbance at two cafes in the downtown area. Both of the cafes were located on Gable and Bramble streets near "El Barrio del Alacran." The ringleader, who was in a wheelchair, was shot in a previous run-in...
By J.R. Gonzales
Bayou City History
This day in history, Dec. 15, 1968: Landmark commission meets, Hong Kong flu arrives in Houston
The Texas Rangers were in the hot seat the second weekend of December 1968 during a landmark civil rights program on Latinos in the U.S. Leaders with the state law enforcement agency disputed claims that the Texas Rangers discriminated against...
By J.R. Gonzales
Bayou City History
This day in Houston history, Dec. 14, 1960: Humble Building officially becomes Houston's tallest
A Chronicle photo taken from police headquarters at 61 Riesner showed that the Gulf Building was no longer Houston's tallest. That honor would go to the Humble Building, then under construction on the south end of downtown. In other news, Houston...
By J.R. Gonzales
Bayou City History
This day in Houston history, Dec. 13, 1929: A murder-suicide and a fight turns deadly
This day in 1929 saw another particularly grim news day in Houston. Burgess (spelled Birgus here) Couch and his wife, Verna (spelled Berna), were found dead in her mother's home on Wooding Street in Magnolia Park. The two had been separated for...
By J.R. Gonzales
Bayou City History
This day in Houston history, Dec. 9, 1921: Investigation ordered after Klan rally near Bellaire
Hours after thousands of men belonging to the Ku Klux Klan gathered in the prairie near Bellaire, Houston Mayor Oscar Holcombe said any city officer who took part in the event would be fired. The move followed a broader investigation by the city...
By J.R. Gonzales
Bayou City History
This day in Houston history, Dec. 8, 1922: Newborn recovering after being tossed in trash heap
This front page from 100 years ago brings us a sad story about a newborn who was found in a trash heap in the 2900 block of Leeland. On the afternoon of Dec. 8, residents heard the wails of a baby coming from the area and went out to investigate....
By J.R. Gonzales
Bayou City History
Today in Houston history, Dec. 7, 1961: UH student calls White House, reaches JFK
Michael Schipper, a psychology major at UH, got into an argument with his fellow classmates over just how much in touch our federal government was with the people. To prove that the president was out of touch he decided to call the White House....
By J.R. Gonzales
Bayou City History
Today in Houston history, Dec. 7, 1961: UH student calls White House, reaches JFK
Michael Schipper, a psychology major at UH, got into an argument with his fellow classmates over just how much in touch our federal government was with the people. To prove that the president was out of touch he decided to call the White House....
By J.R. Gonzales
Bayou City History
This day in Houston history, Dec. 6, 1946: Child recovering after being hit by car in East End
Lavelle Jeane, 8, wanted to get his mother a musical box for her jewelry and some extra money for an operation. So, along with his half-brother, the two fashioned a shoe shine box and set out with their grandfather to raise money. As they crossed...
By J.R. Gonzales
Bayou City History
Jeff Millar: A house out in the country would be ... far out
This column was originally published on Dec. 2, 1981.
By Jeff Millar
Bayou City History
June Benefield: Not many operas make it to Brady
This column was originally published on Dec. 1, 1969. *** In an area as large as the one covered by this newspaper, I suspect that there are thousands of people, maybe even a million, who like myself have never attended an opera. It's nothing to...
By June Benefield
Bayou City History
Leon Hale: 3 slats, 2 coffee tables and a chair go up in smoke
This Leon Hale column originally appeared in the Houston Post on Nov. 30, 1964.
By Leon Hale
Bayou City History
Sig Byrd: Whatever happened to flying saucers?
This column was originally published on Nov. 29, 1961. Occassionally Byrd would do a "letters from readers" column. *** "Dear Byrd's-Eye View: Some time back you indicated an intention to write on the subject of flying saucers. Did I miss that one...
By Sigman Byrd
Bayou City History
This day in Houston history, Nov. 23, 1940: Two families, two tragedies play out at local hospital
At Houston's Jefferson Davis Hospital on Allen Parkway, two dramas were playing out involving two families. First there was the Castro family. It's patriarch, Frank Castro, suffered severe burns while rescuing his wife and five kids in a house...
By J.R. Gonzales
Bayou City History
This day in Houston history, Nov. 22, 1973: Distinctive Gulf sign to come down
It was the end of an era on this day in 1973 as Gulf Oil went ahead with dismantling the "lollipop" atop its building downtown. Since 1965, the 53-foot-high, rotating Gulf logo had served as a distinctive downtown beacon and advertisement. Blame...
By J.R. Gonzales
Bayou City History
This day in Houston history, Nov. 18, 1955: Houston Post goes all in for Oscar Holcombe
If there was any question as to who the Houston Post was supporting in the 1955 election for Houston mayor, this front page from 1955 pretty much clears it up. "Mayor [Roy] Hofheinz' record is one of chaotic bickering which has damaged the city's...
By J.R. Gonzales
Bayou City History
This day in Houston history, Nov. 17, 1949: City blamed for not protecting Heights pupils
Heights parents were upset over the city's refusal to do something to protect pedestrians crossing Yale at 27th, the Chronicle reported on this day in 1949. The day before, a 10-year-old student from Alamo School was struck by a car while crossing...
By J.R. Gonzales
Bayou City History
This day in Houston history, Nov. 16, 1939: Shoppers jam newly opened Main Street Sears store
Traffic was backed up for blocks surrounding the just-opened Sears store on Main on this day in 1939. "The escalators inside the new store drew lots of attention from the opening-day crowd, and Toyland on the second floor was another center of...
By J.R. Gonzales
Bayou City History
This day in Houston history, Nov. 15, 1923: An alligator on the loose in First Ward
There was some excitement in First Ward on this day 99 years ago. Seems some pupils there one morning freaked out over the sight of an 11-foot alligator in a ditch "at Spring Street and Ovid Avenue." Curiously, Spring and Ovid don't intersect so...
By J.R. Gonzales
Bayou City History
See Main Street in vivid color as Chronicle photos get colorized
A free web tool by a Swedish machine-learning researcher that went live recently has taken the mystery out of old photos by using AI to colorize them.
By J.R. Gonzales
Bayou City History
This day in Houston history, Nov. 11, 1950: Helicopter air mail service sought for parts of...
In this Chronicle edition from Nov. 11, 1950, the postmaster here floated an idea to roll out a helicopter airmail service from the downtown post office. Granville W. Elder proposed that copters would make a number of daily flights to Baytown,...
By J.R. Gonzales
Bayou City History
This day in history, Nov. 10, 1938: News of Kristallnacht in Germany reaches Chronicle readers
Readers on this day in 1938 learned of an antisemitic pogrom carried out by the Nazis against Jews in Germany. Known as Kristallnacht, or the Night of the Broken Glass, a two-day wave of violence was unleashed on Jewish populations in Germany,...
By J.R. Gonzales
Bayou City History
This day in Houston history, Nov. 8, 1961: Next-day coverage of deadly collision in Ship Channel
This front page shows next-day coverage of a deadly collision and fire in the Houston Ship Channel between two ships. Late Tuesday, Nov. 7, 1961, the freighter Union Reliance collided with the tanker Berean, setting off a blast. Though this...
By J.R. Gonzales
Bayou City History
This day in Houston history, Nov. 4, 1970: Results show Texans want to lift ban on open bars
One day after Election Day 1970, it became clear that Texans were ready to do away with brown-bagging their liquor. By a narrow margin, voters approved an amendment that would lift, on a local option basis, the state's ban on open bars. In...
By J.R. Gonzales
Bayou City History
This day in Houston history, Nov. 3, 1939: Investigation continues after riot at Austin-Milby game
School leaders and authorities were still trying to sort out what happened the previous night when a riot broke out at Buff Stadium, where Austin and Milby faced off on the gridiron. Twelve students were arrested for taking part in the melee. Much...
By J.R. Gonzales
Bayou City History
This day in Houston history, Nov. 2, 1960: Plans move forward to link Eastex, Gulf freeways
Plans for an elevated freeway connecting the Eastex and Gulf freeways moved forward this day in 1960. Urban expressway engineer A.C. Kyser told a city committee and railroad officials that contracts on the project would be awarded sometime in the...
By J.R. Gonzales
Bayou City History
This day in Houston history, Nov. 1, 1938: City recovers from a quieter Halloween
It was the day after Halloween, and, all-in-all, things were somewhat quiet across the city. Thousands jammed downtown streets that night for general fun and merriment, which was typical for Houston back then. Pranksters kept police busy, also...
By J.R. Gonzales