san antonio, texas history contest

[Taz1]

this is how this contest goes ...

i will describe a location in the city of san antonio, texas, and somebody will name the business, school, office(s) etc. that occupied that location like back in the sixties, seventies, and possibly as near back as the eighties !

everybody game ?

let's see how many posters are interested enough, and i'll start when there are at least 10 contestants !

[scott]

I hereby conceed my defeat to Buddy Holly.

[WriterNum934]

I'm game.

What's the prize?

[SAmikeyp]

i'll play.

[Taz1]

What's the prize?

a "double date" with spurswoman & shelly ?

a bazillion dollars, courtesy of that idiotic new "reality" show, the benefactor, and it's sponsor, one mark cuban !

season ducats to next season for the san antonio silver stars, courtesy of herbivorefemale & retama park !

more sponsors to come !

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

a "double date" with spurswoman & shelly ?

I am INNNNNNN!

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

we obviously aren't gonna get 10 so I will start.

What used to be where the new "enchilada" colored downtown library now stands?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

Cornerstone Christian School is on Vance Jackson about a mile north of 410. What religious school was this before it was Cornerstone?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

What was the VIA corporate office on San Pedro before it was a VIA office?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

What was the HEB Corporate headquarters downtown before it bacame their corporate headquarters?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

ok...a slow pitch...

What was the Adams Mark Hotel building before it was remodeled?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

an even easier one...

what used to be where the Alamodome is?

[Johnny Blaze 47]

Cosmic, wasn't that VIA area a former baseball park? Either called San Antonio Field or something like that.

[Useruser666]

The Alamo Dome used to be the old Alamo Iron Works site. I still have my collectors edition "Cup O' Dome Dirt". somewhere around here.

Useruser666 :eyebrow

[Useruser666]

What used to be located where the Ripley's Believe It or Not is now?

Useruser666 :eyebrow

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

you are correct that the VIA bus yard near five points was an old baseball field but I was talking about the VIA corporate office down the street from SAC...just remodeled a couple of years ago...

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

correct on AIW devilboy...

[Johnny Blaze 47]

Well, that and the Alamodome question are all I can think of answering.

:p

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

wasn't it an Alamo museum/theater? closed when IMAX opened...

speaking of IMAX...another slowpitch...what was where Rivercenter Mall is now?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

this isn't really a what was there before question but rather more of a SA trivia question. The SA river that flows through downtown catches other water in big rains but the year round water flow through the riverwalk is provided by a spring.

Where is this spring located?

[SAmikeyp]

Ursuline Academy was where the Cornerstone school is now.


Isn't the spring in San Pedro Park?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

correct on Ursuline Academy (a catholic girls school) it faced Vance Jackson and was across the railroad tracks/creek from Antonian (a catholic boys school facing West Avenue) that is still there. There used to be a dirt trail between the two that was stomped so deep into the ground it looked like it was made by a migrating herd of buffalo.

wrong on the spring.

[SAmikeyp]

Well I do know there is..or maybe was, a spring in San Pedro Park. I guess it goes elsewhere.

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

it goes down and crosses right through at 5 points...(intersection of Culebra, Flores, Poplar etc)...then goes over to the drainage ditch along I-10...then goes underground into the tunnel @ the intersection of Santa Rosa and Quincy...

[Useruser666]

There is a spring in San Pedro Park, well, depending on aquifer levels. Many dry springs have begun flowing around town as of late due to the amount of rain we have been having.

Useruser666 :eyebrow

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

yes ther is a spring at San Pedro park but it doesn't feed the SA Riverwalk.

*hint*

before it gets to downtown it flows through Brackenridge park.

it becomes "controlled" for the riverwalk there at 281 and Josephine...

but...

where does it come from?

[Useruser666]

Aquarena Springs!!! :lol

Useruser666 :eyebrow

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

:lol

*buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz*

wrong...:lol

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

speaking of aquarena springs...

why was the original dam that formed the "lake" at aquarena springs built?

[Useruser666]

Um I think some of the lake formed naturally but wasn't it a Spanish mission?

Useruser666 :eyebrow

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

The Spanish settled there in the 1700's but The Indians settled it 12,000 years ago. That little valley where aquarena springs is has been claimed by archeologists to be the oldest documented continually occupied area in North America.

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

btw the lake was not natural...it was first dammed in 1849 and redone in the late 1800's...that building next to it was an electrical generating station and ice plant built then.

[Useruser666]

Well, what I meant about the lake being natural, is anything bigger than a puddle in San Antonio is a lake. So were those dam indians who settled that area back then?

"Welcome everyone to the dam tour. I'm your dam guide. Please feel free to take all the dam pictures you want."

Useruser666 :eyebrow

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

more than you probably wanted to know about aquarena springs

About 150 million years ago, this area of Texas was a submerged coral reef system. As the sea receded, geologic movement created the Balcones Escarpment, a fault line that separates the Texas "hill country" from the lowlands. The shift in the ground created the Edwards Aquifer, an underground reservoir that is 175 miles (280 km) long.

From 1979 to 1982, Dr. Joel Shinner, an archaeologist from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, conducted an underwater excavation of a small area near one of the springs at Aquarena Center. This dig produced more than 50,000 artifacts. The oldest of these reportedly dates back 12,000 years to the Clovis Indians. With an endless supply of fresh water and game, the artifacts uncovered suggest Native Americans have continually inhabited this haven.

The first group of Europeans to discover the more than 200 springs around the Aquarena area was a Spanish expedition in 1709. Franciscan monks later named the river produced by the springs after the holiday on which it was discovered ? St. Mark's Day, or San Marcos. The San Xavier Mission was established at the Aquarena Center's present location and the springs became an important stop for travelers on the Spanish Camino Real from Nacogdoches to Mexico City.

General Edward Burleson, a former vice president of the Republic of Texas, bought the land around Aquarena Springs in the early 1840s. In 1849, he constructed what is now the second-oldest dam in Texas downriver of the springs. This created the present 16-acre (4-hectare) Spring Lake that covers the springs.

Before the dam forced the water level to rise to its present depth (the deepest part of the lake is about 28 feet [8.5 m]), the force of the water coming from the springs created a natural fountain. In 1846, William McClintock wrote about the largest of the springs, "?the channel here is 40 yards wide, the water 15 to 20 feet deep, yet so strong is the ebullition of the spring that the water is thrown two or three feet above the surface of the stream."

Several mills and an ice factory were built to harness the power of the springs in the late 1800s. The area was also an important stop for the Chisholm cattle trail from 1867 to 1895.

In 1928, Arthur Rodgers built the Spring Lake Hotel next to the upper series of springs and established the area as a resort. The Great Depression forced the closure of the hotel and it temporarily became a hospital. Rodgers' son, Paul, renewed the resort after World War II and laid the foundations for the beginning of an amusement park by offering glass-bottom boat tours of the springs in 1946.

A submarine theater was constructed in 1951 to allow patrons to view underwater mermaid shows like the ones made famous in Florida. "Ralph the Diving Pig" became a major attraction at the park with his "swine dives" and other aquatic tricks in 1969 until he retired nearly 20 years later. A Swiss sky rail ride was added to the park to help attract about 250,000 visitors a year during its best seasons.

After attendance began to decline, the land was sold to the university, which initially maintained it as an entertainment park but gradually converted the area into an educational center.

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

Ok...we beat that one to death.

the southeast corner of Bitters and West avenue...solid shopping centers, movie theaters, and reataurants...

what used to be there?

[Mark Bryant]

What famous 1983 movie was filmed partly in San Antonio?

[Useruser666]

What movie was The Century Building seen in?

Useruser666 :eyebrow

[timvp]

What famous 1983 movie was filmed partly in San Antonio?

Johnny Be Good? Supposedly some of that was filmed at my elementary school.

:wtf

[SAmikeyp]

1983...was that Cloak and Dagger?

[Useruser666]

Yep SAmikeyp you did the same Google search I did. And I thought it was Godzilla at first.

Useruser666 :eyebrow

[travis2]

isn't the spring on the grounds of UIW?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

*ding*ding*ding*

we have a winner on the SA River question...

[SAmikeyp]

the hell I did User. I know my stuff!! :cooldevil :spin

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

good mikey...then get busy answering my questions!..:p

[SpursWoman]

Johnny Be Good? Supposedly some of that was filmed at my elementary school.

Alamo Heights High School

[Taz1]

...the southeast corner of Bitters and West avenue ...
the san pedro drive-inn !

[Taz1]

o.k., here's one that i bet nobody gets ...
at the intersection of blanco rd & fresno, on the ne corner, there's a convenience store / mini-strip center with a laundr-o-mat & a panaderia ...
what was there in the late seventies, into the mid eighties ?

[SpursWoman]

7-11?

[travis2]

BTW...clarification on the answer for Ursuline/Cornerstone...

Antonian may have once been a boys school...but it's been co-ed for a while now...

[Taz1]

no to the answer from spurswoman, not 7-11

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

Antonian may have once been a boys school...but it's been co-ed for a while now...

duuuh...it went co-ed when they closed Ursuline...

[SAmikeyp]

I got one for you CC...should be pretty easy.

True or False...

Hemisfair '68 was a world's fair.

(I know this will be really easy for you but I am trying to prove a point to some people)

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

yeah...Hemisfair '68 was a worlds fair. They actually had quite a few exhibits built and staffed by other countries. my favorite was the flying aztecs in the Mexico section. I spent all my time standing in line to be on the front row close to the topless maiden "sacrifice"...then the guys would climb this tall pole that had ribbony looking ropes wrapped around it...then they would do this ceremonial dance at the top of the pole and then tie the ropes to their ankles and bail off the pole one at a time and circle the pole like human tetherballs till the ropes unwound and they got to the ground.

http://www.delange.org/ElTajinVideo/DSC00043.jpg

thats what people told me happened anyway.

I was still staring at the maidens tits...:lol

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

at the intersection of blanco rd & fresno, on the ne corner, there's a convenience store / mini-strip center with a laundr-o-mat & a panaderia ...

wasn't it a small lumberyard?

[Useruser666]

Hemisphere - doesn't that name tell you anythng?

Useruser666 :eyebrow

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

OK devil boy...technically it was originally billed as a fair of the americas...but was better represented by other countries around the world...

With the "Confluence of Civilizations in the Americas" as its overall theme, HemisFair capitalized on San Antonio's ethnically mixed cultural heritage and placed particular emphasis on the city as the future center of international commerce and cultural exchange between the United States and Latin America. More than thirty nations participated, many with exhibit pavilions in the international area, named "Las Plazas del Mundo." Canada, Mexico, Italy, Spain, France, and Japan hosted large pavilions; other exhibiting nations included Belgium, Bolivia, the Republic of China, Colombia, West Germany-Berlin, Korea, Panama, Portugal, Switzerland, Thailand, and Venezuela. With less than a month before opening day, and concerned about the small number of Central and South American pavilions, officials arranged for various sponsorships through the Kampmann Foundation in San Antonio, the Good Neighbor Commissionqv in Austin, and the Pan American Forum of Texas to support a Bolivian pavilion; a five-nation Central American pavilion, representing Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Costa Rica; and special pavilions of the Organization of American States, representing eleven more Latin-American countries, including Brazil, Argentina, and Peru. The United States Pavilion, on a 4.59-acre site adjacent to the international area, echoed the fair's theme with "Confluence USA"-a two-building complex featuring an exhibit structure and a massive circular theater. With additional construction, this was subsequently converted to serve as the Federal Courthouse. The largest pavilion, that of the state of Texas, was called the Institute of Texan Cultures, and mounted displays of many of the ethnic and national groups that formed modern Texas.

complete link:

www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/HH/lkh1.html (http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/HH/lkh1.html)

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

more pics

http://smaartes.com/mexico/san-miguel-voladores/00a.JPG

http://www.rsfotografia.com/FotodelMes/Fotos/Papantla.jpg

sorry...no pics of the topless virgin.

[Taz1]

wasn't it a small lumberyard?

you are incorrect, sir !

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

At one time there were two major grocery store chains in San Antonio.

H.E.B. and ?????

name the other grocery store chain.

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

hmmm...

the Northside ISD football stadium on 410...

what was there before that?

this should be an easy one for the people that pay attention...the old entry is still there on culebra by the street going into that industrial park behind the stadium and the industrial park is named for it...

[SAmikeyp]

Handy Andy

Thanks for that CC. I had some arguments about Hemisfair.

People, like User apparently, think that "Hemisfair" and "Hemisphere" mean the same thing. People don't get that "Hemisfair '68" was the title of the event which was in fact a world's fair. Its like the cicada's that pop up here every so often, they are not locusts but have been called that since I was a kid.

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

Did you guys know that Paisanos restaurants have their roots in Hemisfair '68? Vic Paisano and his ?brother? ran a food booth there and decided to stay after Hemisfair closed...then opened the original place on Main...

[SAmikeyp]

Alamo Downs.


Was I correct on the grocery store chain?

Anyone know the seafood place that used to be on Vance Jackson where Grant Street Pizza is now?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

my questions that still need to be answered:


What used to be where the new "enchilada" colored downtown library now stands?


What was the HEB Corporate headquarters downtown before it bacame their corporate headquarters?


What was the Adams Mark Hotel building before it was remodeled?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

sorry Mikey...correct on Handy Andy and Alamo Downs

Ship Ahoy?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

actually Grant street is in the old KFC

Ship Ahoy was where the Burgerking is now...became ?Alfaros? mexican restaurant...the food was awful but the frozen margaritas were tequila/everclear and served in frosted beer mugs for 99 cents...

[SAmikeyp]

ok...next to the old KFC was a place called First Mate. It lasted until the very early 80's.

Anyone remember what used to be the major hardware store chain in town before Home Depot and Builders Square?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

oh yeah...first mate...had the big guy out front in the striped shirt holding the fish by the tail...actually not bad food...

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

fucking ripoff Handy Dan...I loved it when Builders Square put their ass out of business...

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

Before the national department store chains moved in there were two local competing department store chains. What were their names?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

When grocery stores just sold groceries and before Wal-Mart, Target, Office Max, Toys-R-Us etc....

San Antonio had a chain of stores that carried school and office supplies, party supplys,cheap toys, and general household stuff...it was THE place to buy school supplies or a cheap toy for a kids birthday party...

what was this chain of stores?

[SAmikeyp]

Joske's and Frost Bros.?

As far as school supplies and such...Ben Franklin?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

hmmm Frost was actually just clothes and not really a department store but I will give it to you...I was actually thinking about Wolf & Marx...

as for Ben Franklin that wasn't the one I am thinking about. The one I am talking about had stores all over town and had a regional distribution center here...I think it had stores in 5 states...

_ _ _ _' _ :hang

that help?

[SAmikeyp]

TG&Y?

Woolco?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

before then

_ _ _ _'s

*tapping foot*...:wink

[SAmikeyp]

guess I am not as old as you are CC! :wink

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

They were around till the late 90's...hehehe...how old are you again?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

OK...time to go....

It was Winn's Variety Stores Mikey...

They were a SA based company started in the late 40's...eventually had stores in 5 states..it was a big SA story in the late 90's when they went bankrupt...hundreds lost their jobs...

[SAmikeyp]

my apologies sir. :)

Damn! Winn's....oh man.


Good call bro. I totally missed that.

I am 34 so yes I remember Winn's.

I always get them, Woolworths and Woolco mixed up.

[scott]

What restaurant parking lot did I bang Sally Jenkins in back in 10th grade?

For bonus points... what kind of car was it in the backseat of?

[Hook Dem]

Christies on Broadway and it was a 64 Volkswagen. Did you kick the headliner out?:lol

[Useruser666]

The Winn's distro warehouse is on 410 south wher it splits from IH35. I remember them because I would go to the pet store next to the one on Austin Hwy all the time. Hmmmm what was the name of that pet store?

Hey CC wasn't that Mexican food place called Alfonzo's not "?Alfaros?", or was that a different one? The Alfanzo's were painted puke/sea green. My mom got food poisoning from one a long while back.

What building is located at 300 Alamo Plaza?

Useruser666 :eyebrow

[Taz1]

What used to be where the new "enchilada" colored downtown library now stands?
the old sears & roebuck department store !

[Das Texan]

is the alamo at 300 alamo plaza?


i know i worked across the street at 307 alamo plaza......

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

as strange as it sounds this link seems to say that 300 Alamo Plaza is the actual "plaza"...

www.sanantonio.gov/sapar/alamoplazareservations.asp?res=1024&ver=true (http://www.sanantonio.gov/sapar/alamoplazareservations.asp?res=1024&ver=true)

and Taz you are correct...The new library is where the old downtown Sears used to be...

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

Hey CC wasn't that Mexican food place called Alfonzo's not "?Alfaros?", or was that a different one? The Alfanzo's were painted puke/sea green. My mom got food poisoning from one a long while back.

ahhh...you are correct...it was Alfonsos...Alfaro's didn't sound right when I wrote it the first time and thats why I put ?'s around it...

I blame the momory fart on the everclear in the margaritas...:lol

[SpursWoman]

Mmmm.....3am Super Nachos at Alfonso's.




And strawberry Margaritas that we'd go in, buy, and walk back out of the door with.


8o

[Guru of Nothing]

What restaurant parking lot did I bang Sally Jenkins in back in 10th grade?

My guess is The Pig Stand on Broadway.

[Taz1]

or, how 'bout der wienerschnitzel ?:eyebrow

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

For many years there was something unusual located just north of the entry to Fair Oaks Ranch. What was it?

[SAmikeyp]

it was a large metal tower....there were many rumors surrounding what it was to be....everything from an office building to a new airport!

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

yep...it was the steel skeleton of an office building. The story I heard is that it was an S&L scam. The promoter arranged financing for the office building...the construction draw schedule was set up to allow him to draw the bulk of the construction funds after the frame was up...he got it that far and then took the rest of the cash and ran...the promoter allegedly had organized crime connections...

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

an easy one:

Before the airport was remodeled Airport Boulevard went from 410 directly to the original terminal. This boulevard was divided and had landscaping down the center. There was a row of trees down the center of this divider. What kind of trees were they and what happened to them?

[TacoBeer]

^^Just a guess but were they Pecan Trees?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

*BZZZZZ*

nope

[SAmikeyp]

palm trees.

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

yep...and what happened to them?

[SAmikeyp]

I hope they were transplanted...but I fear they were cut down in the name of progress.

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

actually it was an act of god...they were originally a semi-"native" palm tree specie that could stand pretty bad cold weather...they were planted when they were small and grew to be very big... but about 20 years ago we had a reallly BAD spell of cold weather...12 days straight that it never got over 20...killed the hell out of them...the city spent hundreds of thousands replacing them with new palm trees the same size that WEREN'T "native" and cold resistant...the first cold snap the next year killed them all...it was a big scandal...

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

speaking of city screwups...what did they tear down to build the UTSA downtown campus?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

OK...a slow pitch...

Where was the first Taco Cabana?

a little tougher...

Where was the first Lubys?

[travis2]

1st Taco Cabana still exists...corner of Hildebrand and San Pedro.

Where was the 2nd Taco Cabana located?

[SAmikeyp]

UTSA Downtown was that Fiesta Plaza (?) mall. That nasty pink thing.

I think the first luby's was on Fred. rd

and the 2nd TC was at Bandera and Wurzbach?


Briefly in the 80's and early 90's...Taco Cabana split into a second franchise...what was it called?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

I think the first luby's was on Fred. rd

nope

[Samurai Jane]

Was that Fajita Junction or something like that??

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

UTSA Downtown was that Fiesta Plaza (?) mall. That nasty pink thing.

you are correct sir...

Henry Cisnero's famous "pink elephant"...he dumped a bunch of city money into it to "revitalize the west side"...but really to bail out a real estate developer. It sat virtually empty for years...It was such a visible reminder of his screw up being right there by the freeway that they demolished it and gave the property to UTSA...

[bigzak25]

Briefly in the 80's and early 90's...Taco Cabana split into a second franchise...what was it called?


Tacasita?

[SAmikeyp]

Bigzak got it!

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

hmmmm...

Where was TMI before it moved out by the Dominion?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

What used to be where the Lowes at Callaghan and I-10 is now?

[1369]

Where was TMI before it moved out by the Dominion?

Don't know the exact street, but it was in Alamo Heights and overlooked McAllister Freeway (South of where the Quarry Market is now).

How about this one. What was the name of the waterpark that used to be located at San Pedro and McAllister Freeway?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

Don't know the exact street, but it was in Alamo Heights and overlooked McAllister Freeway (South of where the Quarry Market is now).

close enough...

[1369]

Couple more:

What was the name of the beer joint/dance halls that were located;

1. Where Parrish and Co. is now on 281 North?
2. Where the auto auction is now on Ackerman Road?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

OK...there was a country club out Blanco that had a golf course etc...It is closed now but I think its golf course became one of the Sonterra golf courses when they built stone oak.... What was the name of this country club?

[1369]

Used to be San Antonio Country Club I'm pretty sure.

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

1. Where Parrish and Co. is now on 281 North?

Texas Dance Hall...

what was the name of the wildly successful C&W bar that used to be in the Colonies Mall? At it's peak at midnight every night of the week almost the whole mall parking lot would be full...

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

Used to be San Antonio Country Club I'm pretty sure.

*BZZZZZZZZ*

wrong

San Antonio Country Club is still alive and kicking on New Braunfels near Ft. Sam...

[SAmikeyp]

What used to be where the Lowes at Callaghan and I-10 is now?

Midget Mansion?

no wait...isn't that now Mouse's place?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

:lol

you are correct sir...not sure about the midgets but it was an abandoned mansion...very classical greek with big stone Ionic columns on the front porch...

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

a good one...

what was the name of the "famous" mexican gangster/heroin dealer based in San Antonio...finally got sent up to Huntsville...but somehow got guns smuggled in to the prison and held a bunch of teachers and librarians hostage in the prison library for 11 days till he killed a couple and then killed himself...

[SpursWoman]

How about this one. What was the name of the waterpark that used to be located at San Pedro and McAllister Freeway?


I don't remember, but I do remember breaking my tailbone there...

:cuss :lol

[SpursWoman]

Actually, I'm thinking of the water park that was off I35 (not Splashtown, but on the other side of the highway)..


There used to be a drive-in around there, too. :wink

[Hook Dem]

"what was the name of the "famous" mexican gangster/heroin dealer based in San Antonio...finally got sent up to Huntsville...but somehow got guns smuggled in to the prison and held a bunch of teachers and librarians hostage in the prison library for 11 days till he killed a couple and then killed himself..." ...........Fred Gomez Carrasco

[Hook Dem]

"What was the name of the beer joint/dance halls that were located;

1. Where Parrish and Co. is now on 281 North?
2. Where the auto auction is now on Ackerman Road?"..........1. Texas dance hall . 2. Golden Stallion next to Conestoga

[SpursWoman]

The first Luby's was on Main




The Winn's distro warehouse is on 410 south wher it splits from IH35. I remember them because I would go to the pet store next to the one on Austin Hwy all the time. Hmmmm what was the name of that pet store?

I don't remember the name of the pet store, but I remember going in there all the time when I was getting my watch(s) fixed at Adrienne's--the jewelry shop next door to it.

:)

[Taz1]

How about this one. What was the name of the water park that used to be located at San Pedro and McAllister Freeway?

don't think it was, actually a water park, wasn't it simply a giant slide, and all the teenagers would do was to pay for a chance to slide down this enormous slide?

i remember this because i used to work at leonard's furniture, and on one saturday, a young man came up to the loading dock hollering at us to call the police, that he had found the body of a young teenage girl !

[Taz1]

here's one that will test you memory as well as your age ...

what was the name of the initial multi-club nightspot, ala the atrium, graham central station (speaking of which, where was the original g.c.s. ?) and that club in central park mall, park place ?

this nightspot was inside loop 410, on Fredericksburg Rd @ Gardendale, or in the northwest shopping center, at the far south/southeast corner, and it was in business from the latter part of the 70s to the mid 80s ?

[SpursWoman]

what was the name of the initial multi-club nightspot,

atrium = Bronco Bills
@ central park mall = Broad Street

[SpursWoman]

Sorry, read that wrong....the club that was originally built in the location that the Atrium now occupies was Bronco Bills...that was one gigantic club.

Oh, and Park Place used to be Broad Street a long time ago....damn, I'm going to bed.

:lol


Wasn't Park Place the first multi-club? hmmm....

[SAmikeyp]

Broad Street used to be Houlihans.

[SpursWoman]

...clubs at central park mall


*shrugs*

[SAmikeyp]

Actually CC, that mansion was rumored to be one of the many locations of "Midget Mansion" at least it was when I was in high school.

[Alamo Spurs Fan]

I don't remember the name of the pet store, but I remember going in there all the time when I was getting my watch(s) fixed at Adrienne's--the jewelry shop next door to it.

Now I'm kicking myself for not remembering the girls' name whose parents owned it. I went to Ed White with her and she was absolutely HOT.

But the store in question was called Fin 'N' Feather.

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

wasn't that waterpark called "supertube" or something like that?

[travis2]

The #2 Taco Cabana was indeed at Bandera and Wurzbach...but it's not the current TC at Bandera and Wurzbach.

The "original #2" was on the other side, across from Ancira-Winton and behind the Diamond Shamrock. When the brothers split the company into TC and Tacasita (yes, that one was correct too), the #2 store became Tacasita.

Not long afterward...the TC franchise built a store at its present location, across from (what was then) Kelly Field Bank. (Obviously the feud between the brothers was not particularly gentlemanly...:lol )

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

since we are into taco Cabana trivia...

there was yet another mexican food chain that was started by a couple of ex-lubys guys that competed with Taco Cabana but was eventually bought out by TC...the first restaurant was on Wurzbach and the second was at Blanco and West Avenue.

What was the name of this chain and what was distinctive about it?

[1369]

What was the name of this chain and what was distinctive about it?

Well, the building resembled a big assed pink sombrero, but for the life of me I can't remember the name (And I went to Churchill just down the street from it)!

And the golf course/country club off Blanco wasn't SACC? Well shit, now that bugs me that I can't remember either names.

[Alamo Spurs Fan]

That would be (obviously) Sombrero Rosa.

I thought you were talking about Alfonso's and I was going to say what was distinctive about it was that the food sucked ass...

:lol

Although the Alfonso's on Rittiman (which is now TC) never carded my then under 21 self. EVER! :drunk

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

Sombrero Rosa is correct...


And the golf course/country club off Blanco wasn't SACC? Well shit, now that bugs me that I can't remember either names.

give up?

[1369]

Yea, I do. You'd think I'd remember as that area was my old stomping ground when I was growing up.

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

Canyon Creek CC

[Hook Dem]

Was up in Durango Colorado last week and one of the shop owners found out I was from San Antonio. He wanted me to move there and open a Taco Cabana franchise. He knows they don't have authentic mexican food there. I think before doing that, I would contact Louis Barrios about opening a Los Barrios up there. It would make a mint.:wink

[travis2]

There used to be a TC in Boulder CO...

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

OK...back to questions...

On the Alamo Cement property that is now the quarry, golf course and a lot more (while it was still operating as Alamo Cement) there was a residential area where some employees lived...

what was the name of this residential area?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

Many of the awful traffic congestion problems with McAllister freeway and 410 and 1604 trace back to the original construction. Construction started on the new freeway and a local group sued in Federal court to stop construction because they didn't like the route (through Olmos Park and Alamo Heights). After many years of delay in Federal court the city and state finally decided to finish the highway without federal funds since the suit was still not settled. Because of theis, the feds would not let them tie into 410 or 1604.

What was the name of the primary group that sued to stop the construction? for bonus points what was the name of the group that joined the suit?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

dang you guys suck...

ok...slowpitch...

at one time San Antonio had two major newspapers.

They eventually merged and the Express/News name survived.

what was the name of the other paper?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

sheesh!

OK...for many years the premier "head shop" was located on Hildebrand between Blanco and San Pedro.

what was the name of this head shop?

[SAmikeyp]

Was that the River Road group?

The San Antonio Light was the other paper...they used to give NISD teams a fair shake.

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

Was that the River Road group?

nope

and if you never knew why traffic is so fucked up at 281/410 and 281/1604 it will really piss you off when you find out...

and the San Antonio Light is correct...

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

hehehe...what a group...

After asking an extensive series of questions covering a broad range of San Antonio related topics it is pretty clear that all most of you know anything about is cheap mexican food...:lol

[SAmikeyp]

hey...at least I am trying! :spin

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

hehehe...I wasn't referring to you Mikey...:wink

[Blood Dong]

Where did Blood Dong live as a child before he moved away 30 years ago? And whatever happened to Alamo Dragway? My dad used to take me there..........scared the shit out of me!!

[1369]

On the Alamo Cement property that is now the quarry, golf course and a lot more (while it was still operating as Alamo Cement) there was a residential area where some employees lived...

Cementville

[1369]

and if you never knew why traffic is so fucked up at 281/410 and 281/1604 it will really piss you off when you find out...

I always thought the reason 281/410 was never connected had to do with some back room dealings between the city council and whoever the cat was developing the La Quinta motels that were on either side of 281. It does seem kinda strange that as soon as 281/410 is to be tied in, up goes a new hi-rise La Quinta across the way.

And I thought also that 281/1604 was never tied in was either TxDOT didn't have the funding for an interchange (Wasn't 281 widened from the San Pedro split after McAllister FWY was completed?), or that the city council was too short sighted to pony up matching funds to make the interchange as there was hardly anybody living around that area at the time.

I vaguely recall the lawsuit to halt McAllister, but wasn't that back in the 70's?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

Cementville

you are correct sir!

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

I always thought the reason 281/410 was never connected had to do with some back room dealings between the city council and whoever the cat was developing the La Quinta motels that were on either side of 281. It does seem kinda strange that as soon as 281/410 is to be tied in, up goes a new hi-rise La Quinta across the way.

nope...since there was a federal suit in progress and the State/City went ahead and finished 281 without the feds the Feds would not let them tie into any highway that had been funded/partly funded with federal money...

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

most of you probably indirectly give money every year (or at least have done so at least once in the past) to the organization that was the leader of the lawsuit that has 281 traffic so fucked up now.

[1369]

I didn't think that the San Antonio Conservation Society suit had anything to do with the interchange (directly). I thought that the city was in the process of condemning the property for an interchange since the city was responsible for the funding of the interchange (right of way). But that with the uncertianty with the "Yarborough Rule" ruling on the North Expressway where it crossed Olmos Basin, the city "uncondemned" the property and folks built like crazy waiting for the Tower/Bentsen legislation to pass and asked outrageous prices for their property, which made it too expensive to purchase the right of way.

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

The San Antonio Conservation Society and the Sierra Club had everything to do with them not being tied in together...and not saying that money wasn't made by insiders but why buy right of way for an interchange you know the feds aren't gonna let you build?

[1369]

We're talking the same thing Cosmic, I just thought that the direct reason you don't see a 281/410 interchange is that the city couldn't afford the property (since they were responsible for the ROW). But, you're exactly right in saying that with the lawsuit, the city had to shit or get off the pot as to proceed or not with the ROW aquisition. I don't know about the "no tying into fed funded roads" statement you made, I thought the property just got too expensive to buy.

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

actually we are both right. The city had actually condemned the property for the interchange but with it held up in court year after year and looking like it would be in litigation forever the property owners demanded the city either buy the property or release the condemnation. With the outcome in doubt and the knowledge that it was a possibility they would never be permitted to tie into 410 the city released the condemnation. Th property they just had to buy to build the new interchange (finally) cost them 22.2 million.

[1369]

Regardless, it is a damn shame it was never built in the first place.

But then again if it had originally been built, TxDot wouldn't have funded it for enough traffic density and they'd be tearing it down right now anyway.

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

hehehe thats probably true...

but DAMN it's gonna be a pain in the ass when they tear that area up...I sure hope they complete Wurzbach parkway before they do...

[1369]

No way. From what I hear the city still hasn't bought all the ROW for the Parkway (Mostly between Blanco and 281). Not only that, the parkway is going to go smack down the middle of Salado creek and an enviromental impact study will take forever to get done on that.

My guess, you don't see anything done on WB Pkwy around the 281 area for the next 5 years.

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

another slowpitch...

There was a well known billboard on San Pedro just north of Hildebrand right next to the railroad bridge that was very unusual. This billboard was in use up to just a few years ago.

What did this billboard advertise and what was unusual about it?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

before Academy, Oshmans, and all the other super sporting goods stores there was a chain of small stores all over town that featured discount guns and ammo and other outdoor stuff...along with an entirely different product line that was actually featured in the name of the stores...the combination of these two product lines was very steroetypical "Texan" and I always found it amusing.

what was the name of these stores?

[travis2]

The billboard in question was the ButterKrust billboard...it featured a rotating picture of bread slices...as though they were falling out of the open bag...

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

you are correct sir.

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

Ok...for all you other pervs out there...

Before PT's, Sugars, AllStars etc. "the" strip club in SA was located on Austin highway. It was a nasty little place that featured some of the skankiest range whores to ever work a titty bar...

what was the name of this place?

[TacoBeer]

the combination of these two product lines was very steroetypical "Texan" and I always found it amusing.

another hint please

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

you could walk in the door and pay cash for a pistol and a fifth of Jack Daniels.

[TacoBeer]

Before PT's, Sugars, AllStars etc. "the" strip club in SA was located on Austin highway. It was a nasty little place that featured some of the skankiest range whores to ever work a titty bar...

I'm not sure about this one but there has been and is still in operation the "Rainbow Lounge" behind Kelly on military drive.

Them ho's are pretty raunchy

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

I heard about that one but never went there. The one I am referring to was the "northside" titty bar...I never saw them card anyone...we would go there in high school...

[TacoBeer]

before Academy, Oshmans, and all the other super sporting goods stores there was a chain of small stores all over town that featured discount guns and ammo and other outdoor stuff...along with an entirely different product line that was actually featured in the name of the stores...the combination of these two product lines was very steroetypical "Texan" and I always found it amusing.

I'm gonna kick myself in the ass but i'm drawing a blank

is Booze in the name or Liquor?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

is Booze in the name or Liquor?

_ _ _ _ _ Liquor :hang

[TacoBeer]

T E X A S

[TacoBeer]

Crystal Pistol ??

for the strip club?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

you are correct sir...Texas Liquor Stores

get your guns, bullets, and booze in one quick stop.

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

Crystal Pistol was on San Pedro near Hildebrand and wasn't a strip club...at least in the 60's-70's...Taco Cabana eventually bought the building for it's first offices...

[Taz1]

cc ...

that bar, on, austin highway ...

was it called "dirty sally's", kinda where the heb was originally placed, before they relocated it to the opp side of the highway ?

[Taz1]

oh, and as far as that sporting good store was concerned, was there a location on bandera rd, outside of loop 410, about a mile, or so, on the left ?

i'm trying to remember the establishment's name, but i'm drawing a blank !

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

was it called "dirty sally's", kinda where the heb was originally placed, before they relocated it to the opp side of the highway ?

nope...at least not the one I am thinking about...I don't think Dirty Sally's was a titttie bar...

The one I am talking about was located in the "triangle" where Eisenhauer intersected Austin Highway...

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

oh, and as far as that sporting good store was concerned, was there a location on bandera rd, outside of loop 410, about a mile, or so, on the left ?

I think so...they were all over town...

there was one on Fredricksburg Road near Jefferson State Bank thats a pawn shop now...

and there was also one in Central Park Mall when it first opened...

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

a soft pitch...

what was the original Rudy's barbeque in Leon Springs before it was Rudy's?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

*historic tittiebar hint*

The _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Inn :hang

[SAmikeyp]

oh, and as far as that sporting good store was concerned, was there a location on bandera rd, outside of loop 410, about a mile, or so, on the left ?

No, that was Mursch's (sp?)

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

dang Mikey...I had forgotten about that place...

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

SUPER slow pitch...

what is the Brackenridge Eagle? (not the high school)

[SAmikeyp]

the little train that runs through Brackenridge Park....does it still run??

[Jimcs50]

CC, HTF do you not know the Eagle????? You call yourself a San Antonian????? I suppose you do not know what the Alamo is either...The Eagle is as much a part of SA as the Alamo is.....:rolleyes

What, you mom never took you on any train rides??? Oh nevermind, you were used to "pulling trains", rather than riding on them . :)

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

as far as I know it's still operational...

on a similar note, however...

what prominent landmark/ride at the San Antonio Zoo is NOT there anymore?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

Jim, you worry me sometimes...how did you get through dental school with such poor reading comprehension?...:lol

[Jimcs50]

what prominent landmark/ride at the San Antonio Zoo is NOT there anymore?

MaryJane Thompson....she moved to Denver in 82. :)

[Jimcs50]

Oh, CC, my bad...I thought you were asking someone that was talking about the train....:o

[Jimcs50]

Do you remember when the Eagle was robbed?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

Do you remember when the Eagle was robbed?

hehehe yeah...the great train robbery...:lol

and I am sure you can answer the Austin Highway tittybar question...go for it!

[TacoBeer]

SKY RIDE ? ?

[Jimcs50]

Titty bar???

The Getaway?

[Jimcs50]

No, maybe the Green Latern, or something Latern?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

SKY RIDE ? ?

http://www.raulsphotography.com/skyridecopy.jpg

you are correct sir.

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

you are getting warm Jim...not lantern but had something to do with light


The L_ _ _ _ _ _ Inn

[Jimcs50]

Lamplight Inn

[Jimcs50]

Way before my time, but I remember guys talking about it when I was a kid.

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

the Lampost Inn

and if wasn't before your time shithead...:lol

[Jimcs50]

CC, I was a kid when that place was around...hence it WAS before my time. :flipoff

[timvp]

This thread should be retitled ...

"The Oldest Posters in the Forum Are ..."


:wink

[Jimcs50]

This thread should be retitled ...

"The Oldest Posters in the Forum Are ..."

More like the most Knowledgeable posters in the forum.

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

hehehe

old?

naaaaaaaaah....

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

CC, I was a kid when that place was around...hence it WAS before my time.

I was a kid too but that didn't stop us from going in there and buying pitchers and laughing at the skankhos...:lol

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

hmm...OK...new questions...I bet no one gets this one...

The most popular type of shopping center building construction today in the world is called "tilt wall"...concrete slabs are poured on the ground on site and then stood up to form the walls of the structure...virtually every one you drive by today was built this way.

The process was invented in San Antonio and the first tilt wall building in the world was built here.

What building is it?

For extra credit...

Who was the inventor and what other San Antonio Institutions is his name associated with?

[SaraPet]

The Alamo??



(j/k)

[travis2]

I don't know the original "tilt wall" building you're talking about...but I suspect the inventor was H.B. Zachry.

The other "institution" he is associated with is the Hilton Palacio Del Rio...Zachry invented the pre-fab "building block" method used to build that hotel. (There is at least one dormatory at St. Mary's that was also built using that method)

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

hey darlin!

[1369]

Sorry Cosmic, "tilt-up" concrete construction wasn't invented in San Antonio. The man first credited with casting a wall on site and then raising it goes to a fellow named Robert Aiken who did it in 1908 in Ohio at Camp Perry. Link (http://www.tilt-up.com/LearningCenter/stateoftheart1.asp)

I had to cheat and check the internet, but I work in construction and had heard about this before.

Hey, you could always ask what was special about the construction technique that was used to build the Palacio del Rio?

[SAmikeyp]

Hey sara! how you been?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

since you asked...they built the rooms out of concrete off site and finished them out including plumbing, electrical, carpet, wallpaper, etc...then trucked them to the site, tied a helicopter tail boom to them and then raised them by a crane...literally "flew" the new rooms into the slots made for them where plumbing and electrical was then hooked up to the new room...they broke all sorts of construction records on that project...

[travis2]

hey now...I get the Palacio del Rio credit...

[Jimcs50]

Another one.

What what the name of the restaurant that preceded Maggies?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

Sorry Cosmic, "tilt-up" concrete construction wasn't invented in San Antonio. The man first credited with casting a wall on site and then raising it goes to a fellow named Robert Aiken who did it in 1908 in Ohio at Camp Perry. Link

Interesting...Tom Slick of Southwest Research fame is generally credited with creating the modern tilt wall process along with a New York architect Phillip Youtz in 1948. I could see how it could develop independently in different areas though...It is my understanding that the student center at Trinity is generally considered to be the first modern tilt wall structure but your link obviously disputes that...

[1369]

What what the name of the restaurant that preceded Maggies?

Can't quite remember that one, but I do remember that there was a "cat house" that was in the strip center behind it.

[Jimcs50]

anyone, anyone?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

What what the name of the restaurant that preceded Maggies?

I don't remember the name but I vaguely remember that it sucked...

[Jimcs50]

It was pretty good actually. Reeds' Red Derby.

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

La Fogata restaurant on Vance Jackson...

what was it before they converted it into a mexican restaurant?

[Jimcs50]

La Fogata restaurant on Vance Jackson...

what was it before they converted it into a mexican restaurant?


A hamburger drive in.

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

yep...the front part was a Dairy Kreme

the back part was a dentist office.

[Jimcs50]

That guy had some scam...he was right there when people had a toothache from biting into the cold icecreams....I should have thought of that myself. :)

[Taz1]

I don't think Dirty Sally's was a tittie bar...

like h*ll it wasn't !

i remember because we took a friend from high school, from our football team, there for his bachelor party !

you would pay something like $50, and you would get a bottle of champagne to take back to their "v.i.p. section", through a doorway with those beads, and you got to select your fav "entertainer" to join you, and ...

"whatever hapens @ dirty sally's stays @ dirty sally's !!!"

[Taz1]

oh yeah ...

and they served "near beer", and it was b.y.o.b. !!!

hence the reason they stayed open until somewhere between 4 - 6 a.m. !

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

like h*ll it wasn't !

hehehe

I stand corrected!...I could see how you wouldn't forget THAT!...:lol

[Jimcs50]

What happened to Central Park mall? I saw last time I was in town that it was gone...WTF happened? Is there a plan for a new mall?

Damn, I have good memories of that mall, one of my girlfriends worked at Spencer's Gifts and another worked at Beef Baron....at the same time. I almost got caught with each of them by each other a couple of times...it was a trip. :)

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

As I understand it Jaffee hasn't decided yet. North Star Mall thouroughly kicked his ass. I have heard something about a possible office park. I don't think anything is definite...

[Jimcs50]

CC, do you remember the name of the furniture store in North Star Mall years ago?

Bonus points if you can name it.

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

hmmmm....Lacks?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

this should be easy. When Ernesto Ancira quit Smith Chevrolet and started Ancira he had a gringo partner for many years...both partners names were in the name of the original chevy dealership on Bandera road....

what was the name of the dealership?

[1369]

Ancira-Winton

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

you are corect sir. Ralph Winton...

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

another eeeeeeeeeeezy one.

In 1988 a famous person visited San Antonio. An outdoor stage was constructed near Seaworld for this event.

who was the person?

[SAmikeyp]

If you are referring to the pope, it was 1987

[TacoBeer]

What was the name of the Drive In that was located on Bandera and Culebra?

There's an HEB there now

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

ops you are correct Mikey it was 1997.

and Taco Beer..that wasn't my stomping grounds but I will take a wild guess...Griffs?

[SAmikeyp]

thank you sir. although I still think you mean 1987. :spin

[1369]

Give Cowboy a break Mikey. You know how it is with old folks, they keep forgetting things and getting shit confused all the time.:moon

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

what is so unusual about the Fairmount hotel?

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

:lol

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

something very unusual happened in in San Antonio in 1985.

what was it?

[SAmikeyp]

the fairmont was moved intact to its current location

and it snowed 13 inches in 1985.

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

alright Mikey...quit cheating...:wink

[Alamo Spurs Fan]

And Johnny Carson had just married wife #4, leading him to quip: "I swore I wasn't going to get married again unless it snowed 13 inches in San Antonio."

:lol