Historic Houston Streets

by Marks Hinton

  MONTGOMERY: This Conroe street recalls old Texas towns that existed at one time or another in the area. Today they are remembered by names on a map: Bays Chapel, Beach, Bethel, Brantley, Butlersburg, Honea, Lake Creek, Longstreet, McRae, Peach Creek and Pools. 114

  MONTGOMERY: Andrew J. – This northern Harris County road leads to the town of the same name. Montgomery set up a trading post there in 1823. He later fought in the Texas Revolution.115

  » MONTROSE: Southern terminus of Montrose at Hermann Park

  MONTROSE: Sir Walter Scott, Scotland’s famous poet and the foremost romantic novelist in the English language, created the historic town of Montrose for use in his stories. J. W. Link, who in 1910 acquired 165 acres west of Courtlandt Place and laid out the neighborhood of Montrose, named the boulevard. He built the first of many mansions that were to grace the subdivision. His home on the southwest corner of Montrose at West Alabama cost $60,000 to build in 1912 and was famous for its large gold doorknobs. Today it is the administration building of the University of St. Thomas. (See photograph on page 222.) 116

  MOODY: William Lewis – He was born in Virginia in 1828. After graduating from law school he moved to Texas to practice his trade. In 1855 he and his brothers formed a mercantile and cotton business. He fought valiantly for the South in the War Between the States. Moody was wounded several times, captured and honored for bravery during the campaign. After the War he moved to Galveston and opened a cotton and banking firm that became known as W. L. Moody & Company. He was a founder of the Galveston Cotton Exchange and became very active in politics. The Moody family remains very prominent in Galveston. (See Mary Moody Northen.) 117

  MOON ROCK: See sidebar Space City U.S.A. or “Houston the Eagle Has Landed”, page 106.

  MOONSHINE HILL: This Humble area road conjures up visions of stills brewing up white lightning and revenuers chasing good old boys with 3,000-gallon tanks of moonshine in their stock cars through the back hills of Appalachia. But the truth be known it is named for the Moonshine Oil Company and the tent city of roughnecks, drillers and tool pushers who prospected for black gold here following the discovery of the Humble oilfield in 1904. Founders of the oil company included Walter Sharp and Howard Hughes Sr. It was reported in 1909 that Moonshine Hill had eight saloons but only one church. (See Sharp and Humble.) 118

  MOORE RANCH: In September 2004 this dusty Ft. Bend County lane was renamed for the Moore family who has owned land here for several generations. Located in the town of Orchard, it is shown on the original plat as Moore Road but for a reason no one can remember it was changed to Jap Road in about 1940. 46

  MOORE: Francis – He came to Texas in 1836 to help in the fight for independence from Mexico. Moore served as an assistant surgeon. Following the war he purchased the Telegraph and Texas Register, a newspaper, from Thomas H. Borden. He held the position of editor for 17 years before selling the company to Edward H. Cushing. Moore was elected mayor of Houston for four terms between 1838 and 1853. (See Cushing.) 119

  MOORE: Frank M. or Thomas W. – See sidebar Houston Streets Named for Men Killed During World War I, page 22.

  MOOREA: See sidebar Bali Hai May Call You, page 322.

  MOPAC: This word is an acronym for Missouri Pacific. This Spring area road leads to the Missouri Pacific Railroad Yard where trains are assembled for shipping goods from Houston around the nation.

  MORELAND: Isaac N. – He joined the Texas Army in 1835 and saw action in numerous campaigns including the Siege of Bexar. As the Captain of Artillery at the Battle of San Jacinto he was in command of the famous cannons called the “Twin Sisters.” Later he practiced law in Houston along with his partner, the former Texas President David G. Burnet. In 1840 he was elected a Chief Justice of Harris County, a position he held until his death in 1842. (See Twin Sisters.) 120

  MORELOS: Jose Maria – This priest/soldier was one of the heroes of the Mexican War of Independence from Spain. In 1813 following the capture and subsequent execution and beheadings of Father Miguel Hidalgo and General Ingacio Allende (the loyalists hung the heads in cages from the walls of the granary in Guanajuato as a warning to other would-be insurgents) Morelos assumed command of the rag tag army of mestizos. He was captured in late 1815 and was also put to death. (See Hidalgo.) 10

  MORGAN CEMETERY: The Morgan family of Montgomery County donated the land for this cemetery in 1887. The first burial here was Louis Collins baby daughter, Page, who died while the Collins family was traveling through the area. 79

  MORGAN: Alvin – (See Alvin-Sugar Land.)

  MORITZ: One of three Spring Branch streets in a row (along with Hillendahl and Pech), Moritz is the Christian name of one of the early members of the Pech family. 121

  MORRIS: Joseph Robert – This tinsmith arrived in Texas in the 1840s. He set up shop in Houston in 1847. Due to his support of the Union he was named mayor of Houston during Reconstruction in 1868. The next year he joined other influential investors in starting the Houston Direct Navigation Company and the Buffalo Bayou Ship Channel Company. Morris is rumored to have built our first skyscraper, a four story building downtown. 122

  MORRIS: Roscoe W. – See sidebar Houston Streets Named for Men Killed During World War I, page 22.

  MORRISON: Most likely this Katy street is named for that city’s second postmaster, W. P. Morrison, a grocer in the 1890s. (See Thomas.) 123, 124

  MORSE: A. T. – A subdivision map of the Allen C. Reynolds league indicates Morse owned 1,963 acres of land in what is now Montrose where this street is located. 125

  MORTON CEMETERY: This cemetery road remembers William Morton of Richmond who drowned in 1833. Ironically, he is not burried here as his body was never recovered from the Brazos River. Some of the notable Texans interred here include Mirabeau B. Lamar and Jane Long. (See Lamar, Jane Long and Morton: William.) 126

  MORTON: E. M. – An early settler in Katy, Texas he was also a founding member of the First United Methodist Church in that community. I was told he operated a rice farm. 127, 128

  MORTON: William – Little is known about this early Fort Bend County resident. He was one of Stephen F. Austin’s Old 300. The schooner the Morton family was on wrecked on Galveston Island in 1822. In 1824 he settled near what is today Richmond. The 1826 census lists him as a farmer and stock raiser of unknown age. He opened the city’s first burying ground naming it Morton Cemetery. Morton drowned in a Brazos River flood in 1833. (See Morton Cemetery.) 102

  MOTT: In the 1920s the name Mott Homes was as recognizable to Houstonians as Perry, David Weekley or Kickerillo Homes are today. Harry Mott was the premier builder of his day. During the Great Depression he was a sales representative for the River Oaks Corporation. Late in his career he constructed some homes in the Memorial Villages area where this street recalls his contribution to the architecture of our city. He and his wife Katherine B. Mott resided at 11527 Memorial Drive, not far from this short lane. 129

  MOUNT BATTEN: Here is another example of a developer misspelling a street name. Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten was the great grandson of Queen Victoria and a British war hero in both WW I and WW II. He was the last Viceroy of India (1947) and the first Earl of Burma (1947). The Irish Republican Army assassinated Mountbatten in 1979. 130

  MOUNT EVEREST: Our fair city has an elevation of 43 feet above sea level and the 18th green at River Oaks Country Club may be the closest geological feature resembling a mountain. Nonetheless, it is possible to visit the highest mountain in the world, Mount Everest, in west Houston. Named for English surveyor Sir George Everest, this Himalayan peak on the Tibet-Nepal border tops out at 29,035 feet. It was first climbed in 1953 by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. (See photograph on page 226.) 131

  MOUNT HOUSTON: This road once lead to Mount Houston, Texas in north central Harris County. This little community was a stop on the Houston, East & West Texas Railroad in the early 1900s. Houston engulfed it in the 1920s. 132

  MOURSUND: Walter H. – Dr. Moursund joined Baylo
r Medical School in 1911. From 1923 until his retirement he was Dean of Baylor’s medical branch in Houston. This Texas Medical Center street is named in his honor. 133

  MT. CARMEL: This southeast side high school was founded by the Order of Carmelites in 1956. Since its creation over 5,000 students have graduated from this institution. In 1986 the Diocese of Galveston-Houston assumed ownership of the school. It has an interesting Latin motto – non licet nobis esse mediocribus or “it is not permitted to be mediocre.” Your author competed against students from Mt. Carmel in football and track from 1957 to 1960. 84

  » MOUNT EVEREST: World’s tallest mountain

  MUELLER CEMETERY: Founded in 1896, this cemetery contains the remains of several early German settlers including the Muellers. The earliest grave stone here is that of Emilie Mueller who was born in Prussia in 1838 and died in Harris County in 1896. Her husband, Johan Friedrich Mueller (born 1832), who is also interred here, lived to the ripe old age of 88 years. 50

  » MUELLER CEMETERY: Entrance gate to the graveyard

  MUELLER: Members of this family were more than likely German immigrants who arrived in the area northwest of Houston in the 1800s. A number of these early settlers are buried in the nearby Trinity Lutheran (also known as Klein) Cemetery. (See Klein Cemetery.) 134

  MUESCHKE CEMETERY: Located near Westfield, this street leads to this small cemetery. Like other burial grounds in this area many of the people emigrated from Germany. Names like Hildebrandt, Kaiser, Krimmel, Mittlestedt and Tautenhahn abound. The final resting places of two members of the Mueschke family (Olga and Paul) are here as well as John S. D. Armstrong, a Confederate soldier. The earliest burial I could find was Maria B. Meyers (March 20, 1891). 134

  MULCAHY: R. T. – Known as the “Father of Rosenberg” Mulcahy is remembered for his civic minded nature. Among other projects he raised the funds for Rosenberg’s first school. 135

  MULLINS: This family moved to Texas in 1910 from Kansas. They knew the soil near Simonton was rich and well suited for growing new and red potatoes. Unfortunately, they over planted the fields. The quality of the soil declined leading to an epidemic of potato blight. As a result the business failed. For a time however Simonton and nearby Fulshear were called the “potato capitol of the world.” James Simonton arrived in Texas in the 1850s and established a plantation here. 136

  MUNGER: Charles R. – (See Foster.)

  MUNSON RANCH: Mordello Stephen Munson was born in Liberty County in 1825. By the 1850s he was living on this ranch. He founded Munson Cemetery on the property for burials of family and friends in 1850s. The graveyard is located in Bailey’s Prairie. (See Bailey.) 137

  MURPHY ROAD MOBILE HOME: Located in Stafford, Texas this road leads to a mobile home park. 66

  MURRILL: (See Jack.)

  MUSICAL: See sidebar It’s Music to My Ears, page 218.

  MUSTANG CROSSING: This street parallels Mustang Bayou in Missouri City. The bayou starts in that city, flows 45 miles, passes southwest of Pearland, north of Alvin to its mouth on New Bayou in southwest Brazoria County. 138

  MUSTANG: Located in front of Lamar Consolidated High School in Rosenberg, this street is named for the school’s mascot.

  MUSTANG: The Friendswood High School Mustangs play at a stadium on this street. 77

  MUSTANG: This Alvin street recalls the original name of that town, Mustang Station. It was a stop on the Santa Fe Railroad between Galveston and Richmond. (See Alvin-Sugar Land.) 139

  MUSTANG ISLAND: See sidebar The Most Scenic Spots in Texas, page 310.

  MYKAWA: Shinpei - He was born in Aichi, Japan on December 1, 1874. Mykawa came to the U.S. as a naval officer representing his country at the 1903 World’s Fair in St. Louis. He returned to Japan via Houston and noted how the countryside seemed prefect for rice growing. Immigrating to America he bought land near Erin Station, 10 miles south of Houston, for a rice farm. Unfortunately he was killed on April 24, 1906 when he fell under a piece of agricultural equipment and was crushed. He is buried in Hollywood Cemetery. Mykawa was very popular with his neighbors. In his honor they changed Erin Station to Mykawa, Texas. When the city cut a road along the railroad tracks to that town it was named Mykawa Road. 140

  » MYKAWA: Shinpei Mykawa’s tombstone in Hollywood Cemetery. The writing on the sides of this stone is in Japanese.

  N

  NAGLE: John Marion – He came to Houston in 1930 as the City Engineer. Nagle eventually was named the Director of the Public Works Department, a position he held until his retirement in 1958. Mayor Oscar Holcombe called him a “man of great vision.” In 1957 he was named Engineer of the Year by the San Jacinto Chapter of the Texas Society of Professional Engineers and cited for “the greatest contribution to the City.” (See sidebar Mayor Oscar Holcombe’s Revenge, page 97.) 1

  NAPLAVA: Claud – See sidebar Houston Streets Named for Men Killed During World War I, page 22.

  NAPOLEON: (See Bonaparte.)

  NASA ROAD 1: On October 4, 1957 the United States was shocked by the successful launch of Sputnik 1, the first artificial earth satellite, by the USSR. In 1958 President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the bill creating the National Aeronautics & Space Administration (known by its more common acronym of NASA). The “Space Race” was on in earnest. Initially operating at Cape Canaveral, Florida, NASA announced plans in 1961 for the construction of the Manned Spacecraft Center on 1,000-acres near Clear Lake in southeast Harris County. In 1963 the facility was opened. In America’s heyday of space exploration the Gemini, Apollo (the flights to the Moon) and Skylab missions were controlled from here. 2

  NASH-DAMON-RYCADE: Everette Lee DeGolyer was a geophysicist and petroleum engineer born in Kansas in 1886. He was hired in 1918 by Lord Cowdray of Royal Dutch Shell Petroleum Company to explore the salt domes of the Texas Gulf Coast for oil and gas. He formed a firm and called it Rycade Oil Company. DeGolyer was vice president and manager (1923-26) and president and general manager (1926-41). In 1924 using the first geophysical survey he discovered a major oilfield at Nash, Texas. Nash has long since vanished from the maps. DeGolyer was called the “Father of American Geophysics” and for many years was considered the world’s leading oil consultant. (See Beasley-Damon.) 3

  NASHUA: This pedigreed colt was the favorite to win the 1955 Kentucky Derby. His jockey was the fabled Eddie Arcaro. But a California thoroughbred named Swaps, ridden by archrival Bill Shoemaker, bested him. Swaps took control of the race early and was never headed. However, Nashua did go on to victory in the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes. 4

  » NATCHEZ TRACE: The ancient trail

  NATCHEZ TRACE: Humans have used this ancient 450-mile trail from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee since the dawn of time. It was very important to the American Indians of the area and is today a National Parkway. It is also one of the few places where a speeding ticket (exceeding 55 MPH on this scenic two lane road) is a Federal offense. It virtually requires a Presidential pardon to avoid paying the steep fine. 5

  NATIONAL FOREST: Sam Houston National Forest is a recreational area totaling 161,508 acres in Montgomery, San Jacinto and Walker Counties. The State of Texas authorized the purchase of land for national forests in 1933. 6

  NATURAL BRIDGE: See sidebar The Most Scenic Spots in Texas, page 310.

  NAVIGATION: Because of its proximity to the Houston Ship Channel and all the waterborne commerce that takes place in the area, this street was named to reflect the port related activity. 7

  NAZRO: Underwood – This man was a vice president at the Gulf Oil Corporation in Baytown. 8

  NEEDVILLE: August Schendel first named this town Schendelville in 1891. When he applied for a post office he filed under the name of Needmore as a joke. He said he did it because the place needed more of everything. Strangely enough the name was already taken so it was changed to Needville. He operated a general store, cotton gin and a blacksmith shop. 9

  NEIDIGK: Fred – This German immigrant arrived in the Houston area in 1902. He built a sawmill nea
r Decker’s Prairie. In the early 1900s Neidigk Station was a stop on the International-Great Northern Railroad. Neidigk Lake on Spring Creek is also named for him. 10

  NETTLETON: Robert E. – See sidebar Houston Streets Named for Men Killed During World War I, page 22.

  NEUENS: August – This German immigrant arrived in the Spring Branch area in the mid-1870s. Like many of his industrious neighbors from the Old World he amassed considerable land holdings. His property was where this road is today. Members of this family are buried in the St. Peter’s United Church graveyard. 11

  MY HOW WE HAVE GROWN

  When Houston was founded in 1836 there were only 6.5 miles of streets in the city and none were paved. Paving began in the early 1890s and by 1892 we had 12.5 miles of paved roads. By 1911 that total increased to 90 miles. In 1939 we reached 1,000 miles. Today that number is a staggering 6,000 miles of concrete and asphalt just within the city limits. 35, 36

  NEVELSON: Louise – This seems to be the only street in Houston named for a female artist. This Russian-born American citizen is famous for her free-standing as well as hanging wooden sculpture. One of her finest works, Frozen Laces-One, may be seen in downtown Houston at 1400 Smith. 12

  NEW CANEY: (See Huffman.) 13

  NEWCASTLE: See sidebar All Things English, page 175.

  NEW KENTUCKY: Only a historic marker and a street recall this early trading center that was once located in northern Harris County. Abram Roberts who was from Kentucky established it. The town had a short lifespan, lasting from only 1831 until about 1840. 14