[Q] Origin of Houston Street Names

There used to be one long street where 610 West is that was called Post Oak. When they built 610 there were all these little snippets and chunks and successors of Post Oak left behind. They all got named Post Oak something.

 

True. That is why you have so many Post Oaks in the Galleria area, and then a South Post Oak in my neighborhood (Meyerland/Westbury).

Here's a good one that I read in a Houston history book....

Do you know how the street Stella Link got its name?

Stella Link was the name of the mistress of the 2nd mayor in Houston's history (don't know his name). He wanted to honor his mistress by naming a street after her, but he didn't want his wife to find out, so he named a street after her that was way on the outskirts of town at the time (1800s I believe).

 

what the f*ck is a westheimer?

 

Westheimer is a last name.

 

Did Telephone rd get named shortly after the invention of telephones? If so, I would expect it to be a lot bigger than the road we have now. Especially for such a huge invention.

 

Who was Main?

 

I think the history of that road goes way the hell back... back to the early 1900's. I know Southwestern Bell was around in the late 1800's. *EDIT* : Apparently I know wrong... it was founded in 1920.

For those of you with questions about these roads and their history, the Houston Architecture forum is a blast to read and a great place to ask these questions : http://www.houstonarchitecture.info

Here's a thread about Telephone Rd. I found on there... http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/lofiversion/index.php/t3151.html

 

I wonder about the street names in "Downtown" Houston.

There's alot of WEIRD names down there... It's also very confusing! easy to get lost.

 

Like which names? Many of the proper names are names of Texas' historical figures.

 

Good Document Detailing Background About Many Historic Houston Streets

http://www.heritagesociety.org/Hinton-Names of Houston Streets 071907.pdf

 

WTH? lol. I ought to subject you to rap music for that... check out this article :

http://blogs.chron.com/bayoucityhistory/2007/09/six_questions_for_marks_hinton.html

Q: What street do people inquire about the most?

A: Stella Link. People wonder why the daughter of a Mr. & Mrs. Link got a street named for her. Actually the name is derived from the fact that it paralleled a railroad line that ran from Bellaire to Stella, Texas, a junction of the International-Great Northern and the Texas & New Orleans Railroads, south of Houston. Ergo, it was the link to Stella.

I'm not saying you're wrong (I honestly don't know).

 

http://www.houstonhistory.com/

there you go folks.

thank you.

 

(Lord, I'm dominating this thread....)

I was just about to post this link for anyone interested about Houston street names (you can buy the book here) :

http://www.archivaltexas.com/default_content.html

 

Speaking of railroads...

The town of Katy is named after the Missouri, Kansas, & Texas Railroad. On the side of their trains their name was abreviated 'K-T Railroad'.

K-T = Katy.

The one other street name that I find interesting is Tierwasser, misnamed after Heinrich Thürwächter.

Finally, if anybody want's a nice Houston historical mystery/treasure hunt, look up the lost Twin Sisters of San Jacinto which may still be burried somewhere on the east side of town.

 

Here's one for you. Do you know why almost all street names in Bellaire are named after trees?

 

because they were tree huggers.

they loved trees.

 

i know from living on the northside and going to the klein school district that klein, kykendahl (the street), and wunderlich are all german names...

 

nice of you guys to vote on naming west houston the westpark corridor

 

Something I read somewhere a while back. Who the hell knows!