Historic Houston Streets

by Marks Hinton

  SHADOW LAWN: This small garden subdivision was developed by Houston attorney and judge, John Henry Crooker, a founder of Fulbright, Crooker, Freeman and Bates. As it was near prestigious Shadyside, it was marketed to upscale builders who were able to sell essentially prairie land at the edge of town in the 1920s. It was named after the Shadowlawn mansion in West Branch, New Jersey that was used as the summer “white house” by President Woodrow Wilson. The main street bears the neighborhood’s name. 64

  SHADY RIVER: (See Maple Valley.) 65

  SHAFT: When Ravensway was being platted all of the streets had an avian connection such as Raven’s Claw, Raven Roost, Raven Flight, Nevermore (a genuflection to Edgar Allen Poe) or Birdcall to mention a few. Developers believed the lots would sell faster if the neighborhood had a school. They gave the Cy-Fair Independent School District land for Millsap Elementary. Unfortunately, the school’s location did not have adequate access for emergency vehicles. So city officials required another street run in front of the campus. The developer asked CFISD to return some of the donated land to the company so they could build the necessary road. The school district said they would be happy to sell the land back but were unwilling to donate it. The furious developer purchased the property and went to Planning and Development to name the new street. He requested the name “Screwed” but officials said no. Since he did “get the shaft,” he was allowed to select that moniker. 66

  » SHAFT: Street sign in front of Milsap Elementary School

  SHAKESPEARE: William – He was the “Bard of Avon.” Need we say more?

  SHAMROCK: This tiny street is all that remains of one of our city’s greatest legends. The Shamrock Hotel wasn’t just a building. Newspaper society columnist Bill Roberts said, “the opening of the Shamrock changed Houston forever.” It was built at a cost of $21 million by Glenn “King of the Wildcatters” McCarthy, a legend in his own right. Opening night, March 17, 1949 (St. Patrick’s Day), the Shamrock hosted the greatest party in Houston’s history. McCarthy had private trains bring the biggest movie stars of the day from California to attend. It was “a cast of thousands” including Dorothy Lamour, Maureen O’Hara, Ginger Rogers, Walter Brennan, Robert Stack and Edgar Bergen among them. An estimated 50,000 people lined South Main Street to see the stars roll by in yellow convertibles. It was such a scene that Texas-bashing author Edna Ferber modeled the character Jett Rink after McCarthy and called the hotel the “Conquistador” in her novel Giant. This 18-story, 1,110-room structure was the largest hotel built in America in the 1940s. The pool was so massive (165’x142’) that water skiing exhibitions were held in it. McCarthy experienced huge financial reversals in the 1950s and lost control of the property in 1952. Hilton acquired the hotel in 1954 but it just was not the same anymore. The Shamrock fell to the wrecking ball in 1987 while more than 20,000 Houstonians attended a “grand Irish wake” to celebrate the life of this greatest of legends. (See Glenhaven.)67

  » SHAMROCK: The fabulous Shamrock Hotel

  SHANGRI LA: This mythical place name is from James Hilton’s novel Lost Horizon. Released in 1939 it was the first paperback novel ever published by Ian Ballantine, a pioneer in that field. It was also made into a successful motion picture by the great director Frank Capra. Hidden the Kuen-Lun mountains, the Valley of Shangri La with its lamasery is a peaceful place. It is a good read filled with adventure, mystery, religion and philosophy. 68

  SHARMAN: (See Eichwurzel.)

  SHARP: Walter Benona Sharp was an oilman and a partner of Howard R. Hughes Sr. Their drilling rigs found it impossible to drill through hard rock. Sharp knew Hughes had an inventive mind and put him to work to improve the technology of oil drilling. Hughes developed the rock bit with its movable cone-shaped cutters with steel teeth. In 1909 they founded the Sharp-Hughes Tool Company to mass-produce these revolutionary bits. Unfortunately Sharp died in 1912 and Hughes derived a massive fortune from this patented product that changed the petroleum industry forever. 69

  » SHARPSTOWN: Developer Frank Sharp

  SHARPSTOWN: In 1936 Frank W. Sharp started a construction company with capital of $150. Ten years later, sensing the pent-up demand for housing in Houston following World War II, Sharp said, “See all that land? I’m going to build $32 million dollars worth of homes there. It’ll be a city with 25,000 people living in it.” And he made good on this bodacious promise. Sharp developed Oak Forest, Brookhaven, Jacinto City, Royden Oaks and Lamar-Wesleyan before building his crown jewel, Sharpstown. In 1954 Sharp unveiled plans for this mega-project. To assure its success Sharp and others donated land for the Southwest Freeway. The thoroughfare makes a leftward bend at Westpark so it goes through the middle of his development. In 1961 Sharpstown Center opened as the city’s first totally airconditioned shopping mall. 70

  SHARTLE: Thomas – The Shartle family were landowners and early residents of Hunters Creek Village. 71

  SHEARN: Charles – The third church in the city was a Methodist congregation in 1837. Shearn, was a member in good standing so it was called Shearn Church, later renamed First Methodist. He was called “a most earnest and devout Christian and he devoted his life to the advancement of the Church.” 72

  SHEKEL: The developers of the Woodforest Addition must have had some interest in old coinage. A shekel is an ancient Hebrew coin of gold or silver weighing approximately half an ounce. That neighborhood also contains a street called Two Penny, an Americanized spelling of the English “two pence,” a very small coin of low value. 184

  SHELDON: Henry K. – Located on the old Texas & New Orleans Railroad route, this village and the street are named for a New York investor in that railroad. The Sheldon Reservoir and Wildlife Management Area, on the east side of town, have the same provenance. 73

  SHELL COMPANY: The Shell Oil Company’s Houston operations and docks are located on the Ship Channel in Deer Park. This huge corporation began as a small antique, curio and seashell shop in London. The owner, Marcus Samuel, began exporting oil for lamps and cooking under the name Shell Transport & Trading Company in 1897. In 1904 he chose a pecten shell as the firm’s logo – still used today. The company expanded into oil and gas production and chemicals as the years went by. Today it is one of the world’s biggest energy companies. 74

  SHENANDOAH: See sidebar America the Beautiful, page 176.

  SHENANDOAH: This bedroom community was developed in the 1960s as Shenandoah Valley. It was made popular by its large lots and low land costs as well as lower tax and insurance rates.75

  SHEPHERD: Benjamin A. – Shepherd was a Virginian who came to Houston in 1844. In 1847 his Commercial and Agricultural Bank became the first chartered bank in Texas. Although he was not invited in 1866 to be a founder of the city’s first national bank, he was elected to the board of directors a year later. In 1867 he was named president of the First National Bank when it encountered financial difficulties following the Civil War. Shepherd managed the bank with an iron hand for the next 25 years. He was one of the incorporators of the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos & Colorado Railroad as well as one of the founders of the Cotton Exchange and Board of Trade in 1874. The town of Shepherd in San Jacinto County was named for him following his laying out of the route of the Houston, East & West Texas Railroad in 1875. The family, now six generations old, gave the city land for Shepherd Drive and funded the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. 76

  » SHEPHERD: Benjamin A. - tombstone in Glenwood cemetery

  SHEPHERD: Thomas – An Englishman, Shepherd arrived in Texas in the 1840s. He bought 1,000 acres fronting on the east bank of Cedar Bayou and built Willesden Plantation. This farmer, sailor and boat builder died in 1881. 77

  SHERIDAN: Philip Henry – Although Sheridan was not a brilliant tactician, he was a leader and one of the better cavalry officers in the Union army during the Civil War. He saw action at the battles of Murfreesboro, Chickamauga and the Wilderness to name a few. His scorched earth strategy in the Shenandoah Campaign was so successful it was said “a crow flying over the pla
ce would have to take his rations with him.” 78

  SHERMAN: Sidney – Although Yankees might think this street is named for William Tecumseh “War is Hell” Sherman, one of the greatest of the Union generals in the Civil War, it actually honors Sidney Sherman, a hero of the battle of San Jacinto. He commanded the left wing of the Texas Army in that decisive engagement. Sherman launched the attack with the now famous battle cry “Remember the Alamo.” The city and county of Sherman are named for him as well. 79

  SHERWOOD FOREST: This ancient English forest north of Nottingham is best remembered as the refuge of Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men.

  SHETLAND: See sidebar All Things English, page 175.

  SHILOH: One of the bloodiest battles of the War between the States took place on April 6-7, 1862 at Shiloh Church near Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee. General Ulysses S. Grant squared off against General Albert Sidney Johnson. Each army experienced losses exceeding 10,000 men. The South won the first day but lost General Johnson. The Rebels withdrew as reinforcements poured in for Grant. This battle was a key to the Union’s later successful campaigns in the West. 80

  » SHILOH: Texas Memorial at the Shiloh National Military park

  SHOOTING CENTER: A short drive on this street into the Barker Reservoir Flood Control Pool leads to the North American Hunting Club’s American Shooting Center. This club is America’s largest association of hunting enthusiasts. Intersecting streets include Skeet and Trap as well as Pigeon. (See Skeet and Trap and Pigeon.) 81

  SHOREACRES: This boulevard and small community on Galveston Bay were incorporated in 1949. It was originally called Bay Oaks. That community is honored by a street but it is just outside the Shoreacres city limit in La Porte and named for the spacious waterfront lots on the northwestern edge of Galveston Bay, Shoreacres suffered catastrophic damage from Hurricane Ike in 2008 when a 15-20 foot storm surge rendered 88% of its homes unlivable. 82, 83

  » SHOREACRES: Hurricane lke damaged hundreds of homes here in 2008

  SHORT SHELL: Although this Independence Heights street is officially called 31 1/2 Street on city maps, everyone in the neighborhood knows it as “Short Shell.” When it was graded between 31st and 32nd streets, it was only two blocks long (extending from Courtland to Yale) and paved with oyster shells, thus the nickname. 84

  SHORTHORN: This street is located near Jersey Village, a town with a long history of cattle production. Shorthorns are one of the oldest recognized breeds of cattle in the world. They came from northeastern England near Northumberland and York. In 1783 they arrived in the U. S. Shorthorns were prized for the quality of their milk and meat. And of course here in Texas this street intersects Longhorn Circle. 85

  SIBELIUS: Jean – This Finnish composer of romantic, nationalistic works died in 1957. He is best remembered for his symphonic poem, Finlandia, written in 1899. 86

  SIDNEY: The area known as the Brady Place Addition contains the names of many members of the Brady clan. General Sidney Sherman was John Brady’s father-in-law. (See Brady and Sherman.) 79

  SIEDEL CEMETERY: Also known as the Rosehill Cemetery, this burying ground is the final resting place of a number of German immigrant families for whom we have streets named. Interred here are members of the Siedel, Scholl, Burkhardt, Mueller, Juergen, Martens, Hirsch and Robeck families. (See Siedel.) 185

  SIEDEL: This family of German immigrants settled east of Tomball, Texas in the 1800s. A number of these early residents are buried in the Siedel Cemetery that is just south of this lane including Gustave (1849-1924), Mary (1848-1934) and Fridericke Siedel (1815-1879). (See Siedel Cemetery.) 87

  SILBER: H. F. – This Spring Branch road is named after a gentleman who was a major landowner and farmer in the area and granted the city the right of way through his property. 88

  SILLS: (See Stockdick School.)

  SILVER: Located in a Stafford neighborhood with streets named for Kentucky Derby winners is this street named for an even more famous horse owned by the Lone Ranger, Hi-Ho Silver. It’s a mystery why Tonto’s Scout was left out. 89

  SIMMONS: Claude C. or William L. – See sidebar Houston Streets Named for Men Killed During World War I, page 22.

  SIMS: Bartlett – Evidence indicates this street as well as the bayou it parallels is named for this early area resident and member of Stephen F. Austin’s Old 300. He arrived in Texas in the 1820s. Sims was an Indian fighter and later a surveyor for Austin. He married in 1825 and became a rancher and farmer. Sims died in 1862. Sims Bayou is a meandering estuary that rises just inside the southern city limit of Houston, flows 28 miles through town and empties into the Houston Ship Channel. 90, 91

  SINCLAIR: Today Sinclair Oil & Refining Company is a subsidiary of ARCO. However, the firm was started in 1916 by one of the more colorful characters in the history of the petroleum industry. Harry Ford Sinclair was born in Wheeling, W.Va., July 6 1876. He started to become a pharmacist but in 1901, he went into the oil business. He dreamed of becoming bigger than John D. Rockefeller. Harry flew in private aircraft at a time when other oil barons took the train. He went to the new Soviet Union, met Lenin, and promised to raise money via bond issues in exchange for oil rights in Siberia. Sinclair returned to America to find that he was the key participant in the Teapot Oil Dome scandal of 1923. He allegedly bribed the United States Secretary of the Interior, Albert Fall, in return for the rights to the Elk Hills and Teapot Dome U.S. Navy oil reserves. He was acquitted of bribery charges but later was given a 9-month prison sentence for contempt of court and of Congress, a term he served in 1927. He died in Pasadena, California on November 10, 1956. This Pasadena, Texas street recalls this swashbuckling wildcatter and his company that most remember by its famous “Dino the Dinosaur” gasoline advertisements. 92

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

  SINGER: See sidebar Fairbanks Could Have Its Own Concours d’ Elegance and Road Rally, page 140.

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

  SINGLETON: James W. – He arrived in Texas in 1828. Singleton fought in the Texas Revolution for which he was awarded 1/3 of a league of land near where Baytown is today. Like many soldiers who were paid with land there is no record that he every lived on it. 93

  SIR RALEIGH: Sir Walter Raleigh was an English soldier of fortune, writer, explorer and courtier. He once laid his cape across a mud puddle so Queen Elizabeth I could cross without mussing her shoes and gown. He partiticipated in the colonization of America and led expeditions to find the lost city of gold, El Dorado. Eventually charged with treason he was executed in 1618 for attacking Spanish galleons when under orders from the Crown to not engage them. 94

  SITTING BULL: This Dakota Sioux chief’s refusal to return to the reservation in 1876 lead to the campaign that included the Battle at Little Bighorn where General George A. Custer and his troops were wiped out. Fearing retribution he took his people to Canada. Sitting Bull returned to the U.S. where he was killed in 1890. ( See Crazy Horse and Custer.) 95

  SIVLEY: According to Jerry Wood, deputy assistant director of the City of Houston Planning & Development Department, this oddly named street is Elvis spelled backwards with a “y” added. What prompted the developer to come up with this name is not known. 96

  SJOLANDER: John Peter – Born in Sweden in 1851, at 15 he left home for Germany. Sjolander was a prisoner of war during the Franco-Prussian War. When freed in 1871, he went to Wales and boarded a ship bound for Galveston. As a young man he was a brick maker, boat builder, lighter captain, history buff and writer. He farmed for a living but because of the quality of his poetry he was called the “Sage of Cedar Bayou.” His works appeared in Peterson’s Magazine, New York Weekly, Galveston News and New Orleans Times-Democrat. His only book, Salt of the Earth and Sea, was published in 1928. Sjolander died in 1939 and is buried at Cedar Bayou. (See Cedar Bayou.) 97

  SKEET & TRAP: This form of sport shooting was created in Andover, Massachusetts in 1
920. It involves clay discs called “pigeons” being thrown from traps. Marksmen use shotguns in an attempt to bring down these simulated birds. The pigeons are fired upon from a series of stations arranged around an arc. (See Shooting Center.) 98

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

  SLEEPY HOLLOW: This is the secluded glen where Washington Irving set his tale The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. (See Washington Irving, Brom Bones, Crane and Tarrytown.) 99

  SMADA: This is Adams spelled backwards. A. J. Adams owned the Adams Ranch here on Oyster Creek. In addition, Adams Street in Missouri City is named for him. (See Lemac.) 100, 101

  SMITH: Benjamin F. – His military career started as a member of Andrew Jackson’s staff during the Battle of New Orleans. Smith arrived in Texas in 1832. He saw action in the Revolution at the battles of Gonzales, Goliad and Siege of Bexar. He was the inspector-general at the battle of San Jacinto. In 1837 he built the city’s first hotel. For unknown reasons he operated it for less than six months before selling it. The next year he was made president of the Board of Land Commissioners of Harrisburg. 102

  SMITH: More than likely this Brazoria street is named for an early settler, Henry Smith. He was the first governor of the independent state of Texas before it became a republic. Smith was ornery. The Congress removed him from office. However, in reply Smith dismissed that legislative body. 103

  SMITHDALE: E. C. Smith, an early resident, owned the land where this road is today. It was originally called Smith Road but was later changed to its present name to prevent confusion at the post office for mail delivery to Smith Street. 104