South Belt Houston Digital History Archive

Saturday, September 13, 2025

The Breezeway Club

this is zoomed in from an September 28, 1966 aerial of the opening of Foley's (two years ahead of Almeda Mall)

Near the clover leaf exchange that would become Fuqua you can see the large barn looking building that was The Breezeway Club

The first ad I can find appeared in January 1961, although the owner, Hardie Ray Harrison's obituary in January 1990 stated he'd started the club in 1958. It closed in 1980.

The Breezeway and the Gulf-Way Drive In Theater ads ran next to each other, Jan. 20, 1961

Charlie Walker, July 1977

another aerial from the opposite direction, 1978

Granny's Money was a local game room that opened in the summer of 1976 at Almeda Square but closed by early 1977. They had been in the shopping center on Hughes where Safeway, Vaudeville Pizza, and Eckerds were, moved to Almeda Square, and found it cost prohibitive to return.

Seeking any photos in existence!

Wednesday, November 27, 2024

Marie Remembers: Origins of the Holiday Food & Toy Drive

With news of Marie's passing on November 12, 2024, I revisited some conversations I'd taped with her on a visit some years back and matched the few minutes she'd remembered the start of the Thanksgiving and then Holiday Food and Toy Drive (that is still ongoing in the community today) with photos and news clippings from the Leader.

To try and fit all of the photos I'd collected, they had to be sped up to only a few seconds each in the video above.

So, if you'd prefer to linger and read through the pieces and the captions, here they are:

1983

November 1983

Christmas 1983

1984

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995 & 1996 Are not yet available online

1997

The digitization of the papers only reaches 1997 and the online availability of the PDFs through the Leader only go back to 2008, so there is a decade missing for now, until the UNT Portal to Texas History is able to scan and add them to their site.

2008