Goose Creek's Del Mont Hotel

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Back in the late 1920's or maybe 1930 a hotel was built on the corners of W. Defee and N. Ashbel streets. It was the Del Mont hotel ad as you can see, it is still very much uinchanged. albeit no longer a hotel. I have been contacted by the wonderful historian Trevia Beverly requesting information on this building.

Ms. Beverly is a real sweetheart and I've had the pleasure of working with her on two histrical markers right here in Baytown. She is one of the many experts at the Harris County Historical Commission and a professional genealogist.

According to the note I received, the owners daughter states: "I believe the hotel was built somewhere in the mid 1920s and was the first hotel in Baytown. It has been owned by my father since the mid 1970s. My grandparents lived there and operated it as a hotel for temporary housing for Exxon turnaround employees. My grandfather operated his carpentry shop out of one half of the building before purchasing the building across the street from the hotel where he had a thriving antique furniture business".

In the next few days I am going to photograph the old building in greater detail than these, my older photos. Any and all information and memories of the Del Mont hotel can be submitted via the comments section of this blog or directy to me here: baytownbert at gmail.com
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Red light camera election ruled invalid

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Question (for Baytown's mayor Stephen DonCarlos):  Mr. Mayor, will this affect Baytown?

Answer: Bert-We don’t know yet. Our ATS suit is in State District Court, not Federal, so we don’t yet know if this ruling will set a precedent. Also-we have a slightly different fact situation for the Court  to consider. Needless to say, we are monitoring the situation. SDC.
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Original Baytown Seafood Building Blackened!

Building 6-17-11 after a fire destroyed it.

Original Baytown Seafood Restaurant Burns Down: MyFoxHOUSTON.com

Well, I imagine there was the smell of charred shrimp and blackened fish in old Pelly the other night and many might have thought it was business as usual, but wait, what? The old building was going up in grease-perfumed smoke?  There is definately something fishy about this.

Well, it's not like it was any real loss, since the battered old building was vacant and set to be demolished like a Friday night side order of oysters...but it was the original location and I suppose some folks might be floundering in sediment, er, uh, I mean sentiment. Adios old beat-up building.

Update: 6-23-11  Building is down.  New building is behind it.

Note: I've eaten there many times and since no one was hurt or hurting, I just wanted to have a little fun with the story.
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Coleman's Carwash on N. Main

 

Well, I see Coleman's Carwash on N. Main here in beautiful Baytown is up for sale  Good deal.  That particular car wash was one more beauty before it was sold to these people.  It started down hill almost immediately.  The landscaping alone must have cost a fortune and I don't believe it's been tended to since the Coleman's bought it.  It looks like a jungle from the road, all grown up and everything.

Each time I've stopped in there, something wasn't working properly, notably the wax option.  Pity, but maybe someone will buy the place and restore it to its former state.  North Main surely does not need another business that looks trashy.

Massey Tompkins Gets A Sidewalk!

Massey Tompkins is getting an upgrade!  New sidewalk from SH-146 to North Main and it's about time.  Baytown, if you haven't noticed is very hostile towards people on foot and bicycles.  I applaud the city for making this possible.  Next, I would love to see our new councilman Bob Hoskins get a sidewalk and shoulder down McKinney Road.  That place has lots of foot traffic and is flat out dangerous for children going to one of the convenience stores.  Don't even try to ride a bicycle on that road either.  I speak from experience.
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BNC- 1st Nurture Nature Class - Geocaching

A small group of future geocachers met today at the Baytown Nature Center, 6213 Bayway Drive for the first class in a monthly education series called the Nurture Nature Series.


The Nurture Nature Series is the first Saturday of each month from 10:00 – 11:00 am. The program is free with the regular admission of $3 (children under 13 are free) to the Nature Center. “Reptiles” will be the next topic in the series on July 2. Interested in participating? Call 281-420-7128 to RSVP and make sure your space is reserved.

Larry Houston was the guest speaker.  In geocaching circles, he is known as HoustonControl and is a mover and shaker in the Houston area with over 4400 "finds" and a 110 "hides", some of which are in the Baytown Nature Center proper.  Larry has also earned a Platinum Earthcache Master badge, awarded by the GSA (www.earthcache.org) and has geocached in 7 countries around the world. He is Baytown's resident expert geocacher.

 

After Larry ran through the history of geocaching and the basics, he turned it over to me (geocaching name: BaytownBert) and I talked about what to carry with you when you go out on a geocaching adventure.  Everything from bug spray to emergency supplies.

Following up was a cacher from La Porte known as JustDucky2, who explained what "trackable items" were and even sported a tattoo with a trackable serial number.  Trackable items are special dog tags or coins with a dedicated set of alpha-numeric characters that travel from geocache to geocache and are recorded on geocaching.com, when found by geocachers.

We then broke off into groups and went and looked for some of HoustonControl's permanent geocaches inside the park and a few he put out just for this workshop - which are not recordable.  All and all, we had a great time and everyone attending left with a ready to hide geocache furnished by BaytownBert, with the promise to hide it after they had recorded their first 50 "finds".

Nature Center Program to Explore Geocaching!

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Looking for a great opportunity to get outdoors and learn more about nature? A new monthly program, the Nurture Nature Series, held at the Baytown Nature Center (6213 Bayway Dr.), offers something for anyone looking to get out and enjoy nature while exploring the local area. The series premieres Saturday, June 4, from 10 – 11 am, with an introduction to the fun and entertaining sporting activity known as geocaching.

Larry Houston, a local geocacher, will discuss geocaching and share information on groups and websites where people can participate in this popular pastime. For the uninitiated, geocaching is a “hide and seek” game where players use GPS-enabled devices in an attempt to locate hidden containers, known as geocaches. After finding a cache, they may then log their find and interact with others online.

Houston will lead a geocache hunt for interested participants to search for some of the caches hidden within the Nature Center (there are over 25 caches hidden inside the park). The Nature Center will have 12 handheld GPS units available and participants may also bring their own. Geocaching apps are available online for both iPhones and Android phones.

“This is a wonderful hobby suitable for the entire family,” said City of Baytown Public Affairs Coordinator and local geocacher, Patti Jett, whose family of four has logged over 430 geocaches. “Everyone loves finding a hidden treasure, especially kids. This is something we can do together – getting outside and actually seeing places we might never go otherwise.”

With over 1.3 million registered geocaches active world-wide, and hundreds located in the Baytown area, playing the game is as simple as heading out the front door.

The Nurture Nature Series is the first Saturday of each month from 10:00 – 11:00 am. The program is free with the regular admission of $3 (children under 13 are free) to the Nature Center. “Reptiles” will be the next topic in the series on July 2. Interested in participating? Call 281-420-7128 to RSVP and make sure your space is reserved.
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