Congress at Travis
31 October 1917: The image seems to date from about 1912, sold locally until at least the date of the present postcard in 1917. 1. 901-903 Congress, Mistrot-Munn Co. retail dry goods store, Gustave Antoine Mistrot and Wiley Cooper Munn. In 1913 Munn struck out on his own and built a store of his own (See W. C. Munn's); 2. 905-909 Congress: Julius Corte, shoemaker; L. G. Dreyling, barber, Stude Holding Assn, a real estate firm with a baking sideline; 3. 216-220 Main: Union National Bank Building, 12 floors 1910 (See another postcard in this series, Union National Bank; 4. 219 Main: Houston National Exchange Bank, founded by Henry Samuel Fox, Sr. (1833-1912) (see Main at Dallas for a view of his home, after whose death the bank came under the control of the co-founder, Joseph F. Meyer, and relocated;
5. 301 Main: Sweeney (Coombs & Harris) Building, three stories, designed by George Dickey in 1889, with tenants at about this time including a shoemaker Gaetano Rumore, a jeweler Leo Mazow, a lunchroom run by James Cotopoulos, a clothes cleaner Alex Chiacos, a cigar store, and a garment factory; 6. 300-302 Main: This 1912 image shows the Sterne Building before it burned in 1916 and was replaced by Sam Sterne's daughter, Pauline Sterne Wolff, with a modernized structure within the same general contours. Street-Level tenants included Krupp and Tuffly, a clothing and shoe store owned by owned by Mattie Marie Tuffly (1862-1945), widow of Louis John Tuffly (1851-1907), and Cockrell's Drug Store. On the second floor, visitors could find the offices of various medical professionals and real estate agents; 7. 912 Congress: Harris Becker, jeweler and Joseph E. Chestnutt, barber; 8. 908-910 Congress: Big Casino Restaurant and Saloon, operated by Emile Clede and Henry Koenig (See an earlier postcard from near the same perspective, Congress at Travis); 9. 902-904 Congress: On the first level John Callahan, saloon and Sol Schoenmann, hats, and on upper levels, Hotel Congress, William H. Pratt, proprietor. |
10 June 2009: 1. 903 Congress: Hotel Icon Parking; 2. 216-220 Main, Hotel Icon (Union National Bank), 12 floors 1910; 3. 201 Main: Franklin Lofts Garage Parking; 4. 1013-1019 Congress, Congress Plaza 13 floors parking and 4 floors for courts, (built on site of Zindler Building} 1987; 5. 201 Caroline, Harris County Civil Justice Center, 37 courtrooms, 18 floors, 2005. 6. 301 Main Street: Sweeney Building with turret blocked by trees, 3 floors, 1889; 7. 300 Main: The Sterne Building features Boomtown Coffee on the first level, and offices for attorneys and professionals on upper levels; 8. 924 Congress: OKRA Charity Saloon, where patrons dedicate a portion of their payment to local charities of their choice; 9. 908 Congress: Batanga, a South American tapas restaurant includes an outdoor patio for pleasant days and indoor dining for more typical Houston weather; 10. 1001 Preston, Harris County Annex, 10 floors, 1978; 11. 305 Travis: Louis and Anne Friedman Clock Tower [Market Square Clock Tower] 1996.
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Postmarked: 31 October 1917; Comstock, NY
Stamp: 1c Green George Washington#405 To: Mrs, C, W, Cook, 866 Brodway, Albany, N, Y, Message: Dear Mother & all are you all dead down there we are not but have watched for a word from you are watched to see you come but have not seen neither. You had better come in the rain for it wont stop for you so ans soon and come to see us all love from all Sate |
Mrs. C. W. Cook could not be located with the tools at hand, nor could her daughter (or son) Sate be identified. The postmark from Comstock, New York creates a riddle about how a Houston postcard came to be used so far from its origin. Comstock was the location of Great Meadow Prison, at the time of the postcard just a couple of years completed. The New York census of 1915 comprised a tally of prisoners and guard personnel, but no links to anyone named Sate or Cook. Since the author of the card implores Mrs. Cook to “come … see us all,” and speaks in the plural, it seems that Sate was not an inmate. Albany city directories were not helpful in locating the Cook family on Broadway or any other street. In view of this lack of data it must be left for further inquiries, but perhaps a reader encountering this internet publication can volunteer information.
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