Main at Preston - Foley Brothers

3 December 1934: 1. 403 Main: Scanlan Building, 12 floors, 1909; 2. 407-9
Main: Marquee: "Foley Bros." Dry Goods, 9 floors, by this time the largest mercantile establishment in Houston. The floor plan was T-shaped, with wings at the back that gave access onto Preston Street to the north and Prairie Street to the south; 3. 415 Main: Marquee: "Franklin's" Ladies' Clothing Store; 4. 513-19 Main: The Binz Bldg, 6 floors, 1895; 5. 914 Main: Chamber of Commerce Building, 24 floors, 1929; 6. 802-808 Main: Second National Bank Building (Carter Building), 17 floors, 1917, 6 added floors 1923-25; 7. 710-724 Main: Gulf Building, 37 floors, 1929; 8. 708 Main: Bankers Mortgage Building, 10 floors, 1908, (1921 north building expansion to Capitol); 9. 518 Main (909 Texas): Rice Hotel, 17 floors, opened 1913, 3rd wing added in 1925; 10. 420 Main: Title Guaranty Building (Second National Bank, Lumberman's Bank), 3 floors, 1908; 11. 412 Main: State National Bank Building, 15 floors, 1923.

For one of the earliest locations of the Foley Brothers, see the 1906 postcard of The Cotton Exchange, where the William L. Foley store can be seen at left advertising Dry Goods, Carpets, Etc..

3 August 2012: Placement of the camera is a few feet off, but standing on the tracks would have been dangerous, and might have earned a ticket from the lurking police. 1. 403 Main: Scanlan Building, 12 floors, 1909; 2. 501 Main: McCrory Building (included Isis Theatre 1913-1929, once a silent movie theater), 3 floors, 1912; 3. Texas 1001: Binz Building, 13 floors, 1982; 4. 705 Main: St. Germain Lofts (S. H. Kress Five and Dime department store), 8 floors, 1913 (renovated 1999 to apartments); 5. 811 Main: BG Group Place (Main Place, Block 93), 46 floors, 2011; 6. 1021 Main: One City Centre (First National Bank), 32 floors, 1961; 7. 1000 Main: Reliant Energy Plaza, 36 floors, 2003; 8. 712 Main: Gulf Building, 36 floors, 1929; 9. 601 Travis (901 Capitol, 600 Main, 900 Texas): JPMorgan Chase Center, 20 floors, 1982; 10. 909 Texas: Rice Hotel, 17 floors, opened 1913, 3rd wing added in 1925, 18th floor added 1951; 11. 420 Main: Byrd's Lofts (Byrd's Department Store), 4 floors, 1934 {built on the site of Lumberman's Bank}; 12. 412 Main: Moxy Hotel (State National Bank Building), 15 floors, 1923.

The Foley Brothers building was demolished after it was moved into its new modern building at 1110 Main in 1947 where Foley's occupied the entire block. That iconic store itself was imploded on September 22, 2013 to be replaced by 23 floor Hilcorp Energy Tower facing Travis at #1111 in 2016,

To: Mrs Bessie Kaiser
3217 Phoenix Ave
Cincinnati Ohio

Postmarked: December 3, 1934 Houston, Texas 2
Stamp: 1c Deep Green Ben Franklin #552

Message: Dear Ma., Arrived here today & am leaving tomorrow for Mobile.
sure is nice down here, warm weather & everything answer to ship a New Orleans
Ted

Ted Kaiser was born 28 May 1912, so he was 22 years old when he wrote this card to his mother in Cheviot, just northwest of Cincinnati, Ohio. He was at the time a sailor visiting Houston only briefly on his way to New Orleans, LA. He was rather tall at six feet two inches, with blue eyes and brown hair, the third in his line to be called Theodore Kaiser. The first of the line was his grandfather, Theodore Charles [or Conrad, in some records] Kaiser, born in 1863 in Ohio, son of Conrad Kaiser and Barbara Schneider from Germany and Switzerland. Ted’s father was Theodore Charles Kaiser, his mother Bessie Price, daughter of Newton P. Price and Sedora Jane Blackburn.

Ted was eldest child, and became independent as a young man, leaving behind a large family of siblings: Bessie (1913), Lawrence Price (1915), Albert Victor (1918), Frank Woerner (1921), Mary Jane (1923), Richard Calvin (1927), plus two other brothers and two other sisters whose names are held private in the records. In addition, his mother lost twins in 1916, and a daughter in 1920. Bessie was the mother of 14 children, certainly a challenge for the wife of a plumber. Ted knew the difficulties facing his mother, and must have wanted to reassure her that he was all right.

Theodore Harry Kaiser was in the merchant marine fleet before World War II, and on 19 January 1937 in Ohio he married Gladys Juanita Richardson, born 14 July 1920 in Chattanooga, TN, daughter of Samuel Richardson and Rosa King. Ted served in WWII Merchant Marine Service from 7 April 1944 until 15 August 1945. Ted and Gladys had two daughters, but the marriage came to an end and Gladys remarried 21 June 1958 in Los Angeles County, CA to Norman J. East. Ted Kaiser died 24 April 1990 in Orange County, CA; Gladys Juanita East died in 2005 and she and Norman East are buried in Willamette National Cemetery in Clark County, WA.

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Ted Kaiser in 1935

Foley Brothers Store in 1924