Interurban Station - Milby Hotel
3 August 1914: A. Interurban Car with arched windows. Trains left every hour for Galveston for a fare of $1.25 and a trip of 1 hour and 40 minutes. B. Houston Electric Trolley Car with clerestory roof vent, fare of 5 cents bought travel across most of the town. 1. 1006-08 Texas: Interurban Building with ticket office and waiting room, offices of Galveston-Houston Electric Railway and The Stone & Webster Engineering Corporation; 2. 1002 Texas: Houston News Company managed by Louis H. Morris sold books and souvenirs (probably including postcards); 3. 601-3 Main: Wicks & Company ice cream parlor and soda fountain operated by Moye Wicks (who roomed at the Bristol Hotel and also operated Gem Theater the next block up at 505 Main), Theodore Frank’s fruit stand (who lived on-site), and one of J. N. Taub's numerous cigar stands (The Taub family, including father Jacob N., & sons Max, Sam, and Ben, lived at 1302 Main); 4. 602-604 Main: Upper floors held the shirt and underwear factory of The Hamilton Brothers (J. Brook, William E., George H., Bernard J., and Arthur L.), Dr. James F. Allen, physician and William C. Neel Shoes, and on the first level, Crescent Theater and. Anthony Lamantia cigars (See Main at Texas South for a view down Main Street); 5. 902-06 Texas: The Milby Hotel operated by Charles F. Parker; 6. 602-04 Travis: The Houston Post Building, G. J. Palmer, general manager; 7. What seems to be a temporary construction building; 8. 518-20 Travis: The Chronicle Building, with the Houston Club on the 10th floor, Marcellus Foster was president and editor-in-chief of the Houston Chronicle; 9. 909 Texas: The Rice Hotel, 17 floors (in 1914), 1913, Homer D. Matthews, manager, offering rooms $1.50 and up.
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14 May 2019: 1. 609 Main: Hines North Tower, Texas Avenue loading docks and 2-level underground parking plus 11-level parking with entrance on Fannin, 48 floors, 2017; 2. 900 Texas: JPMorgan Chase Center, commercial on lower levels, parking and offices on upper levels, 20 floors, 1982; 3. 600 Travis: JP Morgan Center (Texas Commerce), 75 floors, 1982; 4. 615 Louisiana: Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts, 1966; 5. 717 Texas: Calpine Center, 34 floors, 2003; 6. 909 Texas: Rice Hotel, 18 floors (18th added in 1951).
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Postmarked: 3 August 1914; Houston, Texas
Stamp: 1c Green George Washington #405 To: Mrs O. Broussard Port Allen, La. Message: 1820 Brazos Houston Tex Had a lovely time from the time we boarded the train until now. Will write a letter in the after-noon We might stay longer With love Laurence “Uneeda Biscuit” advertised packaged crackers available for 5 cents a box. This was a great improvement to biscuits sold in barrels by the scoop, especially in Houston where the humidity could turn crackers to mush in short order. Advertising for Uneeda Biscuits was ubiquitous across America, and painted billboards can still be found today: “Lest you forget, we say it yet, Uneeda biscuit,” pronounced “You-Need-A” and accompanied with a boy dressed in a hat and raincoat. It was one of the late 19th century’s most successful advertising campaigns, and led to more advertising featuring adorable children spouting rhyming jingles. These crackers were produced by NBC (National Biscuit Company, now Nabisco), and in Houston a new factory had been built in 1910 at 15 North Chenevert at Ruiz one block north of Commerce. This building still stands one block north of Commerce in downtown Houston, at the entrance ramp to northbound I-69, now converted to apartments called City View Lofts.
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Mrs O. Broussard has not been found, nor Laurence identified. The address at 1820 Brazos was occupied by Eliza J.Grainger DeLesdernier, widow of Louis Frederick and children John R. and Aimee Lee. No connection between DeLesdernier and Broussard families can be found, so it may be supposed that Laurence was staying as a boarder.
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