Historic Pasadena, Texas

HISTORIC PASADENA, TEXAS 

An Illustrated History 

By C. David Pomeroy, Jr. 

A publication of the Pasadena Historical Society

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HISTORIC 

PASADENA, TEXAS 


By C. David Pomeroy, Jr. 

Commissioned by 

The Pasadena Historical Society 

Historical Publishing Network 

A division of Lammert Incorporated 

San Antonio, Texas

First Edition 

Copyright © 2011 Historical Publishing Network 

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, without permission in writing 

from the publisher. All inquiries should be addressed to Historical Publishing Network, 11535 Galm Road, Suite 101, San Antonio, Texas, 78254. Phone (800) 749-9790. 

ISBN: 978-1-935377-32-0 

Library of Congress Card Catalog Number: 2011920552 

Historic Pasadena, Texas: An Illustrated History 

author: C. David Pomeroy, Jr. 

contributing writer for “Sharing the heritage”: Joe Goodpasture 

Brenda Thompson 

Historical Publishing Network 

president: 

project manager: 

administration: 

book sales: 

production: 

Ron Lammert 

Wynn Buck 

Curtis Courtney 

Donna M. Mata 

Melissa G. Quinn 

Dee Steidle 

Colin Hart 

Evelyn Hart 

Glenda Tarazon Krouse 

Omar Wright 

2 ✦ HISTORIC PASADENA, TEXAS

CONTENTS 

4 PASADENA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

5 INTRODUCTION 

6 CHAPTER I Initial Settlement 1890 to 1899 

10 CHAPTER II Early Community Development 1900 to 1909 

15 CHAPTER III Area Development 1910 to 1919 

22 CHAPTER IV Struggle to Incorporate 1920 to 1929 

28 CHAPTER V The Great Depression and Great Changes 1930 to 1938 

34 CHAPTER VI The World War II Years 1939 to 1945 

41 CHAPTER VII Post War Boom 1946 to 1955 

51 CHAPTER VIII The Move South 1 956 to 1980 

62 CHAPTER IX Pasadena Redefines Itself 1981 to present 

73 FOR ADDITIONAL READING—HISTORIC PASADENA, TEXAS 

77 SHARING THE HERITAGE 

109 SPONSORS 

Contents ✦ 3

PASADENA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

BY KEITH NIELSEN 

Pasadena Historical Society 

Board of Directors 

Keith Nielsen 

Chairman of the Board 

Jackie Reeves Spigener 

President 

Catherine Carlisle 

Vice President 

Pat Riley 

Vice President 

Diane Stanley 

Treasurer 

Rita Salter 

Recording Secretary 

Anne Nielsen, Rosie Richards 

Membership 

Marie Reed 

Corresponding Secretary 

EJ Ritchey 

Parliamentarian 

Edna Pierce 

Museum Coordinator 

As the chairman of the 

board of the Pasadena 

Historical Society I am proud 

to be part of bringing this 

Historical Pasadena book to 

Pasadena. This book will 

become a significant part of 

preserving Pasadena’s history 

and will be cherished by 

many. Our thanks go out 

to all who participated in 

Historical Pasadena and for 

supporting the Pasadena 

Historical Society. 

The Pasadena Historical 

Society is housed at Heritage Park in one of Pasadena’s oldest homes. The original homes of the first 

settlers, the Pomeroy and Parks families, are the featured sites at Heritage Park and are filled with 

vintage furnishings and exhibits which include photographs, clothing and artifacts of early 

Pasadena. The homes also serve as Pasadena’s only Museum. An historic mobile water-drilling rig 

designed and patented by the Pomeroys in the 1900s sits on the grounds at Heritage Park. 

The Historical Society holds 

monthly meeting at the Pomeroy 

House featuring special guest 

speakers and hold fundraising 

events like Historical Tea and 

Fashion Show, Stroll Down 

Memory Lane, Holiday at Heritage 

Park and is a food vender at the 

Strawberry Festival. 

Today, visitors and Pasadenans 

can get a glimpse of the city’s rich 

history and by visiting Heritage 

Park and Museum located in the 

actual birthplace of Free Texas. 

The area earned that distinction 

in 1836 when Deaf Smith 

and his company of six men 

destroyed the only bridge crossing 

Vince Bayou, preventing 

Mexican soldiers at San Jacinto 

Battlefield from receiving reinforcements as well as preventing Santa Anna’s escape which helped to 

secure the Independence of Texas. 

Heritage Park and Museum is open for free tours Tuesday-Friday (9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.), and 

Saturday (9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.), or by reservation for your special event, group meeting, or very large 

tour group. We have handicap access. 

For more information, call (713) 472-0565 or email info@pasadenahistoricalsociety.org. 


INTRODUCTION 

The community we call Pasadena has many layers of history. For thousands of years Native 

Americans (Indians) roamed this area. South of Buffalo Bayou the Karankawa Indians never 

advanced beyond the hunter and gatherer stage. They existed in small family units, with no 

permanent settlements, no written language and left little evidence of their occupation. When 

Christopher Columbus “discovered” the Americas, Spain laid claim to the Texas Gulf Coast. There 

was a brief English settlement on Buffalo Bayou at White Oak Bayou about 1600. Frenchman La 

Salle established a colony in 1685 on Matagorda Bay but it also failed. Spain responded to this 

intrusion with a series of missions and forts; the closest one to the Pasadena area was on the lower 

Trinity River and lasted only from 1756 to 1772. When the United States made the Louisiana 

Purchase in 1803 Spain was fearful that the United States might try to claim Texas. Early in 1821 

Spain gave Moses Austin permission to settle 300 families in Texas in hopes they would provide 

a buffer to the United States, and pacify the hostile Indians of the region. Mexico won its 

independence from Spain later that year and Moses’ son Stephen F. Austin had to confirm the grant 

with the new Mexican Government. William Vince and his siblings were among those early 300 

settlers and William claimed the land that was to become Pasadena. In 1835 the newly elected 

Mexican President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna changed political allegiances and declared himself 

effectively the dictator of Mexico. Texas was one of several Mexican states that rebelled and, with a 

surprise victory over Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto in the Pasadena area, Texas won its 

independence from Mexico in 1836. In 1845 Texas accepted statehood in the United States. As a 

result of these events approximately a million square miles of land changed sovereignty from Mexico 

to the United States. 

Cattle ranching filled the time gap between 1836 and 1890 in the area 

between Harrisburg and Morgan’s Point. Except for a brief new town 

promotion for the city of “Buffaloe” in late 1836, which was located 

in present day north Pasadena, cattle was the economic engine of the 

area. Sam William Allen, no relation to the Allen brothers who created 

Houston, arrived in 1842, married a local girl in 1844 and moved to her 

inherited land to start a ranch. That ranch began where Lyondell Basell 

refinery is located today at the junction of Sims Bayou with Buffalo 

Bayou (Houston Ship channel). Allen’s cattle ranged from Buffalo Bayou, 

to Galveston Bay, Clear Lake, present day Friendswood and present day 

Hobby Airport. In addition to the 15,000 acres he eventually owned in 

Harris county Allen had many thousands more in Galveston, Brazoria 

and Fort Bend counties. His was one of the first big ranches in Texas. 

Major commercial transportation was by water in the 1830s. 

Galveston was the main port and Houston was trying to establish a 

“Port of Houston” in 1841. But in nearby Harrisburg, Andrew Briscoe 

promoted a new railroad system for Texas. Galveston ignored the 

railroad idea and Houston chose to promote a wooden plank toll road 

from Houston to Richmond. Briscoe died before his dream materialized, 

but in 1853 the first railroad in Texas, the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos & 

Colorado Railroad (BBB&C), began service from Harrisburg to Stafford’s 

Point. Houston and Galveston quickly changed their minds about 

railroads. Houston promoted the Texas and North Central railroad 

(T&NC) and even constructed a rail south to connect with the BBB&C. 

This southern extension was called the Houston Tap. Galveston 

responded with the Galveston, Houston & Henderson railroad (GH&H). 

Tri-weekly service was running between the two competitors by 1859. 

❖ 

Above: Forensic reconstruction of 

what a Karankawa Indian would look 

like based on a skull found on 

Galveston Island. 

Below: Steamboat on primitive Buffalo 

Bayou brought visitors and trade to 

the area. 

Introduction ✦ 5

CHAPTER I 

I NITIAL 

S ETTLEMENT 

1890-1899 

❖ 

The “Academy” was the first formal 

schoolhouse in Pasadena. 

L. F. Allien purchased the old James Morgan plantation at Morgan’s Point and hired professional new 

town developers to establish the community of La Porte in 1887. These developers were experienced 

in creating towns along the transcontinental railroad as it was being constructed westward to California. 

The developers proposed a railroad to connect Houston to La Porte on the south side of Buffalo Bayou, 

and then to extend that rail across the San Jacinto River and head north in order to connect with the 

northern railroad lines. In addition a port was proposed so that merchandise could be transported by 

water to La Porte and then shipped by rail to either central Texas or to northern markets. When this 

ambitious plan was announced, much of the vacant land in the area with future rail frontage was 

purchased by investors. Colonel John H. Burnett of Galveston purchased 3,328 acres in 1890 and laid 

out the town of Pasadena. Andrew J. Vick of Houston began blocking 5,500 acres east of Pasadena in 

1891 and ultimately called his town, Deepwater. Simeon Henry West of Illinois acquired 1,703 acres in 

1892 east of Deepwater and called his town, Deer Park. R. A. Lomax, also of Illinois, arrived in 1895 

and started his settlement of Lomax. Although not much of a town, a small settlement developed 

around the Strang railroad switching yard east of Lomax. And a group of investors decided not to buy 

in La Porte but rather just outside of the town site for their Richland development of small orchard 

farms. Genoa, Seabrook and Kemah came into existence during this time. 


Colonel J. H. Burnett built railroads and 

understood the impact that railroads could 

make. He bought the land that was to become 

Pasadena but did not know how to develop or 

manage a new town. Charles Munger was a 

banker from Kansas who had retired early and 

was in Texas looking for an opportunity. Burnett 

hired Munger to promote his new town. It was 

Munger’s daughter who came up with the name 

of the new town, “Pasadena,” after Pasadena, 

California. Munger built a house on acreage 

he designated for himself near the heart of 

the new town site. His property was along 

the Harrisburg-Lynchburg Road, which was 

designated as Fifth street (later Shaw Street) 

on the plat. The first land sale in the city of 

“Pasadena” was to John Richey, also of Kansas, 

for 20 acres on January 30, 1893. Munger 

interested Cora Bacon Foster in blocking up 

land in the community since she understood 

promotion and could help market the town. The 

north-south street names were changed from 

A-B-C-etc to Richey, Shaver, Munger, Spooner, 

Randall, Wafer, Witter, Bruner (Bruner later was 

renamed Tatar Street and then finally Pasadena 

Boulevard) and Davis. These streets were named 

after the first land buyers, Charles Munger 

and his wife, Avilda Witter Munger, and the 

surveyor, J. O. Davis. The east-west streets were 

numbered and only later were gradually 

renamed after important people in the 

community. Only Main & Broad Way street 

names remained the same. 

The early settlers to Pasadena were hardy 

folk who knew how to take responsibility for 

their own lives and to make do with what 

they had. In the beginning it was difficult to get 

to Pasadena. The proposed railroad through 

town was not finished until 1894 so early 

prospective buyers did not have an easy way 

to get to Pasadena. They would ‘discover’ 

Pasadena when they rode through town in a 

buggy on their way to other advertised town 

sites. And Pasadena did not have a hotel to 

accommodate prospective buyers. Deer Park 

had a hotel and La Porte had three. William 

Wiley and May Anderson were one of the early 

Kansas excursionists who came by rail to view 

the land. They liked Pasadena and stayed. Their 

home became the local bed and breakfast for 

other prospects. Ira Leander “Lee” Pitts arrived 

by wagon with his wife Lula and their family 

from Waxahachie, Texas. Pitts’ descendents still 

live in Pasadena today. 

❖ 

Above: J. H. Burnett of Galveston 

established the town site that 

became Pasadena. 

Left: Charles Munger of Kansas was 

the resident promoter of the village 

of Pasadena. 

Chapter I ✦ 7

❖ 

Oscar and Hanna Kruse were Swedes 

who made a lasting impression on 

Pasadena schooling. 

After the crops were put in, the community 

created a school for their children. Being way 

out in the country, they simply converted a 

chicken coop into a class room and had the 

oldest child in the community, Russell Munger, 

teach the young ones. Agreeing with Charles 

Munger that schooling for the young was a 

high priority, Cora Bacon Foster had a oneroom 

schoolhouse built, and dubbed it, “The 

Academy.” She even hired a professor to teach 

the children. And to enhance the feeling 

of community, Foster bought an organ for 

the Academy which was also serving as a 

community center. After a real teacher was 

hired, Russell studied under him so he could go 

to Normal School (a teacher’s college) and get a 

real teaching certificate. Subsequently the 

county hired Russell to come back and teach 

again in Pasadena. 

Next the community turned to its religious 

needs. The nearby town of Deepwater had 

already established a nondenominational 

Congregationalist Church and initially the 

Pasadena residents would walk, ride or buggy 

over to Deepwater each Sunday. But in bad 

weather, that was a discouraging trip. However, 

there was a new school house in Pasadena 

that was not being used on Sundays. So a 

group of Methodist parishioners organized the 

Deepwater Methodist Church in 1896 and 

quickly moved to Pasadena in 1898 where the 

school house was made available for their use 

on Sunday. It helped that several of the school 

board members were Methodist. Not to be 

outdone, the Baptists organized the Deepwater 

Missionary Baptist Church in 1898 and met in 

various Pasadena homes until a deal could be 

worked with the Methodist to share the school 

house on alternate Sundays, thanks to the help 

of Baptist members on the school board. 

Following a couple of years of local schooling 

the school was affiliated with the Harris County 

School System and Pasadena became part of the 

Harrisburg Common School District. A teacher 

was hired by Harrisburg and sent out to the 

Pasadena school. Compounding the problem 

that the school teacher was not part of the 

community, the farmers of Pasadena depended 

on the help of their children in planting and 

harvesting crops and needed periodic “truckers 

holidays” where the kids were excused from 

school to work in the fields. When Harrisburg 

refused to go along with this the residents of 

Pasadena turned to a newly enacted law that 


allowed communities to incorporate for school 

tax purposes. On March 26, 1898, an election 

was held and, by an overwhelming 23 to zero, 

the community decided to incorporate their 

school so that they could control it locally. 

Fifteen months later County Judge E. H. Vasmer 

finally certified the election results and 

Pasadena Independent School District became 

official on June 15, 1899, the first independent 

school system in Harris County. 

In order to promote Pasadena agriculture, the 

farmers organized the Farmers & Fruit Growers 

Association in 1894. This was the year that 

the railroad tracks were built through Pasadena. 

But farming is always subject to the weather. On 

February 14, 1895, the heaviest snow storm in 

history hit the area and 24 inches of snow fell at 

Deer Park. Then four days later the temperature 

plummeted to 14.8 degrees in Galveston. 

Prospective purchasers from the North simply 

returned home without buying in Texas. In 1899 

ten foot snow drifts formed in Galveston and 

Galveston Bay froze. The worst was yet to come. 

With slow land sales in 1895 and 1896, Cora 

Bacon Foster defaulted on her payments to 

Burnett and had to return what land she had not 

sold. Charles Munger was likewise struggling 

so he took a job in Houston and moved out 

of Pasadena. The blow to the community of 

these two dynamic forces was felt but only 

temporarily slowed progress until new leaders 

took their place. Oscar and Hanna Kruse moved 

in from Montana. Benjamin “Will” Bailey and 

wife Katie were on their way to Deepwater, but 

found a house to rent in Pasadena. Woodrow 

and Sadie Coolidge moved from Dallas County. 

Arthur Dickerson moved to town, bringing 

his mother and younger brother, Wade. William 

Benjamin “Ben” Williams and wife Ella brought 

their family by covered wagon from Buna, 

Texas. Ben’s arrival would result in many 

families eventually moving to Pasadena from 

Madison County. Oscar Moore brought his 

family of twelve to Pasadena from nearby 

Harrisburg. Even Robert Guinn, the resident 

manager for the Deepwater community, moved 

to Pasadena in 1899. Each of these new settlers 

would take a role in developing Pasadena into a 

thriving community that would survive the next 

great calamity to strike the area. 

❖ 

Desk used by Russell Munger to teach 

the first school in Pasadena. The desk 

is still on display at Kruse Elementary. 

Chapter I ✦ 9

CHAPTER II 

E ARLY C OMMUNITY D EVELOPMENT 

1900-1909 

❖ 

Above: As a result of the Galveston 

Hurricane of 1900 strawberries came 

to Pasadena. 

Opposite, top: The Baptists were the 

first to build their sanctuary although 

the Methodists were the first to 

organize in Pasadena. 

Opposite, bottom: The Methodists 

built a fancier sanctuary than the 

Baptists and only two blocks away. 

With a population of less than 200 in 1900, Pasadena was one of the smallest towns in southeast 

Harris County. La Porte had a population of 537. The early progress of Deer Park and Deepwater 

began to dwindle as their sponsors gave up or died. The rail from Houston had been completed to 

La Porte, but the adjoining shell road ended at Deepwater. The freeze of 1899 had been the final 

blow for some farmers. But on September 8, 1900, the future of the area would change forever. 

Hurricanes had visited the area many times over the years. Damage and death had been minimal 

since there were few settlements in the area. With the developments of the 1890s and the 

commercial success of the City of Galveston, the toll would change. Although Washington had 

sent word that there was a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico, few paid much attention. By Friday 

afternoon, September 7, the water was too rough to enjoy and most people took shelter to ride out 

the storm. Unfortunately Galveston Island was little more than a spit of land with an elevation of 

8.7 feet. Slowly, but consistently the ocean level rose and the rain and wind intensified. Most 

thought it an inconvenience, few realized that the greatest U. S. natural disaster was about to make 

history on the Texas Gulf Coast. Over 7,200 people lost their life that Saturday night, 6,000 on 

Galveston Island alone. Galveston also gave up her dominance and elegance that night. 


Chapter II ✦ 11

Further inland the damage was somewhat less. 

The worst damage occurred near the water. La 

Porte, Morgan’s Point and Seabrook paid dearly. 

Thirty of the thirty four buildings in Morgan’s 

Point were destroyed. The Sylvan Hotel, its pier, 

bath house and dance pavilion were wrecked. In 

Seabrook only one house remained standing. 

Seabrook also sustained the greatest death toll, 

but each of the coastal towns contributed an 

unfortunate number. For those communities off 

of the water, the damage was mainly wind driven. 

Crops in the field were flooded and downed by 

the wind. There were no deaths in Pasadena, only 

a few injuries. Several houses were blown off of 

their piers and a few flattened. 

With every failure, there is the possibility of 

opportunity. Because the usual truck farm crops 

were destroyed in the fields, Red Cross director 

Clara Barton brought in a million and a half 

strawberry plants to help the distressed 

farmers. Strawberries planted in September, 

October and November began to ripen in 

January, February and March. By spring the 

Pasadena area farmer had a new cash crop. In 

addition, this new crop did not interfere with 

the planting in the spring of other crops that 

could be sold later in the year. And because of 

the warm weather of Coastal Texas, Pasadena 

could ship their berries early in the strawberry 

season and thus command a higher price. 

Pasadena was the leader in embracing this new 

opportunity and shortly the entire region was 

known as Pasadena Acres. 

Those farmers that thought the freeze and 

the hurricane were too much to bear were 

replaced by others. Payson Pomeroy brought 

his dairy from Galveston Island. Relatives of 

Ben Williams began moving into Pasadena as 

the word spread about strawberries. Oscar 

Kruse attracted Swedish settlers and the area 

around his home became know as the 

Florentine settlement, named for Oscar and 

Hanna’s first born. The Starkeys moved over 

from Deepwater as did the Parks family. Will 

and Irma Blakesley also moved from Deepwater 

with their dairy. Others moving into Pasadena 

included the families of James Jackson, Noah 

Crenshaw, J. T. Shine, John T. Conn, Robert 

Kingsbury, Charles Tilley, Francis Newel and 

Helge Gigstead. Most came with families so the 

community was doubling in size. The earliest 

strawberry farms were family farms where the 

whole family did the work. The kids would 

work after school and on weekends except 

during harvesting time when school would let 

out for a “Truckers Holiday.” 

The Methodists were holding Sunday 

services in the schoolhouse. The Baptists now 

used the Academy on alternate Sundays. The 

Methodists hired a circuit rider who came to 

town once per month. The Baptists reacted and 

hired one that came twice each month. Soon 

the Methodists and the Baptists were attending 

each other’s services and the Sunday school 

became nondenominational. The Baptists broke 

ground for a separate sanctuary for themselves 

in 1904. It was valued at $1,000. The 

Methodists moved a bit slower and built theirs 

three years later for $2,300. The churches were 

two blocks apart on the south side of the tracks. 

To the Sunday school students, they went to 

each other’s classes, depending on who was a 

friend with whom and, to the boys, where the 

prettiest girls went. Adding to the options, in 

1910 an Assembly of God church was 

organized by Lillian Dickerson. The Pasadena 

Missionary Baptist Church lived up to its name 

and started a Mexican Baptist group that began 

meeting on the first Sunday of each month 

under the leadership of Milton Jackson. It 

would be twenty years before they had a church 

building of their own. 

As the population of Pasadena grew and 

more traffic traveled through the town, the 

schoolhouse was accidently knocked slightly 

off of its blocks. The schoolhouse was 

located on the corner of Wafer and Fifth Street 

(Shaw) and a wagon turned the corner too close 

to the schoolhouse and nudged it. It was 

decided to move the school to a more secure 

site and closer to the center of the community. 

In 1905 the schoolhouse was moved to a tract 

of land at the southeast corner of Broad Way 

and Shaver. More children in the school system 

meant more space was needed. The Academy 

was divided into two rooms with a sheet down 

the middle. When that proved inadequate, 

a shed was built on the back which provided 

a third class room. The single teacher could 

now group her students by general age and 

make assignments in one classroom and then 

move to the next. Previously the progression 


had been by row of seats. J. T. Conn, a cousin 

of the Williams family, came to town as a 

teacher to improve the teaching program. 

He hired an assistant, so Pasadena now had two 

teachers. Conn even taught some high school 

courses to the older students. His educational 

expertise was elevated to the school board as 

a trustee in 1908. That same year Gertrude 

McMaster came to teach. Sister Irma would 

follow and both ladies would find husbands 

in Pasadena. 

In 1905 Charles H. Tilley moved his family 

from Deepwater to Pasadena and opened a 

grocery and leather works store next to the 

artesian well on Main Street that provided the 

local residents with drinking water. About 

that same time Wade Dickerson decided to 

open a mercantile store across the street. 

Finally, Pasadena was getting a real commercial 

downtown. It straddled Main Street just south 

of the railroad tracks. Business must have 

been good because J. T. Conn opened up a 

small store at the same Main Street and Sixth 

Street (Eagle) intersection in 1908 when he 

retired from teaching and became a school 

board trustee. 

J. H. Burnet died in 1901 and his son-in-law 

J. O. Ross took over the development of the 

town. To them, the town was simply a land 

transaction. Cora Bacon Foster bought the 

school site and donated it to the community. 

When the Academy was moved, the Board of 

Trustees bought the new site. Each church had 

to purchase the land for their sanctuaries. 

And the community had to purchase land for 

a cemetery. The Pasadena school board was 

essentially the leader in all phases of the 

community. They had discussed the need for a 

cemetery when one of their members suddenly 

passed away in 1906. Several board members 

rushed to Houston in order to purchase a site 

to bury Payson Pomeroy. Ross allowed the 

committee to take immediate possession of 

the land and to pay it off in six months. Before 

year end Clyde and Emma McMaster of 

Deepwater buried their newest infant, Emma. 

The following year James Jackson’s wife, Effie, 

died during childbirth and took up residency in 

the Pasadena cemetery. H. E. and Bertha Ford 

gave up their year old child Winnie Lee to the 

cemetery. It was obvious that the town needed 

that cemetery. 

❖ 

John Pomeroy is on horseback in 

middle of Main Street at Eagle in 

1908, looking south. Tilley store is on 

left with artesian water well in front. 

Dickerson store is on right. 

Chapter II ✦ 13

❖ 

Johnny and Sylvia Meyers years later 

displaying the window shade that 

was used to draw the plat for the 

new “Simatry.” 

In the earliest days of the community the 

residents had to travel to Harrisburg or La Porte 

to get medical attention. The only hospitals 

were in Harrisburg or Houston. Dr. Virginius 

St. Clair MacNider of Houston purchased 

property in Pasadena in 1898 and would make 

occasional trips out to his country place. When 

there he would treat patients and tend to 

expectant mothers. Addis Shoulders named 

her son Robby “NcNider,” probably after the 

good doctor. Dr. Culpepper lived in nearby 

Deepwater in 1896 but was gone by 1900. 

Dr. W. B. Ross moved to Deepwater in 1904 

and would practice until 1907. In 1905 

Pasadena got its first resident doctor when 

Dr. T. C. Loose moved to town. The Looses 

were active in the Baptist Church but there 

is little recorded about a medical practice. In 

1910 Dr. Loose moved away. Dr. MacNider was 

still visiting the community until he sold his 

Pasadena farm in 1915. 

Nearby the community of South Houston 

was established in 1907 by the Western Land 

Company. South Houston was located on the 

G. H. & H. railroad tracks and took advantage 

of that mode of transportation. An industrial 

park was laid out next to the tracks and 

by 1909 there were five manufacturing 

plants operating in South Houston. Dr. James 

McWhorter moved to South Houston in 1909 

and brought the first x-ray machine to the 

area. Unfortunately there was not enough 

electric power available to properly operate 

the machine. 

The growth in the area was not limited to 

new towns. Buffalo Bayou was about to become 

a major shipping waterway and the impact 

would be decisive on the future of Pasadena. 


CHAPTER III 

A REA 

D EVELOPMENT 

1910-1919 

Pasadena was just beginning to reap the benefits of its strawberry production. As demand grew 

migratory workers were brought in to help with the crops, especially at harvest time. Several large 

produce companies purchased land in Pasadena. But the continued success of the strawberries was 

not the future for Pasadena. Quite by accident Pasadena was located on the south side of Buffalo 

Bayou in Harris County. Had Pasadena been located anywhere else it would have continued its 

strawberry legacy. However, forces outside of the geography of Pasadena were coming together and 

would dictate a different course for Pasadena’s future. 

The decade started off with a look to the future and a look to the past. On February 18, 1910, 

John Pomeroy was in Harrisburg when he heard about a demonstration of a flying machine at 

the new town of South Houston. He rode over and witnessed the first airplane flight in Texas. The 

Western Land Company and the Houston Chronicle paid Frenchman Louis Paulhan $20,000. to bring 

his airplanes to South Houston and put on flying demonstrations. Witnessing the event 

were L. L. “Shorty” Walker of Houston and Guy Hahn and L. F. “Greasy” Smith of South Houston. 

None had seen an airplane fly but all were fascinated with building them. Walker was actually 

constructing a monoplane at that time and it was finished by August. By trial and error Walker was 

able to pilot the plane off of the ground at the South Houston air field. This inspired Hahn and 

Smith to open an aircraft manufacturing facility. At the annual Cotton Carnival on November 14, 

1911, five Houston-built planes participated in the air show. 

❖ 

Crown Refinery built on the east side 

of J. S. Cullinan’s land on the 

Houston Ship Channel. 

Chapter III ✦ 15

❖ 

Right: Joseph Cullinan is credited with 

bringing the petroleum industry to the 

Houston Ship Channel. 

Below: Flag ceremony at the opening 

of the San Jacinto Battleground Park 

in 1910. 

Two months after that memorial flight, on 

April 21, 1910, John Pomeroy took his mother 

and his girlfriend to the grand opening of 

the new San Jacinto Battleground State Park. 

During that event, Pomeroy shook hands with 

Alphonso Steele and William Zuber, the last 

remaining survivors of the San Jacinto battle. 

The state had purchased 353 acres of the 

battleground. The important sites on the 

battleground had been marked in 1894 and 

again 1901 with iron pipes. The San Jacinto 

Chapter of the Daughters of the Republic 

of Texas replaced the iron pipes in 1912 

with granite boulders. Pasadena had a direct 

connection to the battle in that Vince’s Bridge 

and Santa Anna’s Capture site are located in the 

Pasadena area. The only ‘off site’ boulder was 

placed at Vince’s Bridge in Pasadena. Vince’s 

Bridge had been destroyed by Texian troops 

and prevented Santa Anna from escaping from 

the area. In 1916 a historical marker was placed 

near the capture site. The capture was the final 

element in insuring Texas independence. 

Nineteen hundred and eleven ushered in 

additional events which were to change the 

course of Pasadena’s future. Houston had 

competed with Galveston for port facilities and 

the Hurricane of 1900 convinced the U. S. Corp 

of Engineers that more monies needed to be 

spent on a protected port at Houston. Buffalo 

Bayou was a canal-like river that provided water 

access to Houston. Improvements had to be 

made in order for it to serve as a shipping lane. 

Meanders in the bayou had to be straightened 

and the bayou dredged to twenty five feet so that 

the proposed Houston Ship Channel could 

accommodate the large ships of the day. A group 

of Houston businessmen made a proposal to 

the federal government that the local taxpayers 

would pay half of the improvements. The 

“Houston Plan” was accepted by the government 

and the funds were approved locally by the 

voters on January 10, 1911. The dredging 

was completed on September 7, 1914, and the 

Houston Ship Channel was opened November 

10. The Houston version of Mardi Gras, called 

No-tsu-oh (Houston spelled backwards) was 


enamed the Deep-Water Jubilee that year as 

the area celebrated the opening of the Houston 

Ship Channel. 

To the local farmers in Pasadena the dredging 

of Buffalo Bayou to create the Houston Ship 

Channel had little meaning. Because of one man 

it would make a difference that would affect the 

whole community. Joseph S. Cullinan was one of 

the organizers of the Texas Company in 1902. 

With the boom and bust of the newly discovered 

oil fields in Texas, the Texas Company grew. 

Cullinan began moving the business to Houston 

in 1905. The work on Buffalo Bayou to make it 

an inland water way was noted by Cullinan 

and he began to promote Houston as the center 

of the petroleum industry in Texas. While the 

City of Houston considered the proposed 

Houston Ship Channel as a path to their “Port 

of Houston,” Cullinan envisioned the whole 

Channel as a lateral port with developments on 

both sides. With fresh water, dock frontage and 

ample land, the Houston Ship Channel would be 

a perfect place for refineries and tank farms. 

In 1908 Cullinan began purchasing land on 

both sides of Buffalo Bayou. In Pasadena he 

bought the 41 acre Wafer tract in 1908 and 

bought 50 more acres in 1909. He used his 

Pasadena land as his country farm until he had 

a better use. From his farm house he could 

survey activity along the Houston Ship Channel. 

Cullinan left the Texas Company in 1913 

when the new investors moved the corporate 

headquarters from Houston to New York City. In 

1916 Cullinan built the Galena-Signal Refinery 

opposite Pasadena, the first refinery on the 

Houston Ship Channel. Sinclair purchased the 

712 acre Allen Ranch headquarters’ land in 1917 

and built its refinery in 1918 there. That plant is 

now owned by the Lyondale Basell partnership. 

Crown Oil & Refining purchased 65 acres of 

land in Pasadena on the east side of Cullinan’s 

property and broke ground in February 1919. 

They began operations in 1920. Meanwhile 

Humble Oil & Refining purchased land in 

Baytown and broke ground on their refinery in 

1919. The plant opened May 11, 1920. To help 

the workers get across Buffalo Bayou, a hand 

drawn ferry was established at the north end of 

Shaver Street in 1915. 

❖ 

Left: Pasadena resident volunteers for 

the Great War when the United States 

entered World War I. 

Below: Newspaper story about Louis 

Paulhan and the first airplane flight 

in Texas held in South Houston. 

Chapter III ✦ 17

❖ 

Ellington Air Field was built in two 

months and set many records in 

flight training. 

Refineries and tank farms were not the only 

outside influences on the community that would 

lead Pasadena into a new direction. World War I 

was brewing in the background. The “Great War” 

began in 1914 and was contained in Europe for 

several years. The United States declared itself 

neutral and President Woodrow Wilson was reelected 

in 1916 on the platform that he had kept 

the United States out of the war. The British liner 

R.M.S. Lusitania had been sunk in 1915 by 

German U-boats and 128 Americans lost their 

lives in that disaster. Britain claimed she was a 

passenger liner and Germany claimed she was 

carrying munitions for the war effort. Actually she 

had both, but the flood of anger at the Germans 

set the stage for the United States to enter the war. 

The probable final straw was the interception of a 

telegram from Germany to Mexico in January 

1917 encouraging Mexico to declare war on the 

United States if it should join the war. Mexico was 

to ally itself with Japan and keep the United States 

occupied and out of the European theater. In 

exchange, Mexico would regain Texas, New 

Mexico and Arizona territories. Wilson reversed 

his position and convinced the U. S. Congress to 

declare war on Germany on April 6, 1917. 

The declaration of war affected Pasadena in 

two major ways. The U. S. now needed a huge 

supply of transport ships to get supplies and 

soldiers to Europe. In August of 1917 three ship 

building facilities were built on the Houston 

Ship Channel near Pasadena. Midland Bridge 

Ship Building was located across the Channel 

from Manchester. Universal Shipbuilding was 

located across the Channel at Galena, opposite 

Pasadena. And the Pan American Ship Building 

Company was located at Penn City, which was 

across the Channel from the communities of 

Deepwater and Deer Park. Steel hulled cargo 

ships would be supplemented with 270 foot 

long wooden cargo ships. The Pasadena area 

facilities began building wooden ships. 


The U. S. Army chose land south of the 

location of the first airplane flight in Texas 

(South Houston) to construct a major air field 

and training facility. It was named Ellington in 

honor of an early Army aviator who had been 

killed in an airplane crash. Construction began 

on September 14 and surprisingly was finished 

and operational two months later on November 

24, 1917. Ellington was a flight training base 

with approximately 5,000 men assigned there 

and 250 aircraft. Gunnery practices were held 

over Taylor Lake and Galveston Bay. Many a 

goose was “mistaken” for an enemy aircraft and 

chased in aerial combat! A bombing range was 

established near San Leon. The aerial gunning 

and bombing range was the first in the United 

States. Night flying and air ambulances were 

first started at Ellington. 

The United States was involved in World 

War I for only eighteen months before the 

Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918. 

The news hit Houston at 4:15 a.m. and horns 

and whistles clogged the air. Myrtle Blakesley 

was at Harrisburg High School later that 

morning and classes were dismissed in honor 

of the occasion. Ima Parks was walking to 

elementary school when she got the word. 

But at ten years old, armistice meant nothing. 

Irma learned its meaning when she arrived 

at school and was told the school was closed 

that day for the celebration. Unfortunately, 

before the war ended Donald Gregg, John 

Zlomke and Sidney G. Robertson gave their 

lives for their country. La Porte residents Cecil 

Bethea and LeRoy Hovey also lost their lives in 

the Great War. 

The Spanish Flu pandemic began in China 

and reached the United States’ shore by August 

27, 1918. Camp Logan reported 600 cases by 

September. Half of Houston had the flu by 

October and one hundred eleven had died. 

Emma Moore Cruse described it as “you were 

alive one minute and dead the next.” Agnes 

Garfield was the only one in Pasadena to 

succumb to it, leaving a husband, son and two 

daughters. However, many caught the flu and 

the daily chores had to be shared until they got 

back on their feet. World wide approximately 

50 million people died. In comparison, 15 

million people were killed during World War I. 

The United States lost over 500,000 lives to the 

flu compared to 116,000 to the war. 

❖ 

Many Pasadenans worked at the ship 

building plants across the ship channel 

and had to ride the old ferry across or 

row to work. 

Chapter III ✦ 19

❖ 

Top: A new school house was built in 

1910 as the student population grew. 

Above: The 1915 hurricane heavily 

damaged the school and the students 

had to meet in the Baptist and 

Methodist churches until the school 

was repaired. 

Meanwhile the community had suffered 

another destructive hurricane in 1915. On 

August 16, 1915, a hurricane stronger than the 

1900 Galveston storm struck the upper Texas 

Gulf Coast. Fortunately this time the storm had 

been tracked from the West Indies and the 

people were prepared. The 1900 storm claimed 

8,000 lives and the 1915 storm claimed only 

275. Galveston had built its seawall and its 

structures were protected. 

Only eight people lost their 

lives in Galveston this time 

instead of the 6,000 earlier. 

However, the property damage 

along the Gulf Coast was 

much higher. Newspaper 

headlines read, “Seabrook is 

Gone” and “La Porte Wiped 

Out.” The little town of San 

Jacinto was heavily damaged 

by the 1900 hurricane and 

the 1915 one completed the 

destruction of the community. 

Both Pasadena and 

South Houston suffered significant 

damage to their 

school houses. There was 

scattered destruction in 

Pasadena but no injuries or death. Once the 

wind and rain passed, the people came out and 

began making repairs. 

With its take charge attitude, the school 

district took advantage of new legislation that 

allowed school districts to issue bonds for capital 

improvement programs. The old Academy was 

replaced in 1910 with a new two story brick 

building with six classrooms and an auditorium. 


The Pasadena Library Association was organized 

in 1910 and reorganized in 1912 with 500 books. 

The 1915 hurricane heavily damaged the building 

and the students met in the Methodist and 

Baptist Churches until the school was repaired. 

In 1917 the Mother’s Club was formed as the 

forerunner for the Parent Teachers Association. 

Despite the many significant outside influences 

on Pasadena, the community continued to 

prosper and grow. Strawberries continued to be 

the backbone crop of the economy. In 1913 

the Pasadena, Texas Producers’ Exchange was 

organized in order to protect the local farmer 

from middlemen abuses. On July 7, 1919, two 

banks were chartered. Guaranty State Bank was 

established by Houston businessmen with a few 

Pasadena investors. Pasadena State Bank was 

established by Pasadena investors with a few 

Houston investors. 

A new challenge lay ahead as Pasadena 

continued to grow slowly towards becoming 

a city. 

❖ 

Above: Baldwin & Cargill Produce 

Company bought 320 acres on the 

south side of Southmore for their 

strawberry farm. They hired all of 

their planters and pickers. 

Below: Strawberries were still the 

main crop and everyone brought them 

to the railroad loading sheds for 

shipment to the northern markets. 

Chapter III ✦ 21

CHAPTER IV 

S TRUGGLE TO I NCORPORATE 

1920-1929 

❖ 

J. M. Cruse (holding the cow) came to 

Pasadena to work for J. S. Cullinan 

and lead the effort to incorporate the 

city in 1928. 

Outside influences on the little farming community of Pasadena forced it to face new issues. The 

idyllic Buffalo Bayou was now a major international shipping highway. Bayou frontage farm land was 

now being replaced with industrial facilities. These industries provided year round full time 

employment with weekly pay checks and were competing with the farms for workers. Small farms 

were being replaced with subdivisions that housed more people per acre. Outhouses every fifty feet 

were becoming a problem. There was more traffic in town and the need for streets had skyrocketed. 

Farmers and residents alike needed fresh water for drinking, cooking and growing. The lack of 

drainage of rain water was becoming a health hazard in addition to a transportation hindrance. 

Undaunted by these obstacles the resilient people began looking for solutions to these new challenges. 

Pressure was mounting as a few strawberry farms were beginning to be platted into small residential 

lots called subdivisions. With two banks in town to finance home purchases and the new refineries 

adding nonfarming jobs, businessman R. E. Parks filed the first plat in 1919 which was located at Fifth 

Street (later renamed Shaw) and Main Street. It was convenient for the new Crown employees. A. L. 

Dickerson and L. L. Hargrave platted subdivisions in 1920. Both of these subdivisions fronted on the 

La Porte Road west of downtown. Three more subdivisions would be created before the decade ended. 


In 1920 it was proposed that Pasadena should 

incorporate itself for city purposes like the 

school had done in 1898. Pasadena’s population 

now approached the one thousand mark. Crown 

Refinery opened that year. Guaranty State Bank 

had opened in Dickerson’s mercantile building 

on the La Porte Road and then built the first 

brick building in the community on the corner 

of La Porte Road and Munger. Major stockholder 

Robert L. Young was also the manager of the new 

Crown Refinery so he used the same contractor, 

and the same brick, to build his new bank 

building. Even with its new facility, the bank was 

forced to merge into the competing Pasadena 

State Bank in 1921. Pasadena State immediately 

took over the Guaranty building which still 

stands today. As for incorporation, only a map 

was drawn with the proposed city limits. No 

action was taken until 1923. 

With the increased interested in what was now 

called the Houston Ship Channel and more cars 

in town, the county decided that the old rope 

pulled ferry should be replaced with a motorized 

one. Besides the ferry, the county also provided 

the community with a branch library. Actually, 

the library was a collection of 100 books placed 

at the Pasadena school library in 1922. The 

following year the books were moved to the post 

office. The books would periodically be replaced 

with new titles so that the collection was rotating. 

Mrs. S. E. Larkin volunteered to oversee the new 

“library” and books were checked out on 

Saturday afternoon, to be returned the following 

Saturday. Three books could be checked out each 

week on a single library card. By 1927 the school 

library had expanded and was moved to the 

new high school under the custodianship of 

Mrs. Peggy Cowart. 

On March 27, 1922, Pasadena Light & Power 

Company was established. The franchise was 

created not so much to provide electricity to 

the residents of Pasadena but rather to create 

a business entity/monopoly to sell to the 

expanding Houston Light & Power Company. 

Houston Lighting’s generating plant was located 

in downtown Houston and needed expansion. 

❖ 

Guaranty State Bank had the first 

brick building in Pasadena. The 

building is still there on the corner of 

Munger and SH 225. 

Chapter IV ✦ 23

❖ 

Pasadena got its new high school 

building in 1924 and began 

expanding it four years later. 

With the help and assistance of Joseph Cullinan, 

they chose a site east of the new Sinclair 

Refinery along the Houston Ship Channel and 

in the northwest corner of the Pasadena plat. 

The proposed ten million dollar plant on 92 

acres would double the generating capacity of 

the system, and would ensure continued 

development along the Houston Ship Channel. 

With the new industries and subdivisions the 

potential tax base increased for the community. 

A petition was filed for incorporation early 

in December and an election later that 

month approved the incorporation application 

unanimously fifty votes to none. However, the 

1920 proposed plat had been modified to 

include Crown and Houston Lighting. The 

Houston Ship Channel was the northern 

boundary and Eighth Street (later renamed 

Jackson) was generally the southern boundary. 

The city elections were held in February and 

Ralph E. Parks was elected mayor, E. M. Barnes, 

Aubrey R. Cruse, Roy Glasgow and G. M. Olive 

were elected aldermen. The fifth position was 

left vacant because of a tie between A. B. 

Freeman and O. C. Pitts. 

The history of the original incorporation was 

cut short because they had included the new 

industries within the city limits. The school 

system had incorporated for school purposes 

back in 1899 before the industries were built and 

thus the industries had to accept the taxing 

burden. The City of Houston was incensed 

because they felt that it was through their efforts 

the Houston Ship Channel was created and that 

the newly incorporated Navigation District, not 

Pasadena should benefit from the tax base 

provided by the new industries along the ship 

channel. The Houston Press labeled Pasadena the 

“Greedy Village” in a hostile editorial. Houston 

had the State Attorney to suggest to Pasadena that 

it withdraw its city limits to the 2,500 foot 

Navigation District limits (2,500 feet on either 

side of the ship channel was legislatively defined 

as the district limit). When Pasadena refused, a 

law suit was filed against the community. As 

chairman of the Pasadena Citizens Association, 

G. W. Conrad presented a petition requesting that 

the city be unincorporated so that the city would 

not incur legal expenses in fighting the lawsuit. 

Dissolution was barely approved on November 

29, 1924, by a vote of 36 to 31. On March 11, 

1925, the City of Pasadena no longer existed. 

Although the community failed at its first 

attempt to incorporate in order to provide city 

services, life went on. John Pomeroy received a 

franchise from the county to operate a water 

works in Pasadena. He began expanding the 

water lines he had laid in 1919 to provide water 

to his immediate neighbors from a water well in 

his backyard. The school district responded to 

the increased population demand by opening a 

high school program. Until a new building could 

be built to house the eighth through eleventh 

grades, the students crowded into the old 


schoolhouse. The first graduating class of the 

high school program was May 16, 1924. Their 

graduation exercises were held in the Methodist 

church auditorium since the new high school 

building was still under construction. On 

December 17, 1924, the new high school was 

dedicated. The old Pasadena schoolhouse was 

designated the Pasadena Grammar School. In 

1940 it was renamed Kruse Elementary in honor 

of Oscar Kruse. However, the student population 

continued to grow and it also became more 

fashionable for parents to let their children go to 

school past the seventh grade. The success of the 

strawberry crops and the use of temporary 

migratory workers decreased the reliance upon 

children to help. In 1928 the high school 

continued to expand with the construction of a 

new wing which included a girls’ gymnasium 

and an auditorium. 

The school was not the only expanding 

program in town. The Methodist church decided 

to build a parsonage for its preacher as it moved 

from a circuit preacher to a full time one. The 

Baptists built an educational building and had heat 

installed in their sanctuary in 1928. Dr. James 

Boyd moved to Pasadena in 1922 and Dr. Oscar 

Portwood moved to town in 1928. That same year 

Pasadena had eighty-seven telephone subscribers 

and the telephone company decided to open a 

separate switching office in Pasadena. Outside of 

the community Houston was expanding its city 

limits by annexation and was closing the distance 

between the two communities. Three days after 

Pasadena’s government was dissolved, a cartoon 

appeared in a Houston newspaper showing “Papa 

Houston” offering to take over the debts and 

❖ 

Top: Lester Hargrave opened the first 

service station in Pasadena on the La 

Porte Road in 1917. Three years later 

he platted the land behind it as a 

subdivision for industrial workers. 

Above: A new motorized ferry 

replaced the hand pulled one in 1925. 

Chapter IV ✦ 25

❖ 

Right: John Pomeroy got a county 

franchise to provide water to 

Pasadena residents when the city 

could not incorporate to provide 

city services. 

Below: Houston Light and Power built 

its Deepwater power plant between 

Sinclair and Crown Refineries. 

burdens of Magnolia Park, Harrisburg and Park 

Place. Pasadena responded by filing a new petition 

to reincorporate in November but received 

opposition from Houston Lighting, Crown 

Refinery and the port commission because 

Pasadena was proposing the same city limits as the 

previous incorporation. The matter basically died 

from inaction. Houston did annex Magnolia Park 

in 1926 and was in the process of annexing Park 

Place and Harrisburg when Pasadena again filed 

for an incorporation election. The December 17, 

1927, election fell short with 71 against and 63 in 

favor of incorporation. 

Houston completed its annexation of 

Harrisburg in 1926 and extended its annexation 

to the western banks of Sims Bayou on December 

14, 1927. Sinclair Refinery and Pasadena were 

the next logical targets. Anna Pomeroy and 

attorneys from Sinclair convinced the Houston 

City Council not to annex Sinclair or Pasadena. 

However, the community felt this was only a 

temporary victory. J. M. Cruse led yet another 

attempt at incorporation in November of 1928. 

The city limit proposal in 1928 had stopped at 

the port commission’s 2,500 foot boundary. On 

December 26, 1928, the community supported 

reincorporation as a General Law City by a vote 


of 102 to 94. Ironically, Gerald Conrad was 

elected Mayor even though he had chaired the 

Pasadena Citizens’ Association that had won the 

1924 unincorporation effort. A. L. Dickerson was 

selected street and bridge commissioner 

and L. T. Grant as water commissioner. Grant 

resigned at the first meeting on January 9, 1929 

,and W. Clyde McMaster was appointed in his 

place. Conrad also assumed the duties of tax and 

finance commissioner. 

The new city government had to hit the 

ground running. On August 20, 1929, 126 

voters approved the first city bond election 

which was for $120,000. To repay costs already 

incurred by the city, $12,000 was used 

principally for road work. To build a city hall, 

fire station and library combination building 

$5,000 was used. To construct a water works 

$58,000 was used and $45,000 went to 

construct a sewer system. The city needed to 

put public notices in a newspaper and two were 

started and offered to provide that service. The 

Pasadena Record won out over the Pasadena Sun. 

In September the “Whoopee” opened in 

Pasadena. It was a roller coaster for cars with 

hills and straight-a-ways made of wood and dirt 

costing $14,000. The grand opening included 

a parade of dignitaries in cars and made the 

Houston newspapers. The Whoopee was on the 

La Porte road which carried crowds to the newly 

improved Sylvan Beach entertainment complex. 

An American Legion Post was formed about the 

same time and was named in honor of long time 

Pasadena resident Ben Bailey. Phillips Petroleum 

plant was under construction and Shell Refinery 

had just opened in Deer Park. 

On October 29, 1929, the Great Depression 

began. The city and the industries were 

challenged to continue to operate. Farming 

expanded as more people moved to Pasadena so 

that they could grow their own food. And the 

school system blossomed because of their 

wisdom to incorporate back in 1898. 

❖ 

Above: A bond election provided the 

funds to build a city hall for the 

new town. 

Left: “Whoopee” roller coaster for cars 

was the first phase of the recreational 

park planned for Pasadena. 

Unfortunately the Great Depression 

ruined that project. 

Chapter IV ✦ 27

CHAPTER V 

T HE G REAT D EPRESSION AND G REAT C HANGES 

1930-1938 

❖ 

Mayor Conrad (middle) appointed 

himself the municipal judge and got 

two dollars for each conviction. 

Aggressive policemen gave Pasadena a 

speed trap reputation. 

Pasadena had grown by 647 people during the 1920s. Some 477 of those in the last year! Each 

decade the population of Pasadena grew faster than the last decade. And the same remained true 

during the Depression. While the United States as a whole was going through hard economic times, 

the rural community of Pasadena continued to grow. The backbone of the community had been 

agriculture and families came back to the land to grow their own food since jobs and income were 

scarce. Certainly Pasadenans felt the squeeze on the dollar, but no one went without food in town 

and everyone had a job or two. 


Perhaps the business that was the most 

successful during the Depression was the school 

system. As mentioned earlier the school had 

incorporated lands upon which industries later 

built and those industries always paid their 

school taxes. Genoa and South Houston had 

higher tax valuations than Pasadena but their 

valuations were based upon farm land. The 

farmers were hard pressed to pay their school 

taxes as crops drew lower prices. In 1931 the 

Pasadena district built a football field behind 

the high school and built a Home Economics 

building. In 1932 a track was added to the 

Pasadena high school complex and in 1933 a 

Manual Training building. The Deer Park 

school system was blessed with Shell Refinery. 

It built the community a new schoolhouse. 

Pasadena was hiring new school teachers 

and giving raises. In 1934 the county school 

superintendent negotiated a deal where 

Pasadena Independent School District would 

take over the cash strapped Genoa and South 

Houston Common School Districts. The deal 

was consummated on January 1, 1935. 

The City of Pasadena was not as fortunate as 

the school district because it did not have the 

same tax basis. However, the 1929 bond issue 

allowed the new city to build a combination city 

hall, fire department and library building in 1930. 

They even purchased a fire truck that year and 

then organized an official volunteer fire department 

the next year. Crown Refinery was supportive 

of the fire fighting program and provided assistance. 

Clyde McMasters defeated the incumbent 

mayor G. W. Conrad on April 7, 1931. Conrad 

had made himself unpopular when he appointed 

himself municipal judge and received a payment 

of two dollars for each case he heard. Conrad then 

hired two motorcycle policemen to vigorously 

enforce the twenty mile an hour speed limit 

through town. A steady flow of cars drove through 

Pasadena since Shell Oil Company had broken 

ground on a refinery in deserted Deer Park and 

there was no place in Deer Park for the workers to 

live. Workers came from Pasadena and Houston 

and those passing through Pasadena on the 

new concrete highway were fair game for the 

traffic cops. In the first six months they collected 

❖ 

Champion Paper decided to build its 

paper mill in Pasadena which 

provided construction and permanent 

jobs and signified Pasadena’s 

industrialization. J. S. Cullinan leased 

this Santa Anna farm for ninety-nine 

years at one dollar per year. 

Chapter V ✦ 29

❖ 

Right: The San Jacinto Monument was 

built to celebrate Texas’ centennial of 

its independence from Mexico. 

Opposite, top: The U. S. S. 

Constitution was viewed by 100,000 

people along the Houston Ship 

Channel as she made her nationwide 

final voyage. 

Opposite, bottom: Rosemary Dreyfuss 

christened the new ferry for Pasadena 

with a bottle of bayou water. Years 

later she would marry “Muggins” 

Parks and live in Pasadena. 


Chapter V ✦ 31

❖ 

While First Baptist and Memorial 

Baptist were feuding, the Methodist 

Church built their second sanctuary 

adjacent to their educational building. 

$10,735 in traffic fines. While the Mayor and the 

city bank account benefited from this source of 

revenue, it hurt the merchants since people did 

not want to shop in Pasadena because it was a 

speed trap. The merchants shifted their support 

to Clyde McMaster in the 1931 election. 

Clyde McMaster had the challenge of 

shepherding the city through the Great 

Depression. He was re-elected three more times 

and served until 1939. Population was booming 

and the real estate valuations were not. City 

Secretary T. E. Griffin received a pay cut from 

$150 per month to $125 per month. O. C. Pitts 

kept his job which was upgraded to water superintendent 

and also was given the duties of 

inspector and supervisor of the Street and Bridge 

Department. His salary was reduced from $150 

per month to $125. There was only one policeman 

and he was retained on a part-time basis. 

Dr. O. F. Portwood volunteered to be the city 

health officer at no cost. The city also had two 

day laborers, G. M. Tacker and D. H. McKissick. 

They received fifty cents and forty cents an hour 

respectively. The fire marshal had resigned after 

failing to organize a fire department in 1930 

to utilize the new fire truck. Percy H. Ulmer 

worked at Shell and moved into an apartment in 

the city hall/firehouse building with his wife to 

look after the fire truck and to set off the fire 

siren when needed. A volunteer fire department 

was organized and received city sanction on 

August 24, 1931. The newly constructed sewer 

plant did not work properly and a new contractor 

had to be hired. 

Technically the Great Depression bottomed 

out in 1933 and things slowly got better. Full 

recovery did not happen until 1939. As the 

economy began to stabilize the city hired Ethel 

Hargrave as its first paid librarian. A shot in the 

economic arm came early in 1936 with J. S. 

Cullinan convinced Champion Paper Company 

to build its mill in Pasadena on the Houston Ship 

Channel instead of in Orange, Texas. Champion 

would hire about 1,000 men to build its $3.5 

million plant and then hire 300-500 men to run 

the plant once constructed. In June President 

Franklin Roosevelt travelled to the San Jacinto 

Battleground to announce the construction of a 

570 foot monument for $1.5 million as part of 

the Texas Centennial Celebration. The project 

would require that only workers living within a 

certain distance of the monument be hired and 

thus it was a boon to Pasadena residents. The 

wage scale was $2.00 to $2.50 per hour. S. R. 

“Buddy” Jones had just given up his sacking job 

at Middleton’s Grocery in Galena Park to take the 

lower paying assistant’s job at Pasadena State 

Bank. By the end of 1936 there were more jobs 

than there were people. The influx of people into 

the area overloaded the infrastructure. Every 

house that had a spare room rented it out. 

Boarding houses sprang up. Vacant or unsold 

houses were gobbled up. And some workers 

brought their families so the school system was 

seeing a major influx of students. New 

subdivisions began to replace strawberry fields 

in 1936. Pasadena was busting at its seams. 

The U. S. S. Constitution, a wooden hulled, 

three-masted frigate warship was commissioned 

in 1797. She had an outstanding naval career 

and got her nickname Old Ironsides during the 

War of 1812 against the British. She was retired 

from active duty in 1881. Instead of sinking the 

ship the Navy decided to make her a floating 

museum in 1907. However, funds were needed 

to refurbish her and a campaign was begun 

to get donations for that program. Children 

were asked to donate a penny or a nickel to the 

effort and eventually enough funds were raised. 

Before the ship was to go into permanent dock, 

President Roosevelt decided that it would boost 

the morale of the public to see the ship they had 

saved and so Old Ironsides began a three year, 

90-port tour of the United States during the 

Depression. She visited the Port of Houston on 


February 25, 1932, and over 100,000 people 

lined the Houston Ship Channel to watch her 

pass. The school let out in Pasadena and the 

kids went to watch the famous ship. 

Even during the Great Depression, life went 

on in Pasadena. Mayor McMaster put out new 

signs at the entrance to the city proclaiming 

“Welcome to Pasadena.” Wildcatter “Dad” Joiner 

discovered the world’s largest pool of oil in East 

Texas in October of 1930 and the new found 

crude went by pipeline directly to the Sinclair 

Refinery next to Pasadena. In 1930 Frank DeFee 

built his mercantile store on Main Street, sandwiched 

in between Sixth Street (later Eagle) and 

the railroad tracks. It was the second brick 

building and the first brick two story building in 

town. Downstairs he had a grocery store, a barbershop 

and the post office. Upstairs he rented 

apartments and Dr. B. C. Hensley and dentist 

Dr. O. H. Jones of Houston rented apartments to 

use as their offices when they visited Pasadena. 

The Eastern Stars organized and a new, larger 

ferry was put into service in Pasadena. Muggins 

Parks would eventually marry the little daughter 

(Rosemary) of Commissioner Dreyfuss who 

christened the new ferry, the Tex Dreyfuss with a 

bottle of bayou water. 

The Mexican Church of Pasadena acquired 

land for their new church, Deer Park Baptist 

Church organized and Golden Acres Baptist 

Church organized in 1936. The Baptists were 

active. Memorial Baptist was organized in 

Pasadena with an incredible 120 members in 

1936. Most of the members came from a falling 

out at the Pasadena Baptist Church. Pasadena 

Baptist then changed its name to First Baptist in 

1938 and a proposed merger of the two Baptist 

church failed. The Pasadena Methodist built 

an educational building in 1935 and then a 

new brick sanctuary and parsonage in 1937. 

The Episcopalians organized and met in Mr. and 

Mrs. Sanford L. Swasey’s home. 

With the arrival of Champion Paper, Dr. E. E. 

Connor moved to Pasadena to set up a private 

practice in addition to his job as the company 

doctor for Champion. He built the first hospital 

in Pasadena in 1937 which was a two story brick 

building with 24 beds on Fifth (Shaw) Street. He 

then began recruiting other doctors to move to 

the community. Dr. Wild, Dr. Baird, Dr. Clarence 

Osborne, Dr. Catherine Coleman, Dr. James 

DuCroz and Dr. Everett Veatch 

would make Pasadena their home. 

H. A. Paine moved to Pasadena 

and began developing subdivisions 

to provide housing for the 

new Champion workers. He also 

was instrumental in organizing 

the Pasadena Rotary Club in 

1936. That same year the first 

movie theater house broke 

ground. The Rita, soon to be purchased 

by the Long Theater Chain 

and renamed the Pasadena 

Theater, was the first air conditioned 

building in town and 

would seat 720 people, about 

twenty-five percent of the population 

of Pasadena at that time. At 

1,200 square feet, the new Ben 

Franklin was the largest mercantile store in 

town. I. H. (Herbert) Tatar moved to town and 

began developing land along Burner Street (later 

renamed Tatar and then Pasadena Boulevard). 

He hired C. E. Powitzky to work at his lumber 

yard. And of course, the most important thing, 

the Pasadena High School Eagles football team 

won the Bi-District championship in 1937. 

But the pace of growth and conversion 

from a farming community to a city was just 

beginning. The next decade would see 

Pasadena’s population continued to explode. 

The sleepy little village came alive with an 

unexpected growth. And because so many 

citizens had voluntarily been involved in all 

of the various institutions that would become 

the bedrock of the future community, Pasadena 

was able to adjust and take advantage of the 

opportunities that were about to come its way. 

❖ 

Above: Dr. Edwin E. Connor built the 

first hospital in Pasadena and served 

also as the company doctor for 

Champion Paper. 

Below: The first movie house built in 

Pasadena was also the first air 

conditioned building in town. John 

Long of Long’s Movie Theaters bought 

it and would open two more 


Chapter V ✦ 33

CHAPTER VI 

T HE W ORLD W AR II YEARS 

1939-1945 

❖ 

Bobby Shaw graduated in May 1940 

and joined the Navy as a musician. 

He died aboard the U. S. S. Arizona 

at Pearl Harbor when it was sunk by 

Japanese airplanes. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF JANE GALENKO, 

PASADENA HIGH SCHOOL LIBRARIAN. 

The War in Europe (World War II) began on September 3, 1939. The United States again tried 

to remain neutral although they supported the “Allies” and did not formally enter the war until 

December 11, 1941, when Germany & Italy declared official war against the United States. A week 

earlier the United States had declared war on Japan after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. 

Pasadenan Bobby Shaw was killed aboard the U.S.S. Arizona that was sunk during that raid. 

To honor Bobby, Fifth Street was renamed Shaw Street. The men of Pasadena volunteered by the 

droves. The Pasadena Times ran the pictures of most of the men with a little biography. Pages of the 

newspaper were dedicated to these brave men who went off to protect our country. 


Even before the United States entered the 

war, Pasadena was benefiting from the U.S. 

support of the Allies. There was stimulation in 

industrial activity, increased shipping and a 

demand for a huge work force. Those men who 

had found employment building the Champion 

Paper mill and the San Jacinto Monument had 

more employment opportunities and a reason to 

stay in Pasadena. Available housing continued 

to be a problem. Dr. Connor had rented a house 

near his new hospital but the owner sold it. 

Connor and his family lived in the hospital until 

a new home could be built for them. Even more 

people would be moving into Pasadena once the 

United States entered World War II. 

At first the United States tried to stay out of 

the war and was content with supplying those 

involved in war. The refineries went to full 

production and a series of expansions followed. 

Shell started making toluene, an ingredient in 

high explosives that was made from petroleum. 

Natural rubber was in short supply so synthetic 

rubber was developed. Sinclair began producing 

butadiene out of petroleum that was used to 

make synthetic rubber. Fifty percent of the 

nation’s synthetic rubber was now produced in 

Texas. Shell Chemical and Sinclair Rubber were 

joined by Goodyear Chemical. Each expansion 

required more workers. In 1941 it was 

announced that the U. S. Government was 

purchasing 4,945 acres on the north side of the 

Houston Ship Channel just east of Pasadena for 

a munitions storage facility. The San Jacinto 

Ordnance Depot would supply both the Army 

and the Navy. That same year Sheffield Steel, a 

division of ARMCO, opened a large steel mill 

across the Houston Ship Channel from Pasadena 

and utilized scrap metal in its process. By 1944 

it became an integrated steel mill with blast 

furnaces and utilized Texas and Mexican ores to 

make pig iron. 

Three major shipbuilding companies located 

plants near Pasadena in 1942. Houston 

Shipbuilding Corporation, a subsidiary of Todd 

Shipyard Corporation, built a five million dollar 

yard at Irish Bend on the south side of the 

Houston Ship. Around the clock employment 

increased from 6,000 to 20,000 in building 

7,500 Liberty Ships. Louis Muecke of Pasadena 

helped lay the keel for the first Liberty ship, the 

Sam Houston. Novie Taylor also worked on that 

ship. George Buchannan worked there 1941- 

1945 as a welder. Charles Clifton and Felix 

Ward also worked there. Across the ship channel 

at Greens Bayou, Brown Shipbuilding was 

the second largest builder. Started by local engineers 

George and Herman Brown, the yard produced 

over 300 subchasers, destroyer escorts 

and landing craft. Pay was very good and the 

young men went to work at the shipyards until 

❖ 

The first hospital in Pasadena was 

built on Fifth (Shaw) Street on the 

corner with Spooner. It was doubled in 

size almost immediately. 

Chapter VI ✦ 35

❖ 

Above: Sinclair Refinery benefited 

from the East Texas oil strike in 1930 

and was a major producer for the 

World War II effort. 

Below: Traffic waiting for the ferry 

backed up on Shaver and spilled over 

onto the La Porte Road. Shift workers 

for other local war time industries 

also crowded the streets. 

they were drafted or enlisted. Both men and 

women worked at the yards. Cecelia Garfield 

Dickerson began in the temporary lighting 

department and wound up with an electrician’s 

license. John DeFee sold his grocery business to 

Ted Pasternak and went to work at the shipyard. 

He met his future wife there. George Fairfield 

and John Wamble also worked there. Both shipyards 

were very successful in using assembly 

line techniques and employees were encouraged 

to come up with quicker processes. The government 

would give patents for new ideas and pay 

the creator royalties. Several Pasadena residents 

were beneficiaries of this program. 

Not quite as successful at shipbuilding, the 

San Jacinto Shipbuilding Corporation was to 

build 21 large concrete barges. The plant was so 

poorly run that ultimately its Navy contract was 

reduced to the four barges on its ways in 1943. 

The S. S. Selma is an example of the concrete 

ships used during World War I and World War 

II. The Selma was the largest of the concrete 

ships and was made in Alabama. It was sunk off 

of Pelican Island in Galveston Bay and can be 

seen from the Bolivar ferry. All told, the ship 

building business provided 40,000 jobs. 

Ellington Field was again upgraded to active 

status. Construction began September 12, 1940, 

on new base housing for 8,250 men. Construction 

was completed in 1942. The old runways were 

made of grass and had to be paved with concrete 

before Ellington could accommodate the larger 

planes. Ellington became the largest medium 

bomber training base in the United States. In 

1943 the bombardier school was replaced with a 

school for navigators. In 1943 sixty-five women of 

the Woman’s Army Corp (WACs) were stationed 

at Ellington to relieve men from non flying duties. 

Loise Pomeroy was one of those women. Another 

military support group was the Women’s Airforce 

Service Pilots (WASP), licensed pilots who supported 

the airforce by ferrying, testing, teaching, 

towing targets and other aviation related duties. 

They began in September 1942 and the first flight 

school was located at Houston Municipal Airport 

(later renamed Hobby Airport) in December. 

Three classes were begun and then the school was 

transferred to Sweetwater, Texas. The first class of 

WASP received their Silver Wings and diplomas at 

a ceremony at Ellington on April 24, 1943. 


The little ferry in Pasadena was working 

overtime to convey the Pasadena workers across 

the ship channel to Sheffield Steel, Dickson Gun 

Plant and Brown Shipbuilding. The line of 

cars waiting would stack up along Shaver and 

then along Sterling Avenue (La Porte Road). 

The roads leading to major industries off of 

Sterling Highway were concreted and designated 

“National Defense Highways.” Traffic was 

overwhelming. Sterling Highway was described 

as a two lane highway with four lanes of traffic. 

At one time it was reported that a machine gun 

station was set up on Sterling in Pasadena to 

regulate the flow of traffic. The first fatality in 

the Pasadena Police Department was Officer 

Arthur C. Dowdy who was killed while directing 

traffic on Sterling Highway. 

The priority of the military resulted in 

shortages of certain goods for the public. Like 

everyone else, Pasadenans received their war 

ration books and their periodic coupons for 

food, gas and clothing. Being basically frugal 

Pasadenans learned to juggle what they needed, 

shared with neighbors, substituted and did 

without. Although one had a coupon for an 

item, it did not guarantee that the item would 

be available because supply was a variable. 

Teachers were let out (they called it a “teachers’ 

❖ 

Above: Officer Arthur C. Dowdy was 

the first policeman to die on duty. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF CHIEF JACKSON, 

PASADENA POLICE DEPARTMENT. 

Left: Mayor Delbert Atkinson, on the 

left, did not know how to drive a car 

so the Chief of Police Locklin 

chauffeured him on city business trips. 

Chapter VI ✦ 37

❖ 

Above: In order to purchase certain 

items you had to have a stamp which 

you surrendered when the item was 

available to purchase. 

Below: The first intermediate school 

built in Pasadena. Jackson began as a 

“Junior High” school for grades 7, 8, 

and 9. The school was named for the 

local farmer who owned the land and 

served on the school board. The street 

named was changed to Jackson. 

holiday”) to help fill out the ration cards for 

distribution. Most people had been farmers or 

had a farming connection so victory gardens 

were a natural. By year end it was estimated that 

nationally forty percent of America’s vegetables 

were grown in victory gardens. Kraft Macaroni 

and Cheese dinners and cottage cheese became 

popular as substitutes for meat. Two boxes of 

Kraft dinners would require only one coupon. 

Oleo margarine was substituted for butter. 

Rationing would not end until 1946. 

The war years witnessed a blossoming of 

churches in Pasadena. The Methodists, Baptists, 

Pentecostals and Episcopalians all had churches. 

However, the Baptists continued to be the most 

aggressive with their ‘missionary’ work. South 

Houston, Deer Park and La Porte already had 

Baptist Churches. Alta Vista Baptist and 

Allendale Baptist churches were organized by 

1940. With the opening of the Champion Paper 

Mill some Catholics moved to Pasadena. In 

1942 the Catholics were building. The 

Lutherans followed in 1942 and a second 

Lutheran church was organized in 1943. Second 

Baptist organized in 1945. 

Mayor McMasters had skillfully maneuvered 

Pasadena through the Depression and now it 

was Delbert Atkinson’s turn to take the helm for 

the next eight years. When Atkinson became 

mayor the strawberry fields where he once 

picked were rapidly being converted into subdivisions. 

Herbert Tatar continued his development 

along Tatar Street with three subdivisions. 

John Campbell bought the old Baldwin & 

Cargill farm on Southmore Street between 

Shaver Street and Vince Bayou. His objective 

was also residential and commercial. Pasadena 

was being torn in different directions as to 

which way the town would develop; southeast 

or southwest. The pace of expansion of subdivisions 

and new businesses would be constant 

through Delbert’s administration. Robert and 

Jennie Hughes rented out rooms and the 

demand was so high that they moved their bedroom 

into the dinning room so that they could 

have another room to rent. This type of story 

was happening all over Pasadena. If you had a 

spare room, you rented it out. The Meyer’s 

Boarding House was one of many dedicated 

facilities that sprang up to satisfy the occupancy 

needs of those moving to Pasadena. Most boarding 

houses were also rooming houses. Mrs. 

Otida Brod owned Leasure’s Boarding House in 

1942 and kept the dining room running well 


into the 1980s. President Johnson would later 

break bread there when in town campaigning. 

City hall was getting too crowded for the 

expanding service requirements. Mayor 

Atkinson’s office was on the left end of city hall, 

the fire department and fire truck occupied the 

middle and the library occupied the right end. 

In 1941 Ola Mae Kennedy offered to house the 

library in her home on West Broadway in order 

to free up space at city hall. This move gave the 

city a temporary solution. In 1943 a second 

story was added to city hall which would house 

the mayor’s and city councilmen’s offices, city 

council meeting room seating twenty, the police 

department and eight cells, corporation court, 

fire department, two fire engines, residence for 

the fire alarm operator, the tax office and the 

water department. Another ‘cramped space’ 

problem was the size of the incorporated city. 

The original incorporation did not take in all of 

the plat filed by J. H. Burnett for the town of 

Pasadena in 1896. In 1941 additional lands 

were annexed to the city for the first time. Four 

years later the rest of the original plat would be 

annexed into the city. 

The federal government got into the housing 

business during the war. Walter Williams Court 

on Tatar Street was build for shipyard workers 

in 1942. Seventy-five duplexes would house 

500 residents. Patton Drug and L. W. Womack 

Food Store opened to service the new 

development. The following year a second 

project was built further south on Tatar Street 

where Pasadena Town Square is now located. 

Maxwell Homes contained 3,500 homes for 

sale; 800 square feet for only $3,200-$3,600. 

Competing with these projects was the new 

Pasadena Gardens subdivision. Started in 1943 

and finished two years later, 744 homes were 

available, twenty percent for purchase and 

eighty percent for rental. They expected to 

house 7,000 people. Francis Sefton would run 

the sales and rental office for many years. 

Minimax Grocery and Leonard’s Department 

store occupied a shopping center on the 

southeast corner of Tatar & Broadway. More 

stores began developing around this hub. 

The Pasadena High School football team 

again won another bi-district championship in 

1939. They were rewarded that year with a new 

lighted football stadium behind the high school 

with bleachers to seat 5,000 spectators. The 

❖ 

Above: Maxwell Homes was a large 

subdivision that was ultimately bought 

out for the construction of Town 

Square Mall. This is a 1963 picture of 

them clearing away the homes. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF SAMMY DAVIS, JR. 

Left: The Pasadena Library had a 

temporary stop at the new city hall 

before being crowded out. Ultimately 

the library would get its own building. 

Chapter VI ✦ 39

❖ 

Above: The Baird-Clarkson Hospital 

building has had many different uses. 

First National Bank began in the 

building, it was used as a dance hall 

and then became a Police Academy. 

The building still stands today but 

unfortunately the Art Deco is 

covered up. 

Below: The Jensen Arcade was the 

first “shopping center” built in 

Pasadena. It was very successful for a 

short period of time. 

state changed the requirements for a high school 

diploma to require twelve years of education 

instead of the then current eleven years. The 

class of 1940 had an option. They could take 

their diploma in May, or they could stay during 

the 1940/41 school year and get the new twelveyear 

diploma. In the fall of 1941 the twelve-year 

program became mandatory. Although Pasadena 

had acquired extra classroom space in 1935 

with the acquired Genoa and South Houston 

facilities, the addition of Jackson Junior High 

and the construction of the Golden Acres 

Elementary was now needed. And the 

residential development along Tatar Street 

prompted the school district to construct 

Garden’s Elementary on Harris Street in 1944. 

Pasadena entered the war with its concentration 

of retail businesses along Sterling Highway 

(La Porte Road). Coulson’s Drug was still popular 

on the corner of Sterling and Shaver. In that 

same block, going East, was Leo Karkowsky’s Dry 

goods, Newt Lucas Cleaners, Webb’s appliances, 

Bill Reno & Perk Meyer’s Pasadena Drug and on 

the corner at Munger, Pasadena State Bank. Ben 

Franklin opened its new 2,000 square foot store 

in 1942. The Pasadena Chamber of Commerce 

organized in 1940. Elsewhere in town Dr. Baird 

opened the Baird-Clarkson Hospital on Shaw 

Street. It was the first Art Deco building in town, 

and the building has gone through many changes 

since then, but the structure is still there. Dr. 

Baird was good at opening hospitals, but bad 

at managing them. So, Dr. Connor bought the 

hospital from him in 1944 and Baird went over 

to Tatar Street and opened Pasadena General 

Hospital in 1945. Meanwhile, Connor had expectant 

mothers walk upstairs to the second floor 

delivery room at the old Baird hospital. “Mr. 

Businessman” A. R. Cruse started the Lions Club 

in 1941 and the next year the Pasadena Rotary 

Club sponsored the first rodeo which was held 

behind the high school. 

The war ended in Europe in May 1945 and in 

Japan on September 1945. Immediately downtown 

Pasadena began a make-over and expansion. 

Theo Jensen opened the Jensen Arcade 

in December 1945 on Walters at Shaw Street. It 

was a two story stone faced building with retail 

downstairs and offices (many medical) upstairs. 

It had the first auditorium for public use. 

After the Depression and World War II you 

would expect people to catch their breath and 

settle down. That was not to be the history of 

Pasadena. The pace set during this period simply 

kept going, fueled 

with fifteen years of 

pent up demand. The 

Post War period would 

be a boom. The population 

of Pasadena in 

1940 was 3,435 and 

would reach 22,483 

by 1950. The foundations 

of the community 

would be tested 

and stressed to their 

limits. But Pasadena 

was made up of “can 

do” people and they 

rolled up their sleeves 

for the tasks ahead. 


CHAPTER VII 

P OST W AR B OOM 

1946-1955 

Before World War II the Houston Ship Channel was lined with refineries. After World War II 

many of those refineries now had petrochemical divisions. Petroleum was no longer just the base 

for gasoline and oils; it expanded to become the base for a whole collection of other products. 

An example was rubber, whose demand could not be met during the war so producing synthetic 

rubber became a whole new industry. Phillips Petroleum developed the “cold” synthetic rubber 

process and high octane additive in the mid 1940s. In 1947 Phillips purchased the adjoining 

Todd-Houston shipyards at Irish Bend. The loss of employment in the ship yards was eventually 

taken up by the growing petrochemical business in the area. 

❖ 

This aerial picture shows the old 

Southmore Junior High, the District’s 

baseball field and the District’s 

Football Stadium in the early 1950s 

before many of the houses were built 

south of East Houston Street. 

Chapter VII ✦ 41


With the release of restrictions on 

building materials the next couple of 

years saw a major growth in retail space 

in Pasadena. The traditional downtown 

took the lead with the new Jensen Arcade 

building. John Long of Bay City opened 

his second movie house in Pasadena, 

Long’s Theater on Shaw Street in 1946. 

New shops were put in conjunction with 

Long’s and the shops on the east side of 

Munger from Shaw to Sterling were 

refaced with art deco marble. Those 

shops included Whiteside Insurance 

Agency, The Pasadena Smart Shop, 

Capital Drug, J. R. Jones Jewelry, Baker’s 

Café, Cain’s Pasadena Furniture and 

Colonial Flowers. Ex-mayor Clyde 

McMaster opened an office supply and 

furniture store around the corner on 

Main Street. A block south down Main 

Street Frank Portwood built his new 

pharmacy across the street from DeFee’s store. 

In 1947 Pasadena State Bank moved into a new 

two story (with the first elevator in town) brick 

building on Shaw at Munger. Shaw Street was 

becoming a main downtown street. That same 

year Houston retail merchants Meyer Brothers 

opened the White House on Shaw at Main, diagonally 

across from Long’s Theater. Bob Harris 

moved his appliance business to Shaw Street 

opposite the Long’s Theater, and added a 

Chrysler dealership. 

The problem with retail development in 

Pasadena was that they ran out of vacant or available 

land in the downtown section. In 1948 Leo 

Corrigan of Dallas expanded the old downtown 

to the East when he began construction on the 

Corrigan Center on Shaw at Tatar. Herb Tatar was 

making great strides in developing south along 

Tatar Street. Beside Tatar’s residential projects, 

Tatar Street was also convenient to Herb Paine’s 

residential work. Corrigan’s shopping center related 

to both the old established downtown via Shaw 

Street and the new growth along Tatar Street. Also 

acknowledging the move south, John Long built 

his third movie house in Pasadena, the Garden’s 

Movie house on Jackson at Tatar. At all Long’s theaters 

there were live talent shows on their stages, 

usually on Saturdays, in addition to movies. When 

Mayor Delbert Atkinson retired 

from office he joined with Herbert 

Tatar and lumberman/banker Jack 

Anderson to create the firm of 

Tatar, Anderson & Atkinson in 

1949. This firm shaped much of 

the residential and commercial 

development further south along 

Tatar. Realizing that educational 

facilities needed to be built to support 

the growing population, they 

donated land to the school district 

on the southeast corner of Tatar 

and Southmore. First the school district built a 

new football steel structure stadium in the summer 

of 1950. The $140,000 stadium would seat 8,000 

people and had a glass press box. A baseball field 

was built next door. Southmore Junior High was 

built in 1952. 

❖ 

Opposite, top: Long’s Theater was the 

second movie theater built in the 

community. It was air conditioned and 

held Saturday talent shows in addition 

to the movies. Today it is used as an 

indoor shooting range. 

Opposite, bottom: Around the corner 

from the Long’s Theater, the shops 

along Munger Street catered to a wide 

variety of needs. Ola Mae Kennedy 

had two stores, the Merry Go Round 

and the Hat Box. 

Above: Herb Tatar, Delbert Atkinson 

and Jack Anderson joined forces to 

continue the Tatar Street developments 

south of Southmore. The new 

Pasadena police department is built 

on one of their subdivisions. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF CURTIS TATAR. 

Left: A. R. Cruse, Sr., (man with the 

hat) was Mr. Pasadena businessman. 

He owned several businesses at the 

corner of the La Porte Road and 

Shaver. The Pasadena Citizen offices 

are located where his house stood. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF LINDA 

CRUSE CONRAD. 

Chapter VII ✦ 43


Competing with Tatar, John Campbell was 

building more homes and enticed Sears & 

Roebuck to build its new store in 1950 on 

Southmore between Shaver and Main Street. A 

new satellite downtown was being established 

there. It was rumored that Campbell was successful 

in getting Sears to move so far out into the 

country because penny parking meters had been 

placed in the old downtown section by the city. 

The public was mad that it had to pay money to 

go shopping. Sears supposedly advertised “Why 

shop in downtown Pasadena and pay a penny to 

park when you can shop at Sears for free!” 

While many people prefer not to talk about 

embarrassing events in their community’s history, 

it is important that we know about them so that 

we will not repeat them. Sam Hoover arrived in 

Pasadena in 1939 to help Mayor Atkinson work 

on the new city charter. In 1947 Hoover was 

elected mayor. As Pasadena expanded Houston 

sought to control that growth by annexing areas 

to contain Pasadena. This created an ongoing 

battle for many years and bad relations between 

the two largest cities in Harris County. During 

Hoover’s administration the Washburn Tunnel 

was constructed and opened. A tunnel between 

Pasadena and Galena Park had been germinating 

since the 1930s and World War II interrupted 

that program. The first traffic tunnel in Texas 

opened May 27, 1950. It was also the first free 

tunnel in the United States, and the widest. It was 

named for the Harris County Auditor, Mr. Harry 

Washburn. Hoover did not cooperate with the 

County on the condemnation and construction of 

the access roads from Red Bluff and Richey and it 

would be another three years before the access 

roads were fully functional. 

Hoover bragged openly that he was getting 

kickbacks on city construction projects. 

Understandably Hoover quickly wore out his 

welcome in Pasadena and Vernon Whiteside 

was reluctantly recruited to run against Hoover 

for mayor in 1951. Whiteside won with sixty 

percent of the vote. Hoover continued to live 

in Pasadena and became a criminal lawyer. 

Soon he took up actions like the criminals he 

represented. Hoover was sentenced to fifteen 

years in 1964 for masterminding a robbery. He 

was also convicted later of filing a false income 

tax statement as well as receiving and then 

selling stolen merchandise. Hoover was very 

intelligent, but too smart for his own good. 

❖ 

Opposite, top: On the corner of Shaw 

and Main Street, the White House 

was a complete soft goods store. Today 

it is the home of the International 

Longshoremen Association, No. 28. 

Opposite, bottom: Sears built the 

largest retail store in Pasadena almost 

out in the country on Southmore 

Street. You could buy everything 

except groceries there, and the smell 

of fresh popped popcorn filled 

the store. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF PASADENA CHAMBER 

OF COMMERCE. 

Above: Construction of the Washburn 

Tunnel was an amazing feat. The 

“tube” was floated up the Ship 

Channel and sunk in place. The 

seams were sealed and the water 

pumped out. Today the Washburn 

Tunnel is listed on the National 

Registry of Historic Places. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF GAIL MILLER IN 

HARRIS COUNTY COMMISSIONER PRECINCT NO. 2 

SYLVIA GARCIA’S OFFICE. 

Chapter VII ✦ 45

❖ 

Seventeen year old Storey Sloane, Jr., 

rushed to Texas City and captured 

this picture of the disaster. Several of 

those that arrived after the first 

explosion were injured when there 

was a second explosion. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF STORY 

SLOANE’S GALLERY. 

The first edition of the Pasadena Citizen rolled 

off of the presses in December 1947. Although it 

would go through several name changes, it was 

always the same paper. It was too late to report 

the news of 1947 which included the Optimist 

Club organization by Hickman Garrett, or the 

big snow fall in March and the organization of 

the Pasadena Retail Merchants Association. One 

of the biggest stories of the year was the Texas 

City Disaster on April 16. The event is generally 

considered the worst industrial accident in 

American history. The disaster resulted from a 

fire on a cargo ship carrying 2,300 tons of 

ammonium nitrate. The initial explosion was 

heard 150 miles away and the resulting chain 

reactions killed at least 581 people. 

The city and the school district asked the 

Settlement Association (Neighborhood Centers of 

Houston) in 1948 to provide a recreational program 

for the community. The first programs were 

at schools, churches and parks. As the program 

grew the city organized a Parks Department in 

1953 and in 1954 the Recreation Department 

began taking over some of the Settlement 

Association programs. The Association remained 

in Pasadena providing services not available 

through the city. On another recreational front, 

the Pasadena Livestock Show & Rodeo obtained 

its charter in 1950 and opened their first full time 

arena on Southmore at Red Bluff. Senator Lyndon 

Baines Johnson and oilman Glenn McCarthy led 

the rodeo parade in 1951. Each year legislators, 

famous businessmen and movie stars led the 

annual rodeo parade 

The choice of movie houses also increased. 

The Capitan Theater in the Corrigan Center on 

Shaw opened on November 19, 1949. The 

theater was built and owned by Phil Isley of 

Dallas to satisfy his desire to have the “most 

modern theater in the entire southwest.” The 


❖ 

Above: The Pasadena Rodeo parade 

first began on the La Porte Road, then 

was shifted to Shaw Street before it 

settled on Southmore. In the 

background is Sears and the 

Brotherton real estate office. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF TERRY BROTHERTON. 

Left: For an enjoyable family or 

friends entertainment, miniature golf 

was the answer. Elizabeth Haws and 

Mary Pomeroy are showing off 

comfortable golfing attire. 

Chapter VII ✦ 47

❖ 

The Capitan was the fanciest movie 

house ever built in Pasadena. It had a 

special sound proof baby crying room 

so that parents could continue to 

watch the movie even if their baby 

was acting up. Most kids used the 

balcony for smooching. 

opening films were Trailin’ West, staring Chill 

Wills and San Antonio Ambush, staring Monte 

Hale. Both actors made personal appearances that 

day. Admission to a double feature, popcorn, 

candy and a soda cost only a quarter. You could 

spend all day and many of the Pasadena kids 

spend most every Saturday at the Capitan. Sadly 

the Pasadena Theater closed and the Garden’s 

Theater burned April 2, 1950. But drive in movie 

facilities became the rage after World War II and 

Pasadena got its share. The Pasadena Drive in 

opened in 1949 and the Red Bluff Drive In 

opened in 1954. Both had a play ground area up 

front under the big movie screen for the children. 

If you preferred live performances, Pasadena 

Little Theater began in 1955 with performances 

in the Red Bluff Elementary auditorium. 

For the adults, especially the males, golf was 

becoming the rage. Humble Oil & Refining gave 

its Employees’ Club property on Red Bluff road 

for a recreation location in 1954. Two years later 

they opened an eighteen hole golf course for 

members, and guests. In future years it would 

be known as Baywood Country Club. Until then 

golfing was of the miniature type at the 

Pasadena Miniature Golf Course on Shaw Street. 

After the war and with the continued influx 

of people to Pasadena, the school district began 

a steady building program. At the high school a 

band hall was built in 1947 and a Vocational 

Education building was added along with a Boys 

Gym in 1948. A new administration building 

was built on Broadway at Munger to provide 

more office space for the growing administrative 

staff. South Houston Junior High was established 

in 1947, South Shaver Elementary in 

1949, Richey Elementary in 1951, Southmore 

Junior High and Queens Junior High in 1952, 

Red Bluff Elementary was built in 1953 and 

Mae Smith Elementary was added in 1955. The 

school system had agreed to temporarily house 

the growing City library collection that was 

located in Ola Mae Kennedy’s house. The collection 

was moved to the school district office in 


1946. Seven years later, in 1953, Shell Oil 

Company built and donated to the city its first 

free standing library. The new library was a one 

story brick building of modern design, located 

on Tatar Street between Thomas and Harris and 

opened March 2, 1953. 

With expanding population, church membership 

expanded. The Baptists and the 

Methodists attracted the lion’s share of the new 

members. In 1948 both First Baptist and First 

Methodist remodeled and enlarged their sanctuaries. 

Satsuma Baptist Church was organized 

that same year. By 1954 First Baptist Church 

decided they needed to move nearer to the new 

center of town since the population was moving 

south. They chose a site on Tatar Street just 

south of Southmore, across from the football 

stadium. The early church members, the “old 

timers” were not happy with the move since 

they were use to having the church nearby. They 

bought the old church building from First 

Baptist and organized their own church, South 

Main Baptist Church. First Baptist met in temporary 

space until the first part of their new 

sanctuary was built. They moved in 1955 and 

began work on the rest of the main church. The 

Methodists responded by building a new 

sanctuary in 1955, compete with air conditioning. 

The old sanctuary was moved to the side of 

the property and named the Wesley Chapel. 

The post war period started with the post 

office providing home mail delivery for the first 

time. A community hall was built at the new 

Memorial Park and a new public swimming pool 

was constructed. The battleship Texas was given 

to the State of Texas and it was moored at the 

San Jacinto Battleground in 1948. In addition 

to the Pasadena Citizen newspaper, three 

more papers started circulation in Pasadena. 

The Pasadena Eagle began in 1947, the Pasadena 

Mirror in 1950 and the Star News & Shopper in 

1953. Pasadena got its first local radio station, 

KLVL, 1480 AM in 1950 when Felix Morales of 

Houston obtained a license for a daylight hour 

only Spanish language station he called KLVL, 

standing for “La Voz Latina.” In 1951 Pasadena 

got its first individual telephone book. 

Southwestern Bell had declined to produce one 

so the Pasadena Garden Club began publishing 

their annual telephone book. Remember, this 

was a common attitude in Pasadena, if someone 

else won’t do it, we will do it ourselves. 

Pasadena Savings & Loan built its own 

building at the corner of Shaw and Main Street. 

On the other end of Shaw First National Bank 

acquired the old Baird-Clarkson hospital and 

opened in 1952. Dr. Connor had purchased Dr. 

Baird’s Pasadena General Hospital on Tatar in 

1948 and then sold the Baird-Clarkson hospital. 

With new money in his pocket Dr. Baird built 

the Medical and Surgical Hospital on Jackson 

Street just west of Shaver in 1949. And with 

another group of doctors Dr. Baird started 

Southmore Hospital and Clinic on Southmore at 

Tatar in 1953. Two years later Southmore began 

an almost annual addition to the hospital. 

❖ 

The city of Pasadena got its first free 

standing public library through the 

generosity of Shell Oil Company. 

The building was razed when Jackson 

Intermediate School was built on the 

old Walter Williams Court 

subdivision land. 

Chapter VII ✦ 49

❖ 

Above: The old First Baptist Church 

building was purchased by the 

congregation of the new South Main 

Baptist Church when First Baptist 

moved to Tatar (Pasadena Boulevard) 

and Southmore. Since then both 

churches have moved out to the 

Fairmont Parkway area. The school 

district bought the land and it is now 

part of the sports complex of 

Pasadena High School. 

The continued southern growth of the 

community was inevitable and underscored 

the community’s ability to adapt. A traditional 

central downtown with concentric residential 

neighborhoods did not work for Pasadena 

because the Houston Ship Channel and its 

related industries occupied north Pasadena. 

Houston blocked any westward expansion 

and Deer Park allowed only a limited 

eastward expansion. Although Houston tried to 

stop Pasadena’s geographic move, Pasadena 

overcame each challenge and continued its 

move south. In 1953 a Planning Commission 

was established in order to come up with a 

Master Plan to guide the future growth of 

the city. The challenge for the city was to keep 

up with the growth and try to direct it in 

some way. 

Right: Clyde Pomeroy served in the 

Navy during World War II. The 

battleship Texas was moored at the 

San Jacinto Battlegrounds. In July, 

1948, Pomeroy’s wife, Marguerite, 

took their kids to see the ship. 


CHAPTER VIII 

T HE M OVE S OUTH 

1956-1980 

Pasadena was now growing at 3,600 people per year and the school district was at a dead run to 

stay ahead of the growth. The school district has always done a good job of planning ahead and 

locating campuses in areas of developing needs. Certainly you cannot wait until the need is there to 

start planning and building a school. Between 1956 and 1960 ten new schools were opened and 

another twelve would open by 1970. Only then would the school district get a brief rest. There was 

a constant juggling of student loads in order to teach them while much needed space was under 

construction. South Houston High was built to relieve the overcrowding at Pasadena High School 

and 500 students had to meet at Pasadena High and Kruse Elementary in the fall of 1958 because 

construction was running behind schedule. One half of the buildings at the new J. D. Parks 

Elementary were not accepted by the school board and the students had to double up classes 

until the mistakes had been corrected. Charles Jessup Elementary opened without problems but in 

1963 had to house the students meant for Meador Elementary which was still under construction. 

Jessup took the morning sessions and Meador took the afternoon sessions. 

❖ 

Pasadenans have always been at the 

forefront of promoting education. 

After San Jacinto College was 

organized the community and the 

surrounding area approved the bond 

financing that built the new school its 

first campus. Today the college has 

three campuses. 

Chapter VIII ✦ 51

❖ 

Besides the Capitan Theater, the First 

Pasadena State Bank building is the 

other landmark building in Pasadena. 

It served as the financial and business 

center of the community. President 

Lyndon Baines Johnson campaigned 

from its steps for his election as 

president in 1964. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF GRANT SEXTON. 

In order to adjust the work loads on each 

school and to maximize teaching, the school district 

experimented with several programs. In 

1963 Pomeroy Elementary was selected to do a 

pilot project for a non-graded system for the district. 

Queens Junior High did a pilot program on 

“Intermediate” grades 6 through 8 in 1962-63 

and it was adopted by the school district. Beverly 

Hill Intermediate was built in 1964 as the first 

school to be built as an Intermediate facility. 

Besides the introduction of the “intermediate” 

grade levels, air conditioning became a priority. 

Sam Rayburn High School opened in the fall term 

of 1964, fully air conditioned. The district then 

began a program to add air conditioning to all of 

the campuses during the summer months so as 

not to disrupt the teaching. The war babies had 

worked their way through the system and in 

1968 a fourth high school was added to the 

system. Because Pasadena had absorbed Genoa 

and South Houston school systems they now 

needed more school buildings for their growing 

population in the Sagemont Subdivision area. 

James E. Stutchbery Elementary was opened in 

1967 and J. Frank Dobie High opened in 1968. 

Feeling the need for ‘higher education,’ San 

Jacinto College was organized in 1961 and held its 

first classes in the fall on Shaver, just north of 

the high school. Many of the original teachers 

were also PISD teachers. Quickly filling a need, the 

college built its new campus on Spencer Highway 

by the mid 1960s. A north campus was built in 

1976 and a south campus in 1979. The Texas 

Chiropractic College was organized in 1908 and 

moved from San Antonio to an eight acre site in 

Pasadena in 1965. The following year an additional 

ten acres were required and beginning in 1974 

additional buildings were added to the campus. 


The schools, commercial developers and residential 

developers also demanded more land as 

the population swelled. The city began annexing 

land at an incredible pace to stay ahead. In the 

mid-to late forties Pasadena began annexing 

sections of land as they were being put into 

development, moving south towards Spencer 

Highway and east toward the Red Bluff corridor. 

In 1949 Houston Mayor Oscar Holcomb and 

Pasadena mayor Sam Hoover did not get along. 

Houston decided to stop Pasadena’s expansion 

by annexing a strip of land south of the city to 

encircle Pasadena with La Porte, Deer Park 

and Houston. Hoover responded by annexing 

all of the industrial land north of the La Porte 

Highway and outside of the Navigation District 

from Pasadena to State Highway 134 

(Battleground Road). La Porte annexed everything 

south of Lomax and Deer Park to 

Pasadena. In 1956 Deer Park, Lomax and La 

Porte, working in concert with Pasadena simultaneously 

de-annexed a section of land which 

allowed Pasadena to annex and get around 

Houston’s barrier. Houston wanted to incorporate 

all of the unincorporated areas of Harris 

County. La Porte and Pasadena come up with a 

plan to defeat some of Houston’s program in 

southeast Harris County. La Porte annexed the 

area that would be Seabrook. Pasadena annexed 

the land that would be Taylor Lake Village and 

El Lago. However, those developing communities 

did not want to be a part of Pasadena (or 

Houston for that matter) and with another 

simultaneous city council maneuver, La Porte 

and Pasadena de-annexed sufficient land in 1961 

for the three communities to immediately incorporate. 

Meanwhile Pasadena had filed a lawsuit 

against Houston for its aggressive annexation 

❖ 

From this view from on top of the 

almost completed First Pasadena 

State Bank building the new City Hall 

(on the right with newly planted trees) 

and the new Foley’s Department Store 

(on the left with the arched entrance). 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF SAMMY DAVIS, JR. 

Chapter VIII ✦ 53

❖ 

The community of Deepwater did 

not survive but the subdivision of 

Deepwater Village would give the 

area a new start. Although many 

thought him crazy, Krull predicted 

that Houston area would have over 

one million residents in the future. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF JEFF DUNN. 

program and the Texas Supreme Court ruled in 

Pasadena’s favor in 1969. The following year an 

“exchange” took place. Pasadena got all of the 

new Bayport Industrial District and Houston 

obtained the right to annex the developing Clear 

Lake City and the NASA Space Center complex. 

With just a few adjustments, this established the 

permanent geographical limits of Pasadena. 

While city government was trying to protect 

the geography of the community and provide for 

future growth, commercial development was following. 

Leo Corrigan opened the second phase of 

his Corrigan Center in 1956 which included 

JCPenney, A & P Supermarket and W. T. Grant 

variety store. While this was the last of the 

old downtown projects, it was also part of the 

Tatar Street business corridor. Cain’s Furniture 

acknowledged the move by adding its second 

store on Tatar Street. The intersection of Tatar and 

Southmore was creating its own central district. 

The city realized the importance of this newly 

developing center and moved city hall out to 

East Southmore in 1957. Even the stalwart First 

Pasadena State Bank broke ground on December 

31, 1961, for their new fifteen-story skyscraper at 

the corner of Tatar Street and Southmore. Finger’s 

Furniture had leased space in the first section 

of the Corrigan Center and, instead of renewing 

their lease, they chose to build a free standing 

store one block south of Southmore on 

Strawberry Belt Road in 1962. Southmore Savings 

and Loan was organized and built their building 

two blocks west of the new bank building. At the 

same time Foley’s decided to build between the 

new bank tower and city hall and they opened in 

1962. Unfortunately Foley’s opened a low end 


merchandise store and made the citizens of 

Pasadena mad because they felt they should have 

a typical high end store. After a few years Foley’s 

upgraded its store to the chain standard and all 

was forgotten. First Pasadena State Bank opened 

in their new quarters on May 11, 1963. 

John A. Campbell was busy on the west end 

of Southmore developing his center. By 1962 he 

had Sears, Weingarten’s Grocery and two strip 

centers to anchor his commercial area. San 

Jacinto State Bank was organized and opened 

in Campbell’s center in 1956. And Campbell 

was developing out Richey Street south of 

Southmore with more strip centers. The 

Allendale Shopping Center opened in 1956. 

Randall’s grocery store started at Richey and 

Southmore. This was their first store and once 

they got the hang of it, they began expanding 

with their chain of stores. But as Southmore was 

beginning to show the signs of a major shopping 

and business area, a move was already on its 

way out to Spencer Highway. 

Robert “Bob” Harris arrived in Pasadena by 

1940 and opened a small appliance store on 

Sterling Avenue (La Porte Road). Harris was 

elected President of the Pasadena Chamber of 

Commerce in 1943. In 1954 he and his wife 

Dorothy sold their retail businesses and went 

into real estate development. Their niche was to 

develop south of Campbell and Tatar’s projects 

with a focus on Spencer Highway. Although 

most of the residential development was then 

north of Spencer, Bayshore Hospital began its 

operation in 1962 with a two story facility 

supported by 26 local physicians. In two years it 

would begin its expansion construction. 

Like Campbell moving down Richey Street, 

Tatar reached over to Red Bluff Road. Tatar and 

Fleming teamed up to open Market Center on 

Red Bluff at Preston Road in 1958. The center 

was the first enclosed and air conditioned 

shopping mall in Harris County. Demand had 

been growing in the area since 1948 when 

Maurice Krull started his Deepwater Village with 

700 homes selling for $6,000 each with $300 

down and $42 per month, taxes and insurance 

included. Meanwhile, back out on Red Bluff, 

Dr. Ken Mathis and others opened Pasadena 

Memorial Hospital south of Pasadena Boulevard. 

Following Bayshore’s example, he was betting 

development would continue his way. 

Ben Meador’s relatives moved to South 

Houston in 1908 and he grew up in the 

Pasadena area. With the expansion of industry 

in the area, Ben and friend Gene Brady quit their 

jobs in the Human Resources department of 

a local industry and began Meador-Brady 

Personnel Company in 1968. Both Ben and 

Gene were very active in community affairs. As 

committed to the future of Pasadena was John 

Phelps, a teacher turned insurance agent in 

1962. His State Farm agency became the largest 

in the state and both of his sons would also 

contribute to the success of Pasadena. Ken 

Seifert moved to Pasadena as a CPA in 1973 and 

became partners in Mosher, Seifert & Company. 

Ultimately he became the sole owner, but along 

the way he contributed more than his fair share 

in Pasadena’s progress. 

While movers and shakers were redefining 

Pasadena, everyday life went on as if nothing special 

was happening. In 1953 Katherine Sanders 

and a few other mothers rented a hall behind St. 

Peter’s Episcopal Church at 1050 E. Thomas and 

started Taylor Hall Teen Canteen. They held 

dances on Friday and Saturday so that kids 

would have a place to go and be safe. Taylor Hall 

❖ 

Ben Meador became president of the 

Pasadena Chamber of Commerce and 

is seen here (on the left near the 

strawberry) with Henry Cisneros, 

Barbara Walling and Johnny Isbell. 


OF COMMERCE. 

Chapter VIII ✦ 55

was moved to the Community Center in 

Memorial Park on Vince Street about 1954. High 

school kids could dance on Friday and Saturdays, 

while Junior high kids could dance only on 

Thursday nights. In 1956 the hall was moved to 

112 S. Randall and Mrs. J. L. Sanders was still the 

chaperone. Dance lessons were available. Taylor 

Hall moved to 2131 S. Richey by the summer of 

1960 and that is where Sondra Traxler met her 

future husband. Taylor Hall closed in 1968, the 

end of an era for Pasadena teenagers. 

There were always, the movies. Although the 

Long’s Theater was still open, the Capitan 

Theater was “the place” to go, what with its 

nautical theme and lavish decorations. The 

theater in La Porte showed first run movies so 

you did not have to go to Houston to see the 

latest. South Houston had its own movie house. 

If you had a car you could take a girlfriend, or a 

gang of friends, to the local drive in movies. In 

addition to the Pasadena Drive In and the Red 

Bluff Drive In, the Eagle Drive In opened in 1957 

at 4021 Red Bluff. Unfortunately it was closed by 

1960. That same year Gulfway Drive In opened 

just off S. Shaver between Old Galveston Road 

(Highway 3) and the Gulf Freeway. Although it 

opened with one screen, Gulfway eventually 

added a second screen which was a new trend. 

Six years later in 1966 Town & Country Drive In 

opened at 4716 Red Bluff with one screen, but 

added a second one later. 

The old downtown collapsed when plans 

were announced in 1963 to build an elevated 

highway (SH 225) to replace the surface La 

Porte Road. With mobility and the residential 

center of town continuing to move south Long’s 

Theater closed in 1962 and the Capitan started 

a downward spiral. In 1969 it stopped showing 

movies, but the following year it opened 

showing “art” movies for the next five years. 

In 1978 it became the Captain Christian Center 

❖ 

Above: John Phelps supports many 

civic functions. He is shown here on 

the right side appyling a bumper 

sticker in support of a pay raise for 

the Pasadena Police. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF CHIEF MICHAEL 

JACKSON, PASADENA POLICE DEPARTMENT. 

Right: Now abandoned, Taylor Hall 

was the safe meeting place for 

Pasadena teenagers in the 1950s. All 

dances were chaperoned and Officer 

“Papa Dean” watched after the kids. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF SONDRA 

TRAXLER JOHNSON. 


for a year. In 1980 it reopened as a Spanish 

speaking movie house and became vacant again 

in 1985. The Red Bluff Drive In simply shifted 

to “adult entertainment” in 1971 and then 

ceased operation about 1986. The Pasadena 

Drive In closed about 1979. With no indoor 

theaters left, it was time for a new round. The 

ABC Parkview Theater opened at 3901 Spencer 

in 1974. Southmore Cinema opened in 1976 at 

2233 Southmore as the new style multiplex 

movie houses with four theaters in one. Three 

years later they added two additional screens. 

For other entertainment, there was “cruisin.” 

Whether it was your car, or the borrowed family 

car, Fridays and Saturdays were cruising 

nights when you drove from the 

Corral Drive In diner on the west end 

of the La Porte Road to Trainer’s Drive 

In diner on the east end of La Porte 

Road. You were looking for a date, 

showing off your wheels or just visiting 

with friends. Heading down 

Shaver you could stop at The Grove 

near Garner street. Later the Merry 

Go Round was out Red Bluff. You 

might stop at Angel’s restaurant on 

Shaver for an after event hamburger 

and fries. If it was early you could 

stop by the Pasadena Miniature Golf 

Course on Shaw Street and get in a 

couple of rounds. In 1961 they added 

trampolines for the more energetic. 

The football coach stopped the team 

from coming over since they could 

get hurt horsing around. A little safer 

sport would be at the Pasadena 

Bowling Alley at end of Angelina 

off of Broadway. Nearby was the 

Hurbert’s Roller Rink at 1107 East 

Broadway. They had an amateur roller 

skating program that produced state 

and national champions. 

Another form of history was 

being made in Pasadena at this time. 

In 1957 Leroy Gloger purchased 

KRCT 650 AM station and moved it 

to Pasadena. The station was located 

at 227 E. Sterling (La Porte Road) in 

the old Williams mercantile building 

at Main Street. KRCT focused on 

country music. In 1961 Gloger hired 

Bill Bailey as his program director. In 1962 

KRCT changed its call letters to KIKK. The station 

prospered and moved into new quarters at 

712 E. Southmore in 1965. 

By 1960 FM radio was becoming the popular 

format for music. In the summer of 1962 KLVL- 

FM 92.5 went on the air as the first Spanish language 

FM station. In 1969 Morales sold the station 

and its call letters were changed to KYND 

92.5 FM and the programming changed to 

“beautiful music.” Meanwhile “Buffalo” Bill 

Bailey was promoting country music on KIKK in 

the Houston Rodeo, the Pasadena Rodeo and 

the Prison Rodeo. Any place you could promote 

❖ 

The final death knell for the old 

downtown Pasadena area came 

when the Texas Department of 

Transportation decided to build an 

elevated freeway though Pasadena to 

replace the old La Porte Road. 

Chapter VIII ✦ 57

❖ 

The Williams “block” housed many 

businesses. The last to occupy the 

building was the radio station KRCT 

which became the famous KIKK 

through the efforts of “Buffalo Bill” 

(now Constable) Bailey. 

country music, Bailey was there. When Apollo 

XII landed on the moon, Bailey had provided 

the crew with a cassette of country music. After 

Neil Armstrong said, “Houston, the Eagle has 

landed” no doubt he whipped out a music cassette 

from Pasadena! Promotions like that got 

Bill Bailey elected as Billboard Magazine’s 

Program Director of the Year in 1970. But life is 

uncertain, Gloger sold the station and Bailey 

was let go. He went over to KENR and won the 

CMA Disc Jockey of the Year award in 1975. 

Pasadena was handling most of the stresses of 

rapid growth. Pollution was becoming a major 

issue as more industry and more people shared 

the same place. Early complaints were touted by 

refinery managers that what they smelled was 

the “smell of money.” Because of the smell 

people had jobs. It would take a while before 

health became an issue and that smell had to go 

away. Champion Paper put out a particular 

pungent order. Most of the time winds were out 

of the south and Galena Park had to deal with it. 

But when the winds changed from the north, 

Pasadena got the odor. Houston tagged 

Pasadena as “stink-a-dina” because of the strong 

smell. It would be quite a few years before the 

problem, the bleaching of raw wood chips in 

preparation for high quality white paper, was 

pinpointed and dealt with. Eventually the smell 

began to subside. 

Another problem of the rapid growth period 

were adjustments by city management. When 

Pasadena incorporated it was little more than a 

small farming community. City Council was part 

time employment; more like a second job. But 

as the community grew and it grew rapidly, the 

time demands grew exponentially, and the pay 

did not increase with the added responsibility. 

Mayor Sam Hoover did not grow up in the 

community and was the first city official to 

try to enhance his income. While subsequent 

mayors were men of higher integrity, three of 

them where charged with improper use of city 

employees for personal benefit. Ultimately the 

alleged charges were dropped but they pointed 

to the need to increase the compensation for city 

council and in particular, the mayor. Pasadena 

was now a strong mayor system where the 

mayor acted as the city manager and city 

council served as an advisory body without 

specific city function duties. The term of the 

mayor was increased to four years and pay was 

increased across the board. Clyde Doyal was 

elected the first four year term mayor in 1965. 

Under his term a development plan for 

Pasadena was present in 1967. Since Pasadena is 

not a zoned city, all the city could do was to try 

persuasion to get developers to follow this plan. 

Many more development and redevelopment 

plans would come. 

In the sixties racial issues and integration 

became a national fixation. While there were 

few Blacks living in Pasadena, there were no 

demonstrations. Sixteen years later a KKK bookstore 

was opened in Pasadena in 1976. The 

opposition was probably against affirmative 

action rather than integration itself. Klan members 

would periodically stand outside the book 


store on Red Bluff just north of Thomas Street 

and hand out literature while dressed in their 

white robes. Grand Wizard David Duke of New 

Orleans declared the Pasadena store the state 

headquarters of his branch of the Klan. Duke 

claimed his group was only interested in education, 

not action or violence. Grand Titan Louis 

Beam was in charge locally. He was from Lake 

Jackson and was a student at the University of 

Houston living in Pasadena. Beam graduated in 

1977 and was living in the Fort Hood area in 

1978. No violence was reported in Pasadena 

and the store soon closed. Unfortunately the 

image continued. 

On the good news side, Pasadena had a float 

in the Rose Bowl parade in 1956, the Pasadena 

Livestock Show & Rodeo gave out its first education 

scholarship in 1959, the first official 

Pasadena observance of San Jacinto Day was in 

1966, the Pasadena Colts Little League won 

the World Series in 1973, the San Jacinto Day 

Foundation presented its first Strawberry 

Festival in 1974 in conjunction with the opening 

of the Pasadena Historical Museum, Pasadena 

was an official Olympic Volleyball training site 

in 1976, that same year Pasadena claimed the 

National Volleyball Champs, the Texas Girls 

Softball Champs and the San Jacinto Polo Club 

won the World Championship. The movie 

“Urban Cowboy” was being filmed in Pasadena. 

The next challenge for the community was a 

positive one as they sought to address quality of 

life issues. Population continued to grow but the 

rate slowed. Being geographically defined, it was 

time to work on how the vacant land was going to 

be developed out, what services would be needed, 

what entertainment and activities would be 

appropriate, and, oh yes, some good restaurants. 

❖ 

Mayor Sam Hoover is sitting on the 

tractor. Other mayors supposedly used 

city tractors on their farms before 

the pay scale was increased to 

compensate for their time spent on 

city business. 

Chapter VIII ✦ 59

❖ 

Above: One end of the ‘crusing’ route 

was the Corral Drive-In on the 

western edge of town. There was 

always a crowd as people showed off 

their new car (most likely their 

parent’s), their souped up car or their 

vintage rebuilt car. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF D. C. TRAINER. 

Right: Those were the days! Just park 

your car at Trainer’s Drive-In and a 

car hop would take your order and 

then deliver the food. Young Davey 

Pomeroy rode up one day on his horse 

and got curb (saddle) side service. 

That’s an honest story, ask 

D. C. Trainer. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF D. C. TRAINER. 


❖ 

Left: Pasadena, Texas was named for 

Pasadena, California, and it was 

appropriate for the tour city to have a 

float in the Rose Bowl Parade. This 

one in 1956 focused on our location to 

the winning of Texas Independence. In 

1991 Pasadena had another float in 

the parade. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF PASADENA 

HERITAGE PARK. 

Below: The San Jacinto Day 

Foundation was organized to promote 

our history and heritage. On April 22 

members of the organization visit the 

Santa Anna capture site to 

commemorate the day when Texas 

Independence was assured. Santa 

Anna was captured on the future site 

of Pasadena. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF SAN JACINTO 

DAY FOUNDATION. 

Chapter VIII ✦ 61

CHAPTER IX 

P ASADENA R EDEFINES I TSELF 

❖ 

Pasadena Town Square mall was built 

on the site of the World War II 

Maxwell Home subdivision. The mall 

was added to the existing Foley’s (now 

Macy’s) Department Store. Later 

Sears built onto the mall and 

consolidated the retail center of town. 

1981 TO PRESENT 

The face and character of Pasadena had changed in many ways as Pasadena passed its Centennial 

celebration in 1993. While the change had been building with the rapid growth during and after 

World War II, the 1980s witnessed a breathing spell. Pasadena prospered and now began focusing 

on quality of life issues. Like the early farmers who put their crops in first to ensure a future income 

and then turned to social issues like school and church, the community of Pasadena was now assured 

of its future income because of the many different industries and businesses that provided 

employment, and it was time to focus on controlled growth and citizen support systems and services. 


Struggling to keep its status as a major commercial 

district, new retail construction continued 

along Southmore Avenue. Pasadena Town 

Square Mall expanded the retail draw of Foley’s 

as it replaced the Maxwell Homes subdivision 

with one of the last enclosed malls and one of the 

few not located on a freeway. The mall opened in 

1982 and eventually attracted Sears to abandon 

its Southmore at Shaver location in favor of the 

draw of a regional mall. When Sears moved, 

their old building was torn down and Walmart 

built on the site so that end of Southmore continued 

to be viable. Globe Discount Store built 

on the old football stadium land across from 

Foley’s and the space later was rented by 

Mervyn’s Department Store and Office Depot. 

The commercial developments along Spencer 

Highway did not materialize as a major competitor 

to the Southmore corridor because real 

estate development was moving too fast south. 

Bob Harris began real estate development north 

of Spencer with his wife Dorothy in 1954. He 

was killed in 1963 and Dorothy continued their 

developments. Nephew John O. Harris was 

hired and the business jumped over Spencer 

and began the Vista Villas subdivision south of 

Spencer. Dorothy retired and John O. Harris 

continued developing south of Spencer, along a 

new road to be called Fairmont Parkway. Harris 

had a different vision than the earlier developers 

in that he wanted to plan all phases of the development 

and maintain architectural control in 

order to maintain and enhance future land values. 

This type of master-planned development 

was a departure from the laissez faire developments 

in the past and a concept that proved to 

be worth its weight in gold. 

Fairmont Parkway was built as an alternate 

route between the Gulf Freeway and La Porte. 

Transportation plans for the greater Houston area 

included concentric circles around Houston’s 

downtown to facilitate traffic. An inner circle was 

called Loop 610. The middle circle was to be 

called the Outer Belt, but was later renamed 

Beltway 8 or the Sam Houston tollway. By 1973 

the Beltway 8 feeder roads were under construction 

from the La Porte Freeway (SH 225) south to 

the under construction Fairmont Parkway. The 

eastern half of Fairmont was completed first, 

and then work began on the western half which 

was through Harris’ 2,000 acre Fairmont Central 

development. While John O. Harris concentrated 

his efforts west of the new Beltway 8 feeder roads, 

Friendswood Development focused on the eastern 

side. They began their development at Jana Lane 

(later renamed Space Center Boulevard) with 

the Village Grove subdivisions. Friendswood 

also was developing the Brookwood subdivision 

of Pasadena along Bay Area Boulevard and 

Middlebrook Drive in the Clear Lake City area. 

❖ 

John O. Harris’ Fairmont Central set 

a new standard for real estate 

development in Pasadena. Movers 

and shakers turned out for the 

groundbreaking of the new shopping 

center at the corner of Burke 

and Fairmont. 


OF COMMERCE. 

Chapter IX ✦ 63

❖ 

Texas Citizens Bank is trying to reestablish 

the feel of a hometown bank 

and annually hosts a Christmas 

celebration. EVP Bob Gebhard 

pretends to be Santa Claus and Sonya 

Cox is Mrs. Santa. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF BOB GEBHARD. 

The development of Fairmont Parkway had a 

significant affect upon the future of Pasadena. 

The master plan standards of Fairmont Central 

inspired others in both residential and 

commercial design. Harris’ commercial center 

would be the intersection of Burke and 

Fairmont. Both the new branch library and 

the Chamber of Commerce built in this area. 

The Cleveland-Ripley Neighborhood Center 

was one of the early west Fairmont Parkway 

establishments in 1968. However, the greatest 

commercial development in the area would be 

between Harris’ project and Friendswood’s 

development. The intersection of Beltway 8 and 

Fairmont proved to be the hottest retail location 

in the Pasadena area by 2005. The enclosed 

shopping mall model of the past gave way to a 

collection of free standing stores sharing a 

common parking area and management. 

Major national chains flocked to the area. 

The connection of Space Center Boulevard 

(previously called Jana Lane) with the Clear 

Lake community about 2002 increased regional 

retail traffic. Local mom and pop stores began to 

disappear since they could not compete with the 

high volume purchasing powers of the majors. 

The same held true for the local hospitals 

as Pasadena General, Southmore and Bayshore 

were sold to national hospital chains. Pasadena 

Hospital and Clinic, Baird-Clarkson Hospital, 

Medical and Surgical Hospital and Pasadena 

Memorial (aka Beltway Hospital aka Tri City 

Regional Hospital) all closed their doors. The 

movie houses suffered the same loss as Long’s 

Theater, Capitan Theater, Parkview Theater, 

Pasadena Drive In, Red Bluff Drive In, Eagle 

Drive In, Town & Country Drive In and 

Gulfway Drive In all closed. Southmore Cinema 

survived by becoming Latino Cinema and the 

Cinemark chain built a 16 screen complex on 

Beltway 8 at Pasadena Boulevard. 

The 1980s gave the city a chance to catch up 

and try to plan ahead. Population only increased 

by 6,829 during that decade, the lowest rate 

since 1940. The national financial economy was 

turbulent during the 1980s as inflation went to 

twelve percent, savings and lending rates shot 

up and crude oil prices jumped and then 

crashed. In an effort to control the financial 

markets the federal government and Federal 

Reserve enacted severe measures that drove the 

stock market down. The Tax Reform Act of 

1986 enhanced the failure of savings & loan 

associations and banks as real estate values 

crashed. This was a far worse crisis than the 

2009 crash that would follow. First Pasadena 

State Bank had been acquired by Southwest 

Bancshares which was itself acquired by MCorp 

of Dallas. MCorp was the twentieth largest 

banking system in the United States and the 

Federal Reserve declared it insolvent and took it 

over under the name of Bridge Bank. This was in 

turn sold to Bank One of Ohio which was 

then bought by Chase in 2004. Other local 

banks suffered the same ‘reorganization’ and 


local control of the banking system was quickly 

lost. Financial lending decisions were made by 

people not familiar with the local economy or 

the local borrowers. Most of the local banks 

became simply branches of out-of-area holding 

companies as their names changed almost 

monthly. Banks used to be places were people 

did business and visited with each other. As 

the banking industry disconnected with the 

community, an opportunity appeared for local 

investors. Texas Citizen’s Bank, founded in 2006 

grew out of the reaction to this opportunity. 

Local people were taking back control. The 

response was overwhelmingly positive and the 

bank is now expanding to nearby communities. 

Against this chaotic background the city tried 

to gain control. Under Mayor Johnny Isbell 

development plans were studied. In 1987 the 

city was ‘placed on trial’ using a popular 

community analysis system of assessing 

strengths and weaknesses. The purpose of the 

“Econocourt” concept was to attract new 

businesses to the community. Again in 1993 

when Isbell returned to office the American 

Institute of Architects analyzed Pasadena with 

their Regional/Urban Design Assistance Team 

(R/UDAT). Their report suggested the need for 

additional local and regional planning, decreased 

dependency on the ship channel industries by 

attracting other revenue generators, work on 

quality of life issues like air, beautification and 

green spaces, plan supporting services and 

facilities around the Pasadena Town Square mall 

area, the Capitan Theater, the Pasadena Heritage 

Park and the Pasadena Convention Center/ 

Rodeo complex and developing a plan to 

rehabilitate the north Pasadena area. The city 

established the Second Century Corporation 

which was funded by a portion of the sales 

tax to promote and facilitate redevelopment. 

❖ 

The Pasadena Chamber moved their 

offices to land donated by John O. 

Harris on Fairmont Parkway. 


OF COMMERCE. 

Chapter IX ✦ 65

❖ 

The early settlers to Pasadena were 

Irish, German, Russian and Anglo. 

Cultural diversity continues. This is a 

2009 polling place sign in three 

languages. Students in the school 

system speak approximately forty-six 

different languages. 

The old part of Pasadena’s development was 

addressed in 2009 with the North Pasadena 

Re-Development Plan. Bit by bit, the city was 

reshaping the community. In 2009 Harris 

County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia made a 

commitment to the old downtown section in 

North Pasadena by building her new County 

Court Annex on SH 225 at Richey Street. The 

fates of the nationally recognized historically 

significant structures of the First Pasadena State 

Bank Building and the Capitan Theater have yet 

to be determined. Dr. Tom Sewell of San Jacinto 

College noted “the future is something we 

create, it just doesn’t happen.” 

The city began addressing the special needs of 

the community. The Madison Jobe Senior Citizen 

Center is one of the programs offered to assist 

senior citizens in Pasadena. The Verne Cox 

Recreational Center was built for physically and 

mentally disabled citizens and provides a wide 

program of activities. Multiple recreational facilities 

and parks have been established. The 

Pomeroy Homestead was listed on the National 

Registry of Historic Places and was designated 

Pasadena’s Heritage Park. The old Strawberry 

House and museum building on Vince’s Bayou 

were moved to the site at Main Street and Eagle. 

Several fire stations have been upgraded and new 

ones built in order to distribute men and equipment 

for quicker response times to fire events. 

Pasadena Volunteer Fire Department is the largest 

municipal volunteer department in the nation. A 

Neighborhood Network program was developed 

and supplemented the old Neighborhood Watch 

program. The city library was updated and 

expanded to better serve the growing community 

with a wider range of services. A new police 

department building replaced the overcrowded 

older facility. Bicycle patrols were established for 

neighborhood, shopping center and jogging trail 

protection. Unfortunately three officers were 

killed in the line of duty (Officers Ginn, Early and 

Hamilton) during this period and the community 

came together to show the policemen how much 

they are appreciated. The mayor established an 

“Action Line” so that citizens can call on questions 

and complaints and the matter can be handled 

quickly. In order to provide additional services a 

community volunteer program was established. 

The city under Mayor Isbell purchased the 

Corrigan Center in North Pasadena in 1999 as 

part of an effort to revitalize the old section of 

town. The eastern half of the center was 

renovated and some of the city offices moved in. 

The western half was renovated and the Harris 

County community clinic occupied most of the 

space. Included in the purchase was the Capitan 

Theater. The old neon marquee and graphic 

mural on the Capitan was restored and a formal 

“relighting of the neon” occurred in 2000 with 

the original theater manager Edward Charleton 

assisting Mayor Isbell in flipping the giant 

electrical switch. Pasadena Independent School 

District purchased the old Strawberry Mall on 

Strawberry Road and converted it into its new 

Administration building. Then they purchased 

the closed Randall’s Supermarket on Beltway 8 at 

Pasadena Boulevard and changed it into its 

“Challenger” Center and offices for the new PISD 

Police Department. The city purchased the old 

Southmore Medical Office Tower and moved city 

service departments into the building. Recycling 

building and real estate was viable. The city also 

began condemning run down or abandoned 

apartment projects. These were bulldozed down 

and the land resold for productive use. 

Growth, space and infrastructure were not 

the only issues facing Pasadena in the last 

twenty plus years. The ethnic mix of Pasadena 

became an issue as the Hispanic general 

population increased from 19,130 in 1980 to 

68,348 in 2000. Hispanics now were the 

majority ethnic group in Pasadena. In the school 


system the shift was seen sooner and by 1996 

the school population was 51 percent Hispanic 

and 39 percent Anglo. By 2010 Hispanic 

students represented 77.2 percent and Anglo 

students dropped to 11.7 percent. Despite the 

challenges to the school system, Pasadena 

began to rebuild its status as an exceptional 

educational school district, replacing the 

weaknesses of the early 1980s. The merging of 

cultures, language and economic status has been 

the greatest challenge. The traditional middle 

class is being eroded as poverty levels increased. 

With new traditions coming to town, organized 

gang activities became a problem. The Pasadena 

Police and the Pasadena Independent School 

District Police set up gang task forces and the 

problem greatly diminished. Gang membership, 

drugs and alcohol use by students were quickly 

addressed by the successful D.A.R.E. (Drug 

Abuse Resistance Education) student program. 

To compound the challenges of the last thirty 

years Pasadenans are regularly reminded that we 

live on the Texas Gulf Coast. Hurricane Alicia 

(category 3) hit in 1983 with lots of wind damage. 

In 2001 Tropical storm Allison dropped 37 inches 

of water and flooded the entire Houston metroplex. 

In 2005 Hurricane Rita (category 3) hit less 

than 30 days after Hurricane Katrina submerged 

New Orleans and many of her survivors were living 

temporarily in Houston. In 2008 Hurricane 

Ike (strong category 2 with unusual category 5 

equivalent storm surge) was such a strange and 

devastating storm that all of the hurricane computer 

prediction models are being rewritten to 

include a storm surge component. Each storm 

stressed the city services and caused extensive 

damages and utility interruptions. Although 

Pasadena did not suffer much in the way of 

seasonal tornadoes, Pasadena is known as the 

highest strike zone in Texas. While most of the 

❖ 

The core of the Pasadena Heritage 

Park on Main at Eagle is the Pomeroy 

Homestead. The large house was built 

in 1908. The W. S. Parks’ family 

house was moved to the site from the 

old historical park. Recently the 

original museum house has been 

moved over to provide more 

display space. 

Chapter IX ✦ 67

❖ 

Hurricanes are a way of life along the 

Texas Gulf Coast. Most of Pasadena is 

out of the storm surge zone, but wind, 

rain and tornadoes leave their mark. 

With the spirit of self sufficiency 

residents take power interruption in 

stride. Gasoline for generators and 

clothes hanging on a makeshift clothes 

line are just part of the 

survival strategy. 

tornados are small, they seem to follow a similar 

path across Preston Road near Oak Street diagonally 

southeast across Fairmont at Pansy. On the 

more pleasant side, Pasadena got snowfalls in 

1985, 1989, Christmas Eve 2004, 2008 and 2009. 

The typical pattern with snow is every ten years. 

Despite all of the challenges and rapid 

growth, Pasadena evolved out of the bedroom 

town of the ’50s and ’60s and now provides a 

full platter of services. Housing and commerce 

has been discussed above. Social services 

expanded with the city, the county and with self 

help groups. The Bridge over Troubled Waters 

began as a small shelter for battered women and 

has grown significantly. Dr. Dixie Melillo established 

The Rose, a nonprofit medical support 

facility to provide free or minimal cost mammograms 

and to provide support for breast cancer 

survivors. She lobbied the Texas Legislature and 

now insurance companies are required to cover 

the cost of mammograms. The Salvation Army 

has been active in Pasadena for over fifty years 

and continues to grow and expand their facilities 

and services. Local service organizations 

assist each year with the annual Christmas Bell 

Ringing program. The American Red Cross still 

maintains an office in Pasadena and provides 

services during emergency situations. After 

assisting the city in setting up its recreational 

program, the Neighborhood Centers (Ripley/ 

Cleveland House) stayed because there were 

more services that they could provide to the 

community and they have continued to provide 

education and enrichment programs. 

The Pasadena Rodeo Association began back 

in 1950 and has continually grown and 

supported the community. With the popularity 

of the rodeo events the facilities were moved 

further south out Red Bluff to Fairmont Parkway 

in 1975. The exhibit hall was named in honor of 

John Campbell and the arena in honor of Ross 

Kelley. The open air arena was covered in 1997 

to provide all-weather entertainment. Another 

community organization, the San Jacinto Day 


Foundation was organized in 1974 in 

conjunction with the Pasadena Historical 

Museum. A “strawberry festival” was organized 

to celebrate Pasadena’s heritage and to help raise 

money for the museum and other community 

purposes. As the festival grew in popularity it 

also moved to the new Rodeo grounds and 

when the Pasadena Convention Center was built 

in the 1980s the Strawberry Festival expanded 

its amusements and programs to take in both 

facilities. The festival is held in May and 

attendance exceeds 45,000 people. Foundation 

volunteers assist with the annual Battle of San 

Jacinto re-enactment and festival at the San 

Jacinto Battlegrounds in April. That event has 

grown to 30,000 participants who come to learn 

about the history of Texas and to enjoy the 

pyrotechnic heavy battle re-enactment. 

Also enhancing the quality of life in 

Pasadena, the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce 

supports many community projects. The organization 

began as a retail merchants association to 

promote and support Pasadena businesses and 

soon learned that demographics were only part 

of the draw of new businesses and industry to 

the area. In order to encourage more businesses 

in Pasadena the Chamber has numerous committees 

that address specific areas of interest. 

The Cultural Arts Committee, the Ambassadors 

welcoming committee, the Taste of the Town, 

Beautification committee, Port Area Networking 

Committee, Texas Invitational Basketball 

Tournament and the Business Exposition committee 

are but a few of the Chamber’s interests. 

The chamber also maintains a tourist information 

center, a new resident’s information center 

and participates in the area economic development 

organization, the Economic Alliance 

Houston Port Region. The Pasadena Hispanic 

Business Council merged with the Chamber in 

2009 in order to better represent all of Pasadena 

and its businesses. Separate from the Pasadena 

chamber but working for the interest of 

Pasadena is the North Pasadena Business 

Association. As Pasadena moves south, the older 

section of town has begun to suffer from neglect 

and deterioration. The North Pasadena Business 

Association keeps attention focused on this area 

and was instrumental in supporting the North 

Pasadena Redevelopment Plan. 

Community groups continue to provide 

much needed services and entertainment. The 

Pasadena Little Theater finally got its own 

building and presents year round live 

productions. The Art Park Players organized in 

1980 and present its program in the Deer Park 

❖ 

Good snow on December 10, 2008, 

was an inspiration for snow 

monuments. First there was one snow 

man, then two, then one combined 

and finally just a large ball of snow. 

Eleven year veteran policemen James 

Michael Timmons fashioned the ball 

into a large face before the sun took it 

all away. 

Chapter IX ✦ 69

❖ 

The Capitan Theater provides a 

positive image for the community and 

is highly visible from the busy La 

Porte Freeway (SH 225). Restoration 

plans proceed as funds are available 

and its transformation into a 

community activities venue is 

anxiously anticipated. 


municipal auditorium. Stage Door offers its live 

productions at the Pasadena Town Square Mall. 

And live theater is also presented by many area 

schools and San Jacinto College. The Pasadena 

Philharmonic was organized in 1982 and offers 

a seasonal orchestral program with professional 

and amateur players. Pasadena also has several 

literary, poetic and art societies. 

Pasadena still maintains its small town feel 

and attitude while enjoying the benefits of 

employment from a nationally recognized port, 

the largest petrochemical complex in the world, 

the Johnson Space Center and the easily 

accessed diverse businesses of the Houston area. 

Shopping and entertainment is just minutes 

away, either locally or regionally. Educational 

facilities are the best locally and higher learning 

is nearby. The Houston Medical Center provides 

some of the best medical services in the nation 

and it is supplemented by local hospitals and air 

ambulances. When questioned why you should 

live in Pasadena just tell them there is less 

traffic, the people friendlier, police protection is 

just minutes away and the quality of life is great. 

❖ 

Unlike some rodeos, at the Pasadena 

show you are close and personal to 

the action. You can hear the horse and 

the rider grunt as they duel to beat 

the timer; watch out for flying dirt; 

see the pain and smiles on the 

riders faces. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF PASADENA 

LIVESTOCK SHOW & RODEO. 

Chapter IX ✦ 71

❖ 

Above The Strawberry Festival 

midway stretches from the Convention 

Center to the Rodeo Arena. This is a 

full family fun event with something 

for everyone. Watch mud volleyball, 

hear new talent before Nashville signs 

them, eat a piece of the world’s largest 

strawberry cake by H.E.B. and bet on 

the pig races. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF SAN JACINTO 

DAY FOUNDATION. 

Right: Where do you want to eat 

tonight? Sample goodies from all of 

the main restaurants at the Pasadena 

Chamber of Commerce’s annual Taste 

of the Town. Then put your favorite 

names in a hat and draw one. 


OF COMMERCE. 


FOR ADDITIONAL READING 

HISTORIC PASADENA, TEXAS 

There are several organized sources for Pasadena history. The largest collection of material and 

photographs are at the Central Campus Library, San Jacinto College in the Pomeroy/Pasadena 

history collection. Most of the pictures in this book are from that collection. The second largest 

collection of material is at the Pasadena Public Library in the History & Genealogical Department. 

The smaller collection at the Pasadena Heritage Park should also be consulted. Material from this 

book will be deposited at the Central Campus Library at San Jacinto College. 

Publications including Pasadena history material as well as general area material are: 

Estes, Rosemary, ed. Follow the Strawberry Road, (Pasadena, Pasadena Council of PTA, 1976) 

Foxworth, Erna B., The Romance of Old Sylvan Beach…, (Austin, Waterway Press, 1986) 

Kenyon, Dolores, From Arrows to Astronauts, League City, National Association of Conservation 

Districts, 1976) 

King, John O., Joseph Stephen Cullinan, (Nashville, Vanderbilt University Press, 1970) 

Pomeroy, C. David Jr., Pasadena, the Early Years, (Pasadena, Pomerosa Press, 1993) 

Sibley, Marilyn McAdams, The Port of Houston: A History, (Austin, University of Texas Press, 1968) 

Ron Tyler, Douglas E. Barnett, Roy R. Barkley, Penelope C. Anderson, and Mark F. Odintz (eds), 

The New Handbook of Texas (6 vols.; Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 1996), note: 

articles on all of the local communities, Vince’s Bridge (being revised), Vince family members, 

Rancher Sam Allen, Allen Ranch, San Jacinto Battleground, etc. Also available online at 

http://www.tshaonline.org/ 

Weidig, Barbara Yeary, Deer Park, a History of a Texas Town. (San Antonio, The Naylor Company, 1976) 

Wells, Barbara, Shell at Deer Park, (Deer Park, Shell Oil Company, 1979) 

Ellington: 1918, Yearbook of Ellington Air Base. npd. 

Southwestern Historical Quarterly, (Austin: Texas State Historical Association, quarterly) Excellent 

sources for scholarly articles on topics of interest in Pasadena area local history. Also available 

online at http://www.tshaonline.org/shqonline/ 

Yesteryears in Pasadena, 1895-1941. (Pasadena, Harris County Genealogical Soc., 1987). Note this 

publication is an abridged narrative of oral history interviews of early settlers. The original tapes 

are located at the Pasadena Public Library. The narratives have numerous minor errors due to the 

lack of local knowledge by its transcribers. 

Additional Reading ✦ 73


An Illustrated History ✦ 75


SHARING THE HERITAGE 

historic profiles of businesses and organizations 

that have contributed to the development and 

economic base of Pasadena, Texas 

Meador Staffing Services, Inc. ..........................................................78 

Wil-Cor, Inc...................................................................................82 

Armor Plate, Inc.............................................................................84 

T & T Construction, LP ...................................................................86 

Mosher, Seifert & Company ..............................................................89 

Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP (Chevron Phillips Chemical) ......90 

Rolltex Shutters..............................................................................92 

Tucker Hardware Co........................................................................94 

Ditta Meat Food Service Company .....................................................96 

Kone Construction, Inc. ...................................................................97 

La Quinta Inn & Suites ...................................................................98 

Superior Laboratory Services, Inc......................................................99 

Econo Lodge .................................................................................100 

Texas Citizens Bank ......................................................................101 

Pasadena Strawberry Festival .........................................................102 

Texas Chiropractic College .............................................................103 

San Jacinto College .......................................................................104 

Phelps Insurance Agency ................................................................105 

Peppers Steak & Seafood Restaurant ................................................106 

Pasadena Independent School District ..............................................107 

SPECIAL 

THANKS TO 

Gulf Coast Educators 

Federal Credit Union 

Sharing the Heritage ✦ 77

MEADOR 

STAFFING 

SERVICES, INC. 

The secret to the success of Meador Staffing 

Services, Inc. is no secret at all. It is actually 

the company’s motto—the very foundation of 

the business—and what they have been doing 

for more than four decades: connecting people 

for success in business, in life. 

“At Meador Staffing, we make it our job to 

connect employers with the right talent at the 

right time and, likewise, to help our candidates 

find the right job, inspiring both parties to 

achieve more in work and in life,” President and 

CEO Ben F. Meador, Jr., said in a recent interview. 

One of the largest staffing companies in 

Houston, Texas, typically ranked among the top 

firms in the Houston Business Journal’s annual 

Book of Lists, Meador Staffing started in 1968 

when two human resource professionals—Ben 

Meador and Gene Brady—saw a need. By 

design, the insightful pair left their employment 

with a major Houston petrochemical company 

just as the industry was in the beginning stages 

of a boom and positioned their new company to 

be of immediate assistance. 

Initially known as Meador-Brady Personnel 

Services, Inc., they assisted the growing industry 

in hiring operators, lab technicians, engineers, 

and all types of employees to keep up with rapid 

demand. As word spread throughout the industry 

nationwide, many additional companies became 

clients and, in fact, at one time in the late 1970s 

and early 1980s, Meador-Brady had placed 

candidates in half of the states in the U.S. and 

in foreign countries such as Mexico, Norway, 

England, the Virgin Islands, Romania, Saudi 

Arabia, and Canada. 

The company—renamed simply Meador 

Staffing Services, Inc., in 1997—quickly 

outgrew its first small Pasadena office and 

payroll of just three and today employs seventyfive 

permanent staff and as many as 1,000 

temporary employees from week-to-week. 

Just as business has changed over the years, 

Meador has morphed itself many times to 

provide the most effective services to its clients. 

Some at Meador can remember when today’s 

technology was still something you might only 

see on the science fiction screen. 

“Our first accounting machine used to 

prepare payroll took up half of the room. We 

did not have email and it was difficult to 


communicate between offices. There were no 

fax machines, and resumes had to be delivered 

or mailed to employer clients,” the company 

president recalls. “When employers began to 

purchase word processors and software, 

many employees were not trained to use the 

equipment, so our company started a skills 

training center. We operated this division for a 

number of years. We also retained the services 

of one of the nation’s most outstanding 

motivational speakers, Jack Yianitsas. We 

offered his training and speaking services to our 

employer clients, chambers of commerce, and 

other organizations. Always staying ahead of the 

curve is how we’ve kept our company growing.” 

Today, the firm utilizes the latest in technology 

in its day-to-day operations and represents the full 

spectrum of staffing services with clients across the 

nation from small emerging growth companies 

to Fortune 500 clients. Among its many coast-tocoast 

services, the company provides personnel 

recruitment services and executive search for client 

firms. The company also features both Temporary 

Staffing and Contract Staffing divisions, which 

combined, supply interim clerical, light industrial, 

and professional employees for short- and longterm 

assignments and prepares payroll for over 

10,000 employees each year. These temporary 

help divisions were added in 1971 and have 

become one of the largest such services privately 

owned in the country. 

Expanding its reach even further, the firm 

also belongs to a national personnel network 

with over 200 affiliate offices. 

Through the years Meador Staffing has been 

a recognized industry leader and has won 

numerous awards of achievement. Several years 

ago, the firm was featured on a national 

television news program about the staffing 

industry and was recognized by the Pasadena 

Chamber of Commerce as Business of the Year. 

It has received high honors every year at the 

Texas Association of Personnel Consultants 

Awards Banquet; has earned multiple awards 

from the American Staffing Association for its 

advertising and public relations campaigns; has 

been lauded by IBM and earned three of the 

company’s Quality Excellence Awards over the 

years; and has been consistently ranked among 

the top companies of its kind throughout the 

local region, the state, and even the nation. 

One of the primary strengths of the firm is 

the tenure and experience of the employees, 

many who are themselves the winners of a host 

of awards and honors. The individuals on the 

management team have an average of twentyfive 

years with the company and the average 

experience of all employees is ten years. 

One of Meador’s longest-tenured and highly 

experienced employees is current Manager of 

Community Relations Darla Haygood. Haygood 

has been with the firm for thirty-four years and 

has been instrumental in helping establish 

the company’s temporary help division and 

marketing group. Executive Vice President 

Melinda Meador Torrison has been with 

Meador Staffing since graduating from college. 

She is responsible for all of the company’s 

branch offices in the Houston area. Senior Vice 

President Linda Zirkle Fields currently manages 

the Houston area Direct Hire/Contract divisions 

as well as The Woodlands and Austin, Texas, 

offices. She has been recognized by the Texas 

Association of Personnel Consultants as one of 

the top award winners in the state consistently 

over the last twenty years. Vice President of 

Technology Brian Critelli has led the initiative 

to establish a state-of-the-art technology system 

for the organization. Executive Jill Silman 

serves on the Staffing Management Special 

Expertise Panel of SHRM and participates in 

and has been honored by a host of industry and 


community organizations. For example, she 

was named the 2006 Senior Professional in 

Human Resources and has received numerous 

community service awards. She and associate 

Dave Estes are Certified Personnel Consultants 

(CPC), having earned this important industry 

certification from the National Association of 

Personnel Service. 

In 2008, Meador Staffing Services committed 

to utilizing a Hot Air Balloon as one of its 

advertising tools within the local community. 

Since 1968 the company has been heavily 

involved in many community events, school 

sponsorships, fundraisers and various charitable 

programs. The Hot Air Balloon called “Talent 

Search” is a great addition to this effort and 

serves as an eighty foot ambassador proclaiming 

that Meador Staffing Services is out in the 

community lending a helping hand. 

Meador Staffing Services utilizes the balloon 

as a fundraiser by donating rides to the 

approved cause at balloon festivals and for 

elementary and middle school science 

educational programs. At local community 

events, the balloon is used to garner attention 

from those attending the event or passing by. 

It is a very effective tool for the organization 

as it generates many photo opportunities 

that showcase the company’s involvement in 

its communities, something highly valued by 

the company. 

With a strong belief that the company should 

be a good corporate citizen, Meador sets the 

tone for his company and is fully invested 

in giving back to the community. He serves on 

the Board of Trustees of San Jacinto College 

and has been involved in leadership positions 

with many civic, school and community 

organizations. The company has been a major 

contributor to the Pasadena Livestock Show 

and Rodeo, and Meador is founder and chair 

of the McDonald’s Texas Invitational Basketball 

Tournament, one of the largest high school 

tournaments in the nation. With McDonald’s 

as the major sponsor, the tournament attracts 

the top-ranked teams in Texas for a three-day 

tournament in November. Each year, the 

tournament includes both boys’ and girls’ state 

champions among its ranks. With proceeds 

of almost $500,000 for the past six years, 

beneficiary P.I.S.D. Education Foundation 

provides grants to the district’s teachers. The 

list of community organizations and causes 

supported by Meador Staffing goes on and on. 

Meador Staffing started out at a small office at 

1414 East Southmore at the corner of 

Strawberry in Pasadena, but in 1984 moved to 

the second floor of the Comerica Bank Building 

located at 722 Fairmont Parkway. Finally, in 

February 1991, the company moved into its 

own new building at 722A Fairmont Parkway, 

located just behind the bank building. In 

addition to its branch offices in Pasadena, Clear 

Lake, Deer Park, and Pearland, the company has 

three sister companies—Meador Staffing 

Services of The Woodlands, Inc., located in 

Conroe; Career Consultants Staffing Services, 

Inc., in Austin; and M Tech Staffing Services 


Like technology, the way business is done is 

constantly evolving. “It’s not business as usual” 

has been Meador’s mantra as our economy 

has faced grim days over the past year, but 

his mantra is motivation to keep pushing 

forward. In June of 2009 Meador Staffing 

brought on board a new position, Director of 

Communications, to take their business to a new 

level. As Director of Communications, Morgan 

Meador oversees the online marketing and social 

media strategy for the company—a job 

description paving the way for the future of 

business and enhancing the commitment to 

customers. As social media is still in its infant 

days, it was important for Meador to bring 

someone on board who has a love for knowledge 

and a love for people, because those two things 

are what social media thrives on. By adopting 

social media as one of their core marketing and 

recruiting strategies and maintaining a presence 

on the Social Web, Meador Staffing is able to 

reach out to, connect, and build relationships 

with their clients and customers in real time. 

This enables Meador to not dispose of but go 

beyond the traditional ways of marketing and 

connect directly to the individual more quickly 

to meet his or her specific needs so that they can 

find their success. As one component of their 

social media strategy, Meador Staffing utilizes 

Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter to promote 

available positions, current events relevant to 

the workforce, industry-specific articles and 

advice, community events, etc. Meador Staffing 


continually strives to be more than a service 

provider but a trusted resource in the 

community. The future of business looks bright 

for Meador as the many new opportunities 

technology offers makes it easier and faster to 

invest in one of the company’s passions—with 

the just click of a mouse—people. 

Indeed, Meador Staffing has established a 

reputation as a leader in the staffing industry 

for the past four decades and is poised and 

ready for future changes in technology that will 

require skill development and training and 

staffing firms that can recruit the best and 

brightest to staff the organizations of the future. 

“Meador Staffing is well-positioned to meet 

these challenges with a business model that 

includes cutting edge technology, trained and 

tenured professionals, and an organization 

culture that promotes excellence in all phases of 

the service available for client companies and 

candidates,” concludes Meador. 

For more information, please visit 

www.meador.com, www.mtechstaffing.com, or 

www.careeraustin.com. 


WIL-COR, INC. 

❖ 

Above: Second containment area. 

Below: Fiberglass fabrication. 

Opposite page, top: Tank lining. 

Opposite page, bottom: Acid pit. 

Wil-Cor, Inc., was founded in 1978 by 

Fred D. Wilson, owner, president and CEO. 

Wilson combined his many years of field 

knowledge and experience solving corrosion 

and structural problems for the chemical, 

power, and chlor-alkali, refining, pulp and 

paper industries using Armor Plate ® products. 

Wil-Cor, Inc., has the registered trademark 

for Armor Plate ® products and has evolved into 

a well known supplier of protective industrial 

coatings, with product formulations and 

supervision used by a variety of customers 

worldwide. All Armor Plate ® epoxy and 

polyester products has been thoroughly field 

tested since 1978. 

Wil-Cor, Inc., has also formulated and 

manufactured a full line of industrial service 

products that restore the structural and 

chemical damage, prevent and provide 

permanent corrosion resistance. The products 

listed below have been in service for over 

thirty-one years: 

• Corrosion Resistant Coatings; 

• Non-skid Flooring; 

• Epoxy Grouts—supplied Armor Plate ® 

Epoxy grout and supervision for the 

Prudhoe Bay North Slope project; 

• Custom FRP Piping; 

• Secondary Containment; 

• Tank, concrete pit, and sump linings; 

• Complete technical services and turn-key 

installations; 

• Onsite supervision, training and project 

estimating; 

• Custom fabrication and modification of 

FRP Piping; 

• Application of permanent corrosion resistant 

coatings; 

• Provide installations for non-skid flooring, 

tank linings, secondary containment 

coatings, epoxy grout pump bases and 

engine supports; 

• Fiberglass trenches, pre-fabricated and 

installation; 

• Fabrication of fiberglass flanges, fittings and 

angles; and 

• Fabrication of epoxy pedestal supports for 

the chlorine industry. 

Wil-Cor, Inc., maintains its continued 

commitment to providing the highest quality 

of products and outstanding services to its 

customers. It is no surprise that Wil-Cor, Inc., 

has the most highly respected reputation in 

the industry. 

Wil-Cor, Inc., is located at 2823 Randolph 

Road in Pasadena. Additional information on 

products or services offered by Wil-Cor, Inc., 

is on the Internet at www.wil-corinc.com. 



❖ 

ARMOR PLATE, 

INC. 

Above: High temperature 

250 degrees. 

Below: Stress engineering burst test. 

Armor Plate ® Pipe Wrap was developed to 

provide the oil and gas industry with an 

economical structural repair system for 

corroded and mechanically-damaged pipes. The 

material will also repair concrete, steel, asbestos, 

vinyl, and fiberglass pipe. The Armor Plate, Inc., 

venture originated from Wil-Cor, Inc., which 

possesses the registered trade name of Armor 

Plate®. Wil-Cor, Inc., started its business in 

1978 and formulates epoxy polyester resins 

for floor coatings, tank linings, grouts, and 

adhesives for the oil and gas industry. Wil-Cor, 

Inc., also has field crews that have been 

repairing fiberglass pipe and structures, 

fabricating fiberglass pipe and applying 

chemical resistant linings to concrete pits and 

tanks since 1978. 

Recognizing the potential for developing a 

pipe repair method using composite materials, 

Armor Plate, Inc., started an extensive testing 

program in the fall of 1997. The intent of this 

research program was to ensure that the Armor 

Plate ® Pipe Wrap system would adequately meet 

the repair needs of the oil and gas industry. 

Stress Engineering Services, Inc., of Houston, 

Texas, was selected as the engineering firm to 

conduct the evaluation because of their extensive 

experience in pipeline analysis and testing. 


The intent of the test program was 

to evaluate the structural integrity of 

the system in terms of composite 

materials and interaction with 

various piping geometries. An 

imperative in the evaluation was that 

testing must simulate field conditions 

and possess representative loads 

common to pipeline systems. By 

the early summer of 1998, it was 

apparent that Armor Plate, Inc., had 

developed a system that could repair 

any number of pipeline anomalies 

involving practically any pipeline 

geometry. In July of 1998 Fred D. 

Wilson, president of Wil-Cor, Inc., 

and Armor Plate, Inc., and Chris 

Alexander, an engineer with Stress 

Engineering Services, Inc., made a 

presentation to the Office of Pipeline 

Safety (OPS) about Armor Plate ® Pipe Wrap. 

The former head of Office of Pipeline Safety 

(OPS), Joe Caldwell, was instrumental in setting 

up this meeting. The outcome of the meeting 

was two-fold. For Armor Plate, Inc., it served 

as encouragement to continue research and 

development and OPS was encouraging 

innovative technologies, such as composite 

materials. For the Office of Pipeline Safety, it 

was confirmation that organizations like Armor 

Plate, Inc., along with pipeline companies, were 

anxious to see some type of ruling. The ruling* 

took effect January 13, 2000. Armor Plate ® Pipe 

Wrap was mentioned prominently throughout 

the document. (*69660 Federal Register/Volume 

64 No. 239/Tuesday, December 14, 1999, Rules 

and Regulations.) 

In 2008, Armor Plate, Inc., had tests 

performed on wrinkle bend repair. Using some 

of the insights extracted from a prior wrinkle 

bend study, Stress Engineering Services, Inc., 

and El Paso Corporation developed a program 

to specifically assess the performance of wrinkle 

bends as a result of vintage construction on a 

vintage pipeline. Again, Armor Plate ® Pipe Wrap 

solved the problem and saved the expense of 

shutting down and replacing the area with 

new pipe. 

The greatest growth in the business operation 

for Armor Plate, Inc., took place in 2000. 

Numerous worldwide installations were made 

in regions such as Alaska, Saudi Arabia, China, 

and South Africa. Product development 

continued during this same time period 

involving long-term testing, evaluating the high 

temperature system, and investigations relating 

to the underwater application system. 

Armor Plate, Inc., has committed to on-going 

test programs to further serve our customers. 

Armor Plate, Inc., is the most engineered test 

pipe wrap on the market. 

Armor Plate, Inc., is located on the Internet 

at www.armorplateonline.com. 

❖ 

Above: Underwater riser application. 

Below: Tee repair. 


T & T 

CONSTRUCTION, 

LP 

❖ 

Right: Construction of a concrete base 

for a 170-foot-tall religious cross at 

Sagemont Baptist Church. 

Below: Our humble beginnings on 

South Shaver. c. 1975. 

Opposite page, top: Our facility at 

204 Preston Road. 

Opposite page, center: Concrete 

placing project for a 

manufacturing building. 

Opposite page, bottom: “Our 

specialty”—reinforced concrete pit to 

house a large lathe at local 

machine shop. 

Realizing that just about anything in life is 

only as good as the foundation it is built on, 

Taylor & Taylor Construction, LP, is proud of 

the generations of strong foundations it has laid 

for customers throughout the Pasadena area for 

more than three decades. 

A dedicated and experienced civil construction 

contractor specializing in concrete, T & T 

Construction was originally founded in 1969 by 

C. A. Taylor. In the beginning, the company was 

a general contracting and construction firm 

bearing the name of its owner. In 1975, however, 

when Taylor’s son joined on, the company was 

renamed Taylor & Taylor Construction Company 

or T & T for short. In addition to the name 

change, the firm’s focus also shifted from general 

contracting to concrete construction. 

Jeff Taylor was proud to work alongside and 

learn the business from his father, the man he 

credits as the driving force in getting the 

company started by using his “innate skill for 

selling work and completing projects.” Even 

after the elder Taylor retired in 1978 and son 

Jeff took the helm, C. A. remained active by 

being a valuable consultant and a steadfast 

source of experience and common sense. With 

his wife, Dianna, as co-owner, Jeff added his 

personal talents to the business and enhanced it 

by concentrating on quality craftsmanship and 

creating relationships with steady customers. 

Despite some very trying and challenging 

times during the early 1980s when a recession 

caused the company to take on work outside of 

their normal service realm—work such as 

demolition, tree cutting and hauling—T & T 

Construction weathered the storm and the 

business actually continued to steadily grow 

throughout the 1980s and 1990s. The key, said 

Jeff, was retaining quality people and developing 

a reputation for on-time service and attention 

to detail. 

In 1988, Jeff’s son, Ryan, became the third 

generation Taylor to join the firm. He started 


out as a laborer, learning quickly from the 

company’s immensely experienced concrete 

tradesmen and moving his way up through the 

ranks from helper to finisher, to foreman, to job 

superintendent, to project manager and trusted 

right hand to his father. 

Ryan assumed leadership of the company 

in 2001 and promptly increased sales and 

broadened the company’s focus to other areas 

such as underground construction and earthwork. 

He and his father became full partners in the 

business in 2005 with Ryan’s vision being 

to make T & T a full service civil contractor. 

Amanda Taylor has served as the company’s 

office manager since 2000. All believe in 

keeping the business in the family, continuing 

to build a positive reputation amongst the 

customers and maintaining great employees. 

“Our mission is to provide superior service, a 

quality product and excellent workmanship 

to all our customers,” said Jeff Taylor, who 

also serves as company president. “Concrete is 

our material of choice because it mirrors our 

commitment to integrity, longevity and our 

belief that quality is built from the ground up.” 

Having grown from doing residential driveways 

and patios to talking on initial commercial 

clients such as Minh Foods in Pasadena, the 

company now specializes in commercial and 

industrial concrete work or, more specifically, 

slabs, parking lots, tilt wall building construction 

and heavy machine foundations. 

Today the company employs sixty-five 

people equipped with every degree of skill, tool, 

and equipment of the trade, helping them 

provide the absolute best product and service 

available to approximately fifty steady clients. 

The company’s footprint is on more than a 

thousand projects in the Pasadena and Deer 

Park area and sales have doubled in the last 

decade. Annual revenues for the company now 

exceed more than $11 million. 

To complement the concrete work and, more 

importantly, to reduce the number of subcontractors 

T & T customers have to manage, the 

company is committed to taking its clients’ 

projects from “clearing to concrete.” Site work 

preparation services provided include everything 

from clearing, grubbing, excavation, site 

grading, storm drainage, detention ponds, 

pump stations, underground detention systems 


❖ 

Above: “Tools of our Trade”—riding 

trowel machine. 

Below: Employee celebrates thirty 

years at T&T Construction. 

and soil stabilization to fine grading and 

shaping. The company also stays abreast of all 

city codes and has decades of experience working 

with inspectors in the greater Houston area. 

“This enables us to provide our customers 

with what it takes to get their project completed 

on time,” Jeff said. “In addition, to protect our 

customers, we maintain all necessary workers 

compensation insurance, general liability insurance, 

and have bonding available upon request.” 

Additionally, Jeff says, the company is a 

licensed storm drainage installer and is ACI certified 

in foundation construction. All job superintendents 

are further certified in foundation 

construction by the American Concrete Institute 

(ACI), an organization of which the company is 

a longstanding member. T & T Construction is 

also a member of both the American Society of 

Concrete Contractors (ASCC) as well as the 

American Subcontractors Association (ASA). 

T & T is also very active in the communities 

it serves including membership in the local 

Chamber of Commerce, St. Jude Hospital and 

many local political action groups. 

“Indeed, we at T & T Construction are 

dedicated to doing the job right the first time. 

We have everything we need to complete the job 

on time and on budget. And we pride ourselves 

on the amount of repeat business we receive 

from our customers, always striving to provide 

punctual attendance, professional quality and 

competitive pricing.” Jeff said. “Call us today to 

find out how our company’s experienced and 

knowledgeable staff can meet your complete 

concrete and site work contracting needs.” 

For more information on T & T Construction, 

please call 713-477-6660 or visit us online at 

www.tandtconstruction.com. 


With its roots firmly planted in Pasadena, 

the public accounting firm of Mosher, Seifert & 

Company has spent more than six decades 

serving clients in the Pasadena and Greater 

Houston areas as well as numerous locations 

throughout the United States and abroad. 

A veteran accounting professional and a 

member of the American Institute of Certified 

Public Accountants, the Texas Society of 

Certified Public Accountants and a past board 

member of the Houston Chapter of Certified 

Public Accountants, Seifert is joined by six 

other CPAs with an average experience level 

of twenty years. Together, this diverse group 

possesses knowledge in both public accounting 

and industry, providing a well-rounded group 

of consultants in tune with the business 

community. The firm also employs three 

staff accountants actively pursuing their 

CPA certificates as well as additional staff 

skilled in payroll, bookkeeping and support 

services. Clients include individuals, closelyheld 

businesses, local governments and notfor-profits. 

“We value the ability to provide a broad range 

of experience in tax, auditing bookkeeping, 

payroll services, and the opportunity to rise to 

the occasion to help our expanding clientele 

meet their goals and objectives,” says Seifert. 

For more information on Mosher, Seifert & 

Company, visit www.mosherseifert.com. 

MOSHER, 

SEIFERT & 

COMPANY 

The firm was founded in 1948 by Beeville, 

Texas, native Laurance C. Mosher who lived in and 

served Pasadena as both professional and citizen 

for more than sixty years. Mosher passed away in 

2009 at the age of ninety-four and is missed 

greatly by many—including business partner Ken 

Seifert. Mosher had hired Seifert straight out of 

college and proudly watched over the next thirtyfive 

years as he rose through the ranks to partner 

and managing partner. Seifert is now sole owner. 

One of the firm’s greatest qualities and the 

reason it continues to serve a long list of clients 

is its ability to be a progressive firm touting the 

latest technologies and yet maintain its small 

town personality. The firm’s marketing strategy 

has remained the same since the beginning—to 

provide each client with the kind of exceptional 

and professional service that not only builds 

long-lasting client relationships, but also results 

in personal referrals. 


CHEVRON PHILLIPS CHEMICAL COMPANY LP 

(CHEVRON PHILLIPS CHEMICAL) 

Chevron Phillips Chemical traces its roots 

to 1917 when Frank and L. E. Phillips founded 

Phillips Petroleum Company, which soon 

became famous for its Phillips 66 gasoline. 

According to company lore, the unusual 

brand name came about when a Phillips official 

was returning to Bartlesville in a car that was 

road testing the company’s new gasoline. As a 

passenger commented that the car was ‘going 

like 60’, the driver looked at the speedometer 

and replied, “Sixty nothing…we’re doing 66!” 

The fact that the incident took place on Route 

66 near Tulsa only strengthened the story’s 

appeal to Phillip’s executives. The company 

chose Phillips 66 as its new brand name, one 

which has endured and achieved classic status. 

Today, Chevron Phillips Chemical—the 

offspring of Conoco-Phillips and Chevron 

Corporation—provides a wide array of chemical 

products for such diverse markets as adhesives 

and sealants, automotive, chemical manufacturing, 

healthcare and medical, and many others. 

Chevron Phillips Chemical purchased about 

630 acres between the Houston Ship Channel 

and present day Highway 225 in 1948. The area 

around the Ship Channel had been used to build 

more than 500 warships during World War II. 

The property near Highway 225 is used by 

Conoco-Phillips Pipeline Company and other 

pipeline companies as a terminal and product 

storage area. The berths at the Ship Channel 

were used by the pipeline company for crude oil, 

kerosene and other products. For many years, 

the property was known as Adams Terminal 

because of the dock operations. The site was 

renamed the Houston Chemical Complex (now 

know as Pasadena Plastics Complex) in 1984. 

The shipyard was converted to an ammonium 

sulfate fertilizer plant that began operation in 

1949. The addition of an anhydrous ammonia 

plant was completed in 1953. A Triple 

Superphosphate Plant was constructed in 1955 

in a joint venture with Stauffer Chemical 

Company. However, by 1974 all ammonia-related 

operations had been shut down. 

In 1952 a water treatment plant was built 

jointly by Phillips Chemical Company and Shell 

Oil Company. This plant, operated by Chevron 

Phillips, has a capacity to treat 20 million gallons 

of Trinity River water each day. Also in 

1952 the first organic chemical plant was placed 

in operation. The Methyl Vinyl Pyridine Plant 

was located between the fertilizer plants and the 

wastewater ponds. This material was used in the 

manufacture of synthetic fibers by DuPont and 

continued in operation until 1980. 

With the development of the high-density 

polyethylene process at Bartlesville, Oklahoma, 

the Polyethylene Solution form Plant I was built 

and started operation in 1956. A larger Plant II 

was completed in 1957. These plants made 

plastic in continuous reactors using a solvent. 

The solvent was evaporated and partially 

recovered, and the plastic was extruded and 

pelletized. The pellets were bagged, boxed and 

loaded into specially designed railroad hopper 

cars for transport to customers. 


Polyethylene particle form plants were 

built—beginning in 1961—with Plant III. This 

CPChem developed process makes plastic 

particles in a ‘loop’ reactor where the feedstocks 

and product are continuously added and 

drawn off. This material was also extruded, 

pelletized, and packaged for shipment similar 

to the solution form process. In the 1980s the 

polyethylene plants had a total capacity of about 

1.5 billion pounds. 

A Polyethylene Plant VI was under construction 

at the time of a tragic explosion in 1989. However, 

between 1990 and 1992, Plants VI, VII, and VIII 

were built and began operation. 

A plant to produce polypropylene began 

operation in 1971 and a major upgrade to a 

high activity catalyst was made in 1993. In 1996 

an additional unit was completed in a joint 

venture with Sumitomo Chemical Company, 

Ltd., utilizing Sumitomo’s gas phase process. 

A Polyethylene Developmental Reactor was 

built in 1983 for process and marketing 

development and, in 1988; an extruder and 

pelletizer line was added. 

A K-Resin butadiene-styrene plant began 

operation in 1979 and has undergone several 

upgrades and expansions. 

Although best known for its famous Phillips 

66 gasoline and its many chemical products, 

the company was also instrumental in one of the 

greatest consumer crazes in U.S. history—the 

Hula Hoop ® . 

The famous fad traces its roots to Phillips 

and the company’s decision to branch into 

plastics after World War II. At the time plastics 

usually were either too brittle or too easily 

softened by heat, but Phillips management 

invested the then-enormous sum of $50 million 

for construction of a large-scale polyethylene 

resins plant. 

Perfecting the product was a long, drawn-out 

process and, while chemists tinkered with 

the process, Phillips filled warehouse after 

warehouse with unsold, off-specification plastic 

pellets. Then it was discovered that these 

discarded plastic pellets were ideal for the 

production of Hula Hoops. In 1958, Wham-O 

Manufacturing began production of the Hula 

Hoop using the Phillips plastic Marlex. More 

than 100 million Hula Hoops were sold in its 

first six months on the market. 

By the time the Hula Hoop craze subsided, 

Phillips had ironed out kinks in its plastic 

production process and new markets were 

found for the plastics. 

As evidenced by its rich history of 

innovation, Chevron Phillips Chemical will 

continue Advancing Formulas for Life. 


ROLLTEX 

SHUTTERS 

❖ 

Right: Original 1,200 square foot 

warehouse, 2002. 

Helping people protect their homes from 

hurricane and gale force winds is what brothers 

Juan and Felix Lopez do. 

And they do it quite well, having gained 

almost two decades of experience in the business 

before finally opening their own firm—Rolltex 

Shutters—in March 2002. 

Located at 3004 Beverly Road in Pasadena, 

Rolltex Shutters specializes in the custom 

manufacture and installation of hurricane shutters 

as well as a complete line of sun protection 

products. Specifically, they carry a vast array of 

high quality exterior rolling shutters in addition to 

products such as storm panels, accordion shutters, 

retractable awnings and retractable solar screens. 

When they first founded their company, Juan 

and Felix worked out of the family garage and 

had just one vehicle. However, after just eight 

months in business, they found that they 

needed additional space and wound up renting 

a 1,200 square foot warehouse. Today, they own 

and operate their ever-growing business with 

four vehicles, two enclosed trailers, a 3,000 

square foot warehouse and 2,500 square feet of 

office and showroom space. 

A true family operation, Rolltex 

presently employs a total of eleven 

people, including the founding 

brothers and their wives. Felix’s wife, 

Elena, is in charge of accounting, 

purchasing and inventory, while 

Maria, Juan’s wife, oversees inside 

sales and customer service. Elena and 

Maria are also sisters. Additionally, 

the Lopez families each have sons 

that work with the company. 

As for customers, the company’s 

current database numbers close to 

1,000 and includes a number 

of high-profile locations such 

as the Freeport Coast Guard, 

the University of Houston Main 

campus—Computer Center, the 

Methodist Hospital, the Lynchburg 

Ferry, the Gulf Coast Regional Blood 

Center, the Washburn Tunnel, Excel 

Telecom and NASA at Ellington 

Field, just to name a few. New and 

satisfied clients are added every day. 


“As your home and business improvement 

company, our policy has always been to do it 

correctly or not do it at all,” the Lopez brothers 

proclaim on their company website. “We pride 

ourselves on using top grade products in the 

widest range available, backed by professional 

service and with a warranty that is a benchmark 

in our industry.” 

Additional information on Rolltex Shutters 

is available at www.rolltexshutters.com or you 

may contact them at 281-991-9200 or toll-free 

at 888-276-5839. 

❖ 

Above: The new warehouse at 3004 

Beverly Road. 

Below: Interior view of new 2,500 

square foot warehouse, 2009. 


TUCKER 

HARDWARE CO. 

❖ 

Above: Jack Tucker in the original 

Tucker Hardware at 301 Tatar, 1955. 

Jack was professionally a member of 

True Value Hardware and 

Handy Hardware. 

Right: Jack and Annie Laurie Tucker, 

age forty-five in 1959. 

Below: Fiftieth anniversary, April 

2001, Tucker Hardware store at 7006 

Spencer Highway in Pasadena. 

When Jack and Annie Laurie Tucker came to 

Pasadena, it was a friendly town of 35,000. The 

road to Pasadena was long and circuitous. Both 

natives of Memphis, Tennessee, Jack and Annie 

Laurie were high school sweethearts who 

married in 1935. They continued to live in 

Memphis where both daughters, Carolyn and 

Sara, were born. 

Jack held a variety of jobs in Memphis during 

the depression years which included owning 

a small hardware store. During a brief 

employment with Firestone, Jack and his boss 

obtained better paying jobs in Detroit, 

Michigan. After spending four years with 

General Motors, Jack wanted to get away from 

the cold weather. 

One winter, while commuting to Milwaukee, 

Wisconsin, Jack said he had to sit on the hotel 

room radiator to keep warm. Annie Laurie said 

it was twenty-five degrees below zero the day he 

quit. General Motors offered Jack more money 

to stay, but he said GM did not have enough 

money to change his mind. 

Why did they choose Texas? Annie Laurie 

had a brother living in Dallas and they both had 

friends working in Houston. Jack interviewed 

at Bell Helicopter in Fort Worth and found the 

pay to be far less than in Detroit. So, with an 

entrepreneurial spirit and the love of builder’s 

hardware and tools, Jack started looking for a 

store to purchase in the Houston area. 

With the proceeds from the sale of their 

home and money borrowed from Jack’s mother, 

Jack and Annie Laurie purchased a small store at 

301 Tatar, now Pasadena Boulevard, and opened 

Tucker Hardware at this original location on 

April 15, 1951. 


The success of the business can be attributed to 

long hours and hard work by both Annie Laurie 

and Jack for many years. Jack was also very wise 

with his money, as he always lived out of his 

checkbook and never spent more than he made. 

In the early days on Tatar Street, the stores were 

not open on Sundays. Annie Laurie said they 

decided to be open on Sundays and work seven 

days a week. The store attracted customers who 

could not shop anywhere else on Sunday and, in 

turn, boosted their weekday business. Another big 

boost was installation of refrigerated air. 

They opened a second store on Richey Street 

in the Allendale shopping center in 1959 and 

Annie Laurie worked it by herself with a high 

school boy for two years. Jack’s brother, Pyne 

Tucker, and his son, John, became independent 

operators of the store in the 1970s. 

Jack and Annie Laurie opened a third store at 

7006 Spencer Highway in 1962. It is the only 

remaining Tucker Hardware. 

The area around the Spencer store was 

undeveloped in 1962 when it first opened and 

the family referred to it as ‘Daddy’s country 

store.’ However, the community of Deer Park 

became a boom town and due to population 

growth and the fact that Jack knew how 

to make anything work, the store began 

to prosper. 

Jack and Annie Laurie worked side-byside 

until Jack’s health failed and he 

passed away at age eighty-two. Tucker 

Hardware was both Jack’s vocation and 

avocation! Annie Laurie worked until 

she was ninety years old, and lived to be 

ninety-four. 

The store is now operated by daughter, 

Carolyn, who joined the firm in 1977, 

and her daughter-in-law, Shelley, who 

began working in 1997. Carolyn’s only 

child, Warren, grew up in the store and 

worked there until he started his own 

welding business. 

The store is able to continue during 

these tough economic times due to 

excellent customer service given by 

dedicated employees, mostly ladies, many 

of whom have eight to ten years of service. 

Jack and Annie Laurie’s daughter, Sara, 

lives in Dallas and gives her unwavering 

support to the business. 

Carolyn noted that, “The fiftieth anniversary 

was celebrated in April of 2001 and we look 

forward to the next fifty years.” 

❖ 

Left: Annie Laurie Tucker at the 

Spencer Highway store’s fiftieth 

anniversary in April 2001. 

Below: Jack and Annie Laurie Tucker 

at their golden wedding 

anniversary, 1985. 


DITTA MEAT 

FOOD SERVICE 

COMPANY 

Ditta Meat Food Service Company was 

organized in 1962 when Sammy Ditta purchased 

a panel truck and started his own business by 

delivering meat products to customers. His wife, 

Helen, kept the company books at home while 

raising their four children. If Sammy needed 

product from another supplier, Helen would pick 

it up in Houston and get it to Sammy for delivery. 

In 1964, Sammy leased a building on Clinton 

Drive in Houston and his brother, Vincent, 

joined the business. In 1966, Ditta built its own 

building on Oak Street in Pasadena. The facility 

was the first state-approved plant in the area. 

The building has been expanded four times and 

now totals 22,000 square feet. 

Today, in its federally inspected plant, Ditta 

custom manufactures many items such as Italian 

sausage, steaks, ground beef patties, and beef and 

chicken fajitas. Ditta sells more than 2,000 

different food items, including all cuts of beef, 

pork, lamb, veal, poultry, and wild game. Ditta 

Meat Food Service Company supplies the area’s 

finest restaurants, hotels, country clubs, and other 

food establishments. The company maintains a 

fleet of nine refrigerated trucks to deliver product 

to more than 500 customers in the greater 

Houston/Galveston area. 

Sammy and Helen’s youngest daughter, 

Debbie, joined the family business in 1988 after 

graduating from high school. Their oldest 

daughter, Cynthia Ditta Priebe, joined the 

business in 1999, adding her knowledge of 

computers, marketing, and business skills. A 

most recent family addition was their daughterin-law, 

Renee Ditta, who works part-time while 

raising her family. 

Sammy serves as president of the family 

business, Helen is secretary/treasurer, and Vincent 

Ditta is vice president and buyer. Cynthia Ditta 

Priebe is vice president and general manager and 

works closely with the fifty plus employees who 

are the backbone of the business. 

Ditta has been a generous donor of products 

and services during the years and continues to 

stay very active in the community of Pasadena. 

Residents of the area know they can call on Ditta 

for help with most fundraising and charitable 

events. Ditta is a member of the Pasadena 

Chamber of Commerce and Pasadena Rotary, 

and was selected as Business of the Year in 

1997 by the Southeast Economic Development 

Council, Inc. Ditta continues to work closely 

with the Pasadena Police Department and 

Constable Bill Bailey’s office. 


KONE 

CONSTRUCTION, 

INC. 

Paul M. Kone decided to go into business for 

himself in 1983 after graduating from college 

during a recession and finding there were no 

jobs available. 

“There was no work at the time, so my parents 

asked me to remodel their kitchen,” Kone 

explains. “That experience led to remodeling my 

sister-in-laws’ parents kitchen. Then all my 

friend’s parents started wanting small jobs done 

around their homes and it snowballed into a fulltime 

business.” 

As his home remodeling business grew, Kone 

bought a booth at one of the first Houston 

Home Shows in the Astro Arena. He and two of 

his friends staffed the booth and received more 

than 300 requests for estimates all over the city. 

“We received so many leads I had to turn off my 

telephones because I could not answer all the 

calls and get the work done I had going at the 

time,” he says. 

As the company grew, Kone took on all 

types of work from small plumbing and 

electrical to larger deck building on the 

Richmond strip. In the mid-1980s, Kone 

met James H. “Cotton” Price, an architect 

who knew all the big developers in the 

Houston area. “Cotton took me under 

his wing and allowed me to learn all types 

of work relating to construction,” Kone 

says. “I truly learned a lot about the 

construction business from Cotton Price.” 

During the 1990s, many of the popular 

night clubs and restaurants were located on 

the Richmond Strip and Kone was asked 

to work on a club/restaurant called Sam’s 

Boat on the Strip. This experience led to an 

opportunity to build a number of Joe’s Crab 

Shack’s across the nation and that introduced 

Kone to the restaurant industry. 

Today, Kone Construction is a carpentry 

contractor traveling the United States, with 

licenses in California, Nevada, Louisiana and 

Florida. Kone constructs restaurants, schools, 

churches, hotels, motels and casinos. The firm 

builds restaurants for Red Lobster, Olive 

Garden, PF Changs, Chili’s, Chuys’ Fresh Mex, 

Texas Road House, Saltgrass Steak House, 

Logans Road House, and several others. 

Kone Construction has always tried to give 

back to the community by donating to all the 

baseball leagues in the Pasadena area. The 

company has also been a sports booster for all the 

intermediate schools, high schools, and colleges 

in the Pasadena area for the past fifteen years. 

The company is located at 311 Houston Avenue 

in Pasadena. For additional information, check the 

website at www.koneconstruction.com 


LA QUINTA 

INN & SUITES 

At La Quinta Inn & Suites in Pasadena, the 

staff and management are determined to “do 

whatever it takes” to make sure all their guests 

leave with a smile. At La Quinta, no request is 

too small or too large for the friendly staff. 

La Quinta Inn and Suites at 3490 East Sam 

Houston Parkway South first opened its doors 

in December 2006. La Quinta Inn & Suites 

is owned and operated by BN Management 

Company, based in Harvey, Louisiana, and the 

two key partners in the local franchise are Bui 

Nguyen and Binh Ho. 

Overnight guests at La Quinta Inn & Suites 

may choose from three room types: double 

queen beds, executive kings, or two room 

suites. All rooms are equipped with free highspeed 

Internet access, microwave, refrigerator, 

iron with ironing board, and coffee maker. The 

executive king and suites also contain pull-out 

sofa beds and two televisions. 

Guests may also take advantage of a meeting 

room that holds up to forty people, a business 

center with e-mail/fax support, an outdoor 

pool and spa, and guest laundry facilities. 

Breakfast is served in the lobby each morning 

from 6:00 a.m until 9:00 a.m. 

La Quinta Inn & Suites is proud to be a 

part of the bustling town of Pasadena and is a 

proud supporter of the Pasadena Chamber of 

Commerce. The hotel staff is always happy to 

take care of its neighbors. Whether in times of 

distress such as the terrifying Hurricane Ike, or 

in times of celebration such as the Strawberry 

Festival or McDonald’s Basketball Tournament, 

La Quinta is always ready to lend a hand. 

What makes La Quinta Inn & Suites in 

Pasadena unique is the friendly staff. From the 

executives at BN Management Company, who 

set the tone, to CEO Bui Nguyen, vice president 

Joe O’Connor, and general manager Reagan Ho 

and his staff who attend to every guest’s needs; 

and to Linda Remedies, the go-to person for 

guest assistance, every one at La Quinta Inn & 

Suites is prepared to make your visit a pleasant 

and enjoyable event. 


Rick Meyer founded Superior Laboratory 

Services, Inc., in 1997 with one goal in mind; 

to provide responsive, reliable, and high 

quality services to the medical, industrial, 

chemical, electronic and other vital industries. 

A companion company, Labquip, was started 

in 2001 to handle the equipment side of 

the business. 

“I determined that the country needed an 

honest, reliable lab service company that 

offered superior service and quality, hence the 

name Superior,” explains Meyer. 

The company’s original name, Superior 

Filtration, was changed to Superior Laboratory 

Services when the company incorporated in 

1999. The company started business in a 

small, 1,000 square foot location and moved 

to its current 5,400 square foot facility at 

1710 Preston Road in Pasadena in 2001. 

Superior Laboratory Services designs, builds, 

remodels, and maintains all types of laboratories, 

cleanrooms, and pharmacies. Meyer’s many years 

of experience in the industry, along with the 

experience and knowledge of the employees, 

provide extensive experience in turnkey 

installations and renovations. 

SLS has built its reputation on speed of 

service, quality and honesty. The company 

grew quickly from a two-person operation 

with $400,000 in annual sales to more than 

$1 million in sales after two years. The firm 

currently employs twenty people with 

annual revenue of $1.5 

million. Clients include 

such well known companies 

and organizations as 

NASA, Pfizer, University of 

Texas, Exxon Mobil, 

Lyondell, Quest Diagnostics, 

Lab Corp., and hundreds 

of others. 

Through its laboratory 

services and consultation, 

SLS was involved with 

the human genome project 

which mapped the human 

DNA. SLS also built the 

NASA lab where dust from 

comet tails is researched. 

Meyer recalls that during 

this project, one small screw 

was lost. Since no outside items are allowed 

in the lab, this resulted in a facility-wide 

shutdown, with every employee looking 

frantically for the lost screw. Fortunately, 

the missing screw was found in less than 

ten minutes. 

SLS employees believe in giving back to 

their community and are involved in such 

activities as Pasadena Community Ministries. 

The company sponsors a Pasadena Rodeo 

Cook-Off team, and contributes to Walk for 

the Cure, Pasadena Patrolman’s Union, and 

other activities. 

SUPERIOR 

LABORATORY 

SERVICES, INC. 

❖ 

Above: Chemical fume hoods and gas 

turrets in a petroleum lab. 

Below: Water Purification System in 

chemical lab. 


ECONO LODGE 

Located just minutes from downtown 

Houston as well as a host of attractions and 

businesses, the Econo Lodge at 823 West 

Pasadena Freeway in Pasadena, Texas, is the 

perfect solution for both leisure and business 

travelers looking for a place to rest their heads. 

Incorporated as Shankar, Inc., the Econo 

Lodge was built in 1992 and became the first 

new hotel constructed in Pasadena since the 

early 1980s. Danny and Sandy Patel founded 

the thirty-nine room property and its corporation. 

Danny serves as both corporation president and 

general manager of the property. 

In addition to being located just ten minutes 

from points of interests such as Reliant Park—a 

major sporting and convention complex—this 

Pasadena hotel property is situated near 

the University of Houston, the San Jacinto 

Battleground State Historic Site and the 

Pasadena Fairgrounds, home of the annual 

Pasadena Strawberry Festival featuring Texas’ 

largest strawberry shortcake, a beauty pageant, 

a barbeque cook-off, carnival and mud 

volleyball tournament. 

It is also located close to the National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Johnson 

Space Center and the William P. Hobby Airport 

as well as a number of major businesses and 

industries such as the refineries for the Shell Oil 

and Arco Oil companies, the Exxon Corporation, 

Pasadena General Hospital, Houston Ship 

Channel and the George R. Brown Convention 

Center. A variety of restaurants are also located 

nearby, including a Denny’s just adjacent to the 

hotel and open twenty-four hours a day. 

In addition to a promise of great service every 

day, every time, amenities at the hotel include 

free wireless high-speed access in the lobby, 

public areas and all rooms as well as 

complimentary continental breakfast, local 

phone calls, coffee and weekday newspapers. 

Other conveniences especially appreciated by 

business travelers include computer hook-ups 

and access to fax services. In addition, all guest 

rooms are equipped with microwaves and 

refrigerators and there are rooms with Jacuzzi 

tubs available for rent. 

For more information or to make reservations 

at this Pasadena Econo Lodge, call 713-477-4266 

or visit www.econolodge.com and search for 

Pasadena, Texas. 


TEXAS CITIZENS 

BANK 

Texas Citizens Bank is a locally owned, 

strongly capitalized community bank. TCB 

offers a full array of financial products 

and services. 

The bank operates in select communities 

within the Houston metropolitan area by providing 

personal, responsive and dependable 

banking services to individuals, professionals, 

and owner-managed businesses that desire 

a high level of personal attention and 

service. TCB offers a wide range of financial 

products and services through experienced 

local bankers. 

The bank continues to grow 

and add locations. Texas Citizens 

Bank is located at 4949 Fairmont 

Parkway in Pasadena. The bank 

has branches in Clear Lake, 

West University, Baytown and 

Rosenberg. Future plans are in 

place for Tomball and a second 

Clear Lake location. 

The executive management team 

of the bank includes Chairman and 

CEO, Duncan Stewart; President, 

Michael L. Cornett; Regional 

President and Chief Lending 

Officer, Tom Watson; Clear Lake 

Area President, James Broughton; 

and Executive Vice Presidents, 

Barry Bara, Robert Gebhard, Erv Lev 

and Russell McCann. In addition to 

Stewart, Cornett and Watson, the 

organizers of the bank were Bill Bailey, George 

Dempsey and Kenneth Love. 

For more information about Texas Citizens 

Bank, visit TexasCitizensBank.com. 


PASADENA 

STRAWBERRY 

FESTIVAL 

❖ 

Below: The world’s largest strawberry 

shortcake by H-E-B in 2005. 

COURTESY OF JACKIE WELCH. 

Bottom: The busy Pasadena 

Strawberry Festival fairgrounds. 

COURTESY OF SANDY GRIMM, HOUSTON, TEXAS. 

The Pasadena Strawberry Festival and the 

San Jacinto Day Foundation are so intertwined 

they are virtually the same organization. 

The San Jacinto Day Foundation was organized 

in 1967 by Beverly Jackson, Helen 

Alexander, and George McCrocklin who wrote 

the organization’s first bylaws and applied to 

the state for incorporation. The purpose was to 

promote the history of San Jacinto Day. 

In 1974 a small group of citizens decided to 

hold the first San Jacinto Strawberry Festival under 

a tent on the Pasadena High School football field. 

A strawberry festival was a natural for the 

community because of Pasadena’s long connection 

with strawberries. 

In the early 1900s, following the great hurricane 

that devastated Galveston, the Pasadena area 

needed a product that would yield a great crop 

with good income, in a small amount of time. At 

this point, Clara Barton of the Red Cross urged 

the planting of strawberries. The area’s sandy 

soil was soon producing tasty strawberries and 

Pasadena became known as the “Strawberry 

Capital of the South” because so many train loads 

of strawberries were shipped across the nation. 

The name of the San Jacinto Strawberry 

Festival was changed to the Pasadena Strawberry 

Festival and it is now held on a 106-acre facility 

at the Pasadena Fairgrounds. The Festival is 

held annually on the third weekend of May and 

attracts an attendance of 60,000. 

The Festival is three days of good family fun 

starting with a motorcycle ride, parade, and 

a kickball tournament for teenagers, beauty 

pageant and the baby float parade. During the 

Festival, patrons enjoy Mud Volleyball, consisting 

of sixteen regulation-size pits dug in the dirt 

and filled with three feet of water. 128 teams of 

ten players each compete for first place. 

In addition, the Festival features a carnival, 

BBQ cook-off, helicopter rides and 206 vendors 

to include clothes, arts and crafts, food, home 

décor and much more. There is an area for teens 

to hang and play Guitar Hero, a large air conditioned 

children’s area with puppet shows, 

games, strawberry eating contest, specialty acts 

and three stages of entertainment. 

Proceeds from the Festival are donated to preserve 

Texas history, local libraries and in scholarships 

to various public and private colleges both 

within and outside the state of Texas. A few 

scholarship recipients are: San Jacinto College, 

Texas Chiropractic College, Mary Hardin-Baylor, 

University of Notre Dame, University of Texas, 

University of Houston, University of St. Thomas, 

Sam Houston State, Stephen F. Austin and Texas 

A&M. Other recipients of the proceeds include 

the Rotary Club, Lions Club and area high 

school booster clubs. Since 1996, contributions 

have totaled $325,917. 

The Pasadena Strawberry Festival is home to 

the World’s Largest Strawberry Shortcake, 1,905 

square feet of cake first concocted in 2005 by 

H-E-B. The cake has been featured on the Food 

Network, Al Roker on the Road, and in the 

Guinness Book of World Records. The cake is sold 

in slices starting on Friday and is completely 

sold out by Sunday. 

San Jacinto Day Foundation and the Pasadena 

Strawberry Festival are dedicated to making a difference 

in the future of today’s students and proud 

of our accomplishments and growth in our community. 

Please visit them at www.strawberryfest.org. 


TEXAS 

CHIROPRACTIC 

COLLEGE 

For more than a century Texas Chiropractic 

College has been a respected player in America’s 

landscape of healthcare education. Its highly 

ranked programs together with world-class faculty, 

unparalleled opportunities for hands-on 

training, and uncommonly close campus family 

have earned the school a reputation as one of 

the nation’s finest producers of skilled, thoughtful, 

ethical Doctors of Chiropractic. 

The school was founded by Dr. John N. Stone 

and his wife, Ida. Recent chiropractic college graduates, 

the duo opened a practice in San Antonio 

in 1907 and were soon encouraged by friends to 

open a local school. They did so in 1908. 

Like all chiropractic schools of this era, The 

Chiropractic College was a proprietary operation. 

The Stones ran it for one decade before 

selling it to Dr. J. M. McLeese in 1918. McLeese 

added medical doctors to the faculty, re-chartered 

and renamed it the Texas Chiropractic 

College and moved the campus. James R. Drain 

and investors acquired the school in 1920. 

Drain served as the school’s president for the 

next thirty years and was at the helm when 

Texas began licensing chiropractors in 1943. 

Around the same time, accreditation standards 

began requiring that all chiropractic colleges 

transition to nonprofit. In response, the TCC 

Alumni Association purchased the college and 

re-organized to nonprofit status. The school 

moved from San Antonio to its current campus 

in Pasadena in 1965. 

All was well at the school until the 1980s when 

a drop in the national pool of students along with 

a slump in the oil industry caused enrollment to 

plummet. The college was on the brink of closing 

when the Texas Chiropractic Association delivered 

a $200,000 loan to give the college breathing 

room while a search for a new president began. 

Dr. Shelby M. Elliott answered the call and an 

ambitious building program commenced resulting 

in a new administration building in 1998 and 

a state-of-the-art public outpatient care facility— 

Moody Health Center—in 2000. 

When Elliott retired in 2005, Dr. Richard G. 

Brassard became his successor. Private funding 

and the campus has continued to grow, with 

the Dr. Yasnori Iwama Education Center—a 

facility containing forty-five faculty offices, 

a 750-seat auditorium, and an assessment 

center heralded as the most innovative in the 

profession—opening in 2008. 

TCC currently has approximately 100 

employees and nearly 400 enrolled students. 

Texas Chiropractic College is located at 5912 

Spencer Highway in Pasadena and on the 

Internet at www.txchiro.edu. 


SAN JACINTO 

COLLEGE 

❖ 

Below: Early graduates of San Jacinto 

College…today’s graduates. 

Bottom: Today’s San Jacinto College 

student with modern conveniences in 

the classroom. 

In September 1961, 870 students filed into 

a handful of renovated buildings in old 

downtown Pasadena to attend the very first 

classes offered by San Jacinto College. In the 

five decades since, the school has grown to 

three campuses and nine extension centers 

serving more than 27,000 students and offering 

more than 140 academic and technical degrees 

and certificates. 

The original campus, now known as Central 

Campus, includes nearly 190 acres and serves 

the school districts of LaPorte, Pasadena, and 

Deer Park, as well as nearby out-of-district areas. 

A bond issue in 1972 provided funds for a 

second campus, now known as San Jacinto 

College North, which opened in the fall of 

1975. Located at 5800 Uvalde Road in Houston, 

the North Campus serves the Sheldon, Galena 

Park, and Channelview Independent School 

Districts, as well as portions of Humble ISD. 

Voters approved another bond issue for a 

third campus, San Jacinto College South, 

in 1976. This campus, which opened in 

September 1979, is located on 150 acres west of 

the Gulf Freeway near Ellington Field and 

Johnson Space Center in Houston. 

In addition to the original bond issues, voters 

have demonstrated pride and confidence in 

San Jacinto College over the years with the 

approval of several major expansions. In 2008 

voters approved $295 million to update the 

science and allied health facilities, libraries, and 

physical education facility improvements, as 

well as the creation of a new student success 

center on each campus so that students have a 

one-stop-shop for student success resources. 

As a public, comprehensive community 

college, San Jacinto College offers technical 

programs that lead to certificates or associate of 

applied science degrees. In addition, the College 

offers Associate of Arts, Associate of Science and 

Associate of Arts in Teaching degrees and 

courses for transfer to senior institutions. 

In keeping with its commitment to lifelong 

learning, San Jacinto College provides noncredit 

courses for personal and professional 

growth, as well as specialized 

workforce development training for 

business and industry. The school 

also offers college preparatory and 

dual credit courses to prepare 

students for entry into collegelevel 

courses. 

San Jacinto College constantly 

strives for the highest levels of 

excellence, from academics to 

student services. But what really sets 

the College apart is their mindset. 

Everything they are and everything 

they do is geared toward one thing— 

making sure students succeed, no 

matter what their goals may be. 

For more information about San 

Jacinto College, visit the website at 

www.sanjac.edu. San Jacinto College. 

Your Goals. Your College. 


Living up to the slogan of the company they 

represent, Phelps Insurance Agency has been a 

“good neighbor” to clients throughout Pasadena 

for nearly a half century. 

Since opening his doors as a State Farm 

Agent, John Phelps has made it his life’s work to 

help the community with its insurance needs. 

Joined by his sons Ken, Steve and now his 

grandson Johnny, Phelps Insurance Agency is 

today one of the largest State Farm agencies in 

the country and features a wide range of 

financial and insurance offerings. 

Founder John Phelps graduated from Sam 

Houston State University, served in the Navy and 

taught school for five years before becoming a 

State Farm agent in 1962. That same year—with 

the help of wife Wynell—he opened an office in 

the garage of his Pasadena home and three decades 

later moved it to its present location at 4207 

Fairmont Parkway. He has held the title of State 

Farm’s Number One Agent and has often been 

listed among the company’s leaders in production. 

Additionally, he has served as a City 

Councilman, Mayor Pro-Tem, chairman of the 

Southeast Economic Development Association, 

President of the YMCA, member of the Pasadena 

South Rotary Club, and long time member of 

South Avenue Baptist Church. He has been 

a Pasadena Citizen of the Year, Pasadena ISD 

Distinguished Citizen of the Year and is 

especially honored that the new Harris County 

Courthouse annex has been named after him. 

From 1974 to 1996, Wynell joined husband 

John in serving the community in a special way 

as co-owners of Pasadena Funeral Chapel. 

Following in his father’s footsteps, Ken 

became a State Farm agent in 1990, operating 

his office in Deer Park for three years prior 

to joining his dad. Ken is a graduate of the 

University of Houston as well as the Executive 

Education OPM 33 Program at Harvard Business 

School. He, too, has made his mark in the 

industry and was recognized as one of State 

Farm’s top new agents his first year. He has since 

become a member of the company’s Lifetime 

Presidents Club, Million Dollar Round Table and 

a Chairman’s Council Qualifier. He is also active 

in the community and has served on numerous 

committees and boards in this area. In 2009, Ken 

and his wife, Alicia, had a son, Quentin Ray, 

born on Ken’s birthday. 

By 1997, Steve also joined his father and 

brother. Steve graduated from the University of 

Houston Clear Lake and additionally holds a 

Doctorate of Jurisprudence from South Texas 

College of Law. He served as a Justice of the 

Peace in Harris County before returning to 

Pasadena to serve as Port Commissioner and 

to work in the family business. He volunteers 

his spare time as an auctioneer to many 

charitable events, raising more than $2.5 

million for worthy projects over the past two 

decades. He and his wife, Jana, have three 

children—Becky, Johnny and Bethany—and one 

granddaughter, Easton. 

In addition to individual awards and 

acknowledgements, the Phelps family was the 

first family to receive the Visionary Award from 

The Alliance Houston Port Region in 2004. 

For more information, please visit 

www.kenphelpsinsurance.com. 

PHELPS 

INSURANCE 

AGENCY 

❖ 

Left to right: John, Ken and 

Steve Phelps. 


PEPPERS 

STEAK & 

SEAFOOD 

RESTAURANT 

For fifteen years Peppers Steak & Seafood 

Restaurant has presented an American menu in a 

casual manner to local Pasadena residents and 

visitors. In a warm and friendly environment, 

Peppers features fine beef and fresh seafood, with 

a broad menu including Italian and Mexican 

items that will satisfy all tastes and appetites. 

The owner, Mark Adi, bought the restaurant 

as it was preparing to go out of business and 

turned it around quickly by preparing all dishes 

with high-quality, fresh produce and strict 

adherence to quality control. He stresses to the 

staff his belief in the highest quality food and 

the absolute best in customer service. 

From the large bowls of delicious pasta and 

signature fresh salads, to the variety of fresh 

chicken dishes, to our award winning slow-roasted 

prime rib of beef; Peppers was the People’s 

Choice Award Winner and the winner of the 

2009 Taste of the Town competition held by the 

Pasadena Chamber of Commerce. Peppers has 

won this award and many others over the years, 

including 1st Place Winner and Best Food. 

Peppers Steak & Seafood Restaurant have 

been involved in the local community for years 

as a business leader. Management and staff are 

involved in the many functions of the Pasadena 

Chamber of Commerce and are regular sponsors 

of the Pasadena Police Department and the City 

of Pasadena. The banquet room has held events 

for local families from wedding anniversaries to 

baby showers for many years, and also regularly 

hosts weekly meetings of civic clubs and other 

community organizations. 

During the devastation of Hurricane Ike and 

its aftermath, Peppers was one of the few businesses 

open to provide food and cold beverages 

to the local residents. Even with a limited staff 

and difficulty in obtaining needed supplies, 

Peppers knew the community needed the service 

and did its part to help. Peppers has a committed 

staff, some of whom have worked for the 

restaurant more than twelve years, and a large 

following of regular customers who have been 

coming for fifteen years. 

Peppers is located at 3604 Fairmont Parkway 

in Pasadena and is open seven days a week from 

11 a.m. The restaurant closes at 10 p.m. Sunday 

through Thursday and at 11 p.m. on Friday and 

Saturday. No reservations are required. Banquet 

rooms are available for special meetings and 

family celebrations. 


Since its beginning in 1898 with 

seven students in a one-room schoolhouse, 

the Pasadena Independent 

School District has flourished and 

grown into sixty-three schools serving 

a large, suburban community occupying 

eighty-five square miles of southeast 

Harris County. The District now 

includes parts of Pasadena, South 

Houston, Houston, Pearland and some 

unincorporated areas of Harris County. 

With more than 52,000 students, 

Pasadena ISD is one of the top 100 

school districts in the United States. To 

provide students with an excellent education, 

the district employs over 7,000 people— 

teachers, paraprofessionals, support staff, and 

administrators—making it the largest employer 

in the community. 

Though Pasadena ISD has grown, it has never 

lost sight of its mission, which requires the 

commitment of all employees, parents, business 

and community members, and students to 

guarantee that all students will: 

• Acquire the knowledge, 

• Master the skills, and 

• Maximize the talents necessary to fulfill their 

potential as responsible citizens in their everchanging 

world. 

This commitment to provide a quality 

education is led by a Board of Trustees that 

makes all decisions based on the question, 

“What is best for our students?” This dynamic 

leadership is reflected in the innovative 

programs and technology used throughout 

the district to ensure the achievement of 

every student. 

Pasadena ISD maintains a strong emphasis 

on basic skills as the foundation for learning, 

with resources such as pre-kindergarten, 

bilingual, special education and gifted and 

talented programs. The district then builds on 

this foundation with advanced programs such 

as extensive career and technology programs, 

dual credit courses with San Jacinto College, a 

broad range of Advanced Placement classes, 

and outstanding and diverse academic, fine arts 

and athletic opportunities. 

Because of Pasadena ISD’s visionary thought 

and planning, Pasadena ISD graduates can be 

found at the top in their chosen fields and new 

generations of students will continue to follow 

in their footsteps. 

PASADENA 

INDEPENDENT 

SCHOOL 

DISTRICT 

❖ 

Above: Pasadena Public School, with 

its beginning in 1898 in a one-room 

schoolhouse, has since changed to 

Pasadena Independent School District 

and expanded its enrollment to over 

52,000 students. 

Below: Pasadena Memorial High 

School, the district’s fifth high school, 

opened its doors to students in 2002. 

Construction of the campus was 

approved by voters as part of a 2000 

bond issue to address a rapidly 

growing student population. 



SPONSORS 

Armor Plate, Inc. ...................................................................................................................................................................................84 

Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP (Chevron Phillips Chemical) .................................................................................................90 

Ditta Meat Food Service Company ........................................................................................................................................................96 

Econo Lodge .......................................................................................................................................................................................100 

Kone Construction, Inc. ........................................................................................................................................................................97 

La Quinta Inn & Suites .........................................................................................................................................................................98 

Meador Staffing Services, Inc.................................................................................................................................................................78 

Mosher, Seifert & Company ..................................................................................................................................................................89 

Pasadena Independent School District.................................................................................................................................................107 

Pasadena Strawberry Festival...............................................................................................................................................................102 

Peppers Steak & Seafood Restaurant ...................................................................................................................................................106 

Phelps Insurance Agency .....................................................................................................................................................................105 

Rolltex Shutters .....................................................................................................................................................................................92 

San Jacinto College..............................................................................................................................................................................104 

Superior Laboratory Services, Inc..........................................................................................................................................................99 

T & T Construction, LP ........................................................................................................................................................................86 

Texas Chiropractic College ..................................................................................................................................................................103 

Texas Citizens Bank.............................................................................................................................................................................101 

Tucker Hardware Co. ............................................................................................................................................................................94 

Wil-Cor, Inc. .........................................................................................................................................................................................82 

Sponsors ✦ 109

For more information about the following publications or about publishing your own book, please call 

Historical Publishing Network at 800-749-9790 or visit www.lammertinc.com. 

Albemarle & Charlottesville: 

An Illustrated History of the First 150 Years 

Black Gold: The Story of Texas Oil & Gas 

Garland: A Contemporary History 

Historic Abilene: An Illustrated History 

Historic Alamance County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Albuquerque: An Illustrated History 

Historic Amarillo: An Illustrated History 

Historic Anchorage: An Illustrated History 

Historic Austin: An Illustrated History 

Historic Baldwin County: A Bicentennial History 

Historic Baton Rouge: An Illustrated History 

Historic Beaufort County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Beaumont: An Illustrated History 

Historic Bexar County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Birmingham: An Illustrated History 

Historic Brazoria County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Brownsville: An Illustrated History 

Historic Charlotte: 

An Illustrated History of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County 

Historic Chautauqua County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Cheyenne: A History of the Magic City 

Historic Clayton County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Comal County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Corpus Christi: An Illustrated History 

Historic DeKalb County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Denton County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Edmond: An Illustrated History 

Historic El Paso: An Illustrated History 

Historic Erie County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Fayette County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Fairbanks: An Illustrated History 

Historic Gainesville & Hall County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Gregg County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Hampton Roads: Where America Began 

Historic Hancock County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Henry County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Hood County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Houston: An Illustrated History 

Historic Hunt County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Illinois: An Illustrated History 

Historic Kern County: 

An Illustrated History of Bakersfield and Kern County 

Historic Lafayette: 

An Illustrated History of Lafayette & Lafayette Parish 

Historic Laredo: 

An Illustrated History of Laredo & Webb County 

Historic Lee County: The Story of Fort Myers & Lee County 

Historic Louisiana: An Illustrated History 

Historic Mansfield: A Bicentennial History 

Historic Midland: An Illustrated History 

Historic Mobile: 

An Illustrated History of the Mobile Bay Region 

Historic Montgomery County: 

An Illustrated History of Montgomery County, Texas 

Historic Ocala: The Story of Ocala & Marion County 

Historic Oklahoma: An Illustrated History 

Historic Oklahoma County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Omaha: 

An Illustrated History of Omaha and Douglas County 

Historic Orange County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Osceola County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Ouachita Parish: An Illustrated History 

Historic Paris and Lamar County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Pasadena: An Illustrated History 

Historic Passaic County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Pennsylvania An Illustrated History 

Historic Philadelphia: An Illustrated History 

Historic Prescott: 

An Illustrated History of Prescott & Yavapai County 

Historic Richardson: An Illustrated History 

Historic Rio Grande Valley: An Illustrated History 

Historic Rogers County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Santa Barbara: An Illustrated History 

Historic Scottsdale: A Life from the Land 

Historic Shelby County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Shreveport-Bossier: 

An Illustrated History of Shreveport & Bossier City 

Historic South Carolina: An Illustrated History 

Historic Smith County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Temple: An Illustrated History 

Historic Texarkana: An Illustrated History 

Historic Texas: An Illustrated History 

Historic Victoria: An Illustrated History 

Historic Tulsa: An Illustrated History 

Historic Wake County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Warren County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Williamson County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Wilmington & The Lower Cape Fear: 


Historic York County: An Illustrated History 

Iron, Wood & Water: An Illustrated History of Lake Oswego 

Jefferson Parish: Rich Heritage, Promising Future 

Miami’s Historic Neighborhoods: A History of Community 

Old Orange County Courthouse: A Centennial History 

Plano: An Illustrated Chronicle 

The New Frontier: 

A Contemporary History of Fort Worth & Tarrant County 

San Antonio, City Exceptional 

The San Gabriel Valley: A 21st Century Portrait 

The Spirit of Collin County 

Valley Places, Valley Faces 

Water, Rails & Oil: Historic Mid & South Jefferson County 


$16.95 

LEADERSHIP SPONSORS 

ISBN: 978-1-944891-49-7 

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Historic Pasadena, Texas

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