Houston is a place that's rich in diversity and innovation. It readily embraces modernity and is less burdened by the weight of tradition one feels in other southern cities. This can be wonderfully liberating. At the same time, many argue its embrace of the new makes it challenging to define. "Houston has a bad habit of destroying our history," one resident confessed to us. But if there's one place that flies in the face of this town's sleek, steel and glass uber-developments, it's The West Alabama Ice House. Opened in 1928 on an unremarkable corner in Montrose, this low frills, outdoor, dog friendly, picnic table lined beer joint not only straddles the past and present of Central Houston, but might even provide a few lessons worth considering as this Gulf Coast metropolis continues its march forward.
West Alabama Ice House
To see David Richmond's documentation of Houston ice houses, and some of the speculative designs they've inspired, check him out on Instagram.
6. Postcard from Tulsa - "The Ghosts of Greenwood"
Introducing: "2 Lives"
5. Postcard from Tulsa - "Carousing at Cain's"
4. Postcards from Roadside Oddities - "Totem poles, whales, slug bugs and Cadillacs!"
3. Postcard from Miami, Ok - "A foreign field that is for ever England”
2. Postcards from Quapaw, Gallup and Lupton - "Pottery and Patriotism"
1. Postcards from The Mother Road - "The Roots of Route 66"
Introducing: Vanishing Postcards - The Route 66 Season
Bonus - A Christmas Postcard, "Remembering Charles Kuralt"
15. Postcard from Fort Worth - "Stockyard Songs and Stories"
14. Postcards from Ghosts - "Weeping Women and the Ghoulish Side of Galveston"
Introducing: "Fascination Street"
13. Postcard from Oakville - "Dobie Dichos and Legends in Live Oak County"
12. Postcard from Rosenberg - "The Boldness of Black Cowboys"
11. Postcard from Galveston - "Memories of the Maceos"
Bonus - Bobby Earl Smith Remembers Freda and the Firedogs
9. Postcards from Country Stores - "Crassness in Castell, Legacies in Ledbetter"
8. Postcards from Brownsville and San Antonio - "A Tale of Two Tacos"
7. Postcard from The Rio Grande Valley - "Community and Conjunto"
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