The old days
May 21, 2010 (Friday)
Before Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Astroworld, or any of the Six Flags parks, there was Playland Park on South Main Street in Houston.
Even before Playland Park, there were little places like the one that was somewhere in the vicinity of OST and South Main, where there was a Carousel, some little cars that went around in a circle, attached by arms to a hub, little airplanes that did the same, and some burros and Shetland ponies. Not a big deal, but there it was, year after year, as I was growing up in Houston.
Free to the public was Herman Park, with its slides, swings, and a merry-go-round that the kids pushed so they could hop aboard and ride in a circle. We used to go there a lot, and we always took in the zoo, too. It was free also.
Then Playland Park hit with a big splash. It was located on South Main, near the present Reliant Stadium. It boasted a huge roller coaster, and all the carnival rides, along with hot dogs, cotton candy, shooting galleries and a chance to knock down a stack of milk bottles with a baseball. It was really something in its day. No one had ever dreamed of anything like the huge entertainment parks of today. It was the talk of the town for a while.
And across the street was the Main Street airport, where I took my first plane ride for $1.00. No sign of the airport remains amidst the residential and commercial development of that area of the city. The plane I flew had two wings and two cockpits, with the pilot sitting in the rear one.
My Uncle Lloyd took me out there to Playland Park and the airport one day, and it became a day I have remembered for 68 years.