SpencerHoward Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 Thought you'd all like to see these old photos of Norris of Houston and the World's Largest Barber Shop: http://www.facebook.com/spencerhoward.net/posts/431729996914614 I'm still looking for old photos of his earlier shops, especially the one in Westbury Square. The 1962 and 1963 city directories list his shop as #653 which some maps locate on the alley north/behind the curved building with the Cargo store (where the new Home Depot service road cuts through). I've seen some old photos of the square before the curved building was built so maybe it was demolished early on. Current numbers on the stores would put it in the alley to the left after passing through the entry arch, but they skip 653 between 651 and 659, so maybe those spaces (apartments now) were renovated over the years and one unit was combined with 653. I'll post this to the Westbury Square thread, too, just in case someone still reads it. Thank you,Spencer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylejack Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 Great research. Very cool history lesson. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fringe Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 Good read. I frequented the Norris on Post Oak back in the day when I had hair to cut. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEM Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 Hair......vaguely remember............. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdude Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 One of the old George Fuermann books, "Houston, the Once & Future City", has a picture of the staff of Norris as its final photo. They are posed on rocks by the Gulf. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpencerHoward Posted March 13, 2013 Author Share Posted March 13, 2013 Oh, wow! I remember that photo from when I was a kid and it was hanging in the shampoo area of the Post Oak shop. Norris told me it was modeled after the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper album cover and half the people in it ended up dying of drugs and/or falling asleep with a cigarette. Never knew it was in a book... buying a used copy now! Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmil Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 Norris of Norris of Houston was the son of the late Leonard McNeil, the founder of Lennox Barbecue on Harrisburg Blvd. He also ran the former Houston Country Club location back in the 60's and 70's which now known as the Gus Wortham Golf Course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpencerHoward Posted March 29, 2013 Author Share Posted March 29, 2013 Norris is my grandfather and I've never heard of Leonard McNeil, even though I do live a block away from Lennox BBQ and eat there weekly. Norris' father was Leamon Womack who had a barber shop at the corner of Lawndale and 75th for many years back in the 1950s. Leamon lived on Fennell Street, near Broadway, until his house was demolished for the never completed extension of Hwy 225. They were poor/uneducated and I don't think they knew a thing about golf... or BBQ. Norris did like to tell "stories" though that seemed to embellish history, but a connection to the Houston Country Club and Lennox would be news to me and my family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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