Highrise Tower Posted November 13, 2022 Share Posted November 13, 2022 I was browsing some Texas race track forums and someone mentioned: https://www.lonestarspeedzone.com/topic/26900-old-aerial-pics-of-race-tracks/page/2/ If you go to Playland Park and then pan north/northeast, you will see a little 1/10 mile oval track behind what appears to be a building and located to the east of South Main as it gradually turns. That was another test track and the one on another thread that describes Larry Schild and I testing our midgets. It became a Go-Kart track and was converted to Go-Kart racing as Quarter Midget Racing began to die in Houston. I think I remember the 1/10 mile oval track, as a Go-Kart Ride track in the 1960s. Didn't it belong to someone formerly involved in Quarter Midget Racing? Possibly a racer named Johnny? He would have been about your age, and possibly later operated a road course Go-Kart ride facility farther out South Main, past the South Loop Freeway. I went to Historicaerials and spanned South Main in the 1950s and 1960s and discovered a small oval race track located on South Main Street near Hiram Clarke Road. I assume this was what the poster in the Lonestarspeedzone thread was talking about? Also could have been horse stables as well? Very, very cool find!! Oddly enough, Google Earth could not locate this track, only Historicaerials. I guess they were different satellites. Well, it actually looks like Google's time frame is a bit different. The track was non existent, on Google, in 1953 and was disappearing in 1978. Image credit: https://www.historicaerials.com/viewer In 1978 the track was swallowed by an empty field. You can see part of the oval track still there. I believe that's also the McClendon Triple Drive-In Theater across Hiram Clarke located at 11991 South Main Street. That's massive! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted November 13, 2022 Share Posted November 13, 2022 The black and white aerials are almost all taken from airplanes, as there were no satellite images available to the general public until relatively recently. The USDA and USGS did all sorts of aerial photography. I've use the USGS false color infrared pictures in the past, before Google Earth data was available. There are some examples of this at this site https://opensourceoptions.com/blog/how-to-make-a-false-color-satellite-image-in-qgis/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.