Toro St.

[Guest Marty]

Sounds like he's more of an appraiser. Does he know local history also?

Yes, and on his radio show he talks about suff like that card you got. i think he is 90 something years old. he lives in Bellaire

Edited September 21, 2006 by Marty

[Subdude]

Thanks.

Maybe "Toro" is either just a typo, or stands for something else. My first guess was Lucas St., since there is one on the north side and the symbol of San Lucas is the toro.

[gonzo1976]

Here is a list of all the places named Houston. I'm sure one of these towns must have a Toro Street (or a Bull Street).

http://www.placesnamed.com/h/o/houston.asp

[57Tbird]

i think he is 90 something years old. he lives in Bellaire

I know him. He recently celebrated his 72nd birthday. Can't wait to tell him somebody thinks he's 90 something.

[Guest Marty]

I know him. He recently celebrated his 72nd birthday. Can't wait to tell him somebody thinks he's 90 something.

Easy now.

[Subdude]

Here is a list of all the places named Houston. I'm sure one of these towns must have a Toro Street (or a Bull Street).

http://www.placesnamed.com/h/o/houston.asp

I thought of that, but if you search "Toro Street" and "Houston" nothing meaningful shows up. Also, it seems odd that someone would go to the trouble of printing up a card to direct visistors to a bar in Houston, Alabama or Houston, Delaware. I'll look under Bull Street.

[enviromain]

I asked my Dad (native Houstonian, born 1941) about the former phone number prefixes in Houston and this was his response:

"When I was in elementary school (and had to know my phone number), the number was MADISON (followed by 4 numbers), i.e., MA-1234."

"At some later time - I think about the middle of the 1950s, the exchange was changed to MOHAWK (or possibly MONROE) and another number was added. The number would have been stated MO5 -1234 or something like that. (I think momma's was MO7-5187)."

"Also, if you wanted to make a long distance call, you had to call the operator, and the operator would connect you to an operator in the city or area you were calling. That second operator would then dial your number. I can still remember momma talking long-distance on the telephone. She apparently thought that she had to yell because of the 'long distance'. Everybody on our block knew when she made a long-distance call."

"We could not "direct dial" a long distance call until the telephone system started using area codes. At that time, the names for local exchanges were dropped, and everybody just started using the numbers. When I first started working at TESCO (1966), I was told that the number was CA2-6503. TESCO was in the Capitol exchange. Later we started telling people our number was 225-6503."

[TJones]

.....is there an El Toro street ?

[Subdude]

.....is there an El Toro street ?

Not in Houston.

"At some later time - I think about the middle of the 1950s, the exchange was changed to MOHAWK (or possibly MONROE) and another number was added. The number would have been stated MO5 -1234 or something like that. (I think momma's was MO7-5187)."

I was trying to dig up the "Echo" prefix and I found that the phone company made an effort to standardize telephone prefix names. At that time some historical prefix names were phased out, which may have been why yours was changed to MOhawk. ECho was not a standard prefix name, and I can't find any references to it being used in Houston.

Recommended telephone prefix names from 1955

[enviromain]

Not in Houston.

I was trying to dig up the "Echo" prefix and I found that the phone company made an effort to standardize telephone prefix names. At that time some historical prefix names were phased out, which may have been why yours was changed to MOhawk. ECho was not a standard prefix name, and I can't find any references to it being used in Houston.

Recommended telephone prefix names from 1955

Thanks for the info. I'll pass it on to my Dad. Great link, as well. After you said that, I googled "echo phone exchange" and came up with this:

But this is West Virginia, 1891.

Edited September 26, 2006 by enviromain

[dbigtex56]

Thanks.

Maybe "Toro" is either just a typo, or stands for something else. My first guess was Lucas St., since there is one on the north side and the symbol of San Lucas is the toro.

It wouldn't be a typo, strictly speaking; if you look closely the lettering is done by hand, not typeset (notice the ns and us differ slightly.)

Is it possible that 'Toro St' means 'bull', as in "I'm bull*****ing you", and that the phone number was either invalid, or might have rung to some inappropriate place, such as a police station? That might have passed as a sort of weak joke during Prohibition...

[Guest Marty]

Any updates Subdude?

[Subdude]

Any updates Subdude?

No, I kind of ran out of ideas.

Maybe Toro Street was a typo for Truro Street?

[Guest Marty]

I wonder if isuredid or Mark Barnes can solve this dilemma.

Edited December 26, 2006 by Marty

[FilioScotia]

Look what I found

In my surf-searching today, I came across this remarkable set of photos of downtown Houston in the late 20s and early 30s. It includes shots taken around the Coliseum in the summer of 1928, as the city was getting ready for the Democratic National Convention. Here's the link. http://www.sloanegallery.com/newpage117.htm

I'm still searching for an explanation of that saloon picture, and I'm focusing on that reference to October 2 thru 7. I'm guessing there was some big event in Houston that week, of whatever year, and Houston bars (speakeasies?) had sent promotional cards out all over the country, and even out of the country, to let people know where they could go to get a drink if they were going to Houston that week. The bar is shown as a saloon because everybody outside of Texas thought all Texas bars were old west style saloons. Many still do.

As for Toro Street, it's worth remembering that countless old Houston streets have disappeared over the decades to make way for new construction, residential development and freeways. It's also true that any number of old streets' names have been changed for one reason or another. One example: the street we now call West Dallas used to be San Felipe. It's why that old housing project was named the San Felipe Courts.

Sooner or later, someone is going to find an old map or city plat with a street named Toro on it. I'm betting it will be within a few miles of downtown Houston, because in those days, all of Houston was just a few miles from downtown.

Edited December 27, 2006 by FilioScotia

[TJones]

I know him. He recently celebrated his 72nd birthday. Can't wait to tell him somebody thinks he's 90 something.

I think he meant his wisdom makes him seem alot older.