Brays Bayou was the “kid freeway” when I grew up. There used to be an informal moto-cross track way upstream just off of Brays Bayou called the White House because of a very old dilapidated white house next to the track. Anyway, we used the bayous to go all over the city.
We used to have a dirt bike area on the north side of Brays across from Fondren Jr High on the south side. We called it “the hills”. It’s also where guys would sometime have fights after school.
I know the place. Fondren was kind of a tough school when I went there. I remember one friend/acquaintance was injured when another F/A set off a locker bomb. This would have been in the early '70s.
I went there in ‘69 and ‘70. Then got zoned over to Johnston Jr High for 9th grade in ‘71.
Side question: does anyone know why it’s Brays Bayou but Braes everything else around there?
Original name was Bray’s Bayou. Then the Braeswood development came and they tried to do a Scottish theme and used Braes for everything. My mom used to live on Braesglen street. Some maps even show it as Braes Bayou, which is what I thought it was as a kid.
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We used to have a designated fighting spot too. We’d say “let’s you and me fight”, and everyone knew the protocol.
I see that it is no longer Johnston Middle School. It’s now Meyerland Performing and Visual Arts Middle School. Fondren definitely had a rougher crowd than Johnston due in large part with the fact that Johnston had a large Jewish population in contrast to a large redneck population at Fondren.
My step-siblings went to Johnston, Fondren’s erstwhile rival. I’m not surprised that the name was changed, the school was named after Confederate General Albert Sydney Johnston. I didn’t know that PVA schools had gone down to Middle School level, though.
It had long been a magnet for the performing and visual arts. When the wave of de-confederation happened they jumped at the opportunity to brand themselves as such.
I wonder if they’re still the Greyhounds or if they changed their mascot to something more thematically appropriate like the Raging Thespians or the Fighting Tubas.
There were several schools built in the late '50s and early '60s in SW Houston, and I remember the adults and older kids talking about Westbury and Lee high schools. The schools were originally identical in design and Robert E. Lee High School was completed after Westbury. The students and parents of the new Lee high school were a little peeved at those at Westbury because those at Westbury had claimed the “Rebels” nickname before they could. Naturally, the folks at Robert E. Lee High School felt entitled to the “Rebels” nickname but those at Westbury persisted. That’s why R.E. Lee H.S. became the Generals.
When Westbury and Lee played football, it looked like a Dixiecrat convention with the Confederate battle flag dominating both sides of the stadium.
Now Westbury teams are the Huskies.
Still the Greyhounds.
I certainly hope they still have the 1982 Boys Basketball District Champions trophy prominently and rightfully displayed. I was Second Team All-District, you know. First Team Academic All-District.
If you ever had a yen to see what I look like in super short shorts, go over there one day and dig up a yearbook from the library.
Just checking in as another Mustang alum. Late 70’s, though. Lots of fond memories of the school and the Braeswood corridor - mostly I ran along the trails there. But, then again, my wife thinks I am patholigically nostalgic.
My wife graduated from Lee in ‘75. It’s been renamed after a former teacher who was also the yearbook sponsor when my wife was one of the editors. She went back last year for the dedication and got the royal treatment from current students showing off all of the remodeled school. Lots of immigrant kids who are very proud of what they’re doing there.
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Reports state that Model Ys with 4860 batteries are rolling off the line at Tesla’s GigaTexas.
Tesla’s vertical integration means that the majority of parts - including the batteries - are made on site. All other components are made by Tesla in the US. The Model Y is about the most American, nay Texan, vehicle you can buy.
These Model Ys will have the structural battery pack and gigapressed front and rear underbodies that reduce hundreds of bolted and welded parts into just 3: the front, the battery pack and the rear. This process, in addition to being significantly faster to build, is expected to improve fit and finish, and improve range/performance due to weight savings.
Cali also just filed the first felony charges for Tesla auto drive, and the driver, killing people
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Good.
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