Author Archives: Susan
Fun in the Neighborhood, Part 1
Here we are, in the midst of Dog Days and halfway through school summer vacation—a perfect time to kick back and look at a few of the ways kids of all ages have good times here. Whether it’s today (Part 1) or more than 50 years ago (Part 2), we found it’s not all that much different. (Photo, right, courtesy of Crestview neighbor Louise Cooke.) Ryder “Red Ryder” Schwartz learned how to juggle on the sidewalk … Read more
Moving Beyond, Part 2
Honestly, I didn’t think much about our neighborhood’s history until I had lived here more than 15 years. About 2002, I visited with my longtime neighbor Billie in the shade of her then-towering magnolia tree (it unexpectedly fell in April 2017). She said when she moved to Crestview in the mid-1950s neighbors could see the Violet Crown Hills to the west, where Far West Boulevard is today. Looking up at her amazing magnolia and all … Read more
Moving Beyond, Part 1
Four years ago, we knew we wanted to do a website for our community/history project, Voices of the Violet Crown. When we launched it July 5, 2011, we envisioned having maybe a year’s worth of stories to share with neighbors, both near and far. Since then, we have filled up our corner of the blogosphere with posts, features, videos, photos, and community links and news. In 2003, we began our project with exhibits—history, maps, community … Read more
Houses Sing, Part 2
Our two-part series, inspired by the Danny Schmidt song “Houses Sing,” concludes . . . Former Crestview neighbor John Carlson took great pride in the home at 1508 Princeton Avenue that he and his wife, Judy, had built in the mid-50s. At the time, he knew the best tradesmen in the area, since he helped maintain rental properties for Crestview developers A. B. Beddow and Ray Yates. The tradesmen promised him that the Carlsons’ home … Read more
Sense of Place, Part 2
More good stories from our neighbors who add to our sense of place here . . . WANDA AND EMORY MUEHLBRAD, whose grandparents were born in Germany, looked at each other and chuckled when we asked them to tell us their full names, during our interview with them in 2008: Wanda: My name is Wandalie Wilhelmine Hohertz Muehlbrad. Emory: I’m Emory Emil Wilhelm Muehlbrad. We come from German stock! BEN PETMECKY probably led a more … Read more
Sense of Place, Part 1
The National Trust for Historic Preservation defines sense of place as: Those things that add up to a feeling that a community is a special place, distinct from anywhere else. We don’t know of any “thing” that contributes more to a sense of place than the people who live there and the stories they share. In 2009, when Cynthia Beeman, then-board member of the Texas Oral History Association, presented us with the Mary Faye Barnes … Read more