I grew up in Houston, Texas. It has been so many years since I have lived here, however, that it is a bit of a culture shock to me to see some of the changes. Not that this is a bad thing, it is just a very different place than it was when I left. Decades do that.
One interesting bit on the local news yesterday was about a thing called “The Blue Tile Project.” This is a grassroots effort to document and preserve an often overlooked and disappearing roadside relic of Houston’s past: The (usually) blue tiled street names in the curbsides that formed the very first street signs of the city. The first of them date to about 1928, and they were used throughout many neighborhoods in the area. Sadly, this city often opts to demolish rather than preserve its history and like so many neat old houses (including the one I grew up in) these tiled signs are often destroyed when new development comes along. Some are broken apart and removed either entirely or just in part to accommodate new features like a wheelchair ramp at a corner, others however, become gradually buried as new asphalt paving is applied over the existing roadway which makes the effective height of the curbside lower and the sign less visible.
It was refreshing, however, to see that these once ubiquitous tiled signs are now being given attention and appreciation. Those behind the Blue Tile Project have an app available that allows you to locate the tiled signs on a map and even add your own if you find one and photograph it! It is the sort of app that can easily persuade a history buff as well as the idly curious to spend some time on a bicycle exploring the old neighborhoods in hopes of finding a tangible treasure right in the gutter. Aside of the fun trip down memory lane for me and others from here, this app has the potential to not only preserve this part of history but also perhaps encourage others to develop similar apps to seek out and log the underappreciated treasures in their own backyards. It is a good use of a basic mapping and GIS database for a specific purpose. I hope that the interest level it generates not only leads to documentation of these but perhaps more careful development and preservation efforts: For example, when a new sidewalk and ramp are added to an old neighborhood, it should be possible to cut and move the tiled section to a nearby point allowing both the old and the new to coexist and function.
You can check out the Blue Tile Project at www.bluetileproject.com or lookup the app in your smartphone’s app store.
Oh my gosh these pics bring back memories! You and I both must have passed that Mariposa street sign a thousand times! It’s been years since I’ve driven through that neighborhood.