Historic Houston Streets

NAPLAVA: Claud – See sidebar Houston Streets Named for Men Killed During World War I, page 22.

NASA ROAD 1: On October 4, 1957 the United States was shocked by the successful launch of Sputnik 1, the first artificial earth satellite, by the USSR. In 1958 President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the bill creating the National Aeronautics & Space Administration (known by its more common acronym of NASA). The “Space Race” was on in earnest. Initially operating at Cape Canaveral, Florida, NASA announced plans in 1961 for the construction of the Manned Spacecraft Center on 1,000-acres near Clear Lake in southeast Harris County. In 1963 the facility was opened. In America’s heyday of space exploration the Gemini, Apollo (the flights to the Moon) and Skylab missions were controlled from here. ²

NASH-DAMON-RYCADE: Everette Lee DeGolyer was a geophysicist and petroleum engineer born in Kansas in 1886. He was hired in 1918 by Lord Cowdray of Royal Dutch Shell Petroleum Company to explore the salt domes of the Texas Gulf Coast for oil and gas. He formed a firm and called it Rycade Oil Company. DeGolyer was vice president and manager (1923-26) and president and general manager (1926-41). In 1924 using the first geophysical survey he discovered a major oilfield at Nash, Texas. Nash has long since vanished from the maps. DeGolyer was called the “Father of American Geophysics” and for many years was considered the world’s leading oil consultant. (See Beasley-Damon.) 3

NASHUA: This pedigreed colt was the favorite to win the 1955 Kentucky Derby. His jockey was the fabled Eddie Arcaro. But a California thoroughbred named Swaps, ridden by archrival Bill Shoemaker, bested him. Swaps took control of the race early and was never headed. However, Nashua did go on to victory in the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes. ⁴

NATCHEZ TRACE: Humans have used this ancient 450-mile trail from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee since the dawn of time. It was very important to the American Indians of the area and is today a National Parkway. It is also one of the few places where a speeding ticket (exceeding 55 MPH on this scenic two lane road) is a Federal offense. It virtually requires a Presidential pardon to avoid paying the steep fine. ⁵

NATIONAL FOREST: Sam Houston National Forest is a recreational area totaling 161,508 acres in Montgomery, San Jacinto and Walker Counties. The State of Texas authorized the purchase of land for national forests in 1933. ⁶

NAVIGATION: Because of its proximity to the Houston Ship Channel and all the waterborne commerce that takes place in the area, this street was named to reflect the port related activity. ⁷

NAZRO: Underwood – This man was a vice president at the Gulf Oil Corporation in Baytown. ⁸

NEEDVILLE: August Schendel first named this town Schendelville in 1891. When he applied for a post office he filed under the name of Needmore as a joke. He said he did it because the place needed more of everything. Strangely enough the name was already taken so it was changed to Needville. He operated a general store, cotton gin and a blacksmith shop. ⁹

NEIDIGK: Fred – This German immigrant arrived in the Houston area in 1902. He built a sawmill near Decker’s Prairie. In the early 1900s Neidigk Station was a stop on the International-Great Northern Railroad. Neidigk Lake on Spring Creek is also named for him. ¹⁰

NETTLETON: Robert E. – See sidebar Houston Streets Named for Men Killed During World War I, page 22.

NEUENS: August – This German immigrant arrived in the Spring Branch area in the mid-1870s. Like many of his industrious neighbors from the Old World he amassed considerable land holdings. His property was where this road is today. Members of this family are buried in the St. Peter’s United Church graveyard. ¹¹

MY HOW WE HAVE GROWN

When Houston was founded in 1836 there were only 6.5 miles of streets in the city and none were paved. Paving began in the early 1890s and by 1892 we had 12.5 miles of paved roads. By 1911 that total increased to 90 miles. In 1939 we reached 1,000 miles. Today that number is a staggering 6,000 miles of concrete and asphalt just within the city limits. ^{35, 36}

NEVELSON: Louise – This seems to be the only street in Houston named for a female artist. This Russian-born American citizen is famous for her free-standing as well as hanging wooden sculpture. One of her finest works, Frozen Laces-One, may be seen in downtown Houston at 1400 Smith. ¹²

NEW KENTUCKY: Only a historic marker and a street recall this early trading center that was once located in northern Harris County. Abram Roberts who was from Kentucky established it. The town had a short lifespan, lasting from only 1831 until about 1840. ¹⁴

NEWGULF ACCESS: Newgulf was founded by Texas Gulf Sulfur Company atop the Boling Dome in 1928. Under the dome was the largest known inland sulfur deposit in the world. It was a company town and got its name after management sponsored a naming contest for employees. Mary Ertz won. She based her choice on the fact that Texas Gulf’s first town was Gulf. This company town had over 400 homes, shops, hospital, pharmacy, barber shop, library, school, post office, movie theater, tailor, cleaner, four churches, clubhouse and a nine-hole golf course. By 1940 almost 1,600 people lived here. In the 1960s the world sulfur market crashed. The company had located cheaper-to-extract deposits elsewhere so the town was closed. Today it is an interesting ghost town to visit because of its post-apocalyptic, Mad Max ruins. Street signs remain named Texasgulf, Newgulf, Reservoir and Burning Stone. ¹⁵

NGPL: This road leads to Natural Gas Pipeline Compression Station 301 west of Hungerford and north of Wharton. ¹⁶

NIBLICK: Old time golfers know this is a golf club. Before irons were numbered they all had names such as mashie, mashie niblick, etc. The niblick equates to a nine iron today.

NICHOLS: A prominent Dickinson, Texas family, the Nichols first arrived here in 1857. Ebenezer B. Nichols, a director of the Galveston, Houston & Henderson Railroad, had a summer home here. He was a partner with William Marsh Rice in a commission and freight forwarding business. Fred M. Nichols and his partners organized the Dickinson Land and Improvement Company to sell real estate in the town. These civic-minded citizens gave the city the land for the Dickinson Picnic Grounds, a popular gathering place. (See Dickinson.) ¹⁸

NICHOLS: This gentleman was granted a league of land in the 1820s where Bellville is today. ¹⁹

NICHOLSON: Claud – See sidebar Houston Streets Named for Men Killed During World War I, page 22.

NICHOLSON: E. S. – He was a real estate promoter in the Galveston bayside town of Seabrook in the early 1900s. (See Sydnor.) ²⁰

NIMITZ: Chester W. – A graduate of the Naval Academy in 1905, he was a career officer in the U.S. Navy. A submariner in WW I, Nimitz was most famous for his naval successes in the Pacific Theater during WW II. His forces racked up decisive victories at Guadalcanal, Midway, the Solomons, the Gilberts, the Marshalls, the Marianas, the Philippines, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Nimitz accepted the Japanese surrender documents on the deck of his flagship, the battleship Missouri, in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945. ²¹

NINA LEE: This lady was the wife of Harold P. Hill, office manager of Oak Forest Addition. Frank Sharp, the developer, named it for her. (See chantilly and Frank Sharp.) ²²

NO NAME: This three block long lane runs through a concentration of townhouses. It is not marked in any manner and has no addresses, thus the name and in this case the lack of even street signs. ²³

NOGALUS: See sidebar Learn a Foreign Language on Your Morning Walk, page 125.

NOLAN RYAN: It is only proper that this high-speed expressway is named for one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history. His record setting career of 324 wins, 7 no hitters, 383 strike outs in a season and 5,714 strike outs in his 26 years (1967-1993) in the majors are the stuff of baseball lore. We were lucky that he sported a Houston Astro uniform for a portion of his career. ²⁵

NORHILL: Now one of the city’s historic districts, Norhill was developed in the 1920s by the Stude family and one of the creators of River Oaks, Will Hogg. It was a nice working-class neighborhood not dissimilar to Houston Heights to its west or Studemont to the east. Its name was probably chosen because it was north of downtown and on a higher elevation. However, Sherrie Chisholm, a resident involved with the historic district, says that years ago a man named Norbert Hill lived in the area and it’s possible the street remembers him. (See Stude.) ²⁶

NORMANDY: This region of northwest France on the English Channel was the sight of the D-Day landing on June 6, 1944. Code-named “Operation Overlord,” it was led by the Allies’ Supreme Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Remembered as “the Longest Day,” the success of the Allied troops here spelled the beginning of the end of the War for Nazi Germany. (See Eisenhower.)²⁷

NORRIS: Earnest Mishael – He was born in Normangee in 1903. This black student earned his B. S. (1927) and M. S, (1931) from Prairie View A & M University and Ph.D from University of Ithaca in 1934. He was hired by Prairie View in 1937 to serve as a professor in the Agriculture Department. Norris taught here until he retired in 1968.²⁸

NORTH HOUSTON: This small community grew up on the Trinity & Brazos Railway beginning in 1907. Once known as Tomball and later as Scoville it finally received its present name in 1910. Today little remains of the small oil town. (See Tomball.) ²⁹

NORTH MAIN: Originally know as East Montgomery Road, City of Houston Water Commissioner David Fitzgerald, who lived on this street, got the name changed in 1913. ³⁰

NORTHWESTERN: Opened by the Methodists in 1855, this Evanston, Illinois university is one of the finest centers of higher learning in the country. ³¹

MAYOR BOB AND HIS BELOVED ROSES

Long before serving as mayor of Houston, Bob Lanier was a real estate developer with a passion for growing roses. His home featured some of the finest rose gardens in the city. To honor this, the most beautiful of flowers, Lanier decided to name the streets in one of his developments, Twin Lakes, for a variety of roses. Today you can drive on American Beauty, Summer Snow, Tropicana, Gold Medal, King’s Ransom, Pristine, Carrousel, Honor, Oregold, China Doll, Sweet Surrender, Peace and Spartan. ³⁷