Jack in the Box, The Heights

2001 North Shepherd Drive

Built in 1977 but replacing an older restaurant dating back to at least the mid-1960s, this Jack in the Box closed September 2018. The restaurant was poorly run, with employees actually refusing to serve hamburgers after around 7 pm citing the grill being shut off (likely a reason for its demise, as Jack in the Box stores usually thrive on night traffic). It reopened as Velvet Taco in January 2021 with a exterior major re-do (however, the "box" was kept). [Photo by author, March 2019]

1317 Telephone Road

1317 Telephone Road

When this post was added in early 2019 it simply read "HCAD puts this at being built in 1927, and it has not changed hands since 1992. It likely has been a law office since that time, and no further information is currently available. Photo from author, December 2018."

What we do know is that in the late 1920s it was Cohen's Barber Shop with the other storefront being M.V. Pickett Meat Market. In 1940 one of those storefronts became home of Collins Cleaning and Laundry Service (replacing the meat market as Cohen's continued).

By 1948 the laundromat gave way to Poe & Son Hardware. Following the death of the older Poe in 1959 the establishment became Poe Electric Company in 1963. Meanwhile, that same year, Cohen's Barber Shop closed when Cohen retired after thirty-four years. In 1969, only references for "Myers Business Machines" (calculators, typewriters, etc.) could be found, followed by a similar business (currently unnamed) that added office furniture to the mix by the mid-1970s but the trail ran cold after 1978. Maybe it was abandoned until 1992.