Anacortes Street in Houston

(This article was borrowed from Claudia Lowman's website for the Class of '62)

HOWDY!!! FROM ANACORTES STREET IN HOUSTON, TX.Back row (up high) L-R: Candy Swenson Dawson (class of '67 and John's sister), Mike Renquist ('62) Middle Row: L-R: Dwight Dawson (class of '65 and brother of Mr. Dawson, biology teacher), John Yankacy ('62), Claudia Lowman ('62).Front/kneeling: Jay Clow (brother of Nancy) ('62) with his Wailers shirt and bass guitar.Doug Richards writes, "There must be a story behind this picture. What is it?" Yes, Doug, there is a story. [Kind of sounds like, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus!"] Here it goes: When Claudia found Jay Clow late in the summer of 2001 after 10 years of no contact, she learned that Jay was in Texas, too. Claudia had been in Texas since 1990, Jay only a few years. So Jay wondered, now that the two classmates were reunited, "What about Renquist?" Claudia did an internet search and found Mike in Dallas, where he had been living most of his life since AHS. This three way connection then sparked the thought that 2002 was the 40th year since our HS graduation. Out of this awareness came the idea for a class website. Jay found more AHS underclassmen in the area, too. Then he looked in a Houston map book and found that there was an Anacortes Street. Houston is the 4th largest city in the U.S., yet little Anacortes was represented in this giant metropolis. Jay also found a Clow Street ("Very short." he reported. "Who woulda thought?!")The three AHS 1962 classmates decided a picture on Anacortes Street would be fun and invited Dwight Dawson and wife Candy Swenson (also living in Houston) to join us for a photo. That was when John and Peggy Yankacy came to town from WA State to visit their son, Mike, in the greater Houston area. All the classmates gathered on a Saturday in early June, 2002 at a nearby Mexican restaurant and then collectively drove the mile or so to "our" street.Anacortes Street is two blocks long. The houses appear to have been built in the late 50's. They are well-kept, large ranch houses and all the yards are very well maintained and manicured. Claudia had made a field trip to check out the area weeks earlier and reported to all that it was a fine neighorhood. In a city this large you never know what you might find. Dwight had been a little worried before hand, thinking it might be a run-down area of Houston and that Anacortes might not look so good; everyone was pleased that it was a pleasant neighborhood. The group had only two street signs from which to choose for a photo. The one in this picture had with lots of grass surrounding it so that we wouldn't trample anyone's landscaping. Behind us, though not seen in the photo, is a community pool.Mike Renquist drove down just for this photo. The drive from Dallas to Houston is about 4 and a half hours. He stayed awhile afterward and visited with John and Peg at their son's house in Sugarland, a suburb city of Houston. Claudia visited, too. John and Peg treated their guests to a salmon meal and some of John's homemade wine. Pumpkin and Apple wines were among the choices that day.After visiting (and not too much wine), Mike drove back to Dallas. Mike's wife, Georjean, is a Methodist minister in Dallas and likes Mike to be available for Sunday services, so Mike made it a point to get back that night in plenty of time to be at church the next morning.We all surmise that, since Houston is the biggest oil port in the hemisphere, there must be a refinery connection. The little subdivision was applied for in 1955, just a few years after it was announced that Shell was to build at March Point. Maybe someone was transferred from Anacortes to Houston or Houston to Anacortes who was involved with the sub-division development and named a new street for our town. Claudia called the City of Houston and talked to a very helpful gentleman who pulled the nearly fifty year old file on the sub-division. The source of the street name was not indicated in the file. So, we are still curious to know who named it and the REAL story behind "our" street. I suppose we will never know.Okay, Doug, hope that answers your question about the story behind the picture. The street, by the way, is on the SE side of Houston in the Hobby Airport area. If you were on you way through Houston, heading to NASA or Galveston, you would pass near this street, not far off I-45, that heads NS.