‘Snow village’ brings back memories of old Conroe
History comes to life with little replica of small town of yore
While browsing Pinterest holiday images, Conroe resident Pam Walker had the idea to create a Christmas snow village showing what this once-small town looked like in the 1950s and 1960s.
She began to research old photos online, including through a Facebook group with native Conroe members called “We Grew Up in Conroe, remember when we.” She also found inspiration at the Heritage Museum of Montgomery County and the Montgomery County Historical Commission website. And, in January, she began to create the village.
To bring the details to life, she ordered little houses and buildings, street signs, vintage cars, lights and even electronic signs.
“Every day I would think of another detail,” Walker, who retired from insurance sales, said as she pointed out the different buildings in the snow village while Christmas music played in the background of her home.
Now her village has about 40 buildings recalling the Conroe of yesteryear, including Main Street landmarks such as the old Scott’s Pharmacy, the Madeley Building and the Crighton Theatre.
“I did this village of Conroe for our friends and loved ones, trying to bring back the memories of growing up together in our great little town,” said Walker, 71, who began collecting snow village houses about five years ago. “Christmas is a time for sharing, and I’ve enjoyed trying to create a way to remember all those happy times.”
Conroe, which the U.S. Census Bureau says was the fastest-growing city in the nation with more than 50,000 residents in 2015-16, has come a long way from the small town that Walker depicts.
Personal touch
Incorporated in 1904, the city remained small geographically and in population for much of the 20th century even as it benefited from the lumber and oil industries. It had fewer than 10,000 residents during the 1950s and ’60s, but as the city annexed new areas, it grew significantly. Today, the city has an estimated population of 84,378.
Walker’s village depicts a quaint city where everybody knew everybody.
The village features “The Miracle Mile” with the the Hi-Y Drive-in movie theater and Tastee Freez, as well as the Moon Palace, a popular Chinese restaurant of the time, the bus station, a train and the old Mobilgas station with its red Pegasus sign (now displayed at the Heritage Museum).
There’s even a miniature Elvis Presley, who performed on a flatbed trailer at the old David Crockett High School football field during the Louisiana Hayride Tour in 1955.
After posting photos and videos of the project, Walker was pleasantly surprised by the positive feedback she received on social media from longtime Conroe residents who appreciated the walk down memory lane.
She also added a few personal touches such as the Sam Houston State University Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house where she met her husband, Kyle Walker, a Conroe native, in 1967. She is originally from Houston.
More to come
Sitting next to his wife and the Conroe Christmas village that she created, Kyle Walker recalled the outskirts of Conroe being where the H-E-B on Loop 336 West is today.
He graduated in 1965, part of one of the first graduating classes at newly built Conroe High School on Texas 105. There were 206 students in the graduating class. He said his father, former Conroe ISD school board President Kenneth Walker, had pushed for passage of a school bond to pay for the new high school.
Many of those who lived in Conroe at the time and still live there today remain friends with their kindergarten classmates.
Kyle Walker still remembers walking from the Paul Green Recreational Pool Hall to eat $1 lunches at the Hotel McGee on Pacific Street (where Homestead Furniture is now), as well as watching cartoons, movie serials and double features at the Crighton Theatre on Saturdays. He said he bought a 10-cent wind-up airplane from Whackers Variety Store on the east side of Martins that he and his friends played with on the county courthouse square.
“I use to ride horses in these woods,” Kyle Walker said, adding that his father built the subdivisions and that Semands was a dirt road at the time. “We never owned a key to a house and Daddy would get mad like crazy if the keys weren’t in the car when he went outside. … It has totally changed since I was young.”
The couple has a few ideas about the next buildings that could be added to the village next year, such as the Montgomery County Courthouse, Paul Green’s Pool Hall, The Hooper House, the Sparkle Ice House, the “Judge” William N. Foster building and the Wahrenberger building, once owned by one of the founding fathers of Conroe, John Wahrenberger.
The Conroe Christmas Village is kept on a private display at their home at this time. However, she said she’d be open to sharing it with the public at an appropriate setting such as a library or museum.
“We would consider it if someone wants to display it, as long as it is kept safe,” Pam Walker said.