Pizza Hut in Bryan

Pizza Hut looked different back in 1966, for sure. (from the Eagle)
We've covered Pizza Hut before (both the classic University Drive East location and the short-lived Northgate proper location (see the older two posts) so here's a third location (and between the various carry-out locations, there's still room to grow). I submitted it on Used to Be a Pizza Hut (expecting it to be in the queue for months, but no, it's on there already). The Navasota store was featured over ten years ago on the site, and it's now a funeral home, too...possibly the first "Funeral Hut" covered. It operated from November 1966 (first Pizza Hut in the area) to sometime in 2002 (closed without replacement) and briefly served as Lone Star Pawn for a few years afterward before becoming Treviño-Smith Funeral Home in 2007.

What I can't figure out is what it looked like originally. 1966 is a bit young for the iconic red roof and Pizza Hut claims that it wasn't implemented until 1969, but the Wikipedia article indicates the first restaurant done was in 1963. Maybe it was indeed the first of its type in Texas.

Aggieland Credit Union, 501 University Drive (Sulphur Springs Road)

One of my pictures from 2013.
From various sources, this building (501 University, formerly 501 Sulphur Springs Road) was opened in 1950 as a bank, the College Station State Bank, which moved down (what is now) University Drive in 1962 to a new location. This new location eventually was torn down for a skyscraper with the bank (by this point, BB&T) eventually moving in on the ground level. The original location of the bank survived, however, and is still a bank of sorts today.

After College Station State Bank moved out, the Presbyterian Student Center opened in the spot. By 1972, it was serving as The Answer (The Answer is Jesus Christ Inc.), a Christian counseling center. In the early 1980s, The Answer folded and Pizza Hut moved in. Apparently, PepsiCo (or the local Pizza Hut franchise) believed that the Pizza Hut just on the other side of Texas Avenue was doing well enough that a second location closer to Northgate would be a good business decision, and, from the early 1980s to early 1990s, a Pizza Hut occupied the space.

One of the few 501 University-as-Pizza Hut photos that exist (Project HOLD)

In 1994, the building reopened as Aggieland Credit Union, and has been so ever since.

Editor's Note: I'm currently experimenting with a new title format, let me know what you think!

Pizza Hut, University Drive East

In 2014, the sun was starting to set on this Pizza Hut, figuratively and literally. (Picture by author)
With the recent news that Yum! Brands is closing some 500 sit-down Pizza Hut locations, that is, the ones that haven't already been closed down, it's high time for a look back at the sit-down Pizza Hut that College Station once had at 102 University Drive East (there was another short-lived Pizza Hut on University Drive proper in Northgate, and I promise I'll cover it soon enough). From newspaper archives and other sources, the Pizza Hut opened in 1974 but closed around July/August 2017. It did retain its iconic 1980s logo for a while after Pizza Hut started rolling it in more stores (probably as late as 2007), and today is home to additional parking for Fuego Tortilla Grill. The roof was redone in brown around this time.