Wickes Lumber

A full-service hardware store!
This has always been a building I've seen since my youth, operating as a business I can't remember anymore (it had six letters and appeared to be there for a while, given how faded it was) but originally, it was Wickes Lumber, operating since at least 1975 (likely built soon after the completion of the "West Loop"). Given the ad below, it seemed to be a full hardware store, even going with its own functioning railroad spur to bring in lumber directly.


I don't know when Wickes Lumber went out of business...FundingUniverse seems to indicate late 1980s or early 1990s, which makes sense and then somehow later down the line, Wickes was bought and operates in the UK exclusively, but such a thing is out of the scope out of this article.

You aren't missing much in terms of building variety.

After the closure of Wickes in the late 1980s or early 1990s (as mentioned before), about two or three other businesses tried their hand at the building. There was that faded sign with six characters in the early to mid-1990s (as far as I know that was the first tenant after Wickes) and something else as well later (or two), until finally coming to Moore Supply Co. and their "Bath & Kitchen Showplace" (initially with a tiny sign) sometime in the early to mid 2000s. Sometime since this post was last updated (2017?) Bath & Kitchen Showplace renamed to "Facets".

The surrounding buildings that Wickes had were all sold off (they were owned by Wickes--during the right time of day, you can see a Wickes Lumber "labelscar" on the Boral Bricks building). Brazos Valley Turf occupies the building to the right of it (has been there for years), and Boral Bricks was in the back (probably originally something else after Wickes). The addresses are all different...Wickes Lumber had been 101 West Loop, but the current addresses include Moore Supply Co. as 1530 Harvey Mitchell, Brazos Valley Turf as 101 N. Dowling Road (which is strange since the same address is shared with Living Water Pottery), and Boral Bricks ("Boral Bricks Studio"?) is at 95 N. Dowling Road. Brazos CAD was no help in trying to get any information on the confusing addresses of these things, nor any old phone books. The only things that I gleaned from my resources was that Brazos Valley Turf opened in the late 1990s (which makes sense with what I remember), but even before BV Turf opened, the address of Country Grocery was 101 A N. Dowling Road, which suggests that even back in '96, there was a second address for that.

Finally, we have those pictures of railroad spur I mentioned before. It shut down around or before the untimely closure of Wickes Lumber, and a cell phone tower has been built on the site, but some of it remains today. These pictures were taken in June 2010 with my then-new cell phone camera, and I'm excited to show these, even if they are low quality. It had been around since at least 1975, so it was likely built soon after the completion of the "West Loop".

One more story—in the late 1990s or early 2000s, someone had the bright idea of parking their car in the wide right of way area between Harvey Mitchell Parkway and the parking lot, and putting a "For Sale" sign on it. This, in turn, was a success. The car was sold, and other people started to put up their cars in the space to be sold. At one time there was up to five cars, and no less than 3, until TxDOT got fed up with people parking their cars there, and put up a row of "No Parking" signs in the area that remained until construction of the overpass began.

UPDATE 03-20-2021: Added back section that was previously from "Photos of the West Loop". There's some sort of collision center coming to the former Boral Bricks area, but I need to get more information.

UPDATE 01-04-2024: A few corrections and updates.

I did want to make a few corrections. The warehouses behind the store were indeed part of Wickes Lumber, before the construction of Joe Hudson's Collision Center (today at 95 N. Dowling Road and opened around August 2022), you COULD see the faded Wickes Lumber scar on one of the buildings on Wellborn Road, given the right light conditions. Wickes Lumber also opened in 1974.

Some additional information I uncovered that there was a "JST CONCRETE CO INC" (operating from 1995 to 1996) at the address; however I can't confirm or deny it was the first tenant I remember seeing there, as well as Les Investments Inc. from 1990 to 1994 (probably not the actual name on the building) and "SHR ROOFING SUPPLY INC." from 1994 to 1997. Showman Electrical Supply Co. Inc. was here from 2001 to 2002 and used the 1530 Harvey Mitchell address (the first to do so, looks like).

Also, I believe 2017 was when B&K Showplace became Facets, with a repaint coming around that time.

UPDATE 08-10-2024:: Sometime in the first half of 2024, Facets moved to 3164 Holleman Drive South Suite 600, presumably the space here has been absorbed into more warehouse space.

McDonald's & Blockbuster

Opening in December 2001 as the first of its kind (remember, the "heady times" mentioned yesterday) and renovating circa 2008, the McDonald's features an adjoining Blockbuster. It used to be really cool at the time but also an odd combination: McDonald's and movies? (I guess the Redbox kiosks installed circa 2006 at most McDonald's fulfills a similar purpose). The 2008 remodel cut down on the huge cavernous feel of the original store for a separation into the three "zones" developed around that time, an area for kids near the Playplace indoor playground (which it always had), the "Grab n Go" zone, and the "couches" area. I didn't really like the post-remodel version. I remember when I went for a "McTeacher" night when teachers made burgers for charity in middle school.

The Blockbuster closed in spring 2013. I wanted to take a picture of the inside of the Blockbuster, for posterity (this site) last summer, but was stopped by a clerk, who no longer works there for obvious reasons.

I think it would be interesting if the Blockbuster side was filled in with some sort of new concept...now, I know that McDonald's divested itself from Chipotle in 2006, but sure would be awesome to see it occupy the other side, provide some competition to the nearby Freebirds, as well as giving those who don't like McDonald's another option...or perhaps another seemingly wild concept (McDonald's + haircuts?)...but in all likelihood it will be remodeled into an expansion of McDonald's.

UPDATE 1: As of July 2013, there's some McDonald's signage and decor on the outside of the Blockbuster side, which is cleared of all décor. It doesn't exactly look aesthetically pleasing.

UPDATE 2: Well, the "haircuts" might have come to pass...sorta. As of December 2015, it has become a location of Sola Salons, a chain of rentable salon spaces. Unfortunately (but understandably) it lacks a connection to the adjacent McDonald's.

1748 Rock Prairie Road (Blockbuster)
1750 Rock Prairie Road (McDonald's)

George Bush Presidential Library & Museum

Presumably taken before September 11th, I don't think they'd allow trucks up there anymore (source)

Happy Independence Day!

I won't write a full post on George Bush Presidential Library, simply because it will read too much like a tourist guide or be politically charged (renaming Jersey Street to George Bush Drive before Clinton even finished his first term is a particular sore spot for many area non-conservatives).

Nor will I have any newspaper clippings or other material on it (there is literally enough material for a website in itself). All I have is some statements about the museum from 1997-2007 and a particular favorite exhibit of mine, Trains: Tracks of the Iron Horse, which introduced the Union Pacific 4141, a train that was on display near the pedestrian overpass (with a special spur), and after a few years of ordinary service, returned to Aggieland once more after President George H.W. Bush's last trip.

It was a pretty heady time to be living in Aggieland at the time (1997-2002). Although the Bonfire collapse and September 11th happened in this time frame, development was taking off in Rock Prairie Road, the University Drive and Harvey Road restaurant rows were building up, and many buildings--the new College Station Library, Reed Arena, and a few others all opened up.

At least the construction turned George Bush Drive West from a bumpy two lane road (similar to Luther St. West now, by all accounts) into a smooth, fast, four-lane avenue with a median.

Updated June 2019

1000 George Bush Drive West

Brazos Blue Ribbon Bakery in Bryan

This is a beautiful full-color ad of the Brazos Blue Ribbon Bakery at Villa Maria and Briarcrest from a late 1980s Texas Aggies football program. Built as Bill Ford Auto Supply (an All Pro Auto Parts franchise) in 1984, 1136 East Villa Maria Road became (in 1986) Villa Maria Auto (a Green Light Auto franchise) before folding a few months later, it lingered on the market for a few years before Brazos Blue Ribbon Bakery moved in.

Brazos Blue Ribbon Bakery was a local kolache manufacturer located at 1301-B FM 2818 (2031 Harvey Mitchell Parkway S., where the local Subway offices are located...or at least used to be (as of December 2025, I'm not sure anymore) with its product being found in a number of local convenience stores and specialty food stores.¹ In 1988, Brazos Blue Ribbon Bakery renovated the building and reopened it, where it would operate for the next ten years before moving once more in 1998 to 201 Dominik Drive, where they closed a year later.

In 1999, Must Be Heaven, a franchise of a Brenham-based restaurant opened. It kept the embedded insignia from BBRB, but that smaller sign is as seen in the photo gone, it's now just a rusty metal frame. In 2002 it was sold from Darlene Trullinger of Navasota to Donna & Baine Morrow, and that's the ownership that would keep it for the next 20+ years. In spring 2021 they split with Brenham's Must Be Heaven and renamed the restaurants as Sweet Relish and in December 2025 announced that the restaurant (now down to a single location, at its peak Must Be Heaven had three locations locally) would close at the end of the year.

UPDATE 12-12-2025: Major update that for the first time since 2013 has given the page a significant (though not major) rewrite, incorporating a 2021 update.

1. As of December 2025 the list that this includes is Zip'N, specifically West Villa Maria, Redmond Drive, Redmond Terrace, University and Nagle, and at Old Hearne Road and North Texas Avenue. There's also Charlie's Grocery, Rolling Ridge Grocery, Country Grocery, Texian Inn, and PrioriTEAS which was located at Brazos Square at one time but by this time had moved to the mall where it closed by the end of the year.