Country Harvest (Houston, Texas)

From the Houston Chronicle, 1995
Before I split it off for this post, the Antoine Drive in Houston page mentioned 1010 Antoine, which used to be SteaKountry Buffet. However, it didn't start as SteaKountry, it started out as Country Harvest, a buffet restaurant out of California, in spring 1995 (sitting in the IKEA parking lot). By fall 1995, the restaurant's chain only other location (in Richardson) would close. While it seems that it closed by the end of December 1996 it quickly reopened as SteaKountry Buffet, a name it would have for a number of years afterward. When it became SteaKountry Buffet, it started serving some Mexican dishes (even advertising in a Spanish-language section in the Houston Chronicle in 1997) though changed hands in 2009 and by 2017 was serving exclusively Mexican dishes. By 2018 it adopted its current name, Ranchero King Buffet.

While I talked about IKEA briefly in my Katy Freeway page, there was another building near the IKEA, a strip mall (1020 Antoine), which remained until the store was rebuilt in the early 2000s. This was a strip center; one of the old listings has Supercuts as one of the tenants (Suite C). Most recently (August 28, 2025) an article appeared on Ranchero King Buffet on the Chronicle's website.

Finally I should mention that where IKEA and Ranchero King Buffet sit today was once an apartment complex, 1002 Antoine. I looked up and down for a name for these apartments--newspaper archives, city directories, and more, but just couldn't find one, despite the fact it had at least 150 units.

McDonald's / Shell (Montgomery, Texas)

This is a modified Google Maps Street View shot from the mid-2010s.
As I mentioned in the post on Hi-Ho, Highway 105 meant something to me at one time. In December 2003 I was really into McDonald's at the time (in terms of unusual menu items and restaurant buildings) so I loved this combo McDonald's/Shell gas station when I saw it (located at 15476 Highway 105). It was only a few years old at the time (I'm not 100% sure it opened with a Shell in 1999). Originally (until the mid-2010s), the canopies that added additional seating along Lake Conroe were painted yellow and red, but now they're tan. Timewise was also adopted as the convenience store name at some point. The McDonald's was "de-mansarded" in the late 2010s.

In 2003, the nearby strip center and the apartments behind it weren't developed yet, giving it a much more isolated and private nature. This of course appeared first originally on Carbon-izer.com as many recent posts did, but future posts in the Highway 105 series will be original.

Mazzio's Pizza in Temple (Temple, Texas)

This is the same scan (c. 1991) that appears on sister site Brazos Buildings & Businesses.
Another spin-off of the SW H.K. Dodgen Loop page, Mazzio's Pizza opened in Temple in 1984 with its address originally being 1906 Glendale Drive but became 1420 S.W. H.K. Dodgen Loop as that became a frontage road for the highway later. Unlike the College Station location which closed by late 1997, the Mazzio's Pizza remained and kept its older logo for years (I seem to remember it hanging onto it even into the late 2000s, though it had switched to the current logo by 2008). Sometime around late 2013 it was shuttered and replaced by "Henderson's" restaurant in 2015, which by November 2018 became another restaurant, Bay Street Steak & Grille; however by summer 2019 it was already gone. The new Denny's opened in fall 2020 and is the first in Temple since the one off I-35 (the old Kettle) closed. (See Carbon-izer's I-35 in Bell County page).

Target Cherry Lane (Fort Worth, Texas)

This was when it was still open as a Target, so before 2008. (Bing Birds Eye View).
Here's a post that was originally supposed to be on Carbon-izer but exclusive to Numbered Exits. In spring 2010 I took a trip to Fort Worth and while I sadly don't have any pictures from that trip I do have a few images I took from the old "Bing Birds Eye View" (back when they had mid-2000s shots) of the old Target that was near our hotel. Bluepages reports the Target (T-74) at 2600 South Cherry Lane opened in November 1979 and closed in July 2008, when it was replaced by the store at 751 Alta Mere Drive.

A slightly closer look. (Bing Birds Eye View).
Additionally, a stand-alone Payless ShoeSource (2610 S. Cherry Lane) was boarded up and closed. This store operated from approximately spring 1981 to March 2008. In late 2012 the building was repainted and reopened as "Premium Title Loans". A Payless ShoeSource did exist in Ridgmar Mall proper from 1987 to the chain's bankruptcy in 2019 as well. There's a page for Bastrop's stand-alone Payless ShoeSource stores here on Carbon-izer.com though I need to fix it as the pictures are upside down as of this writing. I may have some more pictures of this Payless (also from Bing Birds Eye View), though that may have to come later (I already delayed this post as it was!).

The Target had direct access to West Freeway's frontage road (I-30), and as of December 2023 was subdivided into smaller, office-like tenants including Perkins Aircraft Windows Inc., Blue Haven Pools, Conti Warehouses, Midcoast Energy, Required Team Gear, and Momentum Upstream.

Finally, the front part of the Target parking lot was redeveloped with a small strip mall building (2606 S. Cherry Lane) that has of March 2024, Cherry Lane Cleaners, Wally's Liquors, a vacancy, Donut Express, A Plus Nails, and Star Relaxation. Finally, a Holiday Inn Express & Suites at 2620 S. Cherry Lane to replace the hotel at 2620 S. Cherry Lane was built sometime around the mid-2010s.

Hi-Ho Store (Navasota, Texas)

This picture is taken from Visit Navasota.
Today's post is a slightly souped-up and focused version of this post (permanent archived version). For many years, the State Highway 105 East exit was memorable because if it was taken, it was usually the first big sign that we were on a big trip. Houston and Galveston still continued down Highway 6 and if we were even in Navasota to begin with there was at least something special going on. I had mentioned back at Brazos Buildings & Businesses those points that when crossed meant we were officially on a trip, but even when that line went from Rock Prairie Road to William D. Fitch Parkway, this exit meant that it was some place special—for years, it would be something like a road trip to Baton Rouge or Florida, or even in later years something a bit closer to home, like the Renaissance Festival. (All those things between here and there will be future posts) and even in my last road trip to Florida, I still took Highway 105 (though got off at the 249 exit). Nowadays it makes me a bit sad to see the area increasingly developed with Jack in the Box, Chicken Express, and a Starbucks at that corner (yet Navasota still lacks Taco Bell).

Today's subject is Hi-Ho, a Shell station that originally had the address of 1831 South Loop 6 but changed to 1921 Texas 105. Hi-Ho was there since 1994 but repaved and rebuilt its Shell gas canopy and around 2008-2009 (nearly looked like a new store), and then did a big expansion around 2017 (truck fueling and a store expansion including a back entrance) to compete with the new Stripes (now 7-Eleven) across the street. Other changes, like making the frontage roads one way and adding turnaround lanes, came around this same era.

Hi-Ho predated the gas station at the southeast corner (Circle H, later rebuilt as Circle T, no relation) and was the first thing at that intersection, so it holds some nostalgia value, and seeing the Shell sign after traveling on Highway 105 returning meant that home was one step closer. Hi-Ho survived, at one point in the late 2000s or early 2010s a car ran into the store (this was before the expansion). But things are changing once more, and Hi-Ho may turn into just another gas station consumed by TxDOT expansion.

Courtesy TxDOT
In the future we will be covering the long journey from Highway 105 to Florida (besides what has already been covered)...not all at once, there are a variety of other entries I wish to cover. There won't be a special tag for it, but I'll bring it up and link posts.

The Original Buc-ee's in Bastrop (Bastrop, Texas)

Google Street View images are so janky-looking but it's the best we have at this time. From 2022.
I'm in the midst of re-working the Bastrop page on Carbon-izer.com (you can see Version 6.0 here as it appeared during this writing). Buc-ee's made its appearance at Highway 21 and Highway 71 in May 2012...but it wasn't the first time. While it's true Buc-ee's #28 opened in 2012, Buc-ee's #11 opened in 1998...at the corner of Highway 21 and Highway 71 (where the highways split on the WEST side of town).

Sadly, I don't have any pictures of it when Buc-ee's was in operation, but the Exxon here at 1273 Highway 71 West was what could be termed as a Baby Beaver Buc-ee's and like these earlier stores were extremely small for Buc-ee's standards (4000 square feet) and had a diesel area for 18-wheelers (Buc-ee's forbids 18-wheelers). The Buc-ee's here was short-lived, only operating from 1998 to 2000 before it was sold, though I'm pretty sure it was always an Exxon. As of November 2022 it has a "Cooper's Express" fried chicken program.

Fiesta Fresh Market (Conroe, Texas)

This is from Google Maps Street View but I've decided to capture it in 16:9 to show all the details.
Fiesta Mart has gone through various merchandising and ideas over the years, including just being a supermarket focused on Hispanic foods, to being a low-price leader, to having interesting store concepts that rival Randalls and Kroger, to exploring new concepts and formats. Fiesta #81, originally branded as "Fiesta Fresh Market" was one of the last "original" Fiesta stores under the original ownership (the link talks about Fiesta #82) and was one of these concept stores. Opening in Conroe in November 2013, it was far smaller than most of the stores in the chain and was basically designed as a "specialty" Fiesta with a deli and bakery fit among its 22,000 square feet of space. Located at 210 East Davis Street it is near downtown Conroe and required a redevelopment of the block.

The buildings that were demolished included Smith's Tire & Lube (202 East Davis Street), Moore Furniture (105 E. Philips Street), and the vacant Heilig-Meyers Furniture (110 E. Philips Street, which closed in 2001).

Smith's had been there for a long time, it was built in 1966 as Smith's Mobil, became a Texaco in 1973, and shuttered in 1990 (moving to I-45), reopening as Smith's Tire & Lube in 1991. Heilig-Meyers Furniture is a visibly old building that dates back decades (1950s or 1960s but I haven't found much on it).

The logo wasn't the only thing that new ownership changed, in a nod to both older roadside attractions and in some way's Fiesta's own past, a blinking light marquee was at ground level near the entrance. This went away between 2017 and 2018.

I have not personally been to this store, unfortunately, but I remember reading about it and thinking that it was a good idea since I remember the Fiesta bakery being great--telera rolls, dirt-cheap apple fritters (25 cents, even in 2014), and a bunch of other stuff. These days probably not so much...

This entry is an expanded version of what originally appeared on this page ("Davis Street in Conroe").