window bars

 

Most people zipping along the Marsha Sharp Freeway probably don't notice the alleyside of buildings like I do.  This morning I finally exited and got a closer look at this barred window which keeps getting my eye. The front side of the building is much less interesting--all boarded and painted a solid color.  Businesses on that stretch of road have had a rocky path.  In Lubbock's early days this passage was the main route north to Plainview and Amarillo as well as towns in between.  Immortalized by the Maines Brothers in a song written by Terry Allen, "Amarillo Highway" was how the road was known for years.  State Highway 9 was one of the original 26 Texas highways and in 1919, its routing followed the Amarillo Highway, which became US 87 in 1957  and later I-27 (completed in 1992).  If those name changes weren't enough, Lubbock had designated this road as a city street naming it Avenue H.  Everybody living north of Lubbock used Avenue H  to get to "town", and knew they had arrived downtown after emerging from the railroad underpass just south of this building.  In 1957, Spur 326 forked off US 87 along North Avenue Q and busy drivers bypassed Avenue H. The city fathers decided to rename the street in honor of Lubbock native Buddy Holly and in 1996 another name was applied to the street.  Whatever the reasons, this building has lost its identity and is vacant -- barred windows and heavy mesh screens protecting its empty interior.

 

337 Buddy Holly Avenue (previously known as Avenue H, US 87 and SH 9)

on the corner of 4th Street (obliterated by the Marsha Sharp Freeway service road)

Lubbock, Texas