Where is Deauville anyway? And was Henry Koontz a Midlander? If you have an ounce of curiosity in you, you may have conjured up such questions while driving on Midland's west side, where two moderately traveled roads sport these largely unidentifiable names.
But both Deauville Rd. -- which cuts through the heart of the Scharbauer Sports Complex -- and Henry Koontz Blvd., which connects the Loop 250 eastbound service road with the Home Depot parking lot, west of Midland Dr. -- have stories behind why they were given those names.
According to the Midland city manager's office, Henry Koontz Boulevard was named in honor of Henry C. Koontz, Jr., in May, 1995, by his son, a San Antonio real estate developer with an interest ownership in Midland property being platted and developed on the northwest part of Loop 250. The property, on the south side of the Loop, adjacent to the frontage road, had two streets that the city required to be named before the final plat could be approved.
"The son decided to honor his father, who was a second-generation rancher in South Texas who ran the HK ranch in Inez, close to Victoria. He and his father were instrumental in bringing, establishing, and upgrading the Brahman breed to Texas. Henry Koontz, Jr., was killed by a drunk driver in a traffic accident in 1986."
The city spokesperson received the information from Mary Sue Koontz, Henry's first wife.
The story on Deauville is a bit more complicated.
According to Clarence Scharbauer III, whose family owns the land through which Deauville now runs, "Tom Gordon, who owns Gordon's Jewelers, came out here and he wanted to put a mall in, and the best deal that he got was the Sam's Club.
"He said to us, 'We're gonna put a Sam's in Midland, and then he sees the rest of the deal, and we told him what he owed for the rest of the land in the contract. It was part of the original deal and we honored it. Because we believed he was going to build, we said, 'Tom, we'll name the street Deauville.' But all of a sudden Tom goes belly up."
As it turns out, Deauville is the name of Tom Gordon's corporation.
"It's the strangest name of any of the streets out there, but that's what it'll be from now on," Scharbauer said.
But both Deauville Rd. -- which cuts through the heart of the Scharbauer Sports Complex -- and Henry Koontz Blvd., which connects the Loop 250 eastbound service road with the Home Depot parking lot, west of Midland Dr. -- have stories behind why they were given those names.
According to the Midland city manager's office, Henry Koontz Boulevard was named in honor of Henry C. Koontz, Jr., in May, 1995, by his son, a San Antonio real estate developer with an interest ownership in Midland property being platted and developed on the northwest part of Loop 250. The property, on the south side of the Loop, adjacent to the frontage road, had two streets that the city required to be named before the final plat could be approved.
"The son decided to honor his father, who was a second-generation rancher in South Texas who ran the HK ranch in Inez, close to Victoria. He and his father were instrumental in bringing, establishing, and upgrading the Brahman breed to Texas. Henry Koontz, Jr., was killed by a drunk driver in a traffic accident in 1986."
The city spokesperson received the information from Mary Sue Koontz, Henry's first wife.
The story on Deauville is a bit more complicated.
According to Clarence Scharbauer III, whose family owns the land through which Deauville now runs, "Tom Gordon, who owns Gordon's Jewelers, came out here and he wanted to put a mall in, and the best deal that he got was the Sam's Club.
"He said to us, 'We're gonna put a Sam's in Midland, and then he sees the rest of the deal, and we told him what he owed for the rest of the land in the contract. It was part of the original deal and we honored it. Because we believed he was going to build, we said, 'Tom, we'll name the street Deauville.' But all of a sudden Tom goes belly up."
As it turns out, Deauville is the name of Tom Gordon's corporation.
"It's the strangest name of any of the streets out there, but that's what it'll be from now on," Scharbauer said.
RSS Feed