HOUSTON – Walking into Sloane Gallery in Westchase Houston is like taking a walk back in time. The rooms and hallways of the gallery are filled from top to bottom with vintage black and white images that tell the story of life in Houston back in the 1920s and '30s.
The images and the stories they depict would have been lost forever had it not been for gallery owner Story Sloane III's father, who stumbled upon them at a recycling facility back in 1989.
"My father ran across this vintage collection as it was being destroyed for the silver content," said Sloane. "There was almost 30,000 negatives and he was able to acquire about 10 percent, which is about 3,000, but they burned the rest."
To this day, Sloane is still not exactly sure how the negatives ended up at the recycling facility. But what he does know is photographer Calvin Wheat -- a well-known photographer of the 19th and 20th centuries -- was the man behind the lens for most of the shots now on display.
The images in the collection cover all sections of life as it was back then. Sloane even discovered a 1930s murder mystery.
One image hanging in the gallery is of a well-dressed man in an aviator suit standing in front of a plane. Sloane planned to use the man's image in a book on Houston aviation, so he decided to do some research to find out exactly who the man was. What he found out was that while the man in the photo was riding as a passenger in a car, another driver pulled alongside and fired a shot, which killed the man.
"He was Houston's first drive-by shooting," said Sloane.
According to Sloane, nearly a century later there is still no record of the man's murder ever being solved.
Some of the other more interesting pictures in the gallery are of landmarks most Houstonians are familiar with. There are black and whites of City Hall, the oilfields that later became the Astrodome site and an aerial shot of West Houston in the 1930s.
According to Sloane, some of his favorite pictures are those of some of the men and women whose spirit of giving paved the road for Houston's philanthropic efforts that still live on today.
"Today we see the Super Feast and all the grand meals that are served to the needy in Houston and there's a historical precedent for that. Groups like the Cynthia Gray milk fund group who raised (money for) milk for the poor children of Houston, specifically to stem the tide of tuberculosis," said Sloan.
Back in 1930, the Community Chest drive, which is now the United Way, raised $514,000 to help support many charitable organizations.
No matter if you're a native Houstonian or not, Sloane's Gallery offers a unique view into the city of Houston. Sloane said he wants to share his passion for the preservation of Houston history with everyone who lives in the city.
"I want them to be able to grasp this is how Houston started out," said Sloane. "We all can share the positive aspects of the history of the community in which we chose to live."
Sloane Gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from noon to 6 p.m. For more information, visit sloanegallery.com.