Buffalo Speedway is a street in Houston, Texas. It starts in the upper classRiver Oaks neighborhood on the west side of Houston at an intersection with Westheimer Road. It ends at West Bellfort Street on the southwest side. Currently the extension to Holmes Road just finished construction. According to some, the "speedway" part of the name comes from a section of the road that was long and straight where it was possible to attain high speeds. When Buffalo Drive's name became Allen Parkway, the "Buffalo" name was open to use on another street. Explanations of the "buffalo" part of the name include the popularity of the wordbuffalo around the time of the road's naming and the replacement of Buffalo Drive by the Allen Parkway. Old USGS maps suggest the existence of a race track where Buffalo Speedway would later be built. Historian and retired land researcher Ann Quin Wilson says that a speedway existed near the site of today's Lamar High School, which would have been at the intersection of Buffalo Drive and where the Buffalo Speedway would later be built. The race track indicated on the 1922 map attached was a horse racing track owned by MitchellLouis Westheimer, a German immigrant and businessman who sold that portion of his farm for the construction of Lamar High School in 1937. Since the track was built for horses and predated most organized dirt-oval motor racing in the United States, it is unlikely that the "speedway" name descended from the track itself. A more fanciful theory is that the name is a humorous reference to the fact that it crosses Bissonnett Rd. The need for a "bison net" at this location is explained by the name Buffalo Speedway. Some road signsrefer to it as Buffalo Spdwy or Buffalo Spwy, with speedway taking the place of other designations like road or street. street sign showing the Buffalo Speedway.
Graphic novel
Buffalo Speedway is the title of a graphic novel about pizza delivery drivers in Houston. Written and Illustrated by Yehudi Mercado.
