Introduction
Houston, city in southeastern
Texas and the seat of Harris County.
Located at the head of the Houston Ship
Channel, which links the city to the
Gulf of Mexico, Houston is an inland
seaport and a major financial,
distribution, and manufacturing center
for the southern United States. It is
the largest city in Texas and the fourth
largest in the country, behind New York,
Los Angeles, and Chicago. The terrain is
level and drains into a number of bayous
and canals. The city has a humid coastal
climate, with hot summers and very mild
winters. Houston was named for Sam
Houston, a distinguished military leader
and hero of the Texas Revolution
(1835-1836).
Houston and Its
Metropolitan Area
The city of Houston covers a
land area of 1397.6 sq km (539.6
sq mi). The Consolidated
Metropolitan Statistical Area
includes the counties of
Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend,
Galveston, Harris, Liberty,
Montgomery, and Waller. In
addition to Houston, the area
includes Pasadena, Texas City,
Galveston, Brazoria, and many
other cities and communities.
Houston has sprawled into
nearby counties, growing
primarily to the north and
west. The city is the
largest in the country
without zoning laws, so
businesses are allowed to
operate within residential
neighborhoods. Despite the
lack of zoning laws, the
industrial and residential
regions are generally
separated from one another
because the primary
industrial section developed
and remains along the ship
canal, while residential
neighborhoods developed
mostly outside this area.
However, some overlap does
occur.
Interstate 610, known as
the Loop Freeway, forms
a belt around all of
central Houston. At its
core is the central
business area, located
just south of Buffalo
Bayou, enclosed by
Interstate 45 and U.S.
Highway 59. The area is
known for its
distinctive contemporary
architecture and
includes buildings such
as the Chase Tower
(1982), designed by the
Chinese-American
architect I. M. Pei; and
the Bank of America
Center (1984) and
Pennzoil Place (1976),
designed by American
architect Philip C.
Johnson. The Market
Square Historic District
on Main Street, the site
of the city’s original
downtown, contains a
number of important
buildings and was
entered on the National
Register of Historic
Places in 1985. The
Antioch Missionary
Baptist Church was built
in 1879 for one of the
city’s oldest black
congregations and marks
the Old Fourth Ward,
Houston’s first
predominantly black
neighborhood.
Houston’s
lower-income
neighborhoods lie to
the south and
southeast of the
downtown, along the
railroad lines and
the ship channel.
The affluent
neighborhoods are to
the west and
southwest, and
include Tanglewood,
the home of former
U.S. President
George Bush
(1989-1993). Outside
the Loop Freeway is
The Galleria, a
shopping mall with
an ice-skating rink.
The focal point of
the Galleria area,
as it is known, is
the Williams Tower
(1985), designed by
Philip C. Johnson
and one of the
tallest suburban
office buildings in
the country.
Economy
Situated
near major
petroleum
and
natural-gas
fields,
Houston is
the center
of the
national
petroleum
industry.
The
metropolitan
region leads
the nation
in
petrochemical
manufacturing
and
refining,
and
consequently
ranks first
in the
manufacture
of
agricultural
chemicals,
fertilizers,
and
pesticides.
Houston is
the world’s
primary
producer of
oil-field
equipment.
Although the
U.S. market
for offshore
platforms
and drilling
rigs has
slumped
badly,
Houston
manufacturing
firms ship
equipment to
North Sea
sites, and,
in limited
amounts, to
the Persian
Gulf.
Companies
based in
Houston and
other Texas
cities have
traditionally
supplied
technology
and
expertise to
the
petroleum
companies of
the Middle
East and
have made
similar
connections
to
governments
involved in
exploration
and drilling
in Southeast
Asia. Other
important
manufactures
in Houston
include
paper
products,
electrical
and
electronic
machinery,
and iron and
steel.
Houston also
has mills
for rice
grown in the
surrounding
area.
Houston’s
specialized
education
and
training
facilities
provide
an
extraordinary
economic
resource.
Most
economists
consider
the
expansion
of
technological
research
and the
growth
of the
medical
complexes
to be
the
result
of the
collapse
of
petroleum
prices
in the
1980s
and the
resulting
forced
diversification
of the
region’s
economic
base.
The
city’s
centers
of
research
and
technology
include
the
Texas
Medical
Center,
which is
world-renowned
for its
pioneering
work in
organ
transplants.
The
center
comprises
13
hospitals
and two
medical
schools.
Other
local
facilities
are the
Lyndon
B.
Johnson
Space
Center,
administered
by the
National
Aeronautics
and
Space
Administration
(NASA);
Houston
Advanced
Research
Center,
an
organization
funded
by
grants,
which
links
technology
to
commercial
uses;
and the
nearby
Texas
A&M
University
at
Galveston,
which
along
with the
university’s
main
campus
in
College
Station,
has
carried
out
important
work in
marine
biology,
oceanography,
and
other
marine-related
sciences.
The
service
and
trade
sectors
account
for
the
largest
percentages
of
total
employment,
while
government
ranks
third.
The
Houston
Port
is
among
the
nation’s
busiest
for
total
exports
and
foreign
trade,
with
petroleum,
petrochemicals,
and
organic
chemicals
leading
the
list
of
exports.
The
Houston
Ship
Channel,
which
runs
a
length
of
84
km
(52
mi),
connects
the
city
to
the
primary
shipping
lanes
of
the
world
through
the
Bay
of
Galveston,
the
Gulf
portion
of
the
Intracoastal
Waterway,
and
the
Gulf
of
Mexico.
The
North
American
Free
Trade
Agreement
(NAFTA),
which
took
effect
in
1994
and
eliminates
most
tariffs
on
trade
between
the
United
States,
Mexico,
and
Canada,
enhanced
the
port’s
importance.
Several railroad lines and highways serve Houston. The Houston Intercontinental Airport is second in the state in total passenger service, while the older William P. Hobby Airport, which handles only domestic flights, is third. The Houston Chronicle is the primary daily newspaper in the city. KUHT, the nation’s first public television station, was founded in 1953 in Houston.
Population
Houston’s population climbed from 1,630,553 in 1990 to 1,953,631 in 2000. The Houston Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area grew from 3,731,000 in 1990 to 4,670,000 in 2000.
Houston is a racially and ethnically diverse city. According to the 2000 census, whites constitute 49.3 percent of Houston’s population; blacks, 25.3 percent; Asians, 5.3 percent; Native Americans, 0.4 percent; Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, 0.1 percent; and people of mixed heritage or not reporting race, 19.6 percent. Hispanics, who may be of any race, represent 37.4 percent of the population.
Education and Culture
Among Houston’s numerous institutions of higher education are the University of Houston (founded in 1927 and now with three campuses in the city); Texas Southern University (1947); the University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center (1972); the Houston Community College System (1971); and private institutions such as Rice University (1891), Baylor College of Medicine (1900), the University of St. Thomas (1947), Houston Baptist University (1960), and South Texas College of Law (1923).
Prominent historical and cultural institutions include the Civic Center Complex, located in the central business district. The complex is composed of the George R. Brown Convention Center; the Wortham Center, which is the home of the Houston Grand Opera and the Houston Ballet; and the Jesse H. Jones Hall for Performing Arts, which is the home of the Houston Symphony. The nearby Alley Theatre houses a professional repertory acting company. Among other local professional performance groups are the Main Street Theater and Theatre Under the Stars.
Houston’s museums include the Contemporary Arts Museum; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houson, which includes the outdoor Cullen Sculpture Garden, designed by Japanese sculptor Isamu Noguchi; and The Menil Collection, housed in a building designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, and containing art from antiquity, the Byzantine world, the 20th century, and tribal cultures from Africa, Oceania, and the American Pacific Northwest. John and Dominique de Menil, who amassed the Menil collection, also funded the nondenominational Rothko Chapel (1971), decorated with interior paintings by American artist Mark Rothko. Close to downtown are the Heritage Society, a collection of 19th-century buildings; the Museum of Natural Science; the Burke Baker Planetarium; and the Museum of Medical Science in Hermann Park. Battleship Texas and The San Jacinto Monument and Museum of History are in nearby Pasadena.
Recreation
Houston has an extensive park system that includes Hermann Park, the home of the Houston Zoo; Memorial Park; the Armand Bayou Nature Center; and the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center. The Houston Astros of major league baseball play in Minute Maid Park. The Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association play at the Compaq Center sports and entertainment complex. Among the city’s many annual events are the River Oaks Garden Club’s Azalea Trail, a tour of azalea gardens at Bayou Bend and homes in River Oaks; Houston International Festival, a ten-day downtown celebration of the city’s different cultures; and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.
Government
Houston’s government consists of a mayor, a 14-member city council, and a city controller, all elected to two-year terms. The mayor serves as the city’s chief executive, the city council is Houston’s legislative body, and the controller is responsible for the city’s financial transactions. The mayor, the controller, and five council members are chosen in citywide elections, and the other nine council members are chosen in elections within individual districts.
History
The Karankawa people lived on the Gulf Coast before the arrival of the Europeans. The first European settlement in the area, Harrisburg (1824), was destroyed in 1836 by the advancing Mexican Army in the Texas Revolution. That same year, Augustus C. Allen and John K. Allen laid out Houston. The Allen brothers persuaded the legislature to designate the site as the temporary state capital, because the present capital, Austin, was close to the fighting during the revolution. Houston served as the capital from 1837 until the permanent capital was returned to Austin in 1839. The legislature granted incorporation to Houston on June 5, 1837, and that same year it became the county seat of Harrisburg County (renamed Harris County in 1839).
From the early days of the city, businesspeople counted upon Buffalo Bayou, which served as a point of connection to Galveston, to encourage trade and growth. However, the Bayou was difficult to navigate. Various efforts were mounted to dredge a better canal, and a turning basin was created in 1881. The Houston Ship Channel, which created an inland ocean port, opened in 1914. Since then the channel has been widened and deepened, making Houston a deep-water port that is among the busiest in the United States. Houston residents also built railroads into the outlands, which complemented the water route. The Houston and Texas Central Railroad, a local railroad, was completed in 1853, but the American Civil War (1861-1865) interrupted further railroad construction, and the city did not join the national rail network until 1873, when the Houston and Texas Central met the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Railroad at Denison.
The growth of Houston was also limited by the city’s climate and unhealthy coastal environment. Yellow fever epidemics struck often in the mid-19th century. In 1839 the disease killed approximately 12 percent of the city’s population. Despite coastal quarantines after the Civil War, yellow fever was not controlled until widespread spraying for mosquitoes began in 1900.
Lack of potable water, another environmental problem, was not addressed satisfactorily until the mid-20th century. Houston’s water supply had been improved in the 1880s with the drilling of artesian wells and the replacement of bayou waters that had been used to dispose of solid wastes, creosotes, and other impurities. Continued pumping from the aquifer, however, led to the sinking of land in southeast Houston in the 1960s. To correct this, the city turned to the Trinity and San Jacinto rivers for their water supply. These actions did not solve all the problems, however, and surges of rainwater into the bayous, rivers, and ship channel have caused pollution problems in Galveston Bay. Severe floods in 1929 and 1935 led to the formation of the Harris County Flood Control Districts. Houston and areas to the south still suffer from periodic flooding.
The livelihood of the city depended on commerce and cotton throughout the 19th century. Oil was discovered nearby at Spindletop in 1901, and the completion of the ship channel in 1914 encouraged oil companies to locate refineries along the channel, where they were safe from Gulf storms. By 1929, 40 oil companies had offices in the city, but cotton was still the driving force behind the city’s economy until World War II (1939-1945). The war created demand for not only oil and gasoline, but also synthetic rubber, explosives, ships, and other Gulf Coast products.
Houston became the center for this wartime economic development. The city built upon this base, becoming the largest city in the South and overseeing an industrial complex of 250 interrelated refineries that extended from Corpus Christi, Texas, to Lake Charles, Louisiana. The collapse of oil prices in the mid-1980s caused Houston to lose population for the first decade in its history. However, as its economy diversified, the city has returned to moderate growth.
The city’s expansion into the suburbs and its reliance upon the automobile for primary transportation resulted in the construction of more than 320 km (200 mi) of freeways by 1990. This new infrastructure produced pollution, urban sprawl, and traffic jams, and it changed the character of the region. The new freeways created a new opportunity for commuting, which enabled members of the middle class (mainly whites) to move from the city to the surrounding suburbs.
While this population shift lessened racial hostilities in Houston, separate residential areas for blacks, Hispanics, and whites continued to exist until the civil rights movement of the 1960s, and riots and confrontations between ethnic groups and the police were common. However, as the city grew more multicultural and multi-ethnic, the city leadership and institutions have become more sensitive to nonwhites and more concerned about the livability of all the neighborhoods.
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