Overview

Houston was named for Samuel Houston (1793-1863), the politician and general who was at the forefront of Texas' fight for independence from Mexico. He later became President of the Republic of Texas; when Texas became part of the Union, Houston served as a Senator and later Governor of Texas.

Located in southeast Texas, the city was founded in 1836 and laid out by Augustus C. Allen and John K. Allen. Its coastal environment was not a healthy environment; together with the climate it encouraged many diseases, the most threatening of which was Yellow Fever. By 1900, spraying for mosquitoes eventually controlled this.

In 1914 the Houston Ship Channel was created, beginning a whole new life for Houston. The 50-mile long channel linked Houston to Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. This deep-water port became a major shipping link and an important area for the U.S. grain market.

The following year oil was discovered and the boom began. Oil companies flooded the area and by the end of the decade there were forty companies located in the city. Although cotton was the major industry in the area it was World War II that brought the biggest demand on the Houston for gasoline, oil, explosives, ships and many other local commodities.

In 1958 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration made its home in Houston assuring the city its place in space age technologies.

Now the largest City in Texas with a population of over 1,500,000, Houston has much to offer both visitor and resident including more than twenty Universities and Colleges such as the distinguished University of Houston, the University of Texas-Houston Health and Science Center, Texas Southern University and Rice University.

A world center of oil, natural gas, iron and steel, paper products, electrical and electronic machinery, Houston also offers the visitor a diverse cultural environment.