Houston

Houston is a massive, sprawling metropolis, one of the largest cities in the United States. The city greatly benefited from the discovery of oil in east Texas in 1901; oil soon became the foundation of Houston's economy, resulting in a steady increase in the city's population and wealth. The drop in oil prices during the 1980s dealt a serious blow to Houston, but the city bounced back, diversifying its economy and resuming its place as one of the most successful business centers in the country.

Landscape

Houston is located in southeastern Texas, near Galveston Bay, an estuary that connects the greater Houston area to the Gulf of Mexico. The landscape of the early town site was flat grassland with scattered trees and swamp near the coast. Brothers Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen, founders and promoters of Houston, claimed that the site had a pleasant, healthy climate due to the cooling sea breezes. In reality, however, people in Houston suffered from the mosquito-borne disease yellow fever, which struck with frightening regularity until measures were taken to control the insect population.

Houston's climate is a bit less comfortable than was advertised: average rainfall in Houston is almost 50 inches per year, and the occasional hurricane or tropical storm can increase that amount. High temperatures during the summer months average between 91.4 and 94.5 degrees Fahrenheit (33.0 and 34.7 degrees Celsius) with high humidity, making outdoor activities rather uncomfortable. Low temperatures during winter months average between 43.2 and 46.5 degrees Fahrenheit (6.2 and 8.1 degrees Celsius).

Houston covers an area of around 655 square miles, spread out over three counties: Harris, Fort Bend, and Montgomery. The city is about 160 miles east of Austin and 240 miles southeast of Dallas. The continuous expansion of Houston has absorbed other cities in the area and transformed them into suburbs, leading some to refer to Houston as "the blob that ate east Texas."

People

Residents of Houston speak more than 145 different languages, according to the Visit Houston website, and a 2012 report from Rice University found that the Houston area is the most ethnically diverse large metropolitan region in the United States. This diversity is due partly to the city's status as a port of entry into Texas for immigrants from around the world, resulting in a large immigrant population, and partly to its status as an major center of the energy and technology industries. The US Census Bureau estimated that the major population groups in Houston in 2022 were Hispanic/Latino (44.8 percent of the population), non-Hispanic white (23.6 percent), African American/Black (22.4 percent), and Asian (6.9 percent). The city's population was estimated at 2.3 million in 2022.

Houston's Hispanic population is primarily made up of Mexican immigrants, but also includes many people from Puerto Rico, Cuba, El Salvador, and other Spanish-speaking countries in Central America and the Caribbean. The white population is made up of ethnic English people, Germans, Jews, Scandinavians, French people, and Greeks, among others. African Americans have lived in Houston since the city was founded, along with more recent Black immigrants from the Caribbean and Africa. Asian Americans come to Houston from Vietnam, the Philippines, China, and India.

Many Vietnamese residents of Houston have prospered in the education and business sectors. The African American experience of severe racial discrimination from the 1870s to the 1960s has resulted in the Black community uniting around their religious institutions, with church pastors often acting as both religious and political leaders in their neighborhoods. The cultural traditions of the Mexican American population are reflected in the community's strong ties to the Catholic Church, as well as public celebrations of Mexican holidays such as the Fiestas Patrias and Cinco de Mayo.

Recent Hispanic and Asian immigrants find themselves in similar situations, with their neighborhoods developing into barrios, such as Magnolia, North Side, and Denver Harbor. Other Hispanic communities have formed in suburban areas, such as Pasadena and Galena Park, which are more prosperous economically. Economic disparities also contribute to the segregation of wealthy neighborhoods such as River Oaks and the Woodlands.

Economy

Up until the 1980s, Houston's economy was overly dependent on the energy industry. The city has worked hard to attract new types of businesses and diversify the economy, but oil-related businesses still dominate approximately 50 percent of the local economy. Many oil companies have headquartered in Houston, building offices and refineries along the shipping channel. Petrochemicals, oil refining, rig machinery, financing, and other oil-related industries have traditionally been the backbone of Houston's economic success.

The Port of Houston is one of the most active ports in the world. It is ranked first in the United States for the amount of foreign cargo tonnage handled and total tonnage as of 2022. The dredged deepwater Houston Ship Channel connects Houston (through Buffalo Bayou) to Galveston Bay. For many years, cotton was the principle product exported from Houston, but after the discovery of oil, the port became the center of the US oil industry. All kinds of imports and exports move through the port, including oil, agricultural products, and a vast variety of consumer products worth billions of dollars each year. The Port supports 1.54 million jobs in the state and 3.3 million jobs nationwide.

Houston is home to the largest health-care center in the world. As of 2023, more than ten million patient encounters occur annually at the fifty-nine member institutions that comprise the world-famous Texas Medical Center, and more than 120,000 people work at its facilities, which encompass fifty million square feet. The Texas Medical Center alone has an annual gross domestic product of $25 billion.

Professional sports teams provide entertainment and economic benefits to the city, and Houston is home to several sports franchises. The city's major league sports teams include the National Football League (NFL) team the Houston Texans, the Major League Baseball (MLB) Houston Astros, and the National Basketball Association (NBA) Houston Rockets.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) established its manned space flight center headquarters in the town of Clear Lake, near Houston, in 1962, thanks in part to Lyndon B. Johnson's influence. All space missions from Gemini to Skylab and the space shuttle have been coordinated and controlled from Houston. Johnson Space Center also is responsible for training all US astronauts. The Space Center complex has provided a long-term economic benefit to the Houston economy.

Houston's transportation system includes two interstate highways passing near or through the city, the Bush Intercontinental Airport, the Hobby Airport, the Port of Houston, and many rail lines connecting the city with the rest of the country. Houston has one of the best transportation networks in the country, prompting many businesses to set up warehouse and distribution centers in there.

Landmarks

The Houston metropolitan area hosts a large number of attractions, from historical sites to amusement parks, sporting events, museums, and theaters; Houston offers something for everyone.

The San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site preserves the memory of the battle that established the independence of Texas. On April 21, 1836, Sam Houston led a small army of Texans in a surprise attack on the army of Mexican general Antonio López de Santa Anna. The battlefield is maintained as a state park that includes a huge monument commemorating the Texas victory.

The performing arts are an important part of life in Houston, and the city boasts a number of performance halls and theaters. The most elegant of these is the Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts, located in the downtown theater district. The Houston symphony and the Society for the Performing Arts produce many shows throughout the year in this seventeen-block area.

Museums of many kinds are located throughout Houston, and the museum district concentrates many of the best examples in one area. There are a number of art museums, notably the Museum of Fine Arts, the Menil Museum, and the Contemporary Arts Museum.

Houston is also home to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, the largest rodeo and livestock show in the world. It is second only to the state fair in Texas in the number of attractions and events. Live music from top entertainers, a vast variety of food, and pig races are among the show's many attractions.

History

The city of Houston began when two brothers planned to make their settlement the capital of Texas. Augustus and John Allen purchased a piece of land along Buffalo Bayou in 1836, a few months after the nearby Battle of San Jacinto. The Allens hoped to attract people to their settlement and profit from land sales by naming the area "Houston," in honor of Texas war hero General Sam Houston. It is fitting that Houston started out as a money making scheme, as the city has grown to become one of the most aggressive and pro-business cities in the country.

The Allens were able to sell property in Houston through advertising, but they exaggerated the benefits of living in the town. They didn't realize that the settlement's location near swampland would subject the population to mosquito-borne diseases. Outbreaks of yellow fever struck the town frequently between 1839 and 1867, and in 1839, nearly 12 percent of the population died from the illness.

Houston acted as the capital of Texas for a few years, but the threat of yellow fever prompted officials to relocate the state capital. The dispute over the capital city location raged for many years, but Austin finally was made the permanent capital, and Houston had to settle for being the biggest and most important commercial town in Texas.

The remainder of the nineteenth century saw Houston develop as more people moved to the area, transportation routes were created, and the port of Houston opened. The economy was based on agriculture, with cotton being the major export from the port.

Houston's progress took a turn for the better when oil was discovered at Spindletop in east Texas in 1901. Other oil discoveries were made around the area, and Houston was seen as the ideal location for refining and distributing the oil. The oil boom and the fabulous wealth it created had ripple effects throughout the area. Construction, banking, manufacturing, and every kind of business that had to do with oil and natural gas came to Houston. Leadership was provided by Jesse H. Jones, who promoted Houston through the newspaper he owned, and was responsible for much of the building and banking activity for many years.

Houston was a city built by businessmen, and the business focus has always been paramount, often to the detriment to poorer parts of the city. Houston, like all Southern cities, was segregated, and African American population was concentrated in sections of the city that saw very little planning or development. Some parts of Houston did not have paved roads until the 1950s. The slow struggle for civil rights during the 1960s finally brought some political and economic progress for the city's black population.

The collapse of oil prices in 1982 led to a severe contraction of Houston's economy, with thousands of jobs lost and many businesses going bankrupt. Housing values plummeted by 70 percent in some neighborhoods, and dozens of banks failed in the worst economic recession since the Great Depression.

Houston's political and business leaders worked to attract new types of business to the city, and succeeded. Houston now boasts many high-technology businesses, and the city has encouraged the development of medical services and manufacturing. During the 1990s, new immigrants flocked to the city, mostly from Mexico and Asian countries, due to the improved economic conditions in Houston.

In 2001, Enron, one of the major energy corporations in Houston, was found to be fraudulent in its accounting practices, causing its stock price to collapse. Thousands of Houston residents lost their jobs when the company declared bankruptcy, and the selfish, aggressive and reckless business practices of Enron executives damaged the lives of thousands.

In June 2001, Tropical Storm Allison flooded Houston with torrential rains. The storm resulted in the deaths of twenty-two people and caused property damage in excess of $5 billion. One of the places hardest hit by the storm was the Texas Medical Center, where lab animals were drowned, equipment was damaged, and power was lost, devastating the progress of potentially life-saving medical research.

In August 2017, when Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas, the Houston area was hit by record amounts of rainfall. Parts of southeast Texas received between thirty and fifty-plus inches of rain over the course of four days. It was the greatest amount of rainfall from a single storm in the continental United States in recorded history. The National Weather Service issued multiple flash flood emergencies, the most severe type of weather alert, starting on August 26. Officials estimated that by Tuesday, August 29, between 25 and 30 percent of Harris County—an area covering at least 444 square miles—had been flooded. By the time the storm had moved east, it had caused at least eighty-two deaths in Texas, many in Houston and the surrounding area, and inflicted an estimated $190 billion worth of damage throughout the state (approximately $50 billion in Houston alone), making it the costliest natural disaster in US history.

Trivia

• Houston is home to more than eleven thousand restaurants.
• There are over nineteen hundred churches and other places of worship in Houston.
• "Houston" was the first word spoken by US astronauts from the surface of the moon.
• More than fifty-five million people flew in and out of Houston's two major airports in 2015.
• Houston is the fourth most populous city in the United States.

Bibliography

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"Facts and Figures." Visit Houston, Greater Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau, www.visithoustontexas.com/about-houston/facts-and-figures/. Accessed 20 Sept. 2017.

"Houston City, Texas." QuickFacts, US Census Bureau, 2022, www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/houstoncitytexas/PST045222. Accessed 22 Feb. 2024.

Hu, Elise. "In Houston, America's Diverse Future Has Already Arrived." NPR, 1 July 2013, www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2013/07/01/195909643/tx2020-houston-racial-ethnic-diversity-americas-future. Accessed 20 Sept. 2017.

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Rice, Doyle. "Harvey to Be Costliest Natural Disaster in US History, Estimated Cost of $190 Billion." USA Today, 31 Aug. 2017, www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2017/08/30/harvey-costliest-natural-disaster-u-s-history-estimated-cost-160-billion/615708001/. Accessed 20 Sept. 2017.

Steptoe, Tyina L. Houston Bound: Culture and Color in a Jim Crow City. U of California P, 2016.