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Houston, Texas, USA



Wikipedia links for
Houston, Texas, USA
[Houston] [Texas] [USA]
 
 


Notes:
Houston is the largest city in the state of Texas and the fourth-largest in the United States. As of the 2005 U.S. Census estimate, it had a population of more than 2 million. The city covers more than 600 square miles (1,600 km²). Houston is the county seat of Harris County and part of the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area, the sixth-largest metropolitan area in the U.S. with a population of more than 5.5 million.

Houston was founded on August 30, 1836 by brothers Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen on land near the banks of Buffalo Bayou. The city was incorporated on June 5, 1837 and named after General Sam Houston, commander at the Battle of San Jacinto. The burgeoning port and railroad industry, combined with oil discovery in 1901, has induced continual surges in Houston's population. In the 20th century, Houston became the home of the Texas Medical Center, the world's largest concentration of healthcare and research institutions, and NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center.

Houston's economy has a broad industrial base in the energy, aeronautics, and technology industries and only New York City is home to more Fortune 500 headquarters. The Port of Houston ranks first in the United States in international waterborne tonnage handled and second in total cargo tonnage handled. Houston is also home to Rice University, one of the United States' leading teaching and research universities, and the University of Houston, Texas's third-largest public research university with more than 36,000 students from 130 countries.

Houston is a multicultural city with a large and growing international community. The Museum District is home to many cultural institutions and exhibits, attracting more than 7 million visitors a year. Houston has an active visual and performing arts scene as one of five U.S. cities that offer year-round resident companies in all major performing arts.

History

In August 1836, John Kirby Allen and Augustus Chapman Allen, two real estate entrepreneurs from New York City, purchased 6,642 acres (27 km²) of land along Buffalo Bayou with the intent of founding a city. The Allen brothers decided to name the city after Sam Houston, the popular general of the Texans at the Battle of San Jacinto. Houston was granted incorporation on June 5, 1837, with James S. Holman becoming its first mayor. In the same year, Houston became the county seat of Harrisburg County (now Harris County) and the temporary capital of the Republic of Texas. In 1840, the community established a Chamber of Commerce in part to promote shipping and waterborne business at the newly created port on Buffalo Bayou.

By 1860, Houston had emerged as a commercial and railroad hub for the export of cotton. Railroad spurs from the Texas inland converged in Houston, where they met rail lines to the ports of Galveston and Beaumont. During the Civil War, Houston served as a headquarters for General John Bankhead Magruder, who used Houston as an organization point for the Battle of Galveston. After the Civil War, Houston businessmen initiated efforts to widen the city's extensive system of bayous so the city could accept more commerce between downtown and the nearby port of Galveston.

In 1901, oil discovered at Spindletop, an oil field near Beaumont, prompted the development of the U.S. petroleum industry. In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt approved a $1 million improvement project for the Houston Ship Channel. President Woodrow Wilson opened the Port of Houston in 1914, 74 years after digging began. By 1930, Houston had become Texas' most populous city.

When World War II started, tonnage levels at the port decreased and shipping activities were suspended; however, the war did provide economic benefits for the city. Petrochemical refineries and manufacturing plants were constructed along the ship channel because of the demand for petroleum and synthetic rubber products during the war. Ellington Field, initially built during World War I, was revitalized as an advanced training center for bombardiers and navigators. The M. D. Anderson Foundation formed the Texas Medical Center in 1945. After the war, Houston's economy reverted to being primarily port-driven. In 1948, several unincorporated areas were annexed into the city limits, which more than doubled the city's size, and Houston proper began to spread across the region.

In 1950, the availability of air-conditioning provided impetus for many companies to relocate to Houston, including Continental Oil, Prudential Insurance, Mobil Oil, Gulf Oil, Texaco Oil, Tidewater Associated and Sunray MidContinent, resulting in an economic boom and producing a key shift in the city's economy toward the energy sector.

The increased production of the local shipbuilding industry during World War II spurred Houston's growth, as did the establishment in 1961 of NASA's "Manned Spacecraft Center" (renamed the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in 1973), which created the city's aerospace industry. The Astrodome, nicknamed the "Eighth Wonder of the World," opened in 1965 as the world's first indoor domed sports stadium.

During the late 1970s, Houston experienced a population boom as people from Rust Belt states moved to Texas in large numbers. The new residents came for the numerous employment opportunities in the petroleum industry, created as a result of th the Arab Oil Embargo. The population boom ended abruptly when oil prices fell in 1986, due to the embargo being lifted. The space industry also suffered in 1986 after the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after launch. The late 1980s saw a recession affect the city's economy. Since the 1990s, as a result of the recession, Houston has made efforts to diversify its economy by focusing on aerospace and biotechnology and by reducing its dependence on the petroleum industry. In 1997, Houstonians elected Lee P. Brown as the city's first African American mayor.

In June 2001, Tropical Storm Allison dumped up to 37 inches of rain on parts of Houston, causing the worst flooding in the city's history; the storm cost billions of dollars in damage and killed 20 people in Texas. Many neighborhoods and communities have changed since the storm. By December of that same year, Houston-based energy company Enron collapsed into the second-largest ever U.S. bankruptcy during an investigation surrounding fabricated partnerships that were allegedly used to h hide debt and inflate profits. In August 2005, Houston became a shelter to more than 150,000 people from New Orleans who evacuated from Hurricane Katrina. One month later, approximately 2.5 million Houston area residents evacuated when Hurricane Rita approached the Gulf Coast, leaving little damage to the Houston area. This event marked the largest urban evacuation in the history of the United States.

City/Town : Latitude: 29.75, Longitude: -95.366667


Birth

Matches 1 to 1 of 1

   Last Name, Given Name(s)    Birth    Person ID   Tree 
1 Hughes, Howard Robard  Sunday 24 December 1905Houston, Texas, USA I673653 Veenkoloniale voorouders 

Death

Matches 1 to 6 of 6

   Last Name, Given Name(s)    Death    Person ID   Tree 
1 Dirksen, Dirk  Wednesday 16 August 1978Houston, Texas, USA I206139 Veenkoloniale voorouders 
2 Frutchey, George M.  Thursday 13 March 1947Houston, Texas, USA I449633 Veenkoloniale voorouders 
3 Frutchey, Henry  Friday 03 July 1953Houston, Texas, USA I452534 Veenkoloniale voorouders 
4 Hughes, Howard Robard  Monday 05 April 1976Houston, Texas, USA I673653 Veenkoloniale voorouders 
5 Mosbacher, Robert Adam  Sunday 24 January 2010Houston, Texas, USA I684013 Veenkoloniale voorouders 
6 Tierney, Gene Eliza  Wednesday 06 November 1991Houston, Texas, USA I672919 Veenkoloniale voorouders 

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