Houston's founding

In the mid-1800s, two brothers who were New York real estate promoters, John Kirby Allen and Augustus Chapman Allen, sought a location where they could begin building "a great center of government and commerce." In August 1836, they purchased 6,642 acres (27 km²) of land from T. F. L. Parrot, John Austin's widow, for $9,428. The Allen brothers named their town after Sam Houston.

Houston started out as a hamlet. Gail and Thomas H. Borden surveyed and mapped the town in typical grid fashion, with wide streets running parallel and perpendicular to the area's system of bayous. The city was granted incorporation on June 5, 1837, and James S. Holman became the first mayor. That same year, Houston also became the county seat of Harrisburg County, which was renamed Harris County in 1839. At this time, the Texas Legislature designated Houston as the temporary capital of the new Republic of Texas. On January 14, 1839, the capital was moved to Austin, then known as Waterloo. 

In 1840, the Allen brothers began to promote Houston as a place to live while the Republic of Texas started promoting colonization of Texas. By 1860, Houston began to emerge 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. Houston saloon keeper Dick Dowling became the city's first famous personality after his victory at the battle of Sabine Pass in 1863. 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.

Early 20th century

In 1900, Houston's population was about 45,000, making it the 85th largest city in the United States. Oil discovery at Spindletop in Beaumont in 1901 prompted the development of the oil industry, which eventually would transform Houston into a large city. In 1902, Theodore Roosevelt approved a $1 million improvement project for the Houston Ship Channel. By 1910, the population of Houston was larger than that of Galveston. President Woodrow Wilson opened the Port of Houston in 1914, 74 years after digging started. By 1914, the Houston Ship Channel was dredged to give Houston a deep-water port, outpacing Galveston's port which was devastated by the Galveston Hurricane of 1900.

When World War II started, tonnage levels fell and five shipping lines ended service to Houston, but the war did have some economic benefits for the city. Ellington Field, initially built during World War I, was revitalized as a training center for bombardiers, and aircraft and shipbuilding became large industries statewide. The M. D. Anderson Foundation formed the Texas Medical Center in 1945. The banking industry also rose to prominence in the late 1940s. After the war, Houston's economy reverted back to a healthy, port driven economy. In 1948, several unincorporated areas were annexed into the city limits, and Houston proper began to spread across the prairie.

Decades of growth

Shipbuilding during World War II spurred Houston's growth, as well as 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. December 1961 saw Hurricane Carla, a very destructive storm that hit the city head on. The Astrodome (then called the Harris County Domed Stadium), the first indoor, domed sports stadium, opened in 1965 and was quickly nicknamed the "Eighth Wonder of the World."

The late 1970s saw a population boom due to the Arab Oil Embargo as people from Rust Belt states moved en masse into Texas, which benefited from the oil crunch. But Houston's reliance on petroleum as the base of its industry led to its downfall when oil prices collapsed in the 1980s. Since then, Houston has made efforts to diversify its economy, focusing on aerospace and biotechnology, and reducing its dependence on petroleum.

The new millennium

Hurricane Rita evacuation in September 2005

In 2001, Tropical Storm Allison dumped up to 39 inches of rain on parts of the city, causing billions of dollars in damage and killing 23 people. To date, the flooding caused by Allison was the worst in the city's history. Many neighborhoods and communities have changed since the storm; older houses in some affected neighborhoods have been torn down and replaced with larger houses with higher foundations.

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, Houston provided shelter to more than 25,000 evacuees from New Orleans in various facilities around the city, including the infrequently-used Reliant Astrodome stadium. This unprecedented situation involved Houston-area public school systems, which are providing education for child evacuees.

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