Interesting Unknown Facts about Houston

History of Houston

In August 1836, John Kirby Allen and Augustus Chapman Allen two business tycoons purchased 6,642 acres of property along Buffalo Bayou in Texas, to establish a metropolis. Sam Houston, the general who was elected president of Texas, was chosen as the city's name. Start planning your trip to Houston now book DTW flights from Detroit to Houston and create memories that will last a lifetime.

In 1837, Houston was granted incorporation and designated as the provisional capital of the Republic of Texas and the county seat of Harrisburg County. In 1840, a chamber of commerce was founded in the neighborhood to encourage shipping and waterborne trade at the recently constructed port on Buffalo Bayou.

Houston, a major railroad and commercial center for cotton export, was established in 1860. It connected rail to Galveston and Beaumont ports, where interior railway spurs merged. Houston served as General John Bankhead Magruder's base of operations during the American Civil War, planning the Battle of Galveston. Businessmen in Houston developed a large bayous network to accommodate greater trade between downtown and Galveston's port. By 1890, Houston became Texas' railway hub.

Houston, a deep-water port, experienced growth after a hurricane devastated Galveston in 1900. The Texas petroleum industry grew due to oil discoveries at the Spindletop oil field near Beaumont. President Theodore Roosevelt upgraded the Houston Ship Channel in 1902, and the city's population nearly doubled to 78,800 in 1910.

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Houston experienced a significant economic boom during World War II, with petrochemical refineries and manufacturing facilities built along the ship channel. The city's economy returned to port-driven after the war, with its size quadrupling in 1948 due to the annexation of unorganized regions. The advent of air conditioning in 1950 sparked an economic boom, attracting businesses and transforming the city's economy towards the energy industry.

Houston's expansion during World War II was fueled by the development of NASA's Manned Spacecraft Centre in 1961, which led to the city's aerospace sector. The Astrodome, the first indoor sports stadium with a dome, opened in 1965. The late 1970s saw a population surge due to mass immigration from the Rust Belt states to Texas, and the abundance of job opportunities in the petroleum industry. However, the population boom came to an end when oil prices declined in the 1980s, and the space industry suffered in 1986 after the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded.

Houston, Texas, has diversified its economy since the 1990s by emphasizing aerospace and healthcare/biotechnology and reducing its reliance on the petroleum industry. In 1997, Lee P. Brown became the first African-American mayor. Houston, the economic hub of the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown metropolitan region, has a population of 5.6 million and is the sixth-largest metropolitan area in the US. The city experienced the greatest flooding in its history in June 2001, with Tropical Storm Allison causing billions of dollars in damage and claiming 20 lives.

Houston's Economy

Houston is a global hub for biomedical research, aviation, and energy business, particularly in oil and natural gas. The ship channel plays a significant role in the city's economy. Houston houses Exxon-Mobil's US operational headquarters, Shell Oil's global headquarters in The Hague, and BP's London headquarters. Houston is home to five of the six supermajor energy companies, including Chevron, Marathon Oil, Apache, and Citgo.

Houston's petrochemical complex, the Port of Houston, is a key location for producing oilfield machinery. The city's tenth-largest port and top US international trade hub, it attracts a large portion of the population working in the energy sector, making it a favorable location for oil and petrol prices.

Houston's Gross Area Product (GAP) reached $325.5 billion in 2006, surpassing the GDP of Saudi Arabia, Austria, and Poland. Only 21 nations, except the United States, have a GDP greater than Houston's regional GAP. Mining, which primarily consists of oil and gas discovery and extraction, accounts for 11% of Houston's GAP, down from 21% in 1985. Other industries, such as engineering services, health services, and manufacturing, are expanding rapidly.

Houston, one of the most populous U.S. metro regions, experienced the highest job growth rate and nominal employment increase from September 2007 to September 2008. Forbes Magazine ranked Houston as the third best place for business and careers in 2006, with 23 active foreign chambers, forty foreign governments, and twenty foreign banks providing financial support to the global community. The city's unemployment rate fell to 3.8% in April 2008, marking the lowest level in eight years.

Health care Sector

Houston's Texas Medical Centre is home to the world's largest concentration of research and medical institutions, with 45 nonprofit affiliates offering research, teaching, patient and preventative treatment, and community well-being. The center includes 13 hospitals, two specialty hospitals, two medical schools, four nursing schools, dental schools, public health schools, pharmacy schools, and nearly all schools for vocations in the medical field. Life Flight, one of the earliest and largest air emergency services, was founded there, and the Texas Medical Centre performs more cardiac operations than any other hospital in the world.

The University of Texas Health Science Centre at Houston, along with The Methodist Hospital, Texas Children's Hospital, and The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Centre, is a leading academic and research health institution in Houston. The latter has been rated as one of the top two cancer treatment facilities in the US since 1990. What are you waiting for? Pack your bags, reserve a flight from Detroit to Houston, and spend the weekend with your loved ones.