Houston
Houston, Texas
In 2015 Houston, covering 627 square miles, ranked as the fourth largest city in the United States with an estimated population of 2,296,224. The city passed Philadelphia in 1984 to take a position behind New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. The 2015 population of the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land Metropolitan Statistical Area (also known as Greater Houston), which encompassed Galveston, Fort Bend, Harris, Brazoria, Liberty, Waller, Montgomery, Chambers, and Austin counties, amounted to 6,656,947. This ranked it fifth in the nation and second in Texas to Dallas-Fort Worth. When first formed in 1949 the Houston Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area covered only Harris County and had a population of 806,701 people. More than 100 ethnic groups now shape the population of the city; the major components in 2015 were 26 percent non-Hispanic White, 25 percent Black, 43 percent Hispanic of any race, and 6 percent Asian. This spectacular growth developed as a result of the construction of transportation systems, the fortuitous nearby location of useful natural resources, and an entrepreneurial spirit.
The city began on August 30, 1836, when Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen ran an advertisement in the Telegraph and Texas Register for the "Town of Houston." The townsite, which featured a mixture of timber and grassland, was on the level Coastal Plain in the middle of the future Harris County, at 95.4° west longitude and 30.3° north latitude. The brothers claimed that the town would become the "great interior commercial emporium of Texas," that ships from New York and New Orleans could sail up Buffalo Bayou to its door, and that the site enjoyed a healthy, cool seabreeze. They noted plans to build a sawmill and offered lots for sale at moderate prices. In the manner of town boomers the Allens exaggerated a bit, however. The forty-eight-inch annual rainfall, high relative humidity, and temperatures that averaged from a low of 43° F in the winter to 94° in summer later inspired Houston to become one of the most air-conditioned cities in the world. Moreover, in January 1837, when Francis R. Lubbock arrived on the Laura, the small steamship that first reached Houston, he found the bayou choked with branches and the town almost invisible.
David G. McComb | © TSHA
Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.
Belongs to
Houston is part of or belongs to the following places:
Currently Exists
Yes
Place type
Houston is classified as a Town
Location
Latitude: 29.78032850Longitude: -95.38637900
Has Post Office
Yes
Is Incorporated
Yes
Population Count, 2021 View more »
2,288,250
Places of Houston
Place | Type | Population (Year/Source) | Currently Exists |
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College or University | – | Yes | |
College or University | – | Yes | |
College or University | – | Yes | |
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College or University | – | Yes | |
College or University | – | Yes | |
College or University | – | Yes | |
College or University | – | Yes | |
College or University | – | Yes | |
College or University | – | Yes | |
College or University | – | Yes | |
College or University | – | Yes | |
College or University | – | Yes | |
College or University | – | Yes | |
College or University | – | Yes | |
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Photos Nearby:
A building at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
Photo by Japan Encyclopedia, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
View of the synthetic green on the Lucy McBride Golf Practice Area
Photo by Iketsi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Houston Community College System Central Campus
Photo by WhisperToMe, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Exterior view Lone Star College-CyFair
Photo by Claire Gunnels, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Construction & Skilled Trades Technology Center, North Harris
Photo by Apolinar Chuca, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Front entrance of a building at the University Park campus
Photo by Jess P. Jordan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Our Lady of the Lake University
Photo by Zereshk, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Fondren Library, Rice University
Photo by Leonard Lane, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Central Campus, San Jacinto College
Photo by WhisperToMe, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
South Texas College of Law, Houston
Photo by RTex, CC3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Texas Southern University Library Learning Center
Photo by Tsucomms, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Roy Gustav Cullen Building, University of Houston campus
Photo by RJN2, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Bayou Building on the campus of the University of Houston–Clear Lake
Photo by RJN2, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
University of Houston-Downtown Commerce Building
Photo by Claca016, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Chapel of St. Basil, by architect Philip Johnson, University of St. Thomas
Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Photo by Zereshk, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
Photo by Zereshk, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine Building
Photo from University of Houston, Fair Use
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