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There are a variety of interesting things to do including museums and don't forget the most popular attractions like Downtown Houston/Travis Street, Houston Museum of Natural Science, Johnson Space Center, Six Flags SplashTown, Houston Zoo, Uptown/Galleria, Bayou Place, and Hermann Park. Houston is the largest ... more »
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Airports There are a variety of interesting things to do including museums and don't forget the most popular attractions like Downtown Houston/Travis Street, Houston Museum of Natural Science, Johnson Space Center, Six Flags SplashTown, Houston Zoo, Uptown/Galleria, Bayou Place, and Hermann Park.
Houston is the largest city in the state of Texas and the fourth-largest in the United States. The city covers more than 600 square miles (1,600 km²) and is the county seat of Harris County—the third-most populous in the country. As of the 2005 U.S. Census estimate, Houston had a population of more than 2 million. The city is at the heart of the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area, the largest cultural and economic center of the Gulf Coast region and the seventh-largest metropolitan area in the U.S. with a population of 5.3 million in 10 counties.
Houston is world-renowned for its energy (particularly oil) and aeronautics industries, and for its ship channel. The area is also the world's leading center for building oilfield equipment. The Port of Houston ranks first in the country in international commerce and is the sixth-largest port in the world. Second only to New York City in Fortune 500 headquarters, Houston is the seat of the internationally-renowned Texas Medical Center, which contains the world's largest concentration of research and healthcare institutions.
Houston is ranked as one of 11 U.S. world-class cities by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group & Network. The city has a vibrant visual and performing arts scene as Houston is one of the five U.S. cities that offer world-class, year-round resident companies in all major performing arts. In addition, the Houston Theater District is ranked second in the country for the number of theatre seats in a concentrated downtown area per capita. The city is within proximity to beaches on Galveston Island as well as one of the United States's largest concentrations of pleasure boats.
Houston is located in the gulf coastal plains biome, and its vegetation is classified as temperate grassland. Much of the city was built on forested land, marshes, swamp, or prairie—all of which can still be seen in surrounding areas.
Much of Houston is very flat, making flooding a recurring problem for its residents. Downtown stands about 50 feet above sea level—with most the city less than 100 feet in elevation. The city once relied on groundwater for its water needs, but land subsidence forced the city to turn to ground-level water sources such as Lake Houston.
Houston has four major bayous passing through the city: Buffalo Bayou, which runs into Downtown and the Houston Ship Channel; and three of its tributaries: Brays Bayou, which runs along the Texas Medical Center; White Oak Bayou, which runs through the Heights and near the northwest area; and Sims Bayou, which runs through the south of Houston and downtown Houston. The ship channel goes past Galveston and into the Gulf of Mexico.
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. The capital was later moved to Austin, then known as Waterloo on January 14, 1839.
Trouble, Money and Yellow Fever
Early settlers used lumber to build frame houses, ditches for drainage, and relied on pigs to clean the streets. Lawlessness, epidemics, and financial problems prompted the people of the community to establish a Chamber of Commerce, chartered by the Congress of the Republic on November 26, 1838. Because many of the first settlers were from the South, Houston endorsed the slavery-plantation system. Slaves lived scattered through the neighborhoods, though there were few free blacks in the city. During this period, yellow fever struck periodically—in 1839 the disease devastated the fledgling city, killing about 12 percent of its population.
Oil and Port
In 1900, Houston's population was about 45,000—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.
The Eighth Wonder of the World
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."
Build Me Higher
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 43 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.
Hurricane Katrina
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, Houston provided shelter to more than 25,000 people 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.
Largest Evacuation in History
Approximately 2.5 million Houston area residents evacuated when Hurricane Rita approached the Gulf Coast one month after Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Rita left little damage to Houston and the surrounding areas. Critical traffic congestion and gas shortages were rampant during the evacuation. This event marked the largest evacuation in the history of the United States.
Houston is served by two commercial airports—the largest of which is the George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH). The airport is the ninth-busiest in the United States for total passengers, and 19th busiest worldwide. Houston is the headquarters of Continental Airlines, Bush Intercontinental is Continental Airline's largest hub, with more than 750 daily departures (more than 250 of which are Continental flights).
Airport
Bush Intercontinental currently ranks second in the United States for non-stop domestic and international service (221 destinations), trailing only Atlanta Hartsfield with 250 destinations. The United States Department of Transportation has also recently named George Bush Intercontinental Airport one of the top 10 fastest growing airports in the United States.
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The second-largest commercial airport in Houston is the William P. Hobby Airport (named Houston International Airport until 1967). The airport operates primarily small to medium-haul flights and is the only airport in Houston served by Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways. Business travelers on shorter routes to Houston from within the United States tend to prefer Hobby over Bush Intercontinental.
The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas, or METRO, provides public transportation in the form of buses, trolleys, and lift vans.
METRO began running light rail service (METRORail) on January 1, 2004. Currently the track is rather short—it runs about 8 miles (13 km) from northern Downtown at UH–Downtown to the Texas Medical Center and Reliant Park. METRO's various forms of public transportation still do not connect many of the suburbs to the greater city, causing Houstonians to rely on the automobile as a primary source of transportation. Prior to the opening of METRORail, Houston was the largest city in the United States devoid of a rail transit system by a very large margin.
Following a successful referendum held locally in 2004, METRO is currently in the beginning design phases of a 10-year expansion plan to add five more sections to connect to the current rail system. An expansion has been approved to run the service from the Uptown District to the University of Houston campus. The planned University Corridor is approximately 10 miles in length.
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A large, cosmopolitan city with a small town feel, Houston is unique among other major cities due to its Southern hospitality and can-do attitude. Officially, Houston is nicknamed the "Space City" as it is home to NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, where Mission Control Center is located. Because of this, "Houston" was the first word spoken on the moon. Many locals, however, prefer to call it the "Bayou City." Other nicknames include "H-Town," "Clutch City," and "Magnolia City".
Say What?
About 90 languages are frequently spoken in the Houston area. Some neighborhoods with high populations of Vietnamese and Chinese residents have Chinese and Vietnamese street signs in addition to English ones. Houston has two Chinatowns—the original located in downtown and the recent developed is along Bellaire Boulevard in the southwest area of the city. The city also has a Little Saigon in Midtown and Vietnamese businesses located in the southwest Houston Chinatown.
Melting Pot
There are many popular events held in the city celebrating cultures of Houstonians. The largest and longest running is the annual Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo that is held over 20 days from late February through early March. The event begins with trail rides that originate from several points throughout the state, all of which convene at Reliant Park for a barbeque cook-off. The rodeo includes typical rodeo events, as well as concert performances from major artists and carnival rides. Another large celebration is the annual Houston Pride Parade held at the end of June held along Westheimer Road in Neartown—home to many 1950s-style restaurants, vintage shops, tattoo parlors, bars, nightclubs, coffeehouses, and gay entertainment. Other events held annually include the Houston Greek festival, and Houston International Festival.
Houston's climate is classified as humid subtropical. The city has excessive ozone levels and is ranked among the most ozone-polluted cities in the United States. The average yearly precipitation level is approximately 48 inches (1,220 mm). Spring supercell thunderstorms sometimes bring tornadoes to the area. Prevailing winds are from the south and southeast during most of the year, bringing heat from the deserts of Mexico and moisture from the Gulf of Mexico.
Temperature - Yearly Average
Summer
During the summer months, the daily high temperature peaks at 94 °F (34 °C) at the end of July with an average of 99 days per year above 90 °F (32 °C). The air tends to feel still and the humidity (averaging over 90 percent relative humidity in the morning in the summer and around 60 percent in the afternoon) results in a heat index higher than the actual temperature. To cope with the heat, people use air conditioning in nearly every car and building in the city. Afternoon rains are common and for most summer days, Houston meteorologists predict at least some chance of rain. The hottest temperature ever recorded in Houston was 109 °F (43 °C) on September 4, 2000.
Winter
Winters in Houston are cool and temperate. While the average high in January, the coldest month, is 61 °F (16 °C), Houston sees an average of 18 days per year of 32 °F (0 °C) or less. Snow is almost unheard of, and typically does not accumulate when it is seen. The last snowstorm to hit Houston was on December 24, 2004—the city's first recorded snowfall on Christmas Eve. The coldest temperature ever recorded in Houston was 5 °F (-15 °C) on January 23, 1940.
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