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T T A B L E 0 F ( 0 N f E N T PARTI 4 Port of Houston: the earliest days JAMESPUGH Exe.t:utive Director &" CEO PARTII ~~ Cotton meant business in Houston for l{} decades TOMKORNEGAY Managing Director PARTIII JAMESBAKER Steamboats: floating palaces of" the mid-1800s l)irector of Port Operations F. WILLIAMCOLBURN PARTIV : ;, Director of F,c:onomi{ l)evelopment Connecticut farm boy was "Father of HoustIm Channel" A.W.ttlETALA Director o[ Trade I)evelopment PARTV L: Houston’s web of" railroads: how it was spun LINDAREESE I)irettor ot Administration PARTVI tt(}uston and (~alx’estt)n: a sibling relationship JOESCROGGINS, JR. l)irector of Facilities PARTVIi ~:, JOEFLACK Houstonians took an innovative approach to financing (lOLl I1 [), r \uditor PART VIII i: tt(}uston gets its ship channel PARTIX ,!’~:2 The first 15 years of deep water PARTX :’~’ Slowstart for an era ot growth THEPORT OF HOUSTON MAGAZINE {]ssx oo3e48zs)i~ PAR1Xl 29 {If tfouston enters the oil business published monthlx IB the I’urt ttouston \uthori(\, lSlq Capitol ~.xe., [IotlMon, Iexas 770{}2, and is distribut/:d tie{: It) nlitritirne, industrial and transpt}I- tdti()tl illt(~rosts ill th(~ /?llited States and ~0r{!i~ll G{)UII PART XII ; tries. SECONDCL.\SS P{}STAGEP\II) AT It{It [S’I {)N, The last 20 years: transitions and innovations TEXAS. I’OSTMASTER:Send address changes t(} I’OR3 Ill ttOL’STON MAIL\ZINE,I’O. Box 2562. Houston, TX 77252-2562. The magazine stait includes: ¢;ommunica- TODAY ;4 th)tas Manager, ,Janet \nders(}ll; Editor, \nil Bord(:loll; l touston: a world-class port Writer, Susan Humphrey; Adxertising Manager, Sheila \dams; I’rodut:ti{n] (ioordinator, Ken Burke; grid Pho- togr,lpht:r, Ril\ S(}to This l}ul~lit:ation is not copyrighted and permission is giTt:n ft}r the reprodut:- ON THE COVER ti{m /}r use of an; original materials, pl{}~ ided {:redit The cover for this special edition includes a repr{}duction of a l}ainting created iS ~ix{~ll tO the Port {}f Ilouston ,\uthoril\. \dditiona] by llouston artist GeorgeCampbell for the Port of tloustt}n’s 75th anniversary. ill[orm,lti{)n, extra { {ll}ies {}r ;Idvertisillg rates illtly b(: {}l}t,lini:d b\ writing the I’ORI’ Or HOUST(}N M~,/; \ZINE. PORTCOMMISSIONERS NED ttOLMES llJ. NIIDDLETON MILTON CARROLL ROBERT GILLETTE LEROY BRUNER CC. SMITHERMAN J, MICHAELSOLAR Chairman Commissioner Conlmissioner Comnlissioner (~omnaissioncr C(}mmissioner Commissi{}ncr L PAGE I J OPPOSITE PAGE: Houston’s port and downtown bu~smess district haz~c both changed considerably since 1904 (in,set photo). FOREWORD T he 12 articles included in this commemorative edition of’ the Port of Houston Magazine were originally published in the monthly 1989 editions of the same magazine. They trace the histoD~ of t iouston’s involvement in waterborne commerce from the mid-1800s through the 1980s. These articles were written as Houston observed its 75th anniversary as a deep-water port. The comic strips shown were first published in the Houston Chronicle in 1959 as part of an educational campaign sponsored by the Port of Ilouston Authority. The strips were drawn by Bob Schoenke. The com- mentaries in the strips were updated for this series. Someof the infl~rmation in the arti- cles was drawn from articles and essays written for the 1959 educational cam- paign. Another key source of information was "The Port of Houston: A History," written for the l’ort of’ Houston Authority in 1968 by Marilyn McAdams Sibley. (Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 68-21251) PAGE 2 POR-" OF HOUSTON the Republic of Texas was estab- PART lished, they named the town after Sam Houston, commanding gen- eral of the Texas Armyand, later, president of the republic. In 1837, waterways were the most efficient avenue for trans- porting goods. Texas roadways, for the most part, were dirt paths worn by horses and wagons. Houston had no rail connection. Overland travel was tedious and expensive. he Allen brothers knew that a Au~’ustus Alhm ]ohn Allan Twater connection would en- hance the growth of the Houston economy. So, they arranged the voyage of the steamship LAURA. Two years later, five steamboats were calling at Houston. In 1840, a wharf was built along the waterfront, and in 1841, a ci- ty ordinance officially created the Port of Houston. Those in charge of’ the new port soon realized that something had to be done to make it easier for boats to navigate the bayou. In 1842, the Texas Con- gress gave Houston the right to he story of the Houston Ship improve the bawmfor navigation. TChannel really began in wo years later, the Allen 1837 when a small steam- Tbrothers, never ones to over- boat, the LAURA, made her way look a chance to promote up Buffalo Bayou to Allen’s Houston, engaged the CONSTIT{~- Landing. TION, a larger ship than the The LAURA’s voyage proved the LAURA, to make the trip to town could be reached by water, Houston. There was some ques- and regular steamship service to tion as to whether a vessel that Houston began the same year. large could find a place to turn Early terminals were established around for the return trip to tljpical paddle wheeler wending its way at the foot of Main Street where Galveston Bay. The CONSTIT~.’- tq) Buffalo IJauou in the mid-18OOs. the junction of Buffalo Bayou and TION found space for her White Oak Bayou aflbrded a wider downstream turn at the end of the place for the vessels to be warped Long Reach- a spot that was around for the return ,journey to known for many years as Con- the bay. stitution Bend. fter that, the port developed Constitution Bend eventually Asteadily, gaining impetus from was selected as the site for the Port the growth of the town and the vi- of Houston’s Turning Basin, one sion of its business leaders. John of five publicly owned terminals and Augustus Allen were the first operated by the Port of Houston of these Houston visionaries. The Authority. Allen brothers, who were real he Allen brothers were the first estate speculators fl’om NewYork Tof Houston’s leaders to envi- state, had purchased a town site sion the city as a (:enter of trade. along Buffalo Bayou shortly They were followed by a number before Texas won its independ- of other business and civic leaders ence from Mexico in 1836. When who saw the town’s potential and PAGE 4 worked diligently to develop it. cotton gins next in line. At the All of them understood the impor- end of the cycle were the long- tance of the port to the city’s shoremen and the crews that economic growth. manned the vessels aboard which Today, the Port of Houston gen- the bales were loaded. In between, erates nearly $3 billion a year in the cotton passed through a num- revenues. An estimated 111,000 ber of hands. people work for organizations Moving the bales from the cot- that are in some way related to ton gins to the wharves provided Port of Houston activity. As its a living for some residents. At early supporters expected, the first, wagoners brought the baled The 1914 ccrcmony that port has become a vital force in fiber to Houston in ox carts. Five marked the Ol)cming ol the t lolt,Ston ,sh it~ (,tmn m:l. the i touston economy. main wagon trails converged on the town, and cross trails permit- ted the wagoners to turn off into Washington Road, cross the bayou PART and take their choice of several camping grounds or wagon yards. ne early yard was "Vinegar OHill," a spot of high ground where the Southern Pacific railroad station was eventually built. There the cotton planters and wagoners spent their hard- earned money on entertainment that caused dismay among the "solid" citizens of Houston and inspired many a sermon in the city’s early churches. Later, railroads carried the cot- ton to the banks of the bayou. Workers began laying track for the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Col- (.otwn began arril’ing in orado Railway Co. in 1851. In Housto~t on railroad cars m I853, the company announced the 1850s. biweekly rail service between Staf- any citizens of" Texas f0rd’s Point and Harrisburg, a Mdepended on the cotton distance of 20 miles. By the eve of trade in the 1840s and the Civil War, Houston was estab- 1850s. The farmers were at the lished as the railroad center of beginning of the cycle, with the Texas. Five railroads radiated "~N THOSE[~’/5 BUFFALOB/aYOU w, q5 ",~i"TOOKTH,~z_E I~’/S TOG~-T FR’O~ WARI~BII~ ~EEPE~T~qN rr t6 h~ow/:INP VE~:’Y l TO HOUSTON....~H~K~T~e-Y OY~R~PDFI~E~ BKALrnFUL THE ~ WEK’E THICKLY // MRR’XANp W~t, iT ONUP WHrT~ OAK Ig~yOIJ. CA~Tq~NGgW50N 8POKED gOWN W~4FFEOAK CAI~PETEDWITH G~/~-~J WILDFLOWEDtS, [ ANO TI~3USANOS OF GI~NT ~ TEEES.i INTO BUFFALOAND T~EN FRDCEED,F-P CLrI~,NG T~ LIMB5 AND BLOW)NG UP / DOWNIk:’lgE~. THEY.900N 5POTTE.PTHE LOG-JAM~ MADE5LOW GOWG." J FlEW 5MALL 5H~K~ THAT MADEUP THE CITY OF ~N. " PAGE 5 from the town. Texas had approx- he Civil War disrupted the cot- imately 450 miles of track, and Tton trade, but it made fortunes 350 miles of that led to Houston. for certain enterprising Houston he cotton had to be kept some- businessmen. The Union Navy Twhere near the wharves until blockaded the Galveston entrance it could be loaded on the steam- channel in 1861.