A Global City on the Rise

Houston is the fourth largest city in the most powerful economic country in the world. Add its geographical location in the south and it is easy to see how it is a growing and thriving city, and a global city in the ranks of New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Businesses are also flourishing in Houston. New York City is the only city in the United States that has more Fortune 500 headquarters inside city limits.

Houston has a very long history that dates back to the early 1800’s. It was a family affair when Houston was founded as brother Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen decided to purchase the land where Houston now resides. The brothers were two real estate entrepreneurs from New York City and bought the land in August of 1836 along the Buffalo Bayou. The city was named after Sam Houston, a general of the Battle o San Jacinto who was later elected President of Texas in September 1836. Houston was given incorporation as a true city of the United States of America on June 5, 1837. When the 1860’s rolled around Houston was becoming a center for railroad transportation. Businessmen in Houston continually worked to strengthen their railroads and also try to make Houston a viable port city. In 1901 oil was discovered near Beaumont, Texas and it accelerated the petroleum industry as well as the progress of deepwater ports in Houston. It didn’t take long because in 1902 President Theodore Roosevelt decided to put aside one million dollars to work on the Houston Ship Channel. Twelve years later the deepwater Port of Houston opened after a mere seven years of work. Houston was a big beneficiary of World War II because it amplified the ship building industry. NASA also came to Houston which created an aerospace industry and brought a lot of jobs and other businesses to the city. The Astrodome was opened in 1965 and Houston was able to claim that they had the world’s first indoor domed sports stadium. The late 1970’s brought a large amount of people to Texas from the Rust Belt states. These people were drawn to Houston by the petroleum industry, which was in part created by the Arab Oil Embargo. The fall in oil prices in the 1980’s caused a decrease in oil population and the space industry was hurt by the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986. Houston wanted to begin to diversify their economy in the 1990’s and have more available so it wasn’t as reliant on the petroleum industry. They put more into aerospace and also the growing biotechnology industry.