HoustonThen and Now

Teaching Continuity and Change-over-timeCreated by Debbie Owens

Klein Oak High School

Main Street Houston 1856Houston begins in 1837 as a small port on the Gulf Coast.

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John and Augustus Allen settled the hamlet at the conversion of White Oak Bayou and Buffalo Bayou with the hopes of creating “a great center of government and commerce."

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Main Street at Buffalo Bayou 1890 Now Allen’s Landing – Named the Port of Houston in 1841

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City Hall Early 1900

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spindletop

The Lucas Gusher At Spindletop in Beaumont Jan 10, 1901

Signals the beginning of the oil business in Texas

This transforms Houston from a small town to a major port of commerce

Why Houston as the major transportation center?

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Houston served both as a hub for overland railway and as a sea port.

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Panoramic View of Houston in 1910

http://harvey.library.arizona.edu/finding_aid/10tx/11/10-11-5.htm

Union Railway Station 1912

http://harvey.library.arizona.edu/finding_aid/10tx/11/welcome.html

Union Station Ticket Booth

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Union Station Waiting Room

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Union Station Lunch Room

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Humble Gilliland Oil Field Houston Texas 1919

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Public Transportation 1924

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Medical Center 1949

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Ship Channel Turning Basin Mid 1950s

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NASA Mission Control 1969

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Houston’s Astrodome 1970

http://photohome.com/photos/texas-pictures/houston/downtown-houston-4.html

Aerial of Downtown Houston

http://www.glasssteelandstone.com/BuildingDetail/531.php

Houston City Hall Complex

http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/Building/534/Minute_Maid_Park.php

Minute Maid Park – The Old Union Station

http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/Building/534/Minute_Maid_Park.php

Commemorating the Houston Train Station

City of Houston’s Official Seal

Why a train? Because of the roll railway transportation played in Houston’s economic growth.

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Union Station Today – Minute Maid Park

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Transportation Today – Metro Rail

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Houston Medical Center Today

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Port of Houston Today

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Lyndon_B._Johnson_Space_Center

Johnson’s Space Center

http://www.knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/Houston,_Texas/

Reliant Stadium and The Astrodome

http://photohome.com/photos/texas-pictures/houston/downtown-houston-1.html

Downtown Houston TodayLargest City in Texas; 4th Largest in the US

How did Houston grow from a hamlet to the 4th largest city in the nation?

•Galveston had been the major city in Texas until the storm of 1900 which is considered the deadliest natural disaster to have ever struck the United States. Galveston’s devastation created a need for a major port city in Texas.

•Striking oil at Spindletop created a need to transport oil from the oilfields.

•Followed by the oil strike in Humble, Texas.

•Houston provided major railway transportation to most of the state of Texas and had access to the Gulf of Mexico.

•The United States had become the foremost industrialized country in the world creating a need for oil, cotton, and other products that Texas offered.

•With transportation came urbanization, industrialization, expansion, cultural diffusion leading to more of each thus becoming cyclical and ultimately leading to new industry: technology, medicine, banking, etc.

Continuity: What has stayed the same?

Climate: flooding, infectious disease from mosquitoes, hurricane, humidity

Houston’s economy still relies heavily on the oil and transportation industries.

Can you think of any other factors?