Author Archive | Houston History Magazine

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What a Deep-water Channel to Houston Created

Fifty-two miles long and recognized as a public works engineering marvel, the Houston Ship Channel gave birth to the nation’s busiest port, its leading export port, its leading break bulk port, and its largest petrochemical complex. Indeed, the town that built a port that built a city sums up the Houston Ship Channel’s first century.

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Blue-Water Ships, Brown-Water Bayou: Wartime Construction 1941-1945

Long before its formal entry into the Second World War in December 1941, the United States was actively supporting Great Britain and its allies in the struggle against Germany through the Lend-Lease program and other efforts. Part of this assistance was the U.S. Maritime Commission’s decision in late 1940 to accept a contract to build […]

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The Houston Maritime Museum

The Houston Maritime Museum has educated and entertained visitors for fourteen years with the mission “To capture and preserve the wonder and influence of maritime history and the marine industry with focus on the development of Houston, the Texas Gulf Coast, and the State of Texas.” Located on the outskirts of the Museum District, the […]

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Three Continents: From the Bayou to the Biennale

From the Gulf of Mexico to the heart of downtown, the Houston Ship Channel has proved to be a vital piece of the city’s growth for one hundred years. Through history, we can trace how Houston’s economic ethos has transformed a narrow, winding bayou into an international epicenter of import.

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Letter from the Editor – Southeast Houston

By Carroll Parrott Blue, Guest Editor University of Houston Research Professor Center for Public History “Home: A place that provides access to every opportunity America has to offer.”  – Anita Hill, Reimagining Equality: Stories of Gender, Race and Finding Home, epigram.  In the 1970s some Houstonians greeted integration’s promise of greater access to educational equality […]

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The Kuhlmann Family: Planting Roots for Future Generations

In 1836 young Johann Frederick Kuhlmann made his way from Germanto America, eventually landing at the port of New Orleans after one of his sea journeys. Remaining in New Orleans working in various jobs, he continuously heard stories about the newly established Republic of Texas and its capital, Houston. To satisfy his curiosity, he made […]

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Members of the MacGregor Park Junior Tennis Program. Front row, seated, left to right: Jason Moran, David Marshall, Akida Mashaka, Jennifer Alexander, Priscilla Alexander, Tracey Holmes, and Fialka Milburn. Second row, kneeling, left to right: Terry (last name unknown), Felix (last name unknown), Faye (last name unknown), Atari (last name unknown), Shelly Mack, Michael Holmes, Thomas “Goose” Middleton, Morris (last name unknown), and Tina Haskins. Third row, standing, left to right: Thomas (last name unknown), Jeffrey Addison, Ramondo Mosley, Rayn Ross, Michael Curry, Melissa Kemp, Zina Garrison, Lisa Lang, name unknown, Mattie Middleton, unknown name, and Kathy Foxworth. Top row, standing, left to right: Sydney (last name unknown), Edgar Arnold, John Wilkerson, Willis (coach from Washington D. C.), and Rodney Harman. Photo courtesy of Michon Benson.

MacGregor Park, A Gift to Houston

When people hear the name MacGregor Park they likely think of two notable Houstonians: Henry F. MacGregor, a businessman and philanthropist who helped shape Houston’s development in the first quarter of the twentieth century whose family donated the land for the park in his honor, and Olympian Zina Garrison, who became a world champion tennis […]

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