Dredged to Excellence, 100 Years on the Houston Ship Channel
Houston History celebrates the Houston Ship Channel’s centennial. The Fall 2014 issue explores the deep-water channel from its initial concept in the 1830s to one of the world’s largest ports today. The magazine also pays tribute to the men and women who make the Port of Houston a success, like lineman Bobby Kersey, shown on […]
Deep Water Houston: From the Laura to the Deep Water Jubilee
The Allen brothers’ mission to create a city where none had been before was fueled by the same philosophy that led to Houston’s long-term success: dream big, and do everything possible to realize your dreams. The realization of Houston and the Houston Ship Channel is a tale of promotion, ingenuity, and decades of dedicated effort […]
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.
Houston Pilots: Guardians of the Waterway
Houston is often called the city that built the port that built the city. The measure of success, however, should not be in the building of what has become the nation’s largest inland port but rather in the hundreds of thousands of ships the Houston Pilots have quietly and safely guided along the channel over […]
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 […]
Working the Houston Ship Channel: “Tote that barge! Lift that bale!”
By Debbie Z. Harwell The success of the Houston Ship Channel and the Port of Houston is built on more than the determination of businessmen, however. Since its earliest days the city has acted as a magnet for people coming here to look for work, particularly in jobs associated with the ship channel and the […]
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 […]
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.
Volume 12 Number 1 Houston Ship Channel Table of Contents
Dredged to Excellence: 100 Years on the Houston Ship Channel Vol. 12, No. 1 (Summer 2014) Letter from Editor Download Full PDF 2 Deep Water Houston: From the Laura to the Deep Water Jubilee By James E.fisher 8 What a Deep-water Channel to Houston Created By Port of Houston Authority […]
Southeast Houston: From Pastures To South Park to MLK
Houston History will debut its second digital issue on July 31, 2014. This exciting magazine traces the history of Southeast Houston “From Pastures to South Park to MLK.”

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