- Jesse H. Jones was nicknamed “Mr. Houston” because of his activities in developing and promoting Houston.
- Dr. Red Duke founded Life Flight in 1976 at Hermann Hospital.
- Sam Houston was the only person to serve as governor of two U.S. states. He was governor of Tennessee from 1827-1829, and governor of Texas from 1859-1861.
- In 1972, Houstonian George Ballas invented the Weed Eater.
- Three hundred thousand Mexican free-tailed bats call the Waugh Drive bridge home.
- Ima Hogg is called the “First Lady of Texas” for her philanthropic works.
- The Gulf Freeway was Houston’s first freeway and Gulfgate Mall was Houston’s first mall.
- Howard Hughes founded the Gulf Brewing Company which made Grand Prize Beer.
- The first European to explore Buffalo Bayou and present-day Houston was Spanish explorer Álvar Nuñez Cabeza De Vaca.
- Tom Ball is called the “Father of the Port of Houston” because of his service to the Port Commission of Houston. The town of Tomball is named for him.
- The average elevation of Houston is 50 feet above sea level.
- Walter Cronkite, broadcast journalist and network news anchor, attended Lanier Junior High School and San Jacinto High School.
- The call letters for KPRC stand for Kotton, Port, Rail Center.
- Charlotte Allen’s nickname is the “Mother of Houston” Because of her efforts to help develop and promote Houston in its early days. She was the former wife of Augustus Chapman Allen, one of the Allen brothers who founded the city.
- The ward system of government was established in 1840. Houston was divided into six wards, each with two elected city council aldermen. This system was abolished in 1915, but the wards are still referred to by name.
- Buffalo Bayou was named for the freshwater buffalo fish.
- Karl Kilian opened Brazos Bookstore in 1974 on Bissonnet Street. When he retired in 2006, a group of 27 neighbors and customers bought the store.
- Anderson, Clayton and Company relocated to Houston in 1916, and was the largest cotton trading company in the world. It was co-founded by M.D. Anderson and Will Clayton. The first home in River Oaks was Will Clayton’s summer house, built in 1924.
- Oveta Culp Hobby was the first Houstonian to be commemorated on a U.S. postal stamp. She created the Womens Auxiliary Corps (WAC) in World War II, and later served as the first Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. She also enjoyed a long career in business with the Houston Post and KPRC.
- Oscar Holcombe (1888-1968) was Houston’s longest-serving mayor. He served 22 non-consecutive years.
- Kingwood, a community along US 59, was originally owned by the King Ranch. It was developed by the King Ranch and Exxon’s Friendswood Development Company in 1971.
- Downtown Houston’s Tranquility Park was named for Apollo 11’s landing site on the moon.
- Commodore Charles Morgan is called the “Father of the Houston Ship Channel” for his efforts in developing the ship channel.
- Washburn Tunnel, below the Houston Ship Channel, connects Galena Park with Pasadena. It was completed in 1950, and is the only underwater tunnel in Texas. The tunnel is 3,791 feet long.
- One of the Astrodome’s nicknames is the Can-Do Cathedral.
- Margaret Hunter Kinkaid founded the Kinkaid School in 1906. It is Houston’s oldest coed private school.
- Willie Nelson wrote “Crazy,” “Funny How Time Slips Away,” and “Night Life” when he worked in Pasadena as a D.J. in the 1950s.
- Dan Rather, journalist and former news anchor, attended John H. Reagan High School in the Heights and was a former news director at KHOU. He was the first television reporter to cover the JFK assassination.
Find these and other interesting facts in James Glassman’s The Houstorian Dictionary: An Insider’s Index to Houston.
