New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 1, Part 8

Author: Davis, Ellis A.
Publication date: 1926
Publisher: Dallas, Tex. : Texas development bureau, [1926?]
Number of Pages: 1416

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NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

There will be no haphazard work, and no experiment- ing.

The production of oil in Texas to-day is the mar. vel of the civilized world. A few years ago, oil production in the state was considered negligible. Today Texas leads every other state in the American Union, according to Government reports, and the in- dustry is still in its infancy. The coastal fields are new, the territory will not be exhausted for many years to come. The markets of Europe are looking to Texas for their principal supplies of petroleum and its products.

There are now eighteen refineries located on the Ship Channel and in process of location there. These great plants will have a daily capacity, when com- pleted, of 200,000 barrels of oil. Their crude supply will be drawn from pipe lines now serving the coastal fields of Texas and Louisiana, and the North Texas and Oklahoma fields. Mexican crude petro- leum will be brought in tankers from the Tampico fields and those in Venezuela and other Central Am- erican republics. Oil from Mexico is already being shipped to Houston for refining. Terminating on the Channel are now one 8-inch and three 6-inch pipe lines, from the Oklahoma fields. Construction work has begun on two more 8-inch lines. The present daily capacity of 55,000 barrels from Oklahoma and North Texas will soon be increased to 116,000. One of these new lines will come through the Burk- burnett field. Pipe line connections through various coastal fields and Oklahoma give a total capacity of 63,000 barrels of crude oil per day to be refined at local refineries. The storage capacity of steel tanks in the vicinity of Houston is 4,500,000 barrels.

Oil Refineries.

The following oil companies and refineries are already located on the channel:

Refineries: Houston Terminal Oil Co., Deep- water Oil Refineries, Keen & Woolf Oil Co., Sinclair Refining Co., Galena Signal Oil Co., Crown Oil Co., Humble Oil & Refining Co., Great Lakes & Western Refining Co., La Porte Oil & Refining Co., Pay-Tex Petroleum Co., Able Refining Co., Gulf Pipe Line Co. mixing plant), Trans-Atlantic Oil Refining Co.

Other companies having large tank farms and storage facilities on the channel are: The Texas Company, Magnolia Petroleum Company, American Petroleum Company, Clarion Oil Company, Rio Bravo Oil Company and Houston Oil Terminal Com- pany.

Public Wharves.

There are now six public wharves near the turning basin. All have been built within the last three years and are modern in type and construction. They cover a total water frontage of 3649 lineal feet, and a total area of 303,634 square feet. Freight sheds cover 141,023 feet, with 613,611 square feet yet to be covered. These wharves are provided with municipal railway trackage along the water front. Wharf No. 1 has been in operation since November 1915. It was the first to be built. It is now used to handle the business of the South- ern Steamship company's Houston-Philadelphia line The wharf is 647 feet long, with a maximum width of 165 feet, including the aprons. Including the sheds, it covers an area of 76,672 square feet. It has railroad tracks at rear and two tracks at front apron. The storage shed is of solid concrete and fireproof. The four other city wharves are modern

in every particular. The cotton wharf opposite Wharf No. 4, is 800 feet long by 42 feet wide, covering an area of 33,600 square feet. The Man- chester Wharf, two miles down the channel from Wharf No. 1 will, when completed, be 500 feet long, with belt railway connection with main line rail ways. The money for building this wharf has been reserved out of the funds received from Bond sales for the purpose of building the wharf.

The city owns two up-to-date wharves, one at the foot of Baker street, and the other at the South side of Main street. The Baker street wharf is 80

Petroleum Building, One of the Latest Additions to Houston Skyscrapers

feet long by 20 feet wide. The Main street wharf is 552 feet long by 80 feet wide. The Main street wharf contains a storage warehouse 70 feet long and 24 feet wide.

Private Wharves.

Several private corporations which have purchased water frontage for the building of industrial plants and oil refineries, have built their own wharves, and many more of these are in prospect for the im- mediate future. Many of these will be used for receiving and sending oil shipments.

NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

Public Warehouses.

Plans for making the port a concentration point for merchandise and commercial products have been scientifically worked out, and a warehouse contain- ing more than 5 acres of floor space has already been constructed. It is located in the rear of wharf No. 4, and built of concrete. Of the floor space 188,543 square feet is reserved for storage purposes. It is divided into compartments by concrete walls and automatic fire doors, with automatic sprinkler system, power circuits and electric lights. Three railroad tracks are located between the two wings of the building, with two tracks on the outside of the east wing.

Cotton Sheds.

Immediately to the rear of the 800 foot cotton wharf are three cotton sheds, having a total area of 242,898 square feet, with a total storage capacity of 30,000 bales of cotton. Each shed is equipped

The New Medical Arts Building, Built Expressly for the Medi- cal and Dental Profession

with the Fordyce monorail cotton trolley, connecting with the wharf, which transports cotton from the sheds to the ship's side. Each of these cotton sheds is served by two municipal railroad spur tracks running alongside the sheds. Three private cotton warehouses are located on the channel below the turning basin. Cotton is shipped from all sheds and docks to the principal markets of the world.

Public Terminal Facilities.

Probably the greatest public asset connected with the harbor administration is the Municipal Belt Railway, owned and operated by the city of Houston. This road was built in order that terminal facilities of the ship channel might forever remain free from private control. Every industry on the channel stands on an equal footing as regards to terminal privileges.

This city's terminal railway connects with many Industrial plants now in operation, and will eventu-

ally serve every industry on the channel. The city owned railway connects with all the main line rail- ways entering Houston. The road already has 12 miles of trackage on the south side of the channel, including switch yards capable of accomodating 450 railway cars. On the north side of the channel the Belt line owns 157 miles of switch yards accomodat- ing 148 cars. The city owns two 70-ton locomotives with which to operate its railway, also a round- house, for its locomotives. As shipping on the channel increases the belt line terminal will connect with all industrial plants there. It is the pub- lic's safe-guard against private control of the ter- minal facilities of the port.

Free to the World.

The Port of Houston is free to the World, no charges whatever being made against vessels en- tering the harbor. No charges for dockage, wharf- age, or berthing are made. This affords ships com- ing here a tremendous advantage. The expense of maintaining the municipal wharves and docks is maintained by the taxpayers of Houston. All other South Texas ports, including Galveston, Texas City, Beaumont, Port Arthur and Orange, assess port charges. So does New Orleans and Mobile. This is made possible through municipal ownership and control of the port. Charges for piloting vessels up the channel are exceedingly reasonable. When a vessel has once entered the channel the charge for piloting is $2.50 per foot of vessel draft one way. Fresh water for ships is supplied by the city at fif- teen cents per thousand gallons.

Other Harbors Not Free.

Galveston harbor makes the following charges against vessels entering her harbor: Vessels of 2,000 net tons and under 3,000 tons, $125; vessels of 3,000 tons and under 5,000 tons, $150; vessels of 5,000 tons and over $175.

New Orleans bases her charges on the gross ton- nage of the vessels per day, charging 3 cents per ton for the first day and going down a gradual scale to one cent per ton for six days of the vessel's stay. Charges then cease until the 22nd day, when one cent is charged per ton until the 26th day, when the scale for the first week again becomes effective. The true spirit of Southern hospitality is exemplified in the management of Houston's splendid harbor.

Numerous Industrial Sites.

There is room on the water front for thousands of industrial plants. The distance from the Turning Basin to Morgan's Point is 25 miles. The water frontage on both sides of the Channel is available for building purposes, giving 50 miles of water front- age. This land is lower in price than any other deep water frontage in America. As industries develop the municipal railway will be connected with them and the eighteen main line railways that radiate in every direction from Houston.

Steamers are now plying between Houston and Philadelphia, and oil tankers bring cargoes from the Tampico oil fields of Mexico. The Ward Line steamers have applied for the privilege of opening a line between Houston and Central American ports.

Ship Building Industry.

Two ship building plants have been in operation on the Ship Channel since August, 1917. They are the Universal and the Midland yards. The Universal plant has built nine 3,500 ton Ferris type wooden ships. The last one to be built under government

NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

contract will be completed by the end of the present month. This yard is now negotiating for ships to be built under private contract at the Universal plant here.

The Midland yards have launched eight 3,500 ton wooden vessels and two 2,500 ton barges. All these ships have been built for the United States Merchant Marine. The vessels are being chartered to private corporations by the government, and are especially desirable for coastwise and South American trade. The ships are of the type best suited to coast waters, although they are excellent carriers for Trans-At- lantic service.

Considerable interest has been shown in ship building as a permanent industry here. Conditions are ideal and materials abundant. A local organiza- tion has been formed also to build concrete ships and barges in the channel. The Gulf district of the United States Shipping Board has built a total of 56 vessels, with a total tonnage of 205,400 during the past two years.

Growth in Population.

In 1880 Houston was a village of 16,513 inhabi- tants. The next decennial period showed an increase in population of 67 per cent; the next census showed an increase of 62 per cent. The period from 1900 to 1910 showed 79 per cent increase, giving the total at 78,800. The present population of Houston (met- ropolitan area) is 230,500, a phenomenal increase since the last census was taken. It will be noted that the increase during the last ten year period far ex- ceeds that of any other period of the past. The great- est increase has been during the latter part of the present ten year period, or since the Houston Ship Channel has been open to navigation. It is safe to predict that the 1930 census will show more than half a million people within the municipal limits of Houston.

Leading Financial Center.

Houston is the recognized financial center of the Southwest. There are sixteen banks and trust com- panies operating here, including the Federal Farm Land Bank, and an important branch of the Eleventh District Federal Reserve Bank. The Federal Re- serve Bank Branch was opend August, 1919. The Federal Farm Land Bank has been in operation for eight years. During that time it has made many loans on farm properties, aggregating $132,000,000. The money represented by these loans has gone into farm improvements and the purchase of the farm homes for former tenants. The institution has given an added stimulus to homebuilding on the land and to the development of the agricultural resources of the state.

Houston's annual bank clearings for 1925 were $1,765,968,080. For 1924 bank clearings were $1,578,- 359,500. The increase for 1925 was $187,608,580.

The branch of the Federal Reserve Bank located here will facilitate the handling of loans and banks in South Texas. The Federal Reserve Bank loans its money to banks only, on what is known as "Re- discount" notes. A member's bank takes the note of its customer, with security attached, to the Fed- eral Reserve Bank and gets Federal Currency, equal in amount to the value of the note. This currency

circulates as money, but is retired from circulation when the original note on which it was issued has been paid.

The total capitalization of Houston banks and trust companies is $17,500,000 and their total re- sources $160,000,000. The total deposits are approx- imately $135,000,000.

South's Greatest Cotton Market.

Houston is the largest inland cotton port in the world. This is the shipping point for a million bales of cotton per year. This supply is drawn from Texas, Oklahoma and parts of Louisiana and Arkan- sas. There are eight large cotton compresses lo- cated here with a combined storage capacity of 600,000 bales. Seventy local firms are engaged in the cotton trade and ship to all the cotton markets of the world. Storage facilities have been provided on the Ship Channel also, and the cotton is shipped from Houston's wharves to the world's leading mar- kets at a tremendous saving in rates over any other port.

Enormous Lumber Trade.

Houston has a lumber trade of more than three billion feet per year. This brings an annual revenue of $75,000,000. Lumber is shipped to all parts of the world. More than a score of large lumber yards are located here, drawing their supplies from their own mills, located in the interior of the state. Vast timber reserves are still available, and local dealers entered into competition with the lumber manufac- turers of Europe for building materials to be used in rebuilding cities of France and other countries of continental Europe.

South American Trade.

South and Central American Republics have evi- denced a desire to increase their trade relations with Texas, and an extension of foreign trade is one of the activities of the immediate future of Houston. Before the war, American merchants were handi- capped by lack of ships, but the new Merchant Ma- rine will meet their problem. The 56 vessels built on the Gulf Coast alone, when put into foreign trade service through the Houston Ship Channel, will build up vast shipping trade with Mexico and the Pan- American Republics. The vessels are suited to carry- ing all kinds of cargoes, except crude oil, which will continue to be shipped in tankers. With an abund- ance of raw materials, including fibers and hard- woods, from Mexico, South and Central America manufacturing plants will be built here to work them into finished products and merchandise cargoes sent back in exchange. Thus a vast volume of trade will be built up. Ships for carrying this trade are the first essential, and now the ships are available for the first time in our history.

Growth of Industries.

No other American city affords such splendid facilities for manufacturing. The Ship Channel offers cheap factory sites on deep water frontage. Fuel is cheap and abundant. There are now 514 factories of different kinds located here, represent- ing an investment of $57,000,000. New factories are seeking locations here constantly and the already large list is being rapidly increased. The annual production of Houston's factories is $75,000,000.

HISTORY OF HOUSTON By the HOUSTON POST

I TS site selected by its founder because of its strategic situation at the head of navigation on Buffalo Bayou, Houston was destined from its foundation to become a great commercial city and from the day of its birth it has steadily pro- gressed toward its present position as the metropolis of the Southern half of the state and second, if not indeed first, in population among the cities of Texas.

From the little party of a half dozen men who occupied four days in laboriously navigating Buffalo Bayou from Harrisburg to the junction of that stream with White Oak Bayou at the point opposite

Houston Post-Dispatch Building, corner Texas Avenue and Fannin Street

what is now the foot of Main Street and who laid out and settled Houston, to the present population of approximately 230,000, is far cry, but those men in that boat came with the definite purpose of establishing just such a city. They had visions of a city equal to what Houston is today, and they set about establishing and building that city with a faith and courage that was remarkable.

Houston has a marvelous history in that it has followed very largely the plans of development laid out for it by its founders, A. C. and J. K. Allen, the two New York promoters who founded the city, saw the advantages of its location and their first ad- vertisement of town lots in Houston reads more like history than prophecy by realty promoters. For once, a promoter's dreams have come true.

In that first advertisement of Houston, printed in the Columbia Telegraph on August 26, 1836,

shortly after the town had been surveyed, the Allen brothers predicted that Houston would necessarily become a great trading and transportational center, because it had the advantages of communication

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Looking South on Main Street at Preston, 1883

with foreign countries through the bayou and with the interior of the republic by means of the trails. They declared that Houston would become the great "commercial emporium of Texas," and suggested it as the seat of government for the republic.

The Allen brothers bought the original site of Houston, which consisted of half a league granted to John Austin and comprised sixty blocks in what is now the business district, for the sum of $5,000, from Mrs. T. F. L. Parratt. They had tried to buy a site at Harrisburg, but were asked exorbitant prices, and decided to come further up the bayou for a site.

Gail Borden, who later invented condensed milk, made the survey and drew the maps of the new townsite in 1836. The streets in the old part of the

TINGS

Main Street View Looking North From Mckinney

town were given the names they bear now, with two or three exceptions, the original Milton street having been changed to LaBranch to honor Alcee LaBranch, United States Charge de Affairs, who was the first

NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

minister to announce the recognition of Texas as a republic, and Homer being changed to Austin in honor of Stephen F. Austin.

John Allen, who selected the townsite right after the battle of San Jacinto, designated a certain street Railroad Street, with the expectation that some day a railroad would enter the new town. His prophecy was literally fulfilled, as the H. & T. C. tracks now traverse that street.

The site for the capitol building was originally designated on the map as the block just across from the present Rice hotel, but the capitol was actually built in 1837, two years after founding of the town, on the corner occupied by the eighteen story Rice hotel building. The congress of Texas, in session at Columbia, December 15, 1836, voted to move the capital of the Republic to Houston and the seat of government was actually moved here May 1, 1837, and the county seat was moved from Harrisburg shortly afterwards. So from its beginning Houston has been an important seat of government. The capital was removed to Austin in 1839.

The first settlers lived in tents and log shacks, but the town grew rapidly. The first hotel was a log structure at the corner of Travis and Franklin , the site now occupied by the Southern Pacific building, and formerly for many years by the Hutchens House, a famous hostelry. The Cherokee Indians lived on the north side, but never disturbed the Houston settlers, as General Houston had been a Cherokee chief and they were friendly toward the whites here. On occasion they came over from what is now the Fifth Ward to confer with the General and to trade.

A dense forest covered the site and the Allen's marked the trees with their knives, which were to be felled to clear a path for Main Street, and later other streets were cleared. Stumps remained in them for years. Showing how Houston has grown

First Capitol of Texas at Columbia, Brazoria County, Where October 3, 1836, Congress Met-October 22, 1836, Sam Houston Assumed Office as President, Mirabeau B. Lamar Vice-President and Stephen F. Austin, Secretary of State

along original lines, the Allen's marked block 31 for the Court House, and the present $500,000 edi- fice occupies that block today as have its prede- cessors, while the City Hall occupies the block marked on the original map as Congress Square.

There was much fighting, drinking and carousing and much crime, but the town prospered and grew in spite of the fact that it was an isolated settle- ment in the midst of a dense wilderness hard to reach even by water. But being the seat of govern- ment, and a strategic trading point, people came in rapidly. In 1839 there were 3,000 people with property values of $2,405,865, which figures seem

to have been padded, while in 1842 the population was 5,000 and in that year 2,460 bales of cotton were exported. In 1841 Houston was made a port and a long task of impro ing the bayou for navigation was begun.

The first court house and jail was built in 1837, and were log structures and the first legal instru- ment recorded was a deed to the lot now occupied

Sam Houston Monument, Located at the Entrance to Hermann Park

by the store of William D. Cleveland & Son. Hous- ton has had seven successive court houses.

The city was incorporated in 1837 and the first mayor was Dr. Frances Moore, Jr., who was editor of the Telegraph, which had been moved to Houston from Columbia by the Bordens who had been pub- lishing it first at San Felipe and then at Columbia. Houston has had a long line of mayors who have advanced the interests of the city. The adoption of the commission form of government in 1903 under Mayor Rice was one of the most notable events in the history of the city government.

The first marriage license issued in Houston was by Clark De Witt C. Harris to Hugh McCrory and Miss Mary Smith. After Mr. McCrory's death, Mrs. McCrory married Dr. Anson Jones, last president of the republic, and she died in Houston in 1907. Although it was dangerous to be a Mason in terri- tory belonging to or adjacent to Mexico, Masonry preceded even the churches to Houston and in 1837 Holland Lodge, the mother of Masonic Lodges in Texas, was organized in Houston, and was followed in 1839 by the formation of a Temple Lodge. From that beginning the Masonic lodge has grown to its present great proportions in Texas.

Preachers gave Houston a wide berth for some time after it was founded, no resident minister hav- ing been in the city until it had 3,000 population. Rev. Littletown Fowler, the noted Methodist pioneer,

NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TEXAS

was elected chaplain of the senate in 1837 and paid visits to the city frequently. He obtained a gift from the Allens of lots on Texas Avenue between Travis and Milam for a church site, and it became the location of the Shearn Methodist Church, the original Methodist Church in Houston, the forerun- ner of the present First Methodist Church and the mother of all Houston Methodist churches, of which there are now seventeen. The old site is now oc- cupied by the Chronicle Building and Palace Theatre.

The Allens also gave the Presbyterians a site at Capitol and Main upon which lot the first Presby- terian Church was built, which was the forerunner of the Presbyterian churches in the city.

Christ Episcopal Church was founded in 1839 and occupied the site occupied by the present building at Texas and Fannin, the First Baptist Church was established in 1841 and the first Catholic Church, known as the Church of the Annunciation, in 1841. New churches have been built, until now there are 75 churches for whites and a large number for negroes in the city.

There was always a sentiment for education in Houston and various private schools were conducted until in 1877, when the Houston Academy was fail- ing, a public school system was established by the city, in spite of strong opposition from those who feared public schools would be used for political purposes. H. H. Smith was the first superintendent of public schools, and he was followed by Superin- tendents E. N. Clopper, E. E. Burnett, Foute, J. E. Down, W. S. Sutton, P. W. Horn, R. B. Cousins and E. E. Obenholtzer. In 1887 the public schools began with 617 white pupils and 618 negroes or a toal of 1,235 pupils, scattered in 14 small buildings. Today there are 35,000 pupils and 1,000 teachers, with buildings valued at 8,000,000.00. A number of new buildings are now in course of construction.

Rice Institute, the seventh richest educational in- stitution in America, and the gift of the late William Marsh Rice, was opened to students in 1912. It has an endowment of $14,000,000, which has grown from the original fund of $200,000 given by Mr. Rice in 1891 for the establishment of the school. He grad- ually increased his gifts until at the time of his death he had placed at the disposal of the board of trustees over a million dollars. After the litigation over his fortune, the Institute received in all about $5,000,000 which has increased its value to its pres- ent figure. Work on the buildings which occupy a campus of 300 acres three miles west of the Rice Ho- tel, was begun in 1910 and the corner stone of the ad- ministration building was laid in 1911 on March 2, the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Independence of Texas.

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New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 1, Part 8

Author: Davis, Ellis A. Publication date: 1926 Publisher: Dallas, Tex. : Texas development bureau, [1926?] Number of Pages: 1416

Author: Davis, Ellis A.
Publication date: 1926
Publisher: Dallas, Tex. : Texas development bureau, [1926?]
Number of Pages: 1416