Houston

About Houston

Houston is the largest city in Texas and the fourth largest in the United States, spread across the flat coastal plain about 50 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. It was founded in 1836 by the Allen brothers on the banks of Buffalo Bayou and named for Sam Houston, the hero of Texas independence, who served as president of the young Republic of Texas while the town was briefly its capital. The discovery of oil at nearby Spindletop in 1901 and the opening of the Houston Ship Channel in 1914 turned the city into a world center of energy, shipping and industry.

Today Houston has more than 2.3 million residents and is one of the most diverse cities in the country, with no single majority group and large Mexican, Vietnamese, Nigerian, Indian and Chinese communities. That mix shows in its celebrated food scene, from Tex-Mex and barbecue to Viet-Cajun crawfish and the restaurants of Chinatown along Bellaire Boulevard. The Texas Medical Center is the largest medical complex in the world, and NASA's Johnson Space Center, home of Mission Control, has made "Houston" the first word spoken from the Moon.

Visitors find far more culture than many expect. The Museum District has 19 museums within walking distance, including the Museum of Fine Arts, the Houston Museum of Natural Science and the Menil Collection with the Rothko Chapel. The Theater District downtown is one of the largest in the nation, and Hermann Park, Buffalo Bayou Park and Discovery Green offer green space in the heart of the city. Sports fans can catch the Astros at Daikin Park, the Texans at NRG Stadium and the famous Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo each spring, while Space Center Houston and Galveston's beaches lie less than an hour to the southeast.