Houston's Deep-Water Port

AS EARLY AS THE 1820s, SHIPS BEGAN USING BUFFALO BAYOU TO CONNECT HARRISBURG, NOW PART OF HOUSTON, TO GALVESTON BAY AND THE GULF OF MEXICO. AS MORE PEOPLE CAME TO HOUSTON, TRAFFIC AND COMMERCE ALONG THE BAYOU GREW AND THE NEED FOR A DEEPER WATERWAY BECAME APPARENT. AFTER CHARLES STEWART, U.S. CONGRESSMAN FROM HOUSTON, BROUGHT ATTENTION TO THE NEED FOR WORK ALONG THE BAYOU IN THE 1880s, U.S. REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPH C. HUTCHESON CHAMPIONED A BILL ALLOWING FOR THE COMMITTEE ON RIVERS AND HARBORS TO SURVEY THE WATERWAY. CONGRESSMAN THOMAS BALL LED THE DELEGATION ON THE SURVEY TOUR AND THEY AGREED THAT HOUSTON WAS DESTINED TO BE A SEAPORT. THE DESTRUCTION OF GALVESTON’S PORT DURING THE GREAT STORM OF 1900 CREATED INCREASED PRESSURE FOR A LARGER AND SAFER INLAND DEEP-WATER PORT.

DURING THE EARLY 1900s, THOMAS BALL TRIED TO CONVINCE CONGRESS TO SUPPORT FULLY A DEEP-WATER PORT FOR HOUSTON. BUSINESS AND CIVIC LEADERS JOINED FORCES IN 1909, ALLOWING BALL TO PROPOSE THE “HOUSTON PLAN,” IN WHICH LOCAL CONSTITUENTS OFFERED TO PAY HALF THE COST OF THE DEEP-WATER DREDGING. CONGRESS ACCEPTED THE OFFER AND THIS COST-SHARING AGREEMENT SET A PRECEDENT FOR FUNDING OF FUTURE FEDERAL PROJECTS. WORK BEGAN IN 1912 AND THE 52-MILE-LONG DEEP-WATER CHANNEL OFFICIALLY OPENED ON NOVEMBER 10, 1914. BY 1919, HOUSTON WAS THE SECOND-LARGEST SPOT COTTON EXPORT PORT IN THE U.S., WITH EXPORTS GROWING EXPONENTIALLY EACH YEAR DURING THE 1920s. BUSINESS ALONG THE PORT GREW, BRINGING NEW INDUSTRIES SUCH AS PAPER MILLS, MOTOR FUEL REFINERIES AND THE FIRST CONTAINER TERMINAL ALONG THE TEXAS GULF COAST. HOUSTON’S DEEP-WATER PORT TRANSFORMED A FLEDGLING COMMUNITY INTO AN INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED CENTER OF COMMERCE.