As Houston turns 182, let’s take a look back
A first time for everything in the Bayou City
To mark the city’s birthday, here’s a collection of Houston firsts — from the city’s first leader and first rodeo to the first building equipped with air conditioning.
H ouston celebrates a very special milestone today. It’s 182nd birthday. That’s a lot of candles.
Yes, the city that is now the country’s fourth-largest was founded on Aug. 30, 1836, by brothers Augustus C. and John K. Allen when they bought some 8,850 acres of land along a swampy Texas bayou. They couldn’t have predicted what the city would become over the next 180 years, but we’re glad they had the foresight to recognize there was some potential here.
Still, we often wonder what the Allen brothers — who have finally been honored with statues on the front steps of Houston City Hall — would think about today’s Houston.
“What’s with all the mattress stores?” they would likely ask.
It made us think about the developments in the city they founded. With that in mind, here’s a collection of Houston firsts — from the city’s first leader and first rodeo to the first building equipped with air conditioning. Let’s hope this list is a lot longer in another 182 years. First recorded hurricane: Even though it wasn’t an official city at that point, a massive hurricane hit Galveston Island on Sept. 4, 1766. At the time, not many people had settled in the area so damages were sparse. During the next century the island would be struck by 11 major hurricanes.
First mayor: James S. Holman was elected in 1837.
First city hall: Built in 1842 at Old Market Square, it burned down 30 years later. Houston’s current city hall
opened in December 1939.
First railroad: The Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado Railroad began connecting humid Houston to the rest of the country in 1853.
First hospital: St. Joseph’s Infirmary, opened in 1887 by the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, was the city’s first general hospital. First Baptist church: Houston’s First Baptist Church was founded in April 1841 by 16 men and women. First synagogue: Congregation Beth Israel was established in 1854 and opened its first house of worship in 1874 on Franklin Avenue. First bank: The First National Bank was founded in 1866. First telephone: Installed in 1877, its range was only a mile, per reports. First transit system: The Houston City Street Railway Company, established in 1874, used mule-driven street cars. First asphalt street: Downtown’s Franklin Street would become the first in town to get asphalt in 1897.
First car: The first car rolled through Houston in 1897. Had we have known the changes the next century would bring, we might have kept them all out. By 1901 the Houston Left Hand Fishing Club would purchase the first car in Houston. No doubt. it was in no time that the Olds Motors Works product required a realignment job.
First philanthropist: George H. Hermann, philanthropist and Houston native, donated the land for Hermann Park and left an endowment for the construction of Hermann Hospital. Additionally his estate donated the land for Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
First park: In 1872, the Rev. Jack Yates and his congregation raised $1,000 to put down on 10 acres for their Juneteenth celebration; they named it Emancipation Park.
First university: Rice University was Houston’s first institute of higher learning. Rice Owls can thank William Marsh Rice for the school. Classes began in 1912.
First completely air-conditioned building: Second National Bank in 1923.
First air-conditioned room: The Rice Hotel cafeteria in 1922 was the place to get a bite in the comfortable , cool air.
First skyscraper: The Niels Esperson Building, located at 808 Travis, opened as the city’s first skyscraper in 1927. It still stands today and is known for its Italian Renaissance architecture.
First airport: William P. Hobby Airport opened in 1927 as W.T. Carter Field.
First television station: KLEE, later known as KPRC (Channel 2), signed on in 1949. KPRC also would handle Houston’s first color broadcast in 1954.
First public television station: KUHT (Channel 8) was dedicated in June 1953. Soon “Sesame Street” and “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” would be beamed into the homes of little Houstonians. First Tex-Mex restaurant: Original Mexican Restaurant, opened in 1907 at 807 Fannin, was the first of its kind to be listed in the city directory. First barbecue pitmaster: A man named William Graham ran a barbecue stand at 1115 Travis that was in a 1902 city directory. First museum of fine arts: The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston was opened in 1924. It also would was the first museum of its kind in Texas.
First radio station: WKEV-AM was first licensed to the Hurlburt-Still Electrical Co. in 1922 and operated from a garage on the corner of McKinney and San Jacinto streets. It would fold in 1924 and soon KPRC-AM would take over radio in Houston. First professional baseball team: The Houston Buffaloes, previously known as the Houston Babies, began play in 1888. First World Series Championship: In case you missed it, the Houston Astros won the World Series in 2017. First Super Bowl hosting gig: Super Bowl VIII was held in January 1974 at Rice Stadium.
First rodeo: The Houston Fat Stock Show and Livestock Exposition was held at the Sam Houston Hall in downtown Houston in April 1932. It moved to the Astrodome in 1966. First zoo resident: The first animal at the Houston Zoo’s original Sam Houston Park location was a bison named Earl, who took up residence in 1922.