The
Port of Houston is the
port||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||-|}A port is a facility for receiving ships and/or transferring cargo. It is usually found at the edge of an ocean, sea, river, or lake. The best ports have deep water in channels or berths, and protection from the wind and waves...
of
Houston, TexasHouston is the fourth-largest city in the United States and the largest city within the state of Texas. As of the 2008 U.S. Census estimate, the city has a population of 2.2 million within an area of 600 square miles . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of...
, the fourth-largest city in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The Port is a 25-mile-long complex of diversified public and private facilities located a few hours' sailing time from the
Gulf of MexicoThe Gulf of Mexico is the ninth largest body of water in the world. Considered a smaller part of the Atlantic Ocean, it is an ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United...
. It is the busiest port in the United States in terms of foreign tonnage, second-busiest in the United States in terms of overall tonnage, and
tenth-busiest in the world.
The
Port of Houston is the
port||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||-|}A port is a facility for receiving ships and/or transferring cargo. It is usually found at the edge of an ocean, sea, river, or lake. The best ports have deep water in channels or berths, and protection from the wind and waves...
of
Houston, TexasHouston is the fourth-largest city in the United States and the largest city within the state of Texas. As of the 2008 U.S. Census estimate, the city has a population of 2.2 million within an area of 600 square miles . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of...
, the fourth-largest city in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The Port is a 25-mile-long complex of diversified public and private facilities located a few hours' sailing time from the
Gulf of MexicoThe Gulf of Mexico is the ninth largest body of water in the world. Considered a smaller part of the Atlantic Ocean, it is an ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United...
. It is the busiest port in the United States in terms of foreign tonnage, second-busiest in the United States in terms of overall tonnage, and
tenth-busiest in the world.
The port is made up of the
port authorityIn Canada and the United States a port authority is a governmental or quasi-governmental public authority for a special-purpose district usually formed by a legislative body...
and the 150-plus private industrial companies along the
Houston Ship ChannelThe Houston Ship Channel in Houston, Texas is part of the Port of Houston — one of the United States's busiest sea ports.The channel is a conduit for ocean going vessels between the the city of Houston and the Gulf of Mexico. The channel is a widened and deepened natural watercourse created by...
and
Galveston BayGalveston Bay is a large estuary located along the upper coast of Texas, United States. It is connected to the Gulf of Mexico and is surrounded by sub-tropic marshes and prairies on the mainland...
; many oil companies have built refineries on the channel where they are protected from the
Gulf of MexicoThe Gulf of Mexico is the ninth largest body of water in the world. Considered a smaller part of the Atlantic Ocean, it is an ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United...
. The petrochemical complex associated with the Port of Houston is one of the largest in the world.
History
The original Port of Houston was located at the confluence of
Buffalo BayouBuffalo Bayou is a main waterway flowing through Houston, in Harris County, Texas, USA. It begins on the west side of the county near Katy, Texas and flows approximately east to the Houston Ship Channel and then into Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico...
and
White Oak BayouWhite Oak Bayou is one of the several waterways that give Houston, Texas, its popular nickname, "The Bayou City." The Bayou originates northwest of FM 1960, near Highway 6 and U.S...
in downtown Houston by the . This area is called "
Allen's LandingAllen's Landing is the birthplace of Houston, Texas. In August 1836, just months after the Republic of Texas won its independence from Mexico, two brothers from New York, John Kirby Allen and Augustus Chapman Allen, purchased 6,642 acres in the...
" and is now a park. It is the birthplace of the City of Houston.
Shipping points grew at multiple locations on the Buffalo Bayou including the port of Harrisburg (now part of Houston) and the docks on the
Allen RanchThe Allen Ranch, or Sam Allen Ranch, was one of the first and longest running ranches in the history of the state of Texas in the United States. The ranch was started a few years after the Texas Revolution in what is now southeast Houston and Pasadena...
. By the end of the
19th centuryThe 19th century was a period in history marked by the collapse of the Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Ottoman, Holy Roman and Mughal empires...
Buffalo Bayou had become a major
shipping channelA ship channel can be an artificial or dredged waterway for moving ship traffic. A ship channel can also be a channel formed through surface ice by a ship.Several waterways are referred to as the Ship Channel* Houston Ship Channel...
with traffic beginning to rival Galveston.
The citizens of
Harris CountyHarris County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. As of 2000 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 3,400,578 , making it the most populous county in Texas and the third most populous county in the United States...
approved creation of the modern port in 1909, believing that an inland port would better serve the region after the destructive Galveston Hurricane of 1900. President
Woodrow WilsonThomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States. A leading intellectual of the Progressive Era, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
officially opened the port to traffic as the World Port of Houston and Buffalo Bayou on November 10, 1914. Early supporters would prove to be correct; the port has grown to be one of the world's largest, while the nearby
Port of GalvestonThe Port of Galveston is the port of the city of Galveston, Texas. It was established by a proclamation issued by the Congress of Mexico on October 17, 1825, while the land known today as Texas was still part of Mexico. The Port of Galveston is the oldest port in the Gulf of Mexico west of New...
has dwindled in significance.
The port today
Approximately 215 million tons of cargo moved through the Port in 2005, about half of which was containerized cargo. The Port has three separate terminals dedicated to the handling of cargo containers: Barbours Cut (the first terminal specifically designed for these shipments), Galveston East End (leased from the Port of Galveston, the Port's long-time rival), and Bayport (opened in October 2006).
The Port offers a 90-minute free cruise aboard the
M/V Sam Houston, details of which can be found on its website. Since the Houston Ship Channel is closed to recreational traffic, this is the only means by which the general public can view port operations, and thus the tours are highly popular. Tours are available daily except on Mondays, holidays, and the entire month of September (when the vessel undergoes maintenance).
Most
VolkswagenThe Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft , also known as Volkswagen Group or as VW, is an automobile manufacturer and mobility organisation based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany and is the pioneer brand within the Volkswagen Group, which contains the car brands Audi AG, Bentley Motors Ltd.,...
(and
AudiAUDI AG, is a German company which produces luxury cars under the Audi brand, . It is part of the Volkswagen Group. The name Audi is based on a Latin translation of the surname of the founder August Horch, itself the German word for “listen!"Audi is headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany.It...
) automobiles sold in
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
pass through the port of Houston.
The Port is operated by the Port of Houston Authority, an independent political subdivision of the State of Texas. The Authority is governed by a seven-member Commission. The City of Houston and the Harris County Commissioners Court each appoint two commissioners; these two governmental entities also jointly appoint the chairman of the Port Commission. The Harris County Mayors & Councils Association and the City of
PasadenaPasadena is a city south of Houston in Harris County, Texas within the metropolitan area. It is the second largest city in the county, 15th largest in the state and 159th largest in the United States, next to its namesake city, Pasadena, California, the 160th largest. The area was founded in 1893...
each appoint one commissioner. Daily operations are overseen by an Executive Director who serves at the will of the Commission.
Trade data
- Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
32%
- Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish, Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,501 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
23%
- Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
16%
- North America
North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
12%
- Middle East
The Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, southeastern Europe, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East...
9%
- Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
8%
List of Firsts
Despite being one of the youngest major Ports in the world (the Port will not reach its 100th birthday until 2014) it has already racked up an impressive list of firsts.
See the pdf file for the full list of accomplishments.
Most notable firsts include:
- The first port to be built with Federal funds and local matching funds, thus guaranteeing local support (every Port since 1910 has had a local match requirement)
- The first direct shipment of cotton
Cotton is a soft, staple fiber that grows in a form known as a boll around the seeds of the cotton plant, a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, India and Africa. The fiber most often is spun into yarn or thread and used to make a soft,...
to EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
(November 1919 via the M/V Merry Mount)
- The first container cargo ship (April/May 1956 via the Ideal X)
- The first double-stack container train (1981)
- When the Baytown Tunnel was removed in 1997 to allow deepening and widening of the Houston Ship Channel (it was replaced by the Fred Hartman Bridge
The Fred Hartman Bridge or Baytown Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge in the U.S. state of Texas. It spans the Houston Ship Channel and carries State Highway 146 between the cities of Baytown, Texas and La Porte, Texas ....
), it was the largest tunnel so removed (35' diameter by 1,041' length) without closing the Channel, losing time due to accidents, or impacting the navigational safety of the Port.
- The first Port to conduct air emissions testing of its off-road equipment (2000)
- The first Port to meet ISO 14001 standards for environmental excellence (2002), and the first Port to be recertified to ISO 14001 standards (2004)
External links