DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker at Allen's Landing tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, every great city has a creation myth, and Houston's involves two brothers, a shallow winding bayou, and a steamboat named Laura. Augustus C. and John K.
Allen — the Allen brothers, and the marker calls them farsighted, which is about as polite a way as you can put it — they looked at Buffalo Bayou, that shallow, winding stretch of water, and they didn't see a problem. They saw the head of navigation. That was their bet.
That was their whole reasoning for planting a city right here. And on January 26, 1837, the steamer Laura docked and proved them at least partially right. Houston had a port.
Ocean-going ships — steamers and sailing vessels both — began loading and unloading freight on this very spot. Right here where you're standing. Or driving past.
Either way, right here. Now, Buffalo Bayou had a secret working in its favor that no amount of shallow water could cancel out: where Buffalo Bayou met White Oak Bayou, nature had carved out a natural turning basin. Small ships of the day could come in, turn around, and head back out.
That confluence was the whole ball game in the early years. The Port of Houston was officially established by the city on June 8, 1841, and from that point forward Houston had one long, stubborn argument with the geography between itself and the Gulf of Mexico. The argument was simple: we need deeper water.
For decades Houston leaned into that argument. Then in 1910, the United States Congress adopted what was called the Houston Plan, where the navigation district and the federal government split the costs of dredging a ship channel all the way from the Gulf to a new turning basin — four point two five miles east of this very spot. That channel brought the world's commerce rolling in, and Houston became one of the largest ports in the nation.
Not bad for a city built on a shallow, winding bayou that most sensible folks would have passed right by. And here's the part that makes it all come full circle — to this day, barges still move freight on up that bayou right into downtown Houston. The Laura docked in 1837.
The water is still working. Some bets just pay out forever.
What the marker says
This Houston City Park, created in 1967, is on the site of Houston's first port, ocean-going ships, both steamers and sailing vessels, loaded and unloaded freight here, beginning with visit of the steamer "Laura," which docked on January 26, 1837. The farsighted Allen brothers, Augustus C. and John K., located their city here primarily because they considered Houston "the head of navigation" on Buffalo Bayou. Although shallow and winding, Buffalo Bayou contributed immeasurably to growth of Houston from its earliest days. The confluence of Buffalo and White Oak bayous provided a natural turning basin for the small ships of the day. The Port of Houston was officially established by the city on June 8, 1841. Over the years Houston has labored for deeper water. In 1910 the United States Congress adopted the "Houston Plan," whereby the navigation district and Federal government shared costs of dredging a ship channel from the Gulf to the present turning basin, 4.25 miles east of this point. This deep water channel brings the world's commerce to one of the largest ports in the nation. However, to this day barges move much freight on up the bayou to downtown Houston.