In 1836, the Allen Brothers had no way of knowing about oil and the great wealth it would one day bring, nor did they have any way of knowing about space travel and exploration, but the little community they started on the banks of Buffalo Bayou would one day become a leader in each of these fields. The city was named after General Sam Houston, who led the charge at the Battle of San Jacinto.

Through all these years, Houston has survived through determination, luck and a willingness to try the "impossible" until it became possible. Today, it is the fourth largest city in the U.S. with all the good and bad that go with it. Houston is a huge city with interesting points to visit in almost any portion of it. Near the downtown area is the Houston Heights, one of the oldest residential areas of Houston. To its east and southeast are the refineries in places like Deer Park, LaPorte and Pasadena. To its south is Clear Lake, the home of NASA's Johnson Space Center, beyond that, the coastal plain that ends at water's edge, the Gulf of Mexico. To the west of Houston, following Interstate 10 or old US Highway 90 are towns with names like Katy (named for the Missouri, Kansas, Texas Railroad called the Katy), Brookshire and Sealy. These are small towns so typical of Texas charm and hospitality. To the north are Conroe, Willis, New Waverly and Huntsville.

The Houston Heights is a showplace of Victorian homes that have been restored to near new appearances. This old neighborhood was originally arranged to house the affluent as well as the working class, judging by the homes here. It was here that a young man, with the help of his father, built a soapbox racer. It was from Houston that this man built his reputation as a race car driver. That young boy was A.J. Foyt.
	A Heights Jogging Path. (click to enlarge)
On Nineteenth Street in the Heights is an old movie theatre that was sometimes visited by Bonnie and Clyde. On Washington Avenue, east of Heights Boulevard was a bank, the Heights State Bank, they supposedly once, only briefly, did business with! Today, it is the nightclub, Rockefeller's Hall. On Blair Street, located to the east of Shepherd Drive, near the railroad tracks, once stood an old recording studio. In the sixties a young man named Billy Joe Thomas entered here and emerged with a budding career.
	Rockefeller's Hall . (Click to enlarge)

Visit Houston's Forbidden Gardens, located at 23500 Franz Road in West Houston, the Katy area. It is a 1:20 scale replica of the famous Forbidden City in Beijing, China which boasts over 800 buildings, 9,000 rooms and an army of terracotta soldiers!

Visit Page 2 to learn about historic Glenwood Cemetery and other interesting facts.

Accomodations:

 FACTS:

Did you know that General George Armstrong Custer and his wife lived in Texas following the Civil War? For approximately two months the Custers lived on the Liendo Plantation, located east of nearby Hempstead, Texas. The site is marked with a Texas State Historical Marker located on Wyatt's Chapel Road, a mile south of Highway 1488.