The Port of Houston is an inland port on Texas' Gulf of Mexico coast. It is linked to the Gulf by the Houston Ship Channel and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway at the Port of Galveston, which is about 20 nautical miles to the south-southeast across Galveston Bay. The Port of Houston is about 190 nautical miles northeast of the Texas Port of Corpus Christi and almost 500 kilometers west-southwest of the Port of New Orleans in Louisiana. For a couple of years, it was the capital of the Republic of Texas. Lying about 17 meters above sea level on the flat coastal plains, the Port of Houston is the biggest city in the State, and it is the fourth most populous city in the United States. In 2007, over 2.2 million people lived in the Port of Houston, and more than 5.6 million called the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown metropolitan area home.

The Port of Houston ranks first in US international commerce, and it is the world's tenth largest port. The Port of Houston is the main port in the State of Texas, in addition to being a major center for the worldwide oil and petrochemical industries and for aerospace and biomedical research and development. Perhaps the energy capital of the world, the Port of Houston is home to the US headquarters for several super-major energy companies that include ConocoPhillips, Exxon-Mobil, Shell Oil, and BP. It is ConocoPhillips' international headquarters. The Chevron Pipe Line Company is headquartered there, as are Marathon Oil Corporation, Apache Corporation, and Citgo. Not surprisingly, the Port of Houston is also a center for the construction of oilfield and petrochemical equipment.

Rice, cotton, and cattle are also important to the Port of Houston economy. Renewable (wind and solar) energy is a growing sector in the Port of Houston economy. In 2008, the Port of Houston had one of the lowest unemployment rates in the world (3.8% in April). The Port of Houston is home to 89 consular offices and 23 chambers of commerce representing foreign governments who have trade and commercial relations in the area. In 2008, the Port of Houston ranked second on the Fortune 500 list of company headquarters, ranked first on Forbes' list of the Best Cities for College Graduates, and first on Forbes' list of Best Cities to Buy a Home.

Before Europeans arrived on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico in what would become the Port of Houston, the Bidais and Akokisa peoples camped and traded at Buffalo Bayou. For many years, Spaniards and the French traded with these indigenous peoples without settling there.

In the 1820s, a new European settlement was established at Buffalo Bayou that would eventually become the Port of Houston. Called Harrisburg, it was located today's Ship Channel, and it was a busy shipping center for the time. In 1836, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna burned the infant Port of Houston settlement down as his Mexican troops advanced to engage in Sam Houston and the Texas army in the Battle of San Jacinto.

A week after the Port of Houston was burned, Santa Anna was captured by the Texans, and the new Republic of Texas was born. That year, land speculators Augustus and John Allen from New York purchased a site near the ruins of Harrisburg. They advertised the site as holding great promise as a "interior commercial emporium" for Texas. John Allen talked the first Republic of Texas Congress into moving to the settlement, which he promptly named after the Republic's first elected President, Sam Houston. The status of capital lasted only two years from 1837 to 1939.

The area of the Port of Houston was swampy and plagued with yellow fever. The town grew slowly for many years. The first dock was built in the Port of Houston in 1840. The first railroad came to the Port of Houston in 1853, bringing people and commerce to the struggling settlement. Confederate blockade runners made the Port of Houston a refuge during the American Civil War. Union forces took nearby Galveston Island briefly in 1862, but the Confederates soon recaptured the island.

In 1863, the Port of Houston became headquarters for the Confederate Trans-Mississippi Department that included Texas and the New Mexico territory). After the Civil War, racial segregation and conflict grew in the Port of Houston community. By 1869, efforts to deepen and widened Buffalo Bayou (now part of the Houston Ship Channel) had begun.

Through the latter half of the 19th Century, the Port of Houston grew as a center for the railroads in the area. When a terrible hurricane and flood destroyed Galveston in 1900, the Port of Houston surfaced as Texas' leading port. In 1901, oil was discovered in the area, bringing rapid industrial development and expansion of the city as the Port of Houston moved from an economy based largely on cotton and lumber to one based on petroleum. In the 1920s and 1930s, many oil refineries appeared after the Houston Ship Channel was finished in 1914. The Port of Houston ship channel was officially opened in late 1914 in an elaborate ceremony attended by then-President Woodrow Wilson. The Mayor's daughter sprinkled white roses on the water to christen the Port of Houston.

The Port of Houston's shipbuilding and petrochemical industries brought it to prominence during World War II. After the war ended, those industries continued to grow in importance for the Port of Houston. In 1948, the city's land area nearly tripled when surrounding areas were annexed. In 1961, the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center was opened about 40 kilometers southeast of the Port of Houston downtown as the command post for US astronauts' flights.

In 1964, President Johnson helped celebrate the Port of Houston's 50th Anniversary by pushing a button in Washington that exploded dynamite and broke the ground for a new dock in the Port of Houston. White roses were again sprinkled on the water to christen the Port of Houston.

In the 1970s, the Port of Houston underwent another economic boom based on the energy sector. As the petroleum industry matured, the Port of Houston grew. By the 1980s, it was the third biggest port in the United States, moving over 80 million tons of cargo per year. Hundreds of companies brought their headquarters to the Port of Houston, and energy was the main pillar of the economy until the oil industry crisis of the mid-1980s. The Port of Houston recovered quickly, but it suffered another economic blow when Enron Corporation collapsed in 2001.

The Port of Houston's rapid growth and expansion in the latter half of the 20th Century brought with them severe air and water pollution problems and the specter of urban sprawl. Flooding was a regular problem in the Port of Houston despite many measures to control it. In 2001, almost two dozen people died as a result of Tropical Storm Allison, which also caused significant property damage and flooding in the Port of Houston. In 2008, Hurricane Ike caused similar damage to property, although it did not take as many lives.

In late 2004, the Port of Houston celebrated its 90th Anniversary, recreating the original christening with white roses while the LaPorte High School band performed the National Anthem and the Harris County Sheriffs gave a 21-gun salute.

The modern Port of Houston is a product of tremendous growth. New high-rise office towers create the skyline. Buildings in the downtown area are connected by air-conditioned inter-connected walkways that help people escape the hot humid summers. The Port of Houston is a culturally diverse city where non-Europeans dominate. Less than half of the city's residents are of European descent. Over 33% are Hispanic, and about 25% are African American. There is also a significant Asian population in the Port of Houston.

The Port of Houston is one of the United State's busiest transportation hubs. In addition to its international commercial port, the city has extensive road, rail, and air connections. The city has two major international airports, and the Port of Houston is the second largest in the country in tonnage handled. The Port of Houston is the focal point for pipeline networks moving petroleum and natural gas. Industries based on refining, oil and gas exploration, petrochemical production, and related machinery manufacturing are critically important to the local economy.

Despite the ever-present petroleum-based industries, the Port of Houston has a diverse economy. High-technology, trade, financial services, and business are important. The Port of Houston is home to a growing medical research and healthcare community, and the Texas Medical Center is the largest single employer in the city. Other important economic sectors include engineering, software, aerospace, electronics, and computer manufacturing. Blessed with natural resources of natural gas, petroleum, sulfur, salt, lime, and water, the region has made the Port of Houston Ship Channel the center of one of the world's most densely concentrated industrial areas.

The Port of Houston is also a cultural and arts center for the southern and southwestern United States. It has its own professional symphony orchestra and professional ballet, theater, and opera companies. Southwest of downtown is a complex of art museums and galleries, the zoological gardens, and science-based museums. The Port of Houston is home to the world-famous Astrodome, the Houston Texans football team, the Astros baseball team, and the Rockets basketball team. Space Center Houston and the Johnson Space Center are popular attractions.

The Port of Houston Authority is autonomous government body created by the Texas Legislature in 1927. In 1909, Harris County voters approved the Port of Houston as the Harris County Houston Ship Channel Navigation District. In 1971, the State Legislature changed the name to the Port of Houston Authority and gave the authority for fire and safety protection on the 80-kilometer Houston Ship Channel.

In 2008, the Port of Houston was the leading port in the United States for foreign tonnage and for imports. It was the second largest port in the country for total tonnage and the seventh largest container port in the US, handling 1.8 million TEUs in 2008. In 2008, over eight thousand ships called at the Port of Houston carrying 225.5 million tons of cargo.

In 2007, the Port of Houston handled 155 million tons of cargo valued at $114.8 billion. The primary cargoes were petroleum and petroleum products (91.4 million tons), organic chemicals (14.9 million tons), iron and steel (8 million tons), natural stone (7 million tons), and cereal and cereal products (5.8 million tons). The major trading partners were Mexico (29.1 million tons), Venezuela (10.6 million tons), Saudi Arabia (8.5 million tons), Algeria (6.2 million tons), and China (5.7 million tons).

In 2007, the Port of Houston handled 93.8 million tons in foreign imports valued at $61 billion. These included petroleum and petroleum products (67.3 million tons), iron and steel (7 million tons), crude fertilizer and minerals (6.8 million tons), organic chemicals (4.9 million tons), and wood and articles of wood (890 thousand tons). The leading sources of imported cargoes included Mexico (21.9 million tons), Venezuela (9 million tons), Saudi Arabia (8.1 million tons), Algeria (5.4 million tons), and China (4.5 million tons).

In 2007, exports of 52.8 million tons valued at $41.9 billion were handled by the Port of Houston. The major exports were petroleum and petroleum products (24.1 million tons), organic chemicals (10 million tons), cereals and cereal products (5.8 million tons), plastics (3.8 million tons), and miscellaneous chemical products (1.1 million tons). The leading countries receiving exports from the Port of Houston were Mexico (7.2 million tons), the Netherlands (2.7 million tons), Brazil (2.7 million tons), Spain (2.1 million tons), and Singapore (2.1 million tons).

Non-containerized cargoes through the Port of Houston in 2007 included petroleum coke (5 million tons), steel (4.7 million tons), project cargoes (2.7 million tons), and grain (1.7 million tons).

The Port of Houston handled a total of 1.6 million TEUs of containerized cargoes in 2007, almost equally divided between imports and exports. Container imports in 2007 arrived from North Europe (29%), Northeast Asia (23%), South America (16%), and the Mediterranean (12%). Exports of containerized cargoes through the Port of Houston went to North Europe (24%), South America (20%), the Mediterranean (12%), Africa (9%), the Middle East (8%), and the Caribbean (7%).

The Port of Houston is 40 kilometers of public and private maritime facilities. Handling more foreign waterborne tonnage than any other United States port, the Port of Houston is second in total tonnage in the United States after Los Angeles. Over 150 private industrial companies on the Houston Ship Channel and the public facilities managed by the Port of Houston moved over 225 million tons of cargo in 2007. The Port of Houston was the first port in the world to unload a container ship. Some one hundred shipping lines link the Port of Houston with over a thousand ports in 203 countries.

The Houston Ship Channel has been the backbone of Harris County growth since the first steamships entered Buffalo Bayou in 1837. A Martin Associates study in 2007 reported that the ship channel supported over 785 thousand jobs in Texas and generated almost $118 billion. Galveston Bay is a shallow (2-3 meters deep) 48-kilometer long inlet separated from the Gulf of Mexico by the Bolivar Peninsula to the north and Galveston Island to the south. The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway stretches from Apalachee Bay, Florida, to Brownsville, Texas. It follows a dredged route along Bolivar Peninsula and joins the Galveston Channel and the Port of Houston through the lower part of Galveston Bay. An alternate route for the Intracoastal Waterway intersects with the Houston Ship Channel.

Maintaining and improving the Houston Ship Channel is critical to the Port of Houston's continued growth and success. Improvements include dredging and widening the channel to accommodate the ever-increasing size of ocean-borne vessels. The improvements also reduce collisions and reduce the risks of oil spills. The Port of Houston is committed to ongoing efforts to maintain a safe, secure, and modern ship channel.

The Port of Houston's Barbours Cut Container Terminal is the US Gulf Coast's most modern inter-modal container facility. Designed to support maximum vessel productivity, the terminal is located at Morgan's Point at the mouth of Galveston Bay some 3-1/2 hours sailing time from the open sea. The terminal has six berths with a total length of over 1.8 kilometers with alongside depth of almost 12.2 meters served by thirteen wharf cranes, a roll-on/roll-off platform, a LASH dock, over 100 hectares of developed marshalling and storage area, 25.5 hectares of warehouse place, and a cruise terminal in the Port of Houston. Near the terminal is a modern refrigerated food warehouse. The terminal has a total of 26 truck lanes and an inter-modal rail ramp with spurs leading to terminal warehouses. This Port of Houston terminal has room for 24.5 thousand grounded TEUs, 342 reefer outlets, and slots for over 2500 wheeled units. It also has two 9.3 thousand square meter transit sheds and one 5.1 thousand square meter transit shed. The roll-on/roll-off facilities have access to almost 18 hectares of paved marshaling area.

The Bayport Container Terminal in the Port of Houston is a $1.4 billion state-of-the-art complex in Pasadena, Texas, and a premiere container terminal. When completed, the Bayport Container Terminal will contain seven container berths with capacity for 2.3 million TEUs as well as over 152 hectares of container yards and an almost 50-hectare inter-modal facility. This Port of Houston terminal will include a cruise terminal complex with three berths that can handle up to 1.7 million passengers. The cruise terminal will offer over 16 hectares of on-site co-development space. Designed with environmental stewardship as a goal, the terminal will preserve almost 387 hectares of coastal habitat, 81 hectares of new marsh, and a 52-hectare buffer zone.

The Port of Houston's Turning Basin Terminal is the navigational head of the Houston Ship Channel. Located just over 80 kilometers from the Gulf of Mexico, this multi-purpose complex is 13 kilometers from downtown. Along this four-kilometer section of the Port of Houston, the channel is lined with open wharves and docks with by warehouses and transit sheds that are perfect for the direct loading/unloading of vessels. The Turning Basin Terminal in the Port of Houston offers a total of 176.5 thousand square meters of covered storage and 306.6 thousand square meters of open storage.

About 2800 ships and barges call at the Port of Houston's Turning Basin Terminal's 37 docks each year with a wide range of cargoes from breakbulk, project, and heavy-lift cargoes to containers. Except for Wharves 1 and 4, all wharves are served by rail connections with the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe and Union Pacific railroads and service of over 100 truck lines. The nearby 81-hectare Industrial Park West offers facilities for marshaling containers, storing steel, and servicing and distributing automobiles. Industrial Park East is also near the Port of Houston and offers both paved and unpaved storage and storage sheds.

The Woodhouse Terminal occupies 40.5 hectares in Galena Park on the north side of the Port of Houston Ship Channel near the Turning Basin Terminal. Handling vessels up to 228 meters in length, the terminal offers three wharves ranging from 182 to 201 meters in length, including roll-on/roll-off capacity at Wharf 3, and depths that can accommodate the largest deep-draft vessels. The storage facilities at this Port of Houston terminal can accommodate a wide range of cargoes. In addition to 23.5 hectares of warehouse space, the Woodhouse Terminal has almost 8.1 thousand square meters of open storage adjacent to the wharves, and additional acreage is available. Rail service is provided directly to all wharves and transit sheds by Union Pacific Railroad.

The Port of Houston Authority acquired the Houston Public Elevator No. 2 in Galena Park in 1992. Located in the Woodhouse Terminal, it is one of the newest modern export elevators in the United States, and the Port of Houston continues to install mechanical and technical upgrades to keep this elevator highly competitive. With a rated storage capacity of 6.2 million bushels and loading capacity for 120 thousand bushels per hour, the Port of Houston facility is totally automated with high-speed handling equipment for grain cargoes. The elevator has 182.8 meters of docks with alongside depth of 12.19 meters. The Union Pacific serves the elevator directly and connections are available to the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe. Fumigation and other services are available.

Specifically designed for project and heavy-lift cargoes, the Port of Houston's Wharf 32 is located within the Turning Basin Terminal. This state-of-the-art facility has 245.7 meters of berthing space with alongside depth of from 9.8 to 11.6 meters and over eight hectares of paved marshaling area.

The Jacintoport Terminal occupies 50.6 hectares on the north side of the Port of Houston Ship Channel near Channelview, Texas. With three berths with a total length of 559.6 meters with alongside depth of 11.6 meters, the terminal offers three hectares of paved cargo marshaling area and 52 hectares of transit sheds with covered rail areas and truck bays. In addition to an automated bagged cargo-handling system, the Port of Houston's Jacintoport has about 20 hectares of temperature- and humidity-controlled storage space. The on-site bagging facilities can package oats, corn, rice, wheat, soybeans, and other food products. The terminal offers quick access to Interstate 10 and Houston's Beltway 8 as well as connections with the two railroads via a switching service.

The Care Terminal in the Port of Houston is an almost 13 hectare facility near Channelview on the Ship Channel. With inland access to the area's major highways, it also has onsite rail siding with switching services. This Port of Houston terminal has a new state-of-the-art wharf and docks designed for project and heavy-lift cargoes. Offering two wharves with 335.3 meters of berthing space with alongside depths of 11 and 11.6 meters, the terminal has more than 6.1 hectares of open storage almost 4.3 hectares of transit shed adjacent to Wharf 1.

Handling dry bulk exports and imports, the Port of Houston's Bulk Materials Handling Plant is about 14 kilometers downstream from the Turning Basin Terminal. The plant can handle about any type of dry bulk from sand to eight-inch lumps. With high-speed loading and a sophisticated dust collection system, the facility can also handle very dusty cargoes. Econo-Rail Corporation operates this public facility offering dependable and efficient service at competitive rates. This Port of Houston plant offers 339.3 meters of berthing area, the working dock is 198.1 meters long with alongside depth of 12.2 meters. With easy access to major highways, this Port of Houston terminal serves bottom-dump rail cars and self-dumping trucks, and it has rail connections through the switching facility. The plant can operate 24 hours a day in the Port of Houston with prior arrangements, although it is normally open on weekdays. Storage is provided by outside private companies, and there is property adjacent to the terminal for lease through the Port of Houston Authority.

The Bayport Cruise Terminal in the Port of Houston is located in Pasadena, Texas, and it serves world-class cruise lines and passengers. With some of the most modern amenities available for travelers, the terminal is located near the Port of Houston's fine restaurants and luxury hotels with easy access to both regional airports. Covered walkways connect the 9.6 hectare terminal to bus and private transportation stands.

The City of Houston is the largest city in Texas and the fourth largest in the US. It is not only huge in population, it covers a vast land area. It is a multi-cultural city with large Asian, Arab, and Latin American populations. It is also a cultural city with a world-class symphony, ballet, and opera. Because it is largely un-zoned, development is only limited by the imagination and budget of the developers. Because it was built on the oil industry, it has a city dominated by automobiles and highways. Almost all of the Port of Houston's attractions are within the city's urban core. For complete information on the many things to see and do in the Port of Houston, please visit the city's tourism website.

The Port of Houston has a humid subtropical climate with hot humid summers and hardly any winter. Spring brings dramatic thunderstorms. Summer mornings often average over 90% humidity, falling to around 60% in the afternoon. Except at the coast, wind offers little respite from the heat. Air-conditioning is a must. Snowfall is rare, but rain is common and brings floods to some parts of the city. One of the most ozone-polluted cities in the country, smog is an ongoing problem in the Port of Houston. Temperatures range from an average high of 34 °C (94 °F) in July and August to an average low of 7 °C (45 °F) in January.

Visitors to the Port of Houston will want to visit the Houston Museum District that contains eighteen different institutions, 11 of which are free of charge. The Buffalo Soldiers National Museum is a unique and fascinating facility that educates the public about the contributions made by African American soldiers since the Revolutionary War. In 1866, the Congress created six all-black Army units to fight for the Union. After the Civil War, they were reorganized into two infantry regiments that held the first peacetime black professional soldiers. In 1867, Cheyenne warriors named them Wild Buffaloes, which was then adopted as buffalo soldiers, out of respect for their fierce fighting. Soon, the term "Buffalo Soldiers" described all African American soldiers.

The Children's Museum of Houston contains 14 galleries with hands-on fun. Founded in 1980, the museum serves over 750 thousand people a year and focuses on bilingual English-Spanish education for kids to 12 years old in areas such as literacy, science, math, health, engineering, culture, and social studies. In addition to the fun interactive indoor and outdoor exhibits, the museum offers a theater and performances, arts and crafts, a splash area, and an exhibit for infants to two years old. It also has a very popular café. Visitors should go in the early morning and the off-season, as this popular Port of Houston museum is usually very crowded.

The Byzantine Fresco Chapel Museum holds two 13th Century frescoes, the only intact frescoes of that type in the Western Hemisphere. The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston is dedicated to international, national, and regional art from the last 40 years. The Czech Cultural Center uses events and exhibitions to celebrate the culture of Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia, and Silesia. The Port of Houston's Health Museum is a popular place with three-dimensional anatomy and interactive exhibits. The Holocaust Museum Houston is dedicated to those who lost their lives in the World War II Holocaust. The Houston Center for Contemporary Craft is a unique museum dedicated to craft at the highest level: glass, fiber, clay, metal, and wood artwork.

Also part of the Houston Museum District is the Houston Center for Photography that examines the media as artistic expression and as investigative tool, and it includes works by established and newly-emerging artists. The Houston Museum of Natural Science offers an IMAX theater, the Burke Baker Planetarium, the Cockrell Butterfly Center, and many permanent and traveling exhibits. Other museums in the complex include the Museum of Fine Arts, the Rice University Gallery, Rothko Chapel, The Weather Museum, the Jung Center of Houston, the Lawndale Art Center, and the Menil Collection. Finally, the Houston Zoo is home to over 4500 exotic animals from 800 species.

The Port of Houston is also part of the American West, and the American Cowboy Museum, located on the Taylor-Stevenson Ranch, preserves the western heritage of the country's indigenous peoples, Blacks, Hispanics, and women. The museum offers tours, exhibits, and oral historians dressed in native attire who tell stories and lectures describing life in the Old West. The Taylor-Stevenson Ranch is over 150 years old, owned by the same family for seven generations, and it is a real working ranch. It is also the site of the second-oldest oil strike in the State of Texas.

The Port of Houston's Beer Can House is a folk art gallery made of over 50 thousand beer cans. In 1968, John Milkovisch decided that, rather than throw things away, he would use old beer cans as house siding. After completing the house, he went on to create a unique environment with concrete blocks inlaid with colored glass, redwood fence decorated with marbles, curtains made of pull-tabs, and many more quirky and original pieces of art.

Travelers who want to see the Port of Houston can find a list of cruises scheduled to call at the Port of Galveston on the Cruise Compete website.