1900
John D. Woolford was elected mayor
Houston's population was 44,683, including 14,608 blacks
Bank deposits amounted to $118 per capita, while the U.S. national average was 4117 per capita
Local industry featured 210 manufacturing establishments which produced goods valued at $6,832,943. Wearing apparel, iron and metal products, heavy machinery, foods, and printing materials were the principle products
Plumbers, carpenters, and building trades unionists all engaged in successful strikes
Telephone customers now numbered 2,017
February 8
A stenographers union was founded with 400 members
March
Paderewski appears before a large Houston audience at the opera-house
September
William M. Rice, founder of Rice Institute, is murdered at his home in New York City at the age of 65
September 8-9
Galveston Island is devastated by a hurricane with winds in excess of 100 miles per hour and 15 foot tidal waves, 5,000 die and thousands are left homeless, Houston receives winds of 60 miles per hour and sustains mainly property damage. Refugees from Galveston began streaming into the city of Houston for relief
Thomas Edison visits Galveston Island to record the aftermath of the nations worst natural disaster and film one of his 1st newsreels
1901
January 10
Oil was discovered near Beaumont, Texas. This, the famous Spindletop discovery, began the city's development as an oil shipping and processing center and soon had Houston advertising itself as "The Gateway to Beaumont." Anthony Lucas' gusher at Spindletop, near Beaumont, was only 90 miles northeast of Houston.
April
The first automobile arrives in Houston. It belongs to the Left Hand Fishing Club. It is from the Olds Motor Works of Detroit and is registered to make a maximum speed of 40 miles per hour.
May 3
President William McKinley delivered a speech in Houston
A refinery is built in the Heights and about 50 industrial plants in Houston are converted to oil-fueled energy systems
1902
February
The biggest independent oil refinery in the world is located in Houston. The Southwestern Oil Company will be turning out 1000 barrels of oil a day by April 1st
Reform mayor O. T. Holt took office. He found the city's books in such disarray that sufficient data for a financial statement was unavailable. Independent auditors discovered a shortage of over $54,000 for the period 1899-1902
Primary due to the work of Representative Thomas H. Ball, Congress appropriated $1,000,000 for work on the Buffalo Bayou ship channel
The Houston Labor and Trades Council was chartered by the American Federation of Labor as a clearing house for local unions
March
Capt. James Lawlor of the Rice Hotel has completed an expenditure of $15,000 in providing Turkish bath rooms
March 13
A $280,000 sewer system was opened for the city's use. It satisfied the government engineer's demands for protection against pollution in Buffalo Bayou
April
Within the past year, the number of Chinese in Houston has decreased from forty-three to twenty-seven
1903
Houston possessed twenty-six miles of paved streets, but only six of asphalt and one of macadam
A building boom inspired by oil development gives Houston a higher skyline
January
The Houston Fire Department is the first paid fire department in any city in the world to go out on strike for higher wages
February
A smallpox epidemic caused panic when municipal and county authorities quarreled about financial and regulatory responsibilities and failed to enforce measures to halt the disease. It was over by March
April 1
T. Brady became the first automobile driver arrested for a traffic violation. He was fined $10 for exceeding the six miles per hour speed limit
September
The city council ordered separate compartments on street cars for blacks and whites. A temporary boycott by black customers and some stone throwing resulted
Julia Ideson is chosen as librarian for the new Carnegie Library
October
Houston has quarantined against Laredo and San Antonio. Every precaution has been taken by the city and county authorities to protect against an infection of yellow fever in this locality
December
A medical expert tested the Bayou water and found the bacteria level at 161,000 per cubic centimeter, when the safe level was 500 per cubic centimeter
1904
Andrew L. Jackson was elected mayor
Houston adopted a city poll tax of $2.50, eliminating 7,500 mostly black voters from the electorate
Army engineers decided to shift the head of the ship channel from Main Street to Long Reach (now within Houston city limits)
January
Municipal officials moved into a new City Hall
April 29
Construction began on the Houston-to-Galveston electric interurban line
March
A new City Charter is granted by the State Legislature
May 3
Streetcar workers went on strike, bringing scattered violence until it was settled in October
August
Jesse Jones opens a lumber company and is awarded the contract to furnish the lumber for the Texas Building at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis
November 6
An oil strike at the "Moonshine" well, near Humble, is brought in, opening the first major field in Harris County
December 10
Houston voters approved the commission form of municipal government for the city
1905
Oil is discovered seventeen miles north of Houston in the Humble Oil Field in northern Harris County
The Texas legislature approved a new charter which included the commission form of government
March 3
An act of Congress fixed the head of the ship channel at Long Reach
April
The first oil pipeline reached Houston from the Humble fields
July 5
H. Baldwin Rice became Houston's mayor
July 18
Mayor Rice toured the sewage system installed in 1902 and found it sadly deficient, processing about one-half the sewage. Part of the system had become a lake, complete with birds, snakes and alligators
September
City commissioners enforce a difficult city ordinance which forbids men " to make goo-goo-eyes" at or otherwise flirt publicly with ladies
Two Sections of the Ship Channel have been completed
December 30
Carrie Nation, the temperance leader, brings her crusade against sin to prosperous Houston, which at the time was conducting its own cleanup. She appeared at a saloon named after her and did $750 worth of damage to make clear she wanted the name changed. It was done
1906
The Goose Creek Oil Field in eastern Harris County is discovered
Some 30 oil companies and 7 banks open offices in Houston
February 10
A repairman in the Fifth Ward discovered five live catfish in the water main, an amazing find, since the Water Company claimed to be providing artesian water
April 1
Members of the commission form of government took office, bringing a notable measure of efficiency and competence to municipal administration
May
The city purchased the plant and properties of the Houston Water Company and service improved markedly
The war on mosquitoes will be inaugurated next week and every ditch in the city will be given a coating of oil
August
Houston's Wireless Station is opened as one of the four in the state
September 3
Work was begun on the Turning Basin for the ship channel
Construction of the city's 1st "skyscrapers" begins with a building 8 stories high
October
Mayor Rice recommends that the city purchase an automobile to be used as a police car for speeders
1907
February
Prof. F. C. McLean of New York demonstrates the telegraph at Rice Hotel
April
The Macatee Hotel is opened
May
The city council began a program of traffic control with regulations on vehicle registration, night driving, etc.
September 2
Four blocks in the Fifth Ward were destroyed by fire
December 1
Fire destroys the block bounded by Main, Fannin, Congress,
and Preston. Damage is estimated at nearly half a million dollars. The
city's most valuable downtown buildings were destroyed. The loss included
the Federal Court records
1908
The Goose Creek oil area began production. There were thirty wells by year's end, and the area would produce 60,000,000 barrels by 1930
January
The Daughters of the Confederacy unveil the statue named the "Spirit of the Confederacy" in Sam Houston Park
City Council sets a speed limit of eight miles per hour for Houston streets
March
The Houston Settlement Association opened a settlement house
June 21
The YMCA was formally opened
August 8
Work was finished on the Turning Basin, which measured 600 feet in diameter at the bottom
August 10
The U.S. revenue cutter Windom became the first ship to traverse the 18 1/2 foot deep ship channel constructed between 1902 and 1908
October
The New Temple Beth Israel is dedicated at the corner of Crawford and Lamar. Congregation Beth Israel was founded in 1854
1909
Houston now possessed 249 manufacturing establishments with an invested capital of $16,594,000. They employed 5,338 workers and paid annual salaries and wages of $4,254,000
The police department began using motorcycles to enforce speed ordinances
Magnolia park was annexed to the city
January 18
At a meeting of prominent Houstonians, including Thomas Ball and Mayor Rice. It was decided to attempt the creation of a Navigation District to push forward channel improvements. State legislation this same year permitted the creation of such bodies, empowering them to issue bonds to finance their work
March
With the installation of the Bertillon system of identification of criminals, Houston now has a complete system of criminal identification equal to that used in New York, London and Paris
June
The first local party of automobiles to successfully make a trip from Houston to Galveston and return in a single day made the run on Sunday, leaving at 6 o'clock in the morning and returning about 9 o'clock in the evening
July
The city authorities desire to have the motorcycle squad appointed deputy sheriffs for the purpose of following speeding automobiles into the country beyond the city limits. By the use of speedometers, the officers will be able to give testimony as to the exact speed of the machine he was following
September
The Houston Post sponsored a 535-mile cross country race to inspire better country roads for car travel
October 23
President William H. Taft spoke to Houstonians from the balcony of the Rice Hotel
December
Mayor Rice led a Houston delegation to Washington to press the idea of a 25 foot deep ship channel. They proposed, and Congress accepted, a unique funding system, whereby the federal government and the Navigation District would share the cost equally. This cost-sharing plan set a precedent often followed in the future
1910
Houston's population stood at 78,800 Houstonians compared to 39,000 Galvestonians. This represented a 76.4 percent increase over 1900. The city's black population was 23,929
Almost 1,300,000 tons of freight passed over the city's wharves in Bayou trade. The goods, valued at nearly $37,500,000 were dominated by cotton, lumber, oil, and rice
Houston bank deposits amounted to $370 per capita when the national average was $194
The importance of the cotton industry to Houston was emphasized by the presence of six oil mills, seven compresses, twelve cotton warehouses, and forty-seven cotton factors
February 18
Houston's first airplane demonstration was given by Louis Paulham, a French aviator
March
The work of placing street signs on each of the four corners of the downtown and principal residential streets has commenced
July
Ground was broken for Rice Institute's first building
July 4
Racial tensions ran high as Houstonians awaited the results of the heavyweight prize fight between black Houstonian Jack Johnson and Jim Jefferies in Reno, Nevada. Johnson's victory sparked some punching, but no riots as in other major cities
August
Union Railroad Station was opened
December
"Carter's folly," a 16-story skyscraper, was completed to the amazement of local residents
The popularity of movies prompted the creation of a Board of Censors
December 1
A new $500,000 post office was opened
TURN OF THE CENTURY
By Marvin Hurley
ITH the beginning of the 20th century, the population
of the United States had reached 75,994,575, and that of Texas totaled 3,048,710.
Houston had become a thriving city of 44,633, with the population of Harris County being
63,786. This put Harris County in the third place in the state, edging Grayson
County by less than 100 and trailing Dallas County with 82,726, and Bexar County with
69,422.
By the turn of the century, the United States had become the world's foremost industrial country, with a population larger than any European country save Russia and with exports greater than those of the United Kingdom. The country by that time was producing 31.9 percent of the world's coal, 34.1 percent of its iron and 36.7 percent of its steel. The trend from the farm to the city had started, with less than four workers in 10 being in agriculture and with four families out of 10 already living in urban areas. The business man had become an important figure in society.
The first decade of the new century saw the United States adopt the gold standard, start construction of the Panama Canal, and initiate the income tax. The Wright brothers made their first heavier-than-air flight in 1903, but six years later the endurance record was still standing at only one hour, one minute and 40 seconds. Bleriot made the first airplane flight across the English Channel in 1909. Immigration reached an all-time high, with 8,795,386 for the decade, and 1,285,349 in 1907 alone. In 1900, the United States had 18,000,000 horses and mules, 10,000,000 bicycles, and only 4,000 automobiles. Carry Nation started her anti-saloon career, and New York City made it illegal for women to smoke in public places. The era of modern skyscrapers began, with the 47-foot Singer Building in 1908 and the 50-story Metropolitan Tower and the 60-story Woolworth Building five years later, all in New York City.
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The Goose Creek Gusher. |
With the coming of a new century, Texas was on the threshold of a new era. It had organized local government, railroads to supply transportation to all developed sections of the state, a public school system with a number of institutions of higher learning, and the first stages of a period of industrialization. Although oil had been produced in the Corsicana area prior to 1900, the gusher at Spindletop in 1901 indicated to the world the potential oil wealth in Texas. Oil and gas gave the state the fuel supplies it had been lacking. It was not, however, until 1927 and 1928, respectively, that Texas became the number one state in the production of natural gas and oil.
With the spectacular discovery of oil at Spindletop in 1901, the economy of Texas began to change perceptibly. The state became identified with the oil industry, although the first stage of the rapid oil-industry transformation waited to coincide with World War I and the rising momentum of the motor industry.
Writing of the "Spindletop" development in their book by that name, Michael T. Halbouty and James A. Clark said: "There, on January 10, 1901, a new age of human progress was born when the first great oil gusher roared in. There and then America was blessed with the supply of energy and the incentive to move up from secondary position in world affairs to that of undisputed leadership. Before Spindletop, oil was used for lamps and lubrication. The famous Lucas gusher changed that. It started the liquid fuel age, which brought forth the automobile, the airplane, the network of highways, improved railroad and marine transportation, the era of mass production, and untold comforts and conveniences."
Texas started the century with good business conditions; and in a new spirit of unity and vision, the people of the state plunged into an aggressive campaign for economic development. Urban growth and the enhanced influence of business brought new forces into the economic limelight of Texas. Under these circumstances, the Chamber of Commerce movement in the state entered a new period of influence and effectiveness.
The foremost objective of the Houston Chamber of Commerce continued to be a deepwater port. Not all of the people in Houston shared its enthusiasm that a port miles inland would prove profitable. Galveston uniformly ridiculed the idea and could hardly believe that Houston could be serious about the proposal. The "Galveston News" chuckled editorially when Galveston merchant Sampson Heidenheimer's six barge loads of salt melted in a rain and ran into Buffalo Bayou en route to Houston. Its headlines announced: "Houston at last has a salt water port. God Almighty furnished the water; Heidenheimer furnished the salt!"
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Suddenly, however, a hurricane-tidal wave smashed across Galveston Island on September 8-9, 1900, costing probably 8,000 lives and property losses in uncountable millions of dollars. As the advantages of a protected, inland port became apparent, the balance of commercial power began to shift toward Houston, which jumped from third to first place among Texas cities in the volume of commerce and industry, with bank deposits reaching $5,265,981.
After
the Houston Chamber of Commerce redoubled its efforts, President Theodore Roosevelt in
1902 signed a bill appropriating one million dollars for Houston's port. On March 3,
1905, Congress modified the project by locating the terminus at the head of deep
water at "Long Reach," the present Turning Basin, which was dredged to 18.5-foot
depth in 1906-1907. Other appropriations were slow on the proposed 25-foot
depth. Realizing that some extraordinary effort would have to be made if the project
were to be completed in any reasonable time, the Chamber of Commerce organized a
delegation to propose to the national government that they be permitted to continue
contracting for the 25-foot channel from Bolivar Roads to the Turning Basin and that the
taxpayers of Harris County would pay one-half of the construction cost, as well as
providing adequate publicly owned water-terminal facilities. The delegation was
headed by Mayor Baldwin Rice, nephew of William Marsh Rice.
This novel proposition was promptly accepted by the Congress, and the Texas State Legislature enacted the necessary Navigation District Law. On June 25, 1910, Congress appropriated one-half of the estimated $2,500,000 costs with "local interest to pay one-half thereof." The final contract was for $2,412,595.66, and the Navigation District paid its half, or $1,206,297.83, contributing an additional $200,000 towards the construction cost of two dredges for maintenance work. This negotiation resulted in a new national policy of local participation in river and harbor work.
Shortly after 1900, the Chamber of Commerce helped secure $100,000 to pave the muddy extension on Main Street, and in another project, the Chamber of Commerce marshaled civic-minded citizens in the creation of the Museum of Fine Arts.
President William McKinley came to Houston May 3, 1901, to make a major address, and President William Howard Taft spoke from the balcony of the Rice Hotel in 1909. He was the third national president to visit Houston while holding office, President Benjamin Harrison having spoken here in 1891.
he coming of the automobile created a demand for a
good roads movement for which Chambers of Commerce supplied the initiative and
leadership. However, efforts in 1903 failed to get the Texas Legislature to
establish a Bureau of Highways to provide engineering counsel to counties on road
building. Industrial interest was stimulated by a tour of Texas businessmen to
Chicago and other Midwestern centers and by the creation of the Texas Industrial
Association. It was recognized that adequate supplies of water, electric power and
fuel were basic to the location of industry, and the Houston Chamber of Commerce addressed
itself to these goals, to a study of the effect of legislative measures on industry, and
to efforts for legislation to encourage the investment of home and foreign capital in
Texas enterprises. John Kirby Allen, sometimes called the "father of
industrial Texas," declared that "Texas today is on the high road to marvelous
achievements." He said the state needed a "concert of action"
to "bring to our borders the brain and the brawn and the capital of our sister states
and of foreign countries."
