The Houston old map shows evolutions of Houston city. This historical map of Houston will allow you to travel in the past and in the history of Houston in Texas - USA. The Houston ancient map is downloadable in PDF, printable and free.

On the heels of the Texas Revolution, two New York real estate promoters, John Kirby Allen and Augustus Chapman Allen were seeking a location where they could begin building "a great center of government and commerce." In August 1836, they purchased 6,642 acres (27 km²) of land (on a site adjacent to the ashes of Harrisburg as you can see in Houston historical map) from T. F. L. Parrot, John Austin widow for $9,428. The Allen brothers first landed in the area where the confluence of White Oak Bayou and Buffalo Bayou served as a natural turning basin, now known as Allen Landing. After it was established, it started out as a hamlet. Its population later swelled into the thousands. The Laura, the first ship ever to visit Houston and Galveston, arrived on January 1837. The city was granted incorporation by the state legislature on June 5, 1837 and was made as the temporary capital of Texas. At this time, lawlessness, diseases, and financial difficulties began to become a problem in early Houston. According to legend, the first business opportunity for the city vaporized when a businessman, who was considering relocating his carriage making business to Houston, heard accounts of violence witnessed by his uncle in a Texas saloon. Rather than relocate, the businessman left the state never to return.

Houstonians were prompted to put an end to their problems. And so, they wanted to make a Chamber of Commerce just for the historical city of Houston. A bill had been introduced on November 26, 1838 in Congress that would establish this entity. President Mirabeau B. Lamar signed the act into law on January 28, 1840. This move could not have come sooner; some creditors had already cut off some Houston businessmen, and there were numerous yellow fever outbreaks, including an 1839 outbreak that killed about 12 percent of its population as its mentioned in Houston historical map. Also, on January 14, 1839, the capital had been moved to Austin, known as Waterloo at the time. On April 4, 1840, seven men met at the Carlos City Exchange and enacted the Chamber of Commerce. The seven men were Thomas M. League, Henry R. Allen, George Gazely, John W. Pitkin, Charles Kesler, E.S. Perkins, and Dewitt C. Harris. The chamber community development efforts would revive the dying frontier village.

In 1840, the historical town of Houston was divided into four wards, each with different functions in the community as its shown in Houston historical map. The wards are no longer political divisions, but their names are still used. The Texas Government started to promote colonization of the state. The Allen brothers started to promote their town at the same time that the Republic of Texas started promoting settling of Texas. The Allen brothers were not particularly honest to the people whom they settled. They boasted of waterfalls in their advertisements when all Houston had were bayous. However, Houston did get many perks very quickly, since the brothers really wanted their city to succeed. Digging for a proposed Port of Houston began when Congress approved a move to dig out the Buffalo Bayou on January 9, 1842. Funding was awarded which amounted to $2000. Houstonians had mixed opinions over the apparent statehood of their country. When Mexico was again threatening Texas, President Sam Houston moved the capital to Houston on June 27, 1842. However, the Austin residents wanted to keep the archives in their city. This would be known as the Archive Wars. The capital was then moved to Washington on-the-Brazos on September 29. Austin became capital again in 1844.

The Houston vintage map give a unique insight into the history and evolution of Houston city. This vintage map of Houston with its antique style will allow you to travel in the past of Houston in Texas - USA. The Houston vintage map is downloadable in PDF, printable and free.

In 1860, most Houstonians supported John C. Breckenridge, an independent Democratic candidate for President. However, he lost the election to Abraham Lincoln. As the Civil War began, there was tension between supporters of the Confederacy and the few Union sympathizers. The Chamber of Commerce kept the city together during the conflict. Galveston was blockaded on October 4, 1862, which in turn soured Houston economy (see Houston vintage map). On January 1, 1863, John B. Magruder Confederate forces recaptured the city. However, the war was won by the Union forces in 1865. Texas was governed under a military command during Reconstruction, but Federal forces could not control the anarchy and lawlessness that broke out after the war. Civilians settled old grudges and several counties were essentially without civilian government.

After Texas was readmitted to the Union on April 16, 1870, Houston continued its growth. Houston became a port of entry on July 16, 1870 as its shown in Houston vintage map. Its new charter drew up eight wards. Many freed slaves opened businesses and worked under contracts. The Freedmen Bureau stopped abuse of the contracts in 1870. Many African Americans at the time were in unskilled labor. Many former slaves legalized their marriages after the American Civil War. White legislators insisted on segregated schools. After white Democrats regained power in the state legislature in the late 1870s, they began to pass laws to make voter registration more complicated, with the effect of disfranchising African Americans. The elections of 1876 were accompanied in many southern states with fraud and violence to suppress black voting. As white Democrats secured their power, they passed Jim Crow laws to establish and enforce legal segregation across the state. Lumber became a large part of the port exports, with merchandise as its chief import. The Houston Post was established in 1880.

Houston Chronicle followed on August 23 of that year as you can see in Houston vintage map. Former U. S. President Ulysses Grant came to Houston to celebrate the opening of the Union Station, which had rail links with New Orleans. Fifth Ward residents threatened to secede from Houston because they felt they already had been separated. An iron drawbridge built in 1883 pacified them, and they did not secede. In 1887, the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word established a hospital that would become Saint Joseph Hospital. In 1893, George H. Hermann donated a site for the purpose of a charitable hospital, which later became Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center. In 1898, Houstonians appealed before Congress for permission to turn the Buffalo Bayou into a deepwater port, prompted in part by the Spanish-American War; construction of the Port of Houston was approved by Congress in 1899.