Houston Property Management

The story of Houston began in 1836 when two brothers, Augustus Allen and John Allen, placed an ad in the Telegraph and Texas Register for the “Town of Houston” and declared that the town was destined to become the “great interior commercial emporium of Texas.”

Houston was named after Sam Houston, a politician and military leader who led the Texas Revolution in 1835.

His army defeated Santa Anna in the battle of San Jacinto which ultimately led to Texas becoming its own Republic from 1836 until it joined the US in 1845.

Sam Houston served two terms as the President of the Texas Republic and later the governor of the state.

With a cool sea breeze flowing through the city, and relatively cheap prices for land parcels, there were plenty of reasons to buy land in this area, despite its humidity and heat in the summer.

The Allen brothers were able to convince Congress to declare the town as the temporary capital of the Republic of Texas by offering land to the government and great prices.

At first, the town of Houston consisted only of 12 residents and a log cabin but just four months later the town was filled with over 1,500 residents and nearly 100 homes. Houston was finally incorporated on June 5, 1837, and the population has been steadily increasing ever since.

Because of the rising population, the state’s trade and transportation required a serious overhaul. There was no infrastructure to support the needs of transport, and goods were transported by wagon. But the cost was great – to carry three bales of cotton cost twenty cents per ton-mile but since the roads were so bad, the wagons could only travel for a few miles per day; waterways were used to transport goods instead.

In 1891, an electric streetcar was built, making it easier for residents to travel within the city limits. Cars were introduced to the area at the turn of the century and became a hot item to own. The proliferation of automobiles eventually led to the need for traffic regulation including creating speed limits, which just happened to be a slow 15 miles per hour as of 1907. Traffic signals weren’t installed until 14 years later in 1921.

Houston is home to over 100 ethnic groups, as many people from around the world have moved to this fine city with an entrepreneurial spirit.

Houston is known for having some of the best schools and school districts in the state of Texas and some of the best SAT scores come from schools in the Houston area.

Houston Independent School District is the largest school district in Texas with 287 schools with students who speak over 100 different languages and includes:

• 10 early childhood schools
• 159 elementary schools
• 37 middle schools
• 38 high schools
• 43 alternative schools
• 215,000 students

As the 2013 Broad Prize winner, HISD has been recognized as having made the most substantial gains in student achievement. The HISD has also been awarded the “Race to the Top” grant, a $30 million Federal grant provided to 21 districts across the nation. This grant is being used to implement a new approach to teaching that exposes students to real world experience in various professions that makes the connection for them between what they learn in the classroom, and what they can expect from that profession once they graduate.