One of the many Texas Engineering Landmarks in celebration of Texas ASCE’s Centennial: 1913-2013 “Engineering a Better Texas.” Visit them all!
The posted coordinates are for The Sam Houston Pavilion launch point for the FREE 90-minute Sam Houston Boat Tour (see Location info, below).
That said, 50 miles of waterway provides lots of viewing opportunity. We're 'visit happy' if you upload a photo and the coordinates of YOUR visit, along with an informative log describing where you were and what you saw.
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"Houston is truly the town that built a port that built a city."
- Fentress Bracewell Former Chairman, Houston Authority Commission
The 50-mile Houston Ship Channel is a manmade port for ocean-going vessels, stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to Houston and Harris County, Texas. Under continuous development since the original construction, the Houston Ship Channel is directly linked to hundreds of transportation facilities, industrial plants, and other enterprises that use the channel to ship products to markets throughout the world.
In 2014, the Port of Houston celebrates 100 years as a deep-water port and one of the city’s most important economic assets. The road to deep water took enormous public support and perseverance, and the investment has paid off handsomely for Houston, Harris County, and Texas.
At the turn of the last century, Buffalo Bayou was swampy, marshy, and choked with dense vegetation. Only shallow draft boats could navigate its complicated channel. Cargo from larger ships was offloaded near Galveston onto barges for the long and winding trip from the Gulf of Mexico. It was a costly compromise for Houston’s lack of a deep-water port.
Houston business leaders had been pressuring Washington for a better (for them) solution for decades before the September 1900 hurricane devastated Galveston in one of the worst disasters in American history. In the rebuilding aftermath, U.S. Representative Tom Ball’s arguments for a protected port 52 miles upstream from Galveston’s exposed position picked up momentum. With the discovery of oil at Spindletop in 1901, and perishable goods such as rice beginning to rival King Cotton, Houston’s ship channel needed the capacity to handle newer and larger vessels.
Tom Ball proposed a revolutionary concept: the city could share the cost with the federal government for dredging a deep-water channel to Houston. The audacious proposal was unanimously accepted by the Congressional Rivers and Harbors Committee, Congress agreeing to foot half the bill. As for the other half, the Harris County Houston Ship Channel Navigation District was formed, and a campaign was launched to persuade voters to approve $1.25 million in bonds to pay for the District’s share of the waterway. No campaign to date had ever been conducted more passionately, and the voters carried the measure by a majority of 16 to one.
Despite voter enthusiasm, the bonds needed to be sold. Unlike today, banks and brokers were skeptical of the small commissions they could earn. Enter Jesse H. Jones, who would be a major force in the port’s destiny. In just 24 hours, Jones himself persuaded each bank to buy its share -- an investment that has paid off many times over.
Work on the deep channel commenced in 1912. The laborers took a keen interest in similar precedent-setting maritime projects of the time such as the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, and the 51-mile long Panama Canal. On the morning of September 7, 1914, the dredge Texas signaled by whistle the completion of the channel.
The opening celebrations were worthy of the achievement: in addition to a downtown parade, 40 Houston blocks were strung with a new invention: incandescent lights. The official opening ceremony was held Tuesday morning, November 10, 1914. Dignitaries, along with thousands of spectators, gathered at the Turning Basin in great anticipation. In addition to the usual pomp and circumstance, President Woodrow Wilson fired a cannon via remote control from Washington, D.C. to officially mark the channel open for operation.
At its opening in 1914, the Houston Ship Channel banks were home to few industries; today, they support the second largest petrochemical complex in the world and the US’ leading port in terms of foreign tonnage, and 2nd in overall tonnage.
Later improvements deepened the channel from the initial 25 to 40 feet and widened it to 400 feet for the majority of its length. A dynamic feat of civil engineering, the Houston Ship Channel will continue to connect Houston to the world for the foreseeable future – and beyond!
Houston Ship Channel Quick Facts
1. The channel measures 40 feet deep for most of its length and runs from 300 to 400 feet in width.
2. The original depth was 25 feet and it was later deepened to 40 feet.
3. The channel stretches from the Gulf of Mexico through Galveston Bay and up the San Jacinto River, ending four miles east of downtown Houston.
4. When the ship channel formally opened on November 19, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson fired the salute to the occasion from his desk in the White House, by pushing an ivory button wired to a cannon in Houston.
Links/Sources:
Brochure from Dedication “The American Society of Civil Engineers Declares the Houston Ship Channel a National Historic Landmark in Civil Engineering.”
Hb p. 20
Port of Houston Authority Overview: (
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Port of Houston Authority History: (
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Certifications & Awards: (
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ASCE Landmarks: Houston Ship Channel (
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ASCE Texas Historic Civil Engineering Waymark (
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