The Audacious Launch of the City of Houston: Capital of the Republic of Texas

Ad from August 20, 1836, Telegraph and Texas Register, promoting the new town of Houston.

TOWN OF HOUSTON–Situated at the head of navigation, on the West Bank of Buffalo Bayou, is now for the first time brought to public notice because, until now, the proprietors were not ready to offer it to the public, with the advantages of capital and improvements. . . . Vessels from New Orleans or New York can sail without obstacle to this place, and steamboats of the largest class can run down to Galveston in 8 or 10 hours, in all seasons of the year. . . . There is no place in Texas more healthy, having an abundance of excellent spring water, and enjoying the sea breeze in all its freshness.

—Telegraph and Texas Register, August 30, 1836

The audacious launch of Houston, Texas, began with a bold newspaper advertisement placed by Houston's founding brothers, Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen, formerly of New York. The Allen brothers' claims soon "went viral," to the extent possible in the early nineteenth century. From the beginning, the aggressive marketing of Houston was at best aspirational and often more prone to simple exaggeration. Given the multitude of challenges of the time, it is remarkable that Houston took root.

Today's city of Houston recently celebrated its 180th birthday and has achieved much on a global scale, but there was great difficulty surviving even the first 180 days. The extreme contrast of its uncertain launch and the city that emerged is worth examining and is a testament to the persistence of its founding brothers and to the active support of Charlotte Baldwin Allen, the wife of Augustus, and a leading figure in Houston until her death in 1895. In light of the devastating floods in Houston in August 2017, the history of the site selection for the “Bayou City” also has added relevance.

Modern-day journalists would no doubt enjoy doing a critical "fact check" of the August 1836 newspaper advertisement that launched Houston. Consider these examples:

"Head of Navigation": the planned town of Houston, at the confluence of Buffalo Bayou and White Oak Bayou, was not the practical head of navigation of Buffalo Bayou. The more defensible "head of navigation" at that time was the town of Harrisburg at the confluence downstream of a much wider Buffalo Bayou and the Brays Bayou. Over time, the serpentine twelve-mile bayou journey upstream from Harrisburg to Houston was improved, but it was almost impassable in 1836 and 1837. The early trips between Houston and Galveston were not eight to ten hours but often several days in length. Many steamships needed to navigate their return backwards, a procedure used by the steamboat Constitution in June 1837, for lack of an adequate turning basin.¹ Even today, the turning basin of the world-class Houston Ship Channel is actually in the vicinity of old Harrisburg, a town annexed by modern Houston, but well downstream from downtown Houston.

"Now for the first time" was an interesting choice of words from the Allen brothers, as they had just purchased the Houston land four days before the advertisement, and the paper was published only weekly. The ink was barely dry on their deeds.

"With the advantages of capital and improvements" must have referred to the capital and improvements that the brothers hoped would be attracted from others over time, for they certainly did not bring any significant capital. The Allen brothers bought the land for a small amount of cash and a larger amount of seller notes from members of the John Austin family, distant cousins of Stephen F. Austin. The cash down payment even had to be borrowed separately. The town of Houston was launched largely on credit and the urgent hope that the town lots would sell quickly.

"There is no place in Texas more healthy" was one of the most extreme assertions, along with "a sea breeze in all its freshness." Early Houston was neither healthy nor fresh. A yellow...