Houston Was Founded in 1836 and Named After Sam Houston

In 1836, brothers Augustus and John Allen bought land on Buffalo Bayou. They started the city and named it after General Sam Houston. Houston quickly became the county seat. It also served for a short time as the capital of the Republic of Texas.

Houston started as a small trading post. It grew thanks to cotton, then the Ship Channel, and then oil. Over the years, waves of new residents arrived — German settlers, Mexican and Tejano families, and large Black communities that grew after emancipation. Today Houston is one of the most ethnically diverse large cities in the United States.