Everything about Pasadena Texas totally explained
Pasadena is a
city southside of
Houston in
Harris County, Texas within the metropolitan area. It is the second largest city in the county, 15th largest in the state and 159th largest in the
United States, next to its namesake city,
Pasadena, California, the 160th largest. The area was founded in 1893 by
John H. Burnett of
Galveston. At the time of its founding, the land's lush, flowering vegetation inspired Burnett to name the city after
Pasadena, California.
As of the 2000
U.S. Census, the city's population was 141,674. It boasts the largest all volunteer municipal fire department in the
United States, the
Pasadena Volunteer Fire Department. The city's economy is closely linked to the nearby
Houston Ship Channel and its related industrial districts, as well as the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration's
Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in the bordering
Clear Lake area.
History
The first inhabitants of the area are believed to have been the cannibalistic
Karankawa Indians, who lived throughout the
Gulf coast region.
Birthplace of Texas
Pasadena is near the location of the final
battle of the
Texas Revolution, which occurred on April 21, 1836. The Mexican General
Antonio López de Santa Anna was captured at
Vince's Bayou. A monument to that battle, known as the
San Jacinto Monument, is located in the city of La Porte on the Houston ship channel. Because this was the last conflict that led to the Mexican surrender, Pasadena and neighboring
Deer Park are known as the "Birthplace of Texas."
Washington County, Texas shares the claim to that title, since that's where the
Texas Declaration of Independence was signed.
The Allen Ranch
A large ranch occupied what is now western Pasadena all the way to
Harrisburg, Texas. That ranch was known as the
Allen Ranch. By 1888, the Allen Ranch contained 15,000 acres (60 km²) in Harris County, 10,000 acres (40 km²) in
Brazoria County, Texas with grazing lands in
Galveston and
Fort Bend Counties.
Sam Allen had started the ranch 45 years earlier with 350 acres (1.4 km²). When he was 62, he suffered a sunstroke and was buried in nearby Harrisburg in 1888.
The 19 mile (31 km) fence
The
Galveston, Harrisburg & Houston Railroad ran through the Allen ranch. There was a problem of cattle being regularly killed on the tracks and in 1875, Sam Allen built a 19 mile (31 km) fence along the east side of the railway right of way to keep the cattle off the tracks. The fence ran from
Harrisburg to
League City and had four rails and a top rail wide enough to walk on. A gate was placed in the fence at the Harrisburg-
Lynchburg Road with a large sign above instructing that it should be closed at all times. The area east of this railroad fence running from
Buffalo Bayou to the tracks on
Sims Bayou ran all the way to
Galveston Bay. It contained 100,000 acres (400 km²) of grazing land for cattle.
First settlements
In the area were small post along Buffalo Bayou such as
Lynchburg,
Clinton,
Morgans Point,
La Porte and the larger towns of
Harrisburg and
Houston. Many other "proposed" towns in or near present day Pasadena were set up but short lived and either abandoned or never even got off the ground. Some of these included, Germantown, later known as Frostown, Hamilton, which tried to steer away residents of Harrisburg,
San Jacinto a town across from the Lynchburg Ferry, Louisville just down stream. A huge development called
Buffaloe at the mouth of Vince Bayou was proposed by
Merriweather Woodson Smith on
July 8,
1837. He had purchased 2,222 acres (8.99 km²) from the
William Vince survey, but no lots were ever sold.
In 1892 Colonel
John H. Burnett of Galveston established an unnamed townsite on the Vince Survey just east of the Allen Ranch. Burnett was involved in both construction and promotion of railroads and knew their impact on the value of property. The land was sold in 10 acre lots. He had also established the nearby towns of
Deepwater and
Genoa, later to be incorporated into Pasadena and Houston.
Naming of Pasadena
Much speculation has surrounded the true story on how Pasadena, Texas received its name. It is claimed by some sources that the word "Pasadena" is
Spanish for "land of flowers." There is also a story from
Pasadena, California on the origins of the word as follows; Dr. Thomas Elliott was searching for a new name of his
Southern California town, had contacted an Indian missionary friend in
Michigan who had worked with the
Minnesota Chippewa Indians. He submitted four names for translation: "Crown of the Valley," "Key of the Valley," "Valley of the Valley," and "Hill of the Valley." The names came back starting with "Weo-quan pa-sa-de-na," "Hat of the Valley." All the names ended in "pa-sa-de-na (of the valley)". The name was put to a vote, and due to its euphonious nature, it was accepted as Pasadena.
After Pasadena, California was established Burnett had visited the area and decided that area near the Vince Bayou looked very similar to Pasadena, and named the new Texas town after it.
Geography
Pasadena is located at (29.676196, -95.173845).
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 44.5
square miles (115.3
km²), of which, 44.2 square miles (114.4 km²) of it's land and 0.4 square miles (0.9 km²) of it (0.81%) is water. The city is bordered by the
Houston Ship Channel (
Buffalo Bayou /
San Jacinto River) to the north. The southeastern most part of the city fronts
Galveston Bay.
Climate
The climate of Pasadena is that of neighboring Houston. Hot and humid summers with mild winters typical of the
Southern United States.
Transportation
Interstate 45 is the closest interstate to the Pasadena city limits. The main freeway artery is the
Pasadena Freeway (
Texas 225). The east side of the
Sam Houston Tollway (
Beltway 8) runs through the eastern portion of the city.
Demographics
As of the
census of 2000, there were 141,674 people, 47,031 households, and 35,179 families residing in the city. The
population density was 3,208.1 people per square mile (1,238.7/km²). There were 50,367 housing units at an average density of 1,140.5/sq mi (440.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 71.45%
White, 1.63%
African American, 0.68%
Native American, 1.83%
Asian, 0.04%
Pacific Islander, 21.30% from
other races, and 3.08% from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 48.24% of the population.
There were 47,031 households out of which 43.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.8% were
married couples living together, 13.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.2% were non-families. 20.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.99 and the average family size was 3.48.
In the city the population was spread out with 31.6% under the age of 18, 11.4% from 18 to 24, 31.2% from 25 to 44, 17.9% from 45 to 64, and 7.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females there were 99.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $38,522, and the median income for a family was $42,541. Males had a median income of $34,330 versus $25,869 for females. The
per capita income for the city was $16,301. About 13.2% of families and 16.0% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 20.8% of those under age 18 and 10.5% of those age 65 or over.
Culture
The city has several museums, including the
Pasadena Historical Museum
, the Bay Area Museum and Armand Bayou Nature Center. Pasadena also has a community theater (
Pasadena Little Theatre), a large rodeo each year (
Pasadena Livestock Show & Rodeo) and orchestra (the Pasadena Philharmonic). The city's newspaper is the
Pasadena Citizen.
Because of its location near the enormous amount of refineries that dot the ship channel (which help to make Houston's
petrochemical complex the largest in the nation), Pasadena has been dubbed by locals with the nickname "Stinkadena." Another reason for the name may be the large sewage treatment plant located along
State Highway 225 that links Houston to Pasadena. Another nickname, "Pasa-get-down-dena", was coined in the mid-1980s by a Houston morning radio DJ named Moby on his show
Moby in the Morning on the long gone station, 97 Rock. At least two country music songs have been recorded with "Pasa-get-down-dena" as the title: one by
Kenefick on their album "Hard Road," and
John Evans on his album "Biggest Fool in Town."
Gilley's and Urban Cowboy
Pasadena was enshrined in film history when
John Travolta,
Debra Winger and others descended on the city to film the 1980 hit movie
Urban Cowboy, which depicted life and young love in Pasadena. The film centered around the city's enormous honky-tonk bar Gilley's, which was co-owned by country music star
Mickey Gilley. In 1989 Gilley's suffered an arson fire that gutted the interior, but the building's shell was still standing until 2006 when it was demolished by the
Pasadena Independent School District, its current owner. Only the old sound recording studio remains. Gilley still makes his home in Pasadena.
Strawberry Festival
The
Galveston Hurricane of 1900 caused many people to resettle in Pasadena, TX.
Clara Barton of the
American Red Cross purchased 1.5 million
strawberry plants and sent them to Pasadena to help victims of the flood get back on their feet. By the 1930s those crops had flourished so much that Pasadena was claiming the moniker of
Strawberry Capital of the World. At its height, the city's strawberry growers shipped as many as 28 train carloads of strawberries each day. To honor that history, the city still holds an annual
Pasadena Strawberry Festivaland today Strawberry Road stretches through much of the city near where the old strawberry crops grew.
Education
Colleges and universities
Institutions of higher education include:
- University of Houston–Clear Lake (partially in Pasadena, partially in Houston)
- San Jacinto College (Central Campus and System Headquarters) a community college system which serves all of Pasadena as well as all and portions of several other school districts.
- Texas Chiropractic College Founded in 1908, Texas Chiropractic College is the fourth oldest chiropractic college in the nation and recognized as one of the very best. TCC is accredited as a Level V doctoral degree granting institution by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. It shares this distinction with other reputable medical schools such as Baylor College of Medicine and the UT Medical Branch at Galveston. TCC has maintained continuous accreditation since 1971 and enjoys a stable and secure financial condition as well, annually generating an operational surplus. Its first-of-its-kind Hospital Rotations Program is a pioneer in the integrated health care field. The program provides interns the opportunity to rotate in nearly 30 hospitals and clinics throughout the Houston metropolitan area, including the world-renowned Texas Medical Center.
Primary and secondary schools
Most of city of Pasadena is served by the
Pasadena Independent School District. Some of the eastern part is served by
Deer Park Independent School District, some of the southern part is served by
Clear Creek Independent School District and
La Porte Independent School District.
Public libraries
Pasadena owns the Pasadena Public Library
(External Link). In addition Pasadena residents are served by the
Harris County Public Library. The nearest HCPL branch to Pasadena is the South Houston Library in
South Houston.
Postal service
The
United States Postal Service operates four post offices in Pasadena:
Pasadena Post Office at 1199 Pasadena Boulevard, 77501-9998
John Foster Post Office at 1520 Richey Street, 77502-9998
Bob Harris Post Office at 102 North Munger Street, 77506-9998
Debert L. Atkinson Post Office at 6100 Spencer Highway, 77505-9998
Neighborhoods
Neighborhoods in Pasadena include:
Allendale
Bayport
Clear Lake (Pasadena)
Deepwater
Golden Acres
Old Downtown
Parkview Manor
Famous residents/natives
Bo Brinkman - Actor, Producer, Writer, Director (married to Melissa Gilbert 1988-1992)
LeeAnne Locken - Miss USA finalist and actress
Mickey Gilley - Country singer
Ronald Clark O'Bryan - murderer nicknamed "The Candyman"
RJ Helton - Singer
Chris Sampson - Pitcher, Houston Astros baseball team
Parks
Harris County operates two community centers in Pasadena (External Link).
East Harris County Activity Center
Bay Area Community Center
Armand Bayou Nature Center
Clear Lake Water Front (Pasadena Section)
Community services
Harris County Hospital District operates the Strawberry Health Center in Pasadena.
Community information
San Jacinto Branch YMCA is located in Pasadena.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Pasadena Texas'.
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