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City of Humble
—  City  —
Downtown Humble facing east Downtown Humble facing east
Coordinates: 29°59′42″N 95°15′54″W / 29.995°N 95.265°W / 29.995; -95.265Coordinates: 29°59′42″N 95°15′54″W / 29.995°N 95.265°W / 29.995; -95.265
Country	United States
State	Texas
County	Harris
Incorporated	1933
Government
• Mayor	Donald G. McMannes
Area
• Total	9.9 sq mi (25.6 km2)
• Land	9.8 sq mi (25.3 km2)
• Water	.1 sq mi (.3 km2)
Elevation	90 ft (27.4 m)
Population (2000)[1]
• Total	14,579
• Density	1,477.5/sq mi (570.3/km2)
Time zone	CST (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP codes	77300-77399
Area code(s)	281
FIPS code	48-35348[2]
GNIS feature ID	1374175[3]
Website	http://www.cityofhumble.net/

Humble ( /ˈʌmbəl/) is a city in Harris County, Texas, within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area.

As of the 2000 census, the city population was 14,579. The city shares a zip code with the small Houston neighborhood of Bordersville, although people who live in Bordersville still have Humble addresses.

Petroleum has been the basis of Humble's economy since its beginning. The city was the namesake for Humble Oil and Refining Company, which later merged with the Exxon corporation.

History[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Sign marking Humble

Sign marking Humble

The first settlers began moving into the Humble area in the early 19th century. Joseph Dunman was thought to be the first person to settle here and was believed to have arrived in 1828. A ferry was built nearby, over the San Jacinto River, and the area of Humble became a center for commercial activity due to the region's large Oil industry.

The city got its name from one of the original founders/settlers, Pleasant Smith "Plez" Humble, who opened the first post office in his home and later served as justice of the peace. In 1883 a city directory reported that he operated a fruit stand. In 1885, he was a wood dealer, and in 1900, the District 99, Justice Pct. 4, Harris Co., Texas Census reports his occupation as attorney at law.

Humble became an oil boom town in the early 20th century when oil was first produced there. The first oil was produced a couple years after the famous Spindletop discovery in Beaumont, Texas. Railroad linkage was established in 1904 and shortly thereafter the first tank car of oil was shipped out of Humble's oil field. The Humble oil fields are still active and have produced over 138,835,590 barrels (22,073,095 m³) of oil. When the oil boom receded, many land owners returned to truck farming, dairy farming and the timber industry.

It remained a rather small, quiet city until the opening of the Houston Intercontinental Airport in 1969.^{[clarification needed]}

Humble City Council passed a public smoking ban February 23, 2012.

Humble is the business location for two community newspapers, The Tribune Newspaper (web site) and The Observer Newspaper. The Tribune is locally owned and operated while The Observer is part of the larger Houston Community Newspapers group.

Geography[link]

Map of Humble

Humble is located at 29°59′42″N 95°15′54″W / 29.995°N 95.265°W / 29.995; -95.265 (29.994920, -95.264873).^[4]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 9.9 square miles (26 km²), of which, 9.9 square miles (26 km²) of it is land and 0.10% is water.

Downtown Humble is located on a salt dome and most of the petroleum production is shallow and encircles the city by about a 2.5-mile (4.0 km) radius.^{[citation needed]}

Demographics[link]

As of the census^[2] of 2000, there were 14,579 people, 5,460 households, and 3,652 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,477.5 people per square mile (570.3/km²). There were 5,908 housing units at an average density of 598.7 per square mile (231.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 69.24% White, 14.49% African American, 0.68% Native American, 3.22% Asian, 0.26% Pacific Islander, 9.07% from other races, and 3.04% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 23.36% of the population.

There were 5,460 households out of which 37.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.6% were married couples living together, 16.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.1% were non-families. 26.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.18.

In the city the population was spread out with 28.0% under the age of 18, 12.3% from 18 to 24, 31.8% from 25 to 44, 19.4% from 45 to 64, and 8.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 96.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $37,834, and the median income for a family was $46,399. Males had a median income of $34,434 versus $26,988 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,678. About 12.2% of families and 15.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.2% of those under age 18 and 7.4% of those age 65 or over.

CityData.com states that the crime rates for Humble were higher than the average United States crime rate. The average crime rate for cities with under 30,000 people was 325.2; Humble's crime rate was at 744.4 [2].

Government and infrastructure[link]

Humble City Hall

County, state, and federal representation[link]

Harris County operates a tax office at 7900 Will Clayton Parkway in Humble.^[5]

Harris County Hospital District operates the E. A. "Squatty" Lyons Health Center in Humble. The clinic opened in 1991, replacing a clinic in Bordersville.^[6]

The United States Postal Service Humble Post Office is located at 1202 1st Street East.^[7] The Foxbrook Finance Unit is located near Humble in an unincorporated area;^[8] On Monday May 10, 2008, the Foxbrook post office was dedicated as the "Texas Military Veterans Post Office" in a ceremony hosted by U.S. Congressperson Ted Poe.^[9]

Education[link]

Primary and secondary schools[link]

Humble High School

Humble is served by the Humble Independent School District.

The city of Humble has three public elementary schools:

• Humble Elementary School
• Jack M. Fields, Senior Elementary School
• Lakeland Elementary School

Humble is served by Ross Sterling Middle School (formerly by Humble Middle School in unincorporated Harris County), Humble High School, Atascocita High School and Summer Creek High School. All students attending the Humble Independent School District have the option to attend Quest High School, a magnet high school in the Atascocita section of unincorporated Harris County.

Humble is served by the Lone Star College System (formerly North Harris Montgomery Community College District).

Community colleges[link]

Lone Star College System (formerly the North Harris Montgomery Community College District) serves the area.^[10] In 1972, residents of Humble ISD and two other K–12 school districts voted to create the North Harris County College District. The community college district began operations in the Harris County/Montgomery County's northern hemisphere in the fall of 1973. The Humble area is currently served by Lone Star College, Kingwood.^[11]

Public libraries[link]

Octavia Fields Branch Library

The Harris County Public Library Octavia Fields Branch Library is located at 1503 South Houston Avenue in Humble. Humble's first public library opened in 1921 with the books stored in the high school. In 1923 the library was split between the Humble High School and the Woodward School at Moonshine Hill. In 1926 the library moved to a church. In 1928 the library moved into the then-new Humble courthouse. In the early 1930s the library moved to city hall. In 1932 the city hall courtroom became a reading room. In the early 1960s a man named Tom Shelton donated a house and lot at the intersection of First Street and Avenue D. The house was remodeled and opened as the Shelton Memorial Library. On October 9, 1969 the library moved to 111 West Higgins Street. It received the name Octavia Fields Memorial Library from Octavia Fields, the grandmother of Jack Fields, a former Congress member. The current 15,000-square-foot (1,400 m²) branch opened on June 27, 2001.^[12]

Some areas outside of Humble with Humble, TX postal addresses are in proximity to the Baldwin Boettcher Branch Library at Mercer Park.^[13] The 10,137-square-foot (941.8 m²) branch opened in 1986.^[14] It was constructed on donated land. It was named after Baldwin Boettcher, a German settler. His descendants deeded the homestead to Harris County. The plans stated that the Boettcher staff would assist the Mercer Park staff in finding any botanical reference books that they or the public need.^[15]

Points of interest[link]

• Pam Lychner Unit, a Texas Department of Criminal Justice state jail for men, is located in Atascocita in unincorporated northeast Harris County, east of Humble. The state jail was named after Pam Lychner.^[16][17]
• Humble Negro Cemetery
• DeLorean Motor Company (DMC), manufacturer of the DeLorean DMC-12, a sports car made famous by the movie Back to the Future, has its only remaining private factory based in Humble.^[18]
• The Shell Houston Open, an annual PGA Tour event is played at Redstone Golf Club. The event takes place at the end of March-beginning of April & is part of the race to the FedEx Cup. The event has historically been one week before The Masters, the seasons first major.

Notable natives and residents[link]

• Jackie Battle, running-back for the Dallas Cowboys and later the Kansas City Chiefs ^[19][20]
• Noted German movie star Franka Potente spent some months as an exchange student in Humble at age 17.
• Jerrod Johnson, the 2010 Pre-Season Big 12 offensive Player of the Year and Starting Quarterback for Texas A&M University.
• Howard Hughes, aviator and film producer of the 20th c.
• Bertrand Berry, former NFL player and Notre Dame graduate.

Literary references[link]

Humble is the site of a Confederate concentration camp in Harry Turtledove's alternate history novel Settling Accounts: In at the Death.

Gallery[link]

• 

  Humble Municipal Court

• 

  Humble Criminal Justice Center and Humble Police Department

• 

  Harris County Courthouse Annex No. 3

• 

  Hirsch Memorial Park

• 

  E. A. Squatty Lyons Health Center

• 

  Oil field, Humble, Texas (postcard, circa 1836-2001)

References[link]

External links[link]

Houston portal

• City of Humble
• City of Humble History
• History of Humble
• Handbook of Texas Online article

v t e Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown Counties Austin Brazoria Chambers Fort Bend Galveston Harris Liberty Montgomery San Jacinto Waller "Principal" cities Houston Sugar Land Baytown Galveston Conroe Other cities Alvin Angleton Bellaire Clute Deer Park Dickinson Freeport Friendswood Galena Park Humble Jacinto City Katy Lake Jackson La Marque La Porte League City Missouri City Pasadena Pearland Richmond Rosenberg South Houston Stafford Texas City West University Place For a complete listing, see list of cities and towns in Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown MSA Unincorporated areas Atascocita Channelview Cloverleaf Crosby Cypress Fresno Hockley Klein Port Bolivar Spring The Woodlands Bodies of water Buffalo Bayou Galveston Bay Gulf Intracoastal Waterway Houston Ship Channel San Jacinto River Trinity River Lake Houston Lake Conroe

v t e Municipalities and communities of Harris County, Texas, United States County seat: Houston Cities Baytown‡ Bellaire Bunker Hill Village Deer Park El Lago Friendswood‡ Galena Park Hedwig Village Hilshire Village Houston‡ Humble Hunters Creek Village Jacinto City Jersey Village Katy‡ La Porte League City‡ Missouri City‡ Morgan's Point Nassau Bay Pasadena Pearland‡ Piney Point Village Seabrook‡ Shoreacres‡ South Houston Southside Place Spring Valley Village Stafford‡ Taylor Lake Village Tomball Waller‡ Webster West University Place CDPs Aldine Atascocita Barrett Channelview Cinco Ranch‡ Cloverleaf Crosby Highlands Mission Bend‡ Sheldon Spring Unincorporated communities Airline Bammel Barker Beaumont Place Bridgeland Community Cedar Bayou Champion Forest Cimarron Coady Copperfield Cypress Dyersdale East Aldine Fall Creek Hockley Houmont Park Huffman Hufsmith Kinwood Klein Kleinbrook Kohrville Louetta Lynchburg McNair Northcliffe Northcliffe Manor Northgate Forest North Houston Nottingham Country Remington Ranch Rose Hill Satsuma Timber Meadows Traces Westfield The Woodlands‡ Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

v t e  State of Texas Austin (capital) Topics Architecture Climate Cuisine Geography Government History Languages Literature Sports Texans Transportation Symbols Visitor attractions Society Culture Crime Demographics Economy Education Politics Regions Ark‑La‑Tex Big Bend Blackland Prairies Brazos Valley Central Texas Coastal Bend Cross Timbers Deep East Texas East Texas Edwards Plateau Golden Triangle Hill Country Llano Estacado Northeast Texas North Texas Osage Plains Panhandle Permian Basin Piney Woods Rio Grande Valley Southeast Texas South Plains South Texas Trans-Pecos West Texas Metropolitan areas Abilene Amarillo Austin–Round Rock–San Marcos Beaumont–Port Arthur Brownsville–Harlingen College Station–Bryan Corpus Christi Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington El Paso Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown Killeen–Temple–Fort Hood Laredo Longview Lubbock McAllen–Edinburg–Mission Midland Odessa San Angelo San Antonio–New Braunfels Sherman–Denison Texarkana Tyler Victoria Waco Wichita Falls Counties There are 254 counties in Texas. (See Table of Texas counties or List.)

State of Texas
Flag Seal
Nickname(s): The Lone Star State
Motto(s): Friendship
Official language(s)	No official language (see Languages spoken in Texas)
Spoken language(s)	English 68.7% Spanish 27.0%[1]
Demonym	Texan Texian (archaic) Tejano
Capital	Austin
Largest city	Houston
Largest metro area	Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex[2]
Area	Ranked 2nd in the U.S.
- Total	268,581[3] sq mi (696,241 km2)
- Width	773[4] miles (1,244 km)
- Length	790 miles (1,270 km)
- % water	2.5
- Latitude	25° 50′ N to 36° 30′ N
- Longitude	93° 31′ W to 106° 39′ W
Population	Ranked 2nd in the U.S.
- Total	25,674,681 (2011 est)[5]
- Density	98.1/sq mi  (37.9/km2) Ranked 26th in the U.S.
Elevation
- Highest point	Guadalupe Peak[6][7][8] 8,751 ft (2667.4 m)
- Mean	1,700 ft  (520 m)
- Lowest point	Gulf of Mexico[7] sea level
Before statehood	Republic of Texas
Admission to Union	December 29, 1845 (28th)
Governor	Rick Perry (R)
Lieutenant Governor	David Dewhurst (R)
Legislature	Texas Legislature
- Upper house	Senate
- Lower house	House of Representatives
U.S. Senators	Kay Bailey Hutchison (R) John Cornyn (R)
U.S. House delegation	23 Republicans, 9 Democrats (list)
Time zones
- most of state	Central: UTC −6/−5
- tip of West Texas	Mountain: UTC −7/−6
Abbreviations	TX Tex. US-TX
Website	www.texas.gov

Texas (ⁱ/ˈtɛksəs/) (Alibamu: Teksi ^[9]) is the second most populous and the second most extensive of the 50 United States, and the most extensive state of the 48 contiguous United States. The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in East Texas.^[10] Located in the South Central United States, Texas shares an international border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south, and borders the US states of New Mexico to the west, Oklahoma to the north, Arkansas to the northeast, and Louisiana to the east. Texas has an area of 268,820 square miles (696,200 km²), and a growing population of 25.7 million residents.^[11]

During the Spanish colonial rule, the area was officially known as the Nuevo Reino de Filipinas: La Provincia de Texas.^[12] Antonio Margil de Jesús was known to be the first person to use the name in a letter to the Viceroy of Mexico in July 20, 1716. The name was not popularly used in daily speech but often appeared in legal documents until the end of the 1800s.

Houston is the largest city in Texas and the fourth-largest in the United States, while San Antonio is the second largest in the state and seventh largest in the United States. Dallas–Fort Worth and Greater Houston are the fourth and fifth largest United States metropolitan areas, respectively. Other major cities include El Paso and Austin—the state capital. Texas is nicknamed the Lone Star State to signify Texas as a former independent republic and as a reminder of the state's struggle for independence from Mexico. The "Lone Star" can be found on the Texas state flag and on the Texas state seal today.^[13]

Due to its size and geologic features such as the Balcones Fault, Texas contains diverse landscapes that resemble both the American South and Southwest.^[14] Although Texas is popularly associated with the Southwestern deserts, less than 10% of the land area is desert.^[15] Most of the population centers are located in areas of former prairies, grasslands, forests, and the coastline. Traveling from east to west, one can observe terrain that ranges from coastal swamps and piney woods, to rolling plains and rugged hills, and finally the desert and mountains of the Big Bend.

The term "six flags over Texas" came from the several nations that had ruled over the territory. Spain was the first European country to claim the area of Texas. France held a short-lived colony in Texas. Mexico controlled the territory until 1836 when Texas won its independence, becoming an independent Republic. In 1845 it joined the United States as the 28th state. The state's annexation set off a chain of events that caused the Mexican–American War in 1846. A slave state, Texas declared its secession from the United States in early 1861, joining the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. After the war and its restoration to the Union, Texas entered a long period of economic stagnation.

One Texas industry that thrived after the Civil War was cattle. Due to its long history as a center of the industry, Texas is associated with the image of the cowboy. The state's economic fortunes changed in the early 20th century, when oil discoveries initiated an economic boom in the state. With strong investments in universities, Texas developed a diversified economy and high tech industry in the mid-20th century. As of 2010 it shares the top of the list of the most Fortune 500 companies with California at 57.^[16] With a growing base of industry, the state leads in many industries, including agriculture, petrochemicals, energy, computers and electronics, aerospace, and biomedical sciences. It leads the nation in export revenue since 2002 and has the second-highest gross state product.

Geography[link]

Guadalupe Mountains

Texas is the second largest U.S. state, behind Alaska, with an area of 268,820 square miles (696,200 km²). It is 10% larger than France and almost twice as large as Germany or Japan, though it ranks only 27th worldwide amongst country subdivisions by size. If it were a country, Texas would be the 40th largest behind Chile and Zambia.

Texas is in the south-central part of the United States of America. Three of its borders are defined by rivers. The Rio Grande river forms a natural border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south. The Red River forms a natural border with Oklahoma and Arkansas to the north. The Sabine River forms a natural border with Louisiana to the east. The Texas Panhandle has an eastern border with Oklahoma at 100° W, a northern border with Oklahoma at 36°30' N and a western border with New Mexico at 103° W. El Paso lies on the state's western tip at 32° N and the Rio Grande.^[17]

Hill Country

With 10 climatic regions, 14 soil regions, and 11 distinct ecological regions, regional classification becomes problematic with differences in soils, topography, geology, rainfall, and plant and animal communities.^[18] One classification system divides Texas, in order from southeast to west, into the following: Gulf Coastal Plains, Interior Lowlands, Great Plains, and Basin and Range Province. The Gulf Coastal Plains region wraps around the Gulf of Mexico on the southeast section of the state. Vegetation in this region consists of thick piney woods. The Interior Lowlands region consists of gently rolling to hilly forested land and is part of a larger pine-hardwood forest. The Great Plains region in central Texas is located in spans through the state's panhandle and Llano Estacado to the state's hill country near Austin. This region is dominated by prairie and steppe. "Far West Texas" or the "Trans-Pecos" region is the state's Basin and Range Province. The most varied of the regions, this area includes Sand Hills, the Stockton Plateau, desert valleys, wooded mountain slopes and desert grasslands.

Texas has 3,700 named streams and 15 major rivers.^[19][20] The largest of these rivers is the Rio Grande. Other major rivers include the Pecos, the Brazos, Colorado, and Red River, which forms the border with Oklahoma. While Texas has few natural lakes, Texans have built over 100 artificial reservoirs.^[21]

The size and unique history of Texas make its regional affiliation debatable: it can be fairly considered a Southern or a Southwestern state, or both. The vast geographic, economic, and cultural diversity within the state itself prohibits easy categorization of the whole state into a recognized region of the United States. Notable extremes range from East Texas which is often considered an extension of the Deep South, to Far West Texas which is generally acknowledged to be part of the interior Southwest.

Geology[link]

Shaded Relief Map of the Llano Estacado

Texas is the southernmost part of the Great Plains, which ends in the south against the folded Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico. The continental crust forms a stable Mesoproterozoic craton which changes across a broad continental margin and transitional crust into true oceanic crust of the Gulf of Mexico. The oldest rocks in Texas date from the Mesoproterozoic and are about 1,600 million years old. These Precambrian igneous and metamorphic rocks underlie most of the state, and are exposed in three places: Llano uplift, Van Horn, and the Franklin Mountains, near El Paso. Sedimentary rocks overlay most of these ancient rocks. The oldest sediments were deposited on the flanks of a rifted continental margin, or passive margin that developed during Cambrian time. This margin existed until Laurasia and Gondwana collided in the Pennsylvanian subperiod to form Pangea. This is the buried crest of the Appalachian Mountains–Ouachita Mountains zone of Pennsylvanian continental collision. This orogenic crest is today buried beneath the Dallas–Waco—Austin–San Antonio trend.

The late Paleozoic mountains collapsed as rifting in the Jurassic period began to open the Gulf of Mexico. Pangea began to break up in the Triassic, but seafloor spreading to form the Gulf of Mexico occurred only in the mid and late Jurassic. The shoreline shifted again to the eastern margin of the state and the Gulf of Mexico passive margin began to form.

Palo Duro Canyon

Today 9 miles (14 km) to 12 miles (19 km) of sediments are buried beneath the Texas continental shelf and a large proportion of remaining US oil reserves are located here. At the start of its formation, the incipient Gulf of Mexico basin was restricted and seawater often evaporated completely to form thick evaporite deposits of Jurassic age. These salt deposits formed salt dome diapirs, and are found in East Texas along the Gulf coast.^[22]

East Texas outcrops consist of Cretaceous and Paleogene sediments which contain important deposits of Eocene lignite. The Mississippian and Pennsylvanian sediments in the north; Permian sediments in the west; and Cretaceous sediments in the east, along the Gulf coast and out on the Texas continental shelf contain oil. Oligocene volcanic rocks are found in far west Texas in the Big Bend area. A blanket of Miocene sediments known as the Ogallala formation in the western high plains region is an important aquifer.^[23] Located far from an active plate tectonic boundary, Texas has no volcanoes and few earthquakes.^[24]

Climate[link]

Damage from the 1915 Galveston hurricane.

The large size of Texas and its location at the intersection of multiple climate zones gives the state highly variable weather. The Panhandle of the state has colder winters than North Texas, while the Gulf Coast has mild winters. Texas has wide variations in precipitation patterns. El Paso, on the western end of the state, averages 8.7 inches (220 mm) of annual rainfall,^[25] while parts of southeast Texas average as much as 64 inches (1,600 mm) per year.^[26] Dallas in the North Central region averages a more moderate 37 inches (940 mm) per year.

Snow falls multiple times each winter in the Panhandle and mountainous areas of West Texas, once or twice a year in North Texas, and once every few years in Central and East Texas. Snow rarely falls south of San Antonio or on the coast except in rare circumstances. Of note is the 2004 Christmas Eve Snowstorm, when 6 inches (150 mm) of snow fell as far south as Kingsville, where the average high temperature in December is 65 °F.^[27]

Maximum temperatures in the summer months average from the 80s °F (26 °C) in the mountains of West Texas and on Galveston Island to around 100 °F (38 °C) in the Rio Grande Valley, but most areas of Texas see consistent summer high temperatures in the 90 °F (32 °C) range.

Night-time summer temperatures range from the upper 50s °F (14 °C) in the West Texas mountains^[28] to 80 °F (27 °C) in Galveston.^[29]

Thunderstorms strike Texas often, especially the eastern and northern portions of the state. Tornado Alley covers the northern section of Texas. The state experiences the most tornadoes in the United States, an average of 139 a year. These strike most frequently in North Texas and the Panhandle.^[30] Tornadoes in Texas generally occur in the months of April, May, and June.^[31]

Some of the most destructive hurricanes in U.S. history have impacted Texas. A hurricane in 1875 killed approximately 400 people in Indianola, followed by another hurricane in 1886 that destroyed the town. These events allowed Galveston to take over as the chief port city. The Galveston hurricane of 1900 subsequently devastated that city, killing approximately 8,000 people (possibly as many as 12,000), making it the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history. Other devastating Texas hurricanes include the 1915 Galveston Hurricane, Hurricane Audrey in 1957 which killed over 600 people, Hurricane Carla in 1961, Hurricane Beulah in 1967, Hurricane Alicia in 1983, Hurricane Rita in 2005, and Hurricane Ike in 2008.^[32] Tropical storms have also caused their share of damage: Allison in 1989 and again during 2001, and Claudette in 1979 among them.

Texas emits the most greenhouse gases in the U.S.^[33][34][35] The state emits nearly 1.5 trillion pounds (680 billion kg) of carbon dioxide annually. As an independent nation, Texas would rank as the world's seventh-largest producer of greenhouse gases.^[34] Causes of the state's vast greenhouse gas emissions include the state's large number of coal power plants and the state's refining and manufacturing industries.^[34]

History[link]

History of Texas
This article is part of a series
Timeline
French Texas (1684–1689)
Spanish Texas (1690–1821)
Mexican Texas (1821–1836)
Republic of Texas (1836–1845)
Statehood (1845–1860)
Civil War Era (1861–1865)
Reconstruction and Gilded Age (1865–1899)
State of Texas
Texas Portal v t e

Pre-European era[link]

Texas lies between two major cultural spheres of Pre-Columbian North America: the Southwestern and the Plains areas. Archaeologists have found that three major indigenous cultures lived in this territory, and reached their developmental peak before the first European contact. These were:^[36]

• the Pueblo from the upper Rio Grande region, centered west of Texas;
• the Mississippian culture, also known as Mound Builder, which extended along the Mississippi River Valley east of Texas; and
• the civilizations of Mesoamerica, centered south of Texas. Influence of Teotihuacan in northern Mexico peaked around AD 500 and declined over the 8th to 10th centuries.

No culture was dominant in the present-day Texas region, and many peoples inhabited the area.^[36] Native American tribes that lived inside the boundaries of present-day Texas include the Alabama, Apache, Atakapan, Bidai, Caddo, Coahuiltecan, Comanche, Choctaw, Coushatta, Hasinai, Jumano, Karankawa, Kickapoo, Kiowa, Tonkawa, and Wichita.^[37][38] The name Texas derives from táyshaʔ, a word in the Caddoan language of the Hasinai, which means "friends" or "allies".^{[3][39][40][41][42]}

Whether a Native American tribe was friendly or warlike was critical to the fates of European explorers and settlers in that land.^[43] Friendly tribes taught newcomers how to grow indigenous crops, prepare foods, and hunt wild game. Warlike tribes made life difficult and dangerous for Europeans through their attacks and resistance to the newcomers.^[44]

Colonization[link]

Flag of the six nations that have had sovereignty over some or all of the current territory of Texas

Texas in 1718, Guillaume de L'Isle map, approximate state area highlighted, northern areas indefinite

Stephen F. Austin was the first American empresario given permission to operate a colony within Mexican Texas.

The first historical document related to Texas was a map of the Gulf Coast, created in 1519 by Spanish explorer Alonso Álvarez de Pineda.^[45][46] Nine years later, shipwrecked Spanish explorer Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and his cohort became the first Europeans in Texas.^[47][48] Cabeza de Vaca reported that in 1528, when the Spanish landed in Texas, “half the natives died from a disease of the bowels and blamed us.”^[49] European powers ignored Texas until accidentally settling there in 1685. Miscalculations by René Robert Cavelier de La Salle resulted in his establishing the colony of Fort Saint Louis at Matagorda Bay rather than along the Mississippi River.^[50] The colony lasted only four years before succumbing to harsh conditions and hostile natives.^[51]

In 1690 Spanish authorities, concerned that France posed competitive threat, constructed several missions in East Texas.^[52] After Native American resistance, the Spanish missionaries returned to Mexico.^[53] When France began settling Louisiana, mostly in the southern part of the state, in 1716 Spanish authorities responded by founding a new series of missions in East Texas.^[54][55] Two years later, they created San Antonio as the first Spanish civilian settlement in Texas.^[56]

Hostile native tribes and distance from nearby Spanish colonies discouraged settlers from moving to Texas. It was one of New Spain's least populated provinces.^[57] In 1749, the Spanish peace treaty with the Lipan Apache^[58] angered many tribes, including the Comanche, Tonkawa, and Hasinai.^[59] The Comanche signed a treaty with Spain in 1785^[60] and later helped to defeat the Lipan Apache and Karankawa tribes.^[61][62] With more numerous missions being established, priests led a peaceful conversion of most tribes. By the end of the 18th century only a few nomadic tribes had not converted to Christianity.^[63]