La Porte, Texas City of La Porte La Porte (/l p rt/ l port) is a town/city in Harris County, Texas, United States, inside the Bay Area of the Houston Sugar Land Baytown urbane area.
As of the 2010 census, the town/city population was 33,800. La Porte is the fourth-largest incorporated town/city in Harris County.
When La Porte jubilated its centennial in 1992, it was the home of Barbours Cut Terminal, directed by the Port of Houston Authority since 1977.
Fifteen years later, the Port of Houston's newest addition, Bayport Terminal, was established just south of La Porte.
The region around La Porte has served an increasingly meaningful part in global trade since the 1970s.
The region around undivided La Porte attained fame early in Texas history as the locale of the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836, which ended the Texas Revolution, establishing the independence of the Republic of Texas from Mexico.
The San Jacinto Monument, in the unincorporated region of La Porte, memorializes the battle.
During the early 20th century, especially the 1920s and 1930s, La Porte's Sylvan Beach became a nationally known tourist destination attracting some of the nation's most well-known entertainers.
During World War II and afterward, La Porte's economy quickly shifted toward petroleum/petrochemicals and shipping, which advanced as the dominant industries in the Pasadena-Baytown area.
The improve of La Porte was established in 1892 as a speculative real estate venture by an investment group. A 22-acre (0.089 km2) enhance space known as Sylvan Grove was reserved by the waterfront. The region around Sylvan Grove soon was advanced with amenities including bathhouses, boating piers, and a Victorian hotel with a dance pavilion.
La Porte quickly became the most prominent tourist destination in the Houston area. Sylvan Grove Park was acquired in 1896 by a business known as Adoue and Lobit and retitled Sylvan Beach. Cottage retreats were assembled around the waterfront. In 1900, the devastating Galveston Hurricane hit the shoreline, seriously damaging the community's attractions. As the Texas Oil Boom took hold beginning in 1901, and neighboring Houston became home to many wealthy businessmen, La Porte quickly rebuilt and re-established itself as a tourist center.
During the 1920s and 1930s Sylvan Beach Amusement Park became a nationally recognized destination, featuring beauty contests and regular performances by famous bands, in addition to a burgeoning loggia of amenities. Some of the most well-known performers of the era, including Guy Lombardo, the Dorsey Brothers, Phil Harris, and Benny Goodman, appeared at the park. In the 1930s the park was completely revamped, with additions of a large boardwalk, amusement rides, and many other attractions. The residentiary improve remained small, supported exclusively by Sylvan Beach tourism and the close-by Bay Ridge community, an region of beachfront summer homes in neighboring Morgan's Point assembled by wealthy Houstonians. Most of the damaged structures at Sylvan Beach were never rebuilt after this time, as the region was changing, and La Porte's tourist trade rapidly declined. By the later 20th century, erosion had completely eliminated the beach. The opening of the La Porte-Baytown tunnel in 1954 further spurred development. The later establishment of the Johnson Space Center in the close-by Clear Lake Area, the Barbours Cut shipping terminal in neighboring Morgan's Point, and the Bayport Industrial District inside La Porte's jurisdiction have gradually made the improve prosperous as part of the Houston area's industrialized heartland. Much of the history of La Porte's glory years as a tourist haven has been preserved by the La Porte Bay Area Heritage Society. Plans have been discussed for many years to restore La Porte's status as a tourist destination. A universal to restore the beachfront at Sylvan Beach Park began in 2009 and rather than in 2013, with sand brought in from other areas and dredging operations. Other plans, including building a large hotel on the shoreline, have been discussed as well. Map of La Porte La Porte has many small 1940s frame homes. According to the Koppen Climate Classification system, La Porte has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps. La Porte contains many communities.
Lomax was once a separate jurisdiction but was took in by La Porte.
The town/city is positioned adjoining to three primary economic hubs of the Bay Area and Greater Houston: the Bayport Industrial District, the Battleground Industrial District, and the Barbours Cut shipping terminal. As with the majority of home-rule metros/cities in Texas, La Porte has a charter for a council-manager form of government.
The United States Postal Service operates the La Porte Post Office at 801 West Fairmont Parkway. The region is zoned to the La Porte Independent School District, including La Porte High School.
Primary and secondary schools include: Jennie Reid Elementary, Rizzuto Elementary, Lomax Elementary, La Porte Elementary, Bayshore Elementary, College Park Elementary, and Heritage Elementary.
The secondary schools include Baker Sixth Grade Campus, La Porte Junior High, Lomax Junior High and La Porte High School.
The town/city is served by the 23,357-square-foot (2,169.9 m2) La Porte Branch Library of Harris County Public Library (HCPL), positioned at 600 South Broadway.
The City of La Porte maintains the buildings and furnishings while HCPL staffs and operates the library. La Porte (upper center) joins to I-10 via Highway 146, over the Fred Hartman Bridge connecting northeast to Baytown.
La Porte Municipal Airport is positioned in the La Porte town/city limits.
La Porte is linked to Interstate 10 (see map) by State Highway 146, crossing the Fred Hartman Bridge into the close-by city of Baytown; the bridge was assembled in 1995, replacing the Baytown Tunnel, to allow deepening of the Houston Ship Channel.
La Porte is positioned on the northwest end of Galveston Bay at the mouth of Buffalo Bayou and the San Jacinto River.
Jessica Boone is an actress and was born in La Porte.
Ed Thompson, member of the Texas House of Representatives from Brazoria County; reared in La Porte and graduated from La Porte High School Gene Washington is a 2x Pro Bowler who was born in La Porte.
Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: City of La Porte "Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (DP-1): La Porte city, Texas".
Kolodzy, Ron: La Porte, Texas from the Handbook of Texas Online.
"Sylvan Beach: La Porte's Swinging Shoreline".
"City of La Porte: Bayport Industrial District, Battleground Industrial District".
City of La Porte, Texas.
"Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): La Porte city, Texas".
Climate Summary for La Porte, Texas "City of La Porte: Bayport Industrial District, Battleground Industrial District".
City of La Porte, Texas.
"La Porte Branch Library." Wikimedia Commons has media related to La Porte, Texas.
Categories:
Cities in Texas - Cities in Harris County, Texas - Galveston Bay Area - Greater Houston - La Porte, Texas - Populated coastal places in Texas
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