Clear Lake, or the Clear Lake Area, is a region in parts of

Harris Harris may refer to: Places Canada * Harris, Ontario * Northland Pyrite Mine (also known as Harris Mine) * Harris, Saskatchewan * Rural Municipality of Harris No. 316, Saskatchewan Scotland * Harris, Outer Hebrides (sometimes called the Isle of ...

and

Galveston County Galveston County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas, located along the Gulf Coast adjacent to Galveston Bay. As of the 2020 census, the population was 350,682. The county was founded in 1838. The county seat is the City of Galveston, ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It is part of the

Galveston Bay Area The Galveston Bay Area, also known as ''Bay Area Houston'' or simply the ''Bay Area'', is a region that surrounds the Galveston Bay estuary of Southeast Texas in the United States, within metropolitan area. Normally the term refers to the mainl ...

, which itself is a section of the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area.Kimball (2006), pg. 209-210 The area is geographically characterized by the bodies of water in it and around it, including Clear Lake, Taylor Lake, Clear Creek, and

Galveston Bay Galveston Bay ( ) is a bay in the western Gulf of Mexico along the upper coast of Texas. It is the seventh-largest estuary in the United States, and the largest of seven major estuaries along the Texas Gulf Coast. It is connected to the Gulf of ...

. Clear Lake is relatively affluent with a thriving business community. The area's most important business sectors are

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astrona ...

and

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

. It is home to the

Johnson Space Center The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is NASA's center for human spaceflight (originally named the Manned Spacecraft Center), where human spaceflight training, research, and flight control are conducted. It was renamed in honor of the late U ...

and numerous aerospace contracting firms. The lake itself is home to one of the largest concentrations of recreational boats and marinas in the nation.

Name

The Clear Lake region is named, as it implies, for Clear Lake, a brackish lake, fed by Clear Creek, that empties into Galveston Bay. The name "Clear Lake" is often used in a variety of ways depending on the source. Apart from referring to the lake itself or the region defined by the chamber of commerce, the name can refer to the

Clear Lake City Clear Lake City is a master-planned community located in southeast Harris County, Texas, within the Bay Area of Greater Houston. It is the second-largest master-planned community in Houston – behind Kingwood. The majority of the communit ...

residential development, the Clear Lake area of Houston (a Houston "superneighborhood" including Clear Lake City, Johnson Space Center, and surrounding areas), the Clear Lake area of Pasadena, and other geographies as well.

Boundaries

the Clear Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, established in 1962, provides the following definition for the area. These communities lie on or near the lake. They occupy a compact area lying between Houston, Pasadena, and the bay. Clear Lake City is itself a composite community within the Clear Lake Area that spans parts of Houston, Pasadena, Webster, and Seabrook. Texas State Historical Association.

History

At the time Europeans arrived the area around Galveston Bay was largely inhabited by

Akokisa The Akokisa were the indigenous tribe that lived on Galveston Bay and the lower Trinity and San Jacinto rivers in Texas, primarily in the present-day Greater Houston area.Campbell, Thomas N. "Akokisa Indians.''The Handbook of Texas Online.''(re ...

and

Karankawa The Karankawa were an Indigenous people concentrated in southern Texas along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, largely in the lower Colorado River and Brazos River valleys."Karankawa." In ''Cassell's Peoples, Nations and Cultures,'' edited by John ...

tribes. The first substantial European presence in the area came as a result of the

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

kingdom established by

Jean Lafitte Jean Lafitte ( – ) was a French pirate and privateer who operated in the Gulf of Mexico in the early 19th century. He and his older brother Pierre spelled their last name Laffite, but English language documents of the time used "Lafitte". Th ...

in the early 19th century from his base on

Galveston Island Galveston Island ( ) is a barrier island on the Texas Gulf Coast in the United States, about southeast of Houston. The entire island, with the exception of Jamaica Beach, is within the city limits of the City of Galveston in Galveston County. T ...

. One of the earliest settlers in the region was Anson Taylor, namesake of Taylor Lake, who supplied Lafitte's Galveston colony with produce and game from around Armand Bayou (though his homestead was actually near the Trinity River). During most of the 19th century the Clear Lake Area remained largely undeveloped. Ranches such as the famed

Allen Ranch The Allen Ranch, or Sam Allen Ranch, was one of the first and longest running ranches in the history of the state of Texas in the United States. The ranch was started a few years after the Texas Revolution in what is now southeast Houston and P ...

used much of the area as a cattle range. Texas State Historical Association Toward the end of the century small farming and fishing communities developed. Railroads grew up near the area as well connecting the nearby commercial centers of

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Galvesto ...

Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...

, and

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

spawning new communities such as Clear Creek (

League City League City is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, in Galveston County, within the metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 112,129. The city of League City has a small portion north of Clear Creek within Harris ...

) and

Webster Webster may refer to: People *Webster (surname), including a list of people with the surname *Webster (given name), including a list of people with the given name Places Canada *Webster, Alberta *Webster's Falls, Hamilton, Ontario United State ...

.
Texas State Historical Association In 1901 the oil gusher at

Spindletop Spindletop is an oil field located in the southern portion of Beaumont, Texas, in the United States. The Spindletop dome was derived from the Louann Salt evaporite layer of the Jurassic geologic period. On January 10, 1901, a well at Spindleto ...

launched the

Texas Oil Boom The Texas oil boom, sometimes called the gusher age, was a period of dramatic change and economic growth in the U.S. state of Texas during the early 20th century that began with the discovery of a large petroleum reserve near Beaumont, Texas. T ...

. Soon oil wells and refineries were built in nearby Goose Creek (modern

Baytown Baytown may refer to: * Baytown, Texas, a city in the United States near Houston, Texas *Baytown culture, an archaeological culture in the United States *Operation Baytown Operation Baytown was an Allied amphibious landing on the mainland o ...

) and

Texas City Texas City is a city in Galveston County, Texas, Galveston County in the U.S. state of Texas. Located on the southwest shoreline of Galveston Bay, Texas City is a busy deepwater port on Texas's Gulf Coast, as well as a petroleum-refining and pe ...

. Houston rapidly became established as the main commercial center in the area for the oil industry. The Clear Lake Area became an attractive recreational destination for the new class of wealthy oil businessmen. Much of the area was developed as retreats for the wealthy including a large ranch estate owned by Houston businessman

James West James or Jim West may refer to: People * James West (Australian journalist) (born 1982), Australian journalist and author * James West (antiquary) (1703–1772), English politician and antiquary; president of the Royal Society * James E. West (po ...

. The population increased rapidly including significant immigration from overseas. Texas State Historical Association The Maceo crime syndicate, which ran Galveston at that time, created casino districts in Kemah and other areas of Galveston County (though they were shut down in the mid-20th century). In 1963

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

's Johnson Space Center (JSC) was established in the area. That and the explosive growth of neighboring Houston in the mid-20th century, especially the 1970s and 80s, caused significant

urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly t ...

.Ramos (2004), pg. 154. The Clear Lake City community was created by the

Friendswood Development Company Friendswood Development Company is a real estate development company operating in Greater Houston. The company is a subsidiary of Lennar. The company is best known for developing Kingwood, a 15,000-acre master-planned community northeast of Hou ...

, a venture of Humble Oil and Dell E. Webb Corporation, to support residential growth near the new NASA facility. Some of the communities around Clear Lake reoriented toward aerospace-related industries. Still tourism and recreation remain core industries of the area today.

Economy

The area's most important employment sectors are

, high-tech (

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...

biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...

electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

, etc.), and

. Most other employment in the region is supported by these industries. Also, a significant number of petrochemical and refining industry employees who work at near-by facilities live in the area.

's Johnson Space Center (JSC) is an important pillar of the area economy. the center itself employs 3,000 civil servants and 12,000 engineering contractors. Businesses around this core include a broad range of high-tech development enterprises. JSC manages more than $4 billion annually in

contracts, and together with numerous private companies involved in space programs and related ventures gives the area one of the highest concentrations of aerospace businesses and expertise in the nation. The tourism industry attracts millions of visitors each year with attractions ranging from

Space Center Houston Space Center Houston is a science museum that serves as the official visitor center of NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. It was designated a Smithsonian Affiliate museum in 2014. The organization is owned by NASA, and operated under a co ...

to the bay itself.

Ecotourism Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving responsible travel (using sustainable transport) to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of the local people. Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide funds ...

, in particular, is a growing sector with destinations such as the

Armand Bayou Nature Center Armand Bayou Nature Center is an urban preserve located in Pasadena and southeast Houston between the Johnson Space Center and the Bayport Industrial District. The nature center is the largest urban wilderness preserve in the United States. The ...

, one of the largest urban wilderness preserves in the nation, and the Seabrook Trail System (part of the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail).

Biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...

, which already employs nearly 3000 workers in the area, is a smaller but growing industry in the area enabled in large part by JSC and the

Texas Medical Center The Texas Medical Center (TMC) is a medical district and neighborhood in south-central Houston, Texas, United States, immediately south of the Museum District and west of Texas State Highway 288. Over 60 medical institutions, largely concentrate ...

in Houston.

Commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must often ...

is one of the older industries in the region and is still a significant economic sector.

Demographics

The Clear Lake Area contains diverse communities. Based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the City of Houston the area had following demographic statistics in 2000. The total population of the area was approximately 141,980. The median household income was approximately $64,742 (US). The population was 81.6% white, 4.4% African-American, and 6.1% Asian. The comparable statistics for nearby Houston were a median household income of $36,616, 49.3% white, 25.3% African American, and 5.3% Asian. The comparable U.S. statistics were a median household income of $41,994, 75.1% white, 12.3% African American, and 3.6% Asian. Apart from Houston and Pasadena, which are only partially within the Clear Lake area, League City is the area's largest community. Taylor Lake Village has the highest median household income in the area and Webster has the lowest.

Education

The primary institution of higher learning in the area is the

University of Houston–Clear Lake The University of Houston–Clear Lake (UHCL) is a public university in Pasadena and Houston, Texas, with branch campuses in Pearland and Texas Medical Center. It is part of the University of Houston System. Founded in 1971, UHCL had an enr ...

(UHCL). UHCL is separate and distinct from the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

(UH), but it is part of the larger

University of Houston System The University of Houston System is a public university system in Texas, comprising four separate and distinct universities. It also owns and holds broadcasting licenses to a public television station (KUHT) and a public radio station (KUHF). Th ...

. The university offers a wide spectrum of programs including what it touts as the most complete

graduate programs in the state. Additionally

San Jacinto College San Jacinto College is a public community college in the Greater Houston with its campuses in Pasadena and Houston, Texas. Established in 1961, San Jacinto College originally consisted of the independent school districts (ISD) of Channelview, De ...

has extension centers in the area. Primary and secondary education are provided by

Clear Creek Independent School District Clear Creek Independent School District (CCISD) is a school district based in League City, Texas, United States. The district serves most of the Clear Lake Area and some other neighboring parts of the Houston metropolitan area. CCISD is the 29t ...

, which serves most of the area's communities with the exception of outlying parts of Pasadena and League City. Clear Creek ISD was ranked as a "recognized" district (the second-highest ranking) by the

Texas Education Agency The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is the branch of the government of Texas responsible for public education in Texas in the United States.

. 25 (65%) of the district's schools were ranked as "exemplary" (the highest ranking) and the rest were ranked as "recognized". For comparison, 29% of all schools in Texas rated by the TEA were ranked as "exemplary".

Culture and recreation

In terms of the restaurants in the region, Katharine Shilcutt of the ''

Houston Press The ''Houston Press'' is an online newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in the Midtown area. It was also a weekly print newspaper until November 2017. The publication is supported entirely by advertising ...

'' said in 2010 "there's also more to the area than overly-fancy eateries like Cullen's or old mainstays like Villa Capri and the Seabrook Classic Cafe. (Not that we don't cling to nostalgic memories of those last two places, but there's better food to be found in Clear Lake now.)"

Festivals and events

Many annual events take place in the Clear Lake Area. The Blessing of the Fleet boat

parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

in Kemah is an annual event that celebrates Kemah's history as a

shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...

fishing town. The

Gulf Coast Film Festival The Gulf Coast Film and Video Festival (GCFVF), commonly known as the Gulf Coast Film Festival, is a film festival in the United States held in the Clear Lake Area of Greater Houston, Texas (United States). In 2008, 127 independently made films ...

annually showcases independent films from local, regional and international artists in various categories ranging from short films to documentaries. Other annual events include the Wings over Houston Air Fest (Ellington Field), the Ballunar Liftoff Festival, the Oak Tree Festival (League City), and the South Shore Dockside Food & Wine Festival (League City). The Galveston Bay Cruising Association holds regular

regatta Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wate ...

events on the bay such as the Bay Cup (

Lakewood Yacht Club Lakewood Yacht Club is a yacht club located in Seabrook, Texas and a member of the Gulf Yachting Association. The club sits on 38 acres with six sheds and seven docks. There are over 250 covered slips for power boats ranging in size from 44’ to ...

, Seabrook) and the Performance Cup.

Artistic programs

The region offers various artistic programs. The Bay Area Houston Ballet and Theatre group and the League City Ballet offer performances in genres ranging from

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

to American musicals. The Clear Lake Symphony offers multiple performances each year ranging from classical to "pops" performances. The Arts Alliance at Clear Lake, a group of 50 area arts organizations, regularly schedules arts exhibits, musical performances, and other arts programs. The Clear Creek Country Theatre (Nassau Bay) offers regular

community theater Community theatre refers to any theatrical performance made in relation to particular communities—its usage includes theatre made by, with, and for a community. It may refer to a production that is made entirely by a community with no outside hel ...

performances. Additionally various free concerts and other cultural events take place in venues such as League Park Plaza (League City).

Parks and attractions

The Armand Bayou Nature Center is one of the largest urban wilderness preserve in the nation. It features a

boardwalk A boardwalk (alternatively board walk, boarded path, or promenade) is an elevated footpath, walkway, or causeway built with wooden planks that enables pedestrians to cross wet, fragile, or marshy land. They are also in effect a low type of bridge ...

through the marshes, numerous nature trails, and boat tours offering views of natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s for animals ranging from

bison Bison are large bovines in the genus ''Bison'' (Greek: "wild ox" (bison)) within the tribe Bovini. Two extant and numerous extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American bison, ''B. bison'', found only in North Ame ...

seagull Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders. Until the 21st century, m ...

s to

butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

. The Texas Armand Bayou Coastal Preserve features one of region's most popular paddling trails. The Seabrook Trail System, which includes Robinson and Pine Gully Parks, offers primitive access to natural habitats for numerous species. These sites are all part of the larger Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail. Other major area parks include Harris County Clear Lake and Bay Area parks, Clear Creek Nature Park (League City) and Challenger 7 Memorial Park (Webster).

is the tourist arm of the Johnson Space Center and one of the most visited tourist attractions in Texas. Visitors can tour the Space Center grounds, view space capsules and artifacts, and find numerous educational activities including an

IMAX theater IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating. Graeme F ...

. The

Kemah Boardwalk The Kemah Boardwalk is a 60-acre Texas Gulf Coast theme park in Kemah, Texas, approximately 30 miles southeast of Downtown Houston, Texas. The Boardwalk is built entirely along the shores of Galveston Bay and Clear Lake. The complex is owned an ...

is a waterfront attraction featuring a variety of rides,

restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

s, shops, and other entertainment venues. It is next to the Kemah Marina and hosts annual events such as the Boardwalk Wine Festival. Museums in the area include the Bay Area Museum (Seabrook) and the Butler Longhorn Museum (League City). Farmers markets in the area, including the Nassau Bay Farmers Market and the Farmers Market at Clear Lake Shores, provide opportunities for area residents to connect with local growers, producers, and other businesses. The League City Historic District provides views of early area architecture in addition to unique shopping venues. The area contains many marinas for boating and fishing enthusiasts such as the Watergate Yachting Center (Clear Lake Shores). The shoreline of Clear Lake itself has the greatest concentration of recreational boats in Texas and ranks third nationwide (Watergate even claims to be the nation's largest).

Religion

There is one Coptic Orthodox church in the area, Archangel Raphael Coptic Orthodox Church in

.Vara, Richard.
New home is 'miracle' for Coptic Christians
" ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...

''. August 21, 2004. Retrieved on May 3, 2014. The Clear Lake Islamic Center Inc. (CLIC) is the largest mosque in the Clear Lake area.Shellnutt, Kate.
Clear Lake mosque suffers two fires; Police investigate for arson
" ''

''. March 18, 2011. Retrieved on May 3, 2014. It was established in 1996.About
(). Clear Lake Islamic Center Inc. Retrieved on May 3, 2014. In addition, the Al-Noor Society of Greater Houston operates the Clear Lake Jama Masjid.

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * *

External links

Clear Lake Texas Community Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clear Lake (Region) Regions of Texas Greater Houston Geography of Galveston County, Texas Geography of Harris County, Texas Galveston Bay Area