Humble ( ) is a city located in the

Houston metropolitan area Greater Houston, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as Houston–Pasadena–The Woodlands, is the fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States, encompassing ten counties along the Gulf Coa ...

. Humble became an oil boomtown in the early 20th century when oil was first discovered there in 1904. By 1905, the Humble oilfield was the largest producing oilfield in Texas. Humble was home of the Humble Oil and Refining Company, a predecessor of

Exxon Exxon Mobil Corporation ( ) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Founded as the largest direct successor of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, the modern company was form ...

. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 16,795.

History

Contemporary settlement of the Humble area began in the early 19th century. Joseph Dunman is believed to be the first settler in 1828. A ferry was built nearby, across the San Jacinto River. The area of Humble became a center for commercial activity due to the region's large

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

industry. The city got its name from one of the original founders/settlers, Pleasant Smith Humble, who opened the first post office in his home and later served as justice of the peace. In 1883, a

city directory A city directory is a listing of residents, streets, businesses, organizations or institutions, giving their location in a city. It may be arranged alphabetically or geographically or in other ways. Information Antedating telephone directories ...

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 reported his occupation as attorney at law. Humble became an oil

boomtown A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that is started from scratch. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although t ...

in the early 1900s when oil was first produced there. The first oil was produced a couple years after the famous

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 Spindlet ...

discovery in

Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, located in Southeast Texas on the Neches River about east of Houston (city ...

Railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

linkage was established in 1904, and shortly thereafter the first tank car of oil was shipped out of Humble's oil field. By 1905 the Humble oilfield was the biggest producing field in Texas. The Humble oil fields are still active and have produced over of oil. The town was the home of the Humble Oil & Refining Company, founded in 1911, a predecessor of

. When the oil boom receded, many land owners returned to truck farming, dairy farming and the timber industry. Humble City Council passed, by a 5–1 vote, a public

smoking ban Smoking bans, or smoke-free laws, are public policies, including criminal laws and occupational safety and health regulations, that prohibit tobacco smoking in certain spaces. The spaces most commonly affected by smoking bans are indoor employ ...

that took effect on March 6, 2012.

Geography

Humble is located at (29.994920, –95.264873). According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and 0.10% is water. Downtown Humble is located on a

salt dome A salt dome is a type of structural dome formed when salt (or other evaporite minerals) intrudes into overlying rocks in a process known as diapirism. Salt domes can have unique surface and subsurface structures, and they can be discovered us ...

. Most of the petroleum production is shallow and encircles the city by about a radius.

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Humble has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 16,795 people, 6,373 households, and 3,411 families residing in the city. As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 14,579 people, 5,460 households, and 3,652 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 5,908 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 69.24%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 14.49%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.68% Native American, 3.22% Asian, 0.26%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 9.07% from other races, and 3.04% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

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 Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

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 Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $17,678. About 12.2% of families and 15.5% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 22.2% of those under age 18 and 7.4% of those age 65 or over. CityData.com says 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 294.7; Humble's crime rate was at 593.7.

Economy

Petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

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

corporation.

Arts and culture

Museums and other points of interest

* Humble Negro Cemetery *Humble Museum, 601 Higgins Street * DeLorean Motor Company (DMC), manufacturer of the DeLorean, a sports car made famous by the movie ''

Back to the Future ''Back to the Future'' is a 1985 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale. It stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, and Thomas F. Wilson. Set in 1985 ...

'', has its only remaining private factory based in Humble.

Parks and recreation

The

Shell Houston Open The Texas Children's Houston Open is a professional golf tournament in Texas on the PGA Tour, played in March. As a part of a restructuring of the schedule, the event moved to the fall in 2019. Because the tour year starts the previous fall, the ...

, an annual

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

event is played at Golf Club of Houston, located in an

unincorporated area An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

near Humble. The event takes place at the end of March-beginning of April. The event has historically been one week before the

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply the Masters, or as the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four men's major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week in April, the Masters is the ...

, the season's first major.

Government

County, state, and federal representation

Harris County operates a tax office at 7900 Will Clayton Parkway in Humble. The

U.S. Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

operates the Humble Post Office. Some locations in the City of Houston have Humble mailing addresses.

Education

Primary and secondary schools

The majority of the city of Humble is served by the

Humble Independent School District Humble Independent School District is a school district located in Humble, Texas, Humble, Texas, United States. It serves the city of Humble, small portions of the city of Houston, Texas, Houston (including the community of Kingwood, Houston, T ...

. 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), and

Humble High School Humble High School (HHS) is a secondary school in the Humble Independent School District in Humble, Texas, United States. It serves grades 9 through 12 for the city of Humble, the Moonshine Hill, Houston, Texas, Moonshine Hill area of Houston, an ...

. All students attending the Humble Independent School District have the option to apply to Guy M. Sconzo Early College, a magnet high school that as of the 2016–2017 school year is contained within but separated from Humble High School. A portion of the city limits is within the

Aldine Independent School District The Aldine Independent School District is a public school district based in unincorporated area, unincorporated Harris County, Texas, United States. It serves portions of Houston and unincorporated Harris County. Aldine ISD serves the communiti ...

(AISD). AISD built Marine D. Jones Middle School (initially named Townsen Boulevard Middle School) in the Humble city limits. A Christian Prek-12 '
Humble Christian School
'', is in Humble. Humble Christian School allows opportunities to families who come from Christian backgrounds. Catholic K–8
St. Mary Magdalene School
is in Humble. The closest Catholic high school is Frassati Catholic High School in north Harris County; the planners of the school intended for it to serve Humble. Holy Trinity Episcopal School, a Christian PK–5 school, is in Harris County, in proximity to Humble. Christian Life Center Academy, a private school, was in a section of the city of Houston, near Humble, while having an Humble postal address. It is now in the Kingwood area of Houston.

Community colleges

Lone Star College System Lone Star College (LSC) is a public community college system serving the northern portions of the Greater Houston, Texas, area. In 2017, it enrolled about 95,000 students. The headquarters of the Lone Star College System are located in The Woo ...

(formerly the North Harris Montgomery Community College District) serves the area. 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 which operates the Humble Center for outreach.

Public libraries

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 branch opened on June 27, 2001. Some areas outside of Humble with Humble postal addresses are in proximity to the Baldwin Boettcher Branch Library at Mercer Park. The branch opened in 1986. It was built on donated land. It was named after Baldwin Boettcher, a German settler. His descendants deeded the homestead to Harris County. The plans said that the Boettcher staff would assist the Mercer Park staff in finding any botanical reference books that they or the public need.

Media

Humble news is reported in three community newspapers:

Community Impact Newspaper ''Community Impact'' is a news organization founded and privately owned by John and Jennifer Garrett, who respectively serve as its current Chief Executive Officer and Chief Facility Management Officer. Its products include monthly newspapers d ...

Lake Houston/Humble/Kingwood edition, The Tribune Newspaper and The Observer Newspaper. Community Impact Newspaper is owned by John and Jennifer Garrett and covers several Houston Metro suburban areas as well as Austin and DFW Metro markets. The Tribune is locally owned and operated by Cynthia Calvert and Larry Shiflet. The Observer is owned by Hearst Publications. It is also the business location of

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

radio station

KSBJ KSBJ (89.3 FM) is a non-commercial Christian adult contemporary radio station based in Humble, Texas, broadcasting to the Greater Houston area. KSBJ is owned and operated by Hope Media Group (formerly KSBJ Educational Foundation). KSBJ is a no ...

, call sign 89.3 FM radio. ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, 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''. ...

'' is the metrowide paper.

Infrastructure

Health care

Harris County Hospital District The Harris Health System, previously the Harris County Hospital District (HCHD), is a governmental entity with taxing authority that owns and operates three hospitals and numerous clinics throughout Harris County, Texas, United States, includ ...

operates the E. A. "Squatty" Lyons Health Center in Humble. The clinic opened in 1991, replacing a clinic in

Bordersville Bordersville is a predominantly African American community on Farm to Market Road 1960 in northeast Harris County, Texas, United States. The community, located less than one half-mile from George Bush Intercontinental Airport, has about 80% of ...

. The nearest public hospital is Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital in northeast Houston. Humble Surgical Hospital is a multi-specialty, physician-owned surgical hospital. Humble Surgical Hospital opened in 2010.

Postal service

The

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

Humble Post Office is located at 1202 1st Street East. The Foxbrook Finance Unit is located near Humble in an

; 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 Lloyd Theodore Poe (born September 10, 1948) is an American politician who represented Texas's 2nd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2005 to 2019. Poe was the first Republican Party (United States), Republi ...

Prison system

Pam Lychner State Jail Pam Lychner State Jail is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice state jail for men located in Atascocita, unincorporated northeast Harris County, Texas, United States, east of Humble.Texas Department of Criminal Justice The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) is a department of the government of the U.S. state of Texas. The TDCJ is responsible for statewide criminal justice for adult offenders, including managing offenders in state prisons, state jails ...

state jail for men, is located in Atascocita in unincorporated northeast Harris County, east of Humble. The state jail was named after

Pam Lychner Pamela Sue Rogers Lychner (November 9, 1958 – July 17, 1996) was an American real estate agent from Greater HoustonGray, Lisa. "After the Crash." ''Houston Press''. October 23, 19971 who promoted the "Pam Lychner Sexual Offender Tracking and Ide ...

Notable people

Imad Baba Imad Baba (born March 15, 1974) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a midfielder. He spent seven years in Major League Soccer (MLS) with the New England Revolution and Colorado Rapids. He was also a member of the Americ ...

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United ...

soccer player *

Nidal Baba Nidal Baba (born August 16, 1972, in Humble, Texas) is a retired U.S. soccer midfielder who was a member of the U.S. U-16 national team at the 1989 FIFA U-16 World Championship. He also played three games with the MetroStars during the 1996 Ma ...

, MLS soccer player *

Jackie Battle Ewart Haron "Jackie" Battle III (born October 1, 1983) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Kansas City Chiefs, San Diego Chargers, and Tenness ...

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

football player * Bertrand Berry, NFL football player *

Sam Cosmi Samuel Cosmi (born February 16, 1999) is an American professional football guard for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas Longhorns and was drafted by Washington in the second r ...

, NFL/Romanian football player *

The Grappler Edward Lynn "Len" Denton (born August 25, 1958) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, The Grappler. Professional wrestling career Len Denton worked early in his career under a few different monikers and wr ...

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

Alberto Gonzales Alberto R. Gonzales (born August 4, 1955) is an American lawyer who served as the 80th United States Attorney General from 2005 to 2007 and was the highest-ranking Hispanic American in executive government in American history until the appoin ...

, 80th

United States Attorney General The United States attorney general is the head of the United States Department of Justice and serves as the chief law enforcement officer of the Federal government of the United States, federal government. The attorney general acts as the princi ...

* Dan Huberty, Republican member of the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. There are no Term limits in the United States, term limits. The ...

from Humble since 2011 *

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American Aerospace engineering, aerospace engineer, business magnate, film producer, and investor. He was The World's Billionaires, one of the richest and most influential peo ...

, entrepreneur, aerospace engineer, filmmaker, inventor, investor, aviator, philanthropist *

Jerrod Johnson Jerrod Terrel Johnson (born July 27, 1988) is an American professional football coach and former player who is the quarterbacks coach for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). He played quarterback at Texas A&M. Johnson was ...

, NFL football player * Donny Kelley, racing driver * Wakaichiro Ken,

sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by th ...

wrestler *

David Kersh Charles David Kersh (born December 9, 1970, in Humble, Texas) is an American country music singer who made his debut in 1996. His first album, ''Goodnight Sweetheart'', was released that year, producing four singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot Countr ...

, country singer *

Bizzle Mark Julian Felder (born July 21, 1983), more commonly known as Bizzle, is an American Christian hip hop recording artist and entrepreneur. In January 2010, Bizzle released "You Got Some Explaining to Do". The song criticizes rapper Jay-Z fo ...

, Christian Rapper *

Hailey Kilgore Hailey Frances Kilgore is an American actress and singer. Her breakthrough role was as Ti Moune in the Broadway revival of coming-of-age one-act stage musical '' Once on This Island'', a performance for which the 19-year-old was nominated for ...

, actress and singer *

David Meece David Meece (born May 26, 1952) is an American contemporary Christian musician who enjoyed success in the mid-1980s and into the early 2010s, with more than thirty Top 10 hits, including several No. 1 songs. Education Meece grew up in Humble ...

musician * Stephan McCurley, racing driver *

Aaron Glenn Aaron Devone Glenn (born July 16, 1972) is an American professional football coach and former cornerback who is the head coach for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the defensive coordinator for the ...

, head coach of the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

and former NFL football player

Literary references

Humble is the site of a Confederate concentration camp in

Harry Turtledove Harry Norman Turtledove (born June 14, 1949) is an American author who is best known for his work in the genres of alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and mystery fiction. He is a student of history and completed his ...

's alternate history novel '' Settling Accounts: In at the Death''.

Gallery

File:HumbleMunicipalCourt.JPG, Humble Municipal Court File:HumbleTXCriminalJustice.JPG, Humble Criminal Justice Center and Humble Police Department File:HarrisCountyHumbleTXAnnex.JPG, Harris County Courthouse Annex No. 3 File:Old San Jacinto River Truss Bridge -- Humble, Texas.jpg, Old San Jacinto River Truss Bridge File:HirschParkHumbleTX.JPG, Hirsch Memorial Park File:LyonsClinicHumbleTX.JPG, E. A. Squatty Lyons Health Center File:Oil field, Humble, Texas.jpg, Oil field, Humble, Texas (postcard, c. 1836–2001) File:Charles Bender High School, 1939.tiff, Former Charles Bender High School building Image:Humblewatertower.jpg, A water tower in Humble; the Wildcats are the

football team

References

External links

*
History of Humble

Handbook of Texas Online article

ePodunk: Profile for Humble, Texas

{{authority control Humble, Texas Cities in Texas Cities in Harris County, Texas Greater Houston Company towns in Texas Populated places established in 1933 1933 establishments in Texas