Clear Lake City is a

master-planned community A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

located in southeast

Harris County, Texas Harris County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 4,731,145, and was estimated to be 5,009,302 in 2024, making it the List of counties in Texas, most populous cou ...

, within the

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose. The Association of Bay Area Governments ...

Greater Houston Greater Houston, designated by the Office of Management and Budget, United States Office of Management and Budget as Houston–Pasadena–The Woodlands, is the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical ...

. It is the second-largest master-planned community in Houston – behind Kingwood. The majority of the community lies in the corporate limits of

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, and a small eastern portion within the city limits of

Taylor Lake Village Taylor Lake Village is a city in Harris County, Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas t ...

. The community is adjacent to

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

Johnson Space Center The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is NASA's center for human spaceflight in Houston, Texas (originally named the Manned Spacecraft Center), where human spaceflight training, research, and flight controller, flight control are conducted. ...

, as well as other major

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 astron ...

companies—including

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

and

Lockheed-Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North Bethesda, Mary ...

. The community and its adjacent areas have a high concentration of

engineers Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while consider ...

due to both

and the local

petrochemical Petrochemicals (sometimes abbreviated as petchems) are the chemical products obtained from petroleum by refining. Some chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, or renewable s ...

and

biomedical Biomedicine (also referred to as Western medicine, mainstream medicine or conventional medicine)

industries.

History

The first substantial development on the land Clear Lake City now occupies was accomplished by James Marion West, who came to Texas from

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

as a boy in 1880. West became a wealthy businessman with interests in

ranching A ranch (from /Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of farm. These terms are most often applied to li ...

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

, and

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 ...

. His main ranch property and the site of his home was around the shores of Clear Lake and Clear Creek.

Humble Oil Humble Oil and Refining Co. was an American oil company founded in 1911 in Humble, Texas. In 1919, a 50% interest in Humble was acquired by the Standard Oil of New Jersey which acquired the rest of the company in September 1959. The Humble bran ...

(now

ExxonMobil Exxon Mobil Corporation ( ) is an American multinational List of oil exploration and production companies, oil and gas corporation headquartered in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Founded as the Successors of Standard Oil, largest direct s ...

) purchased the property from West in 1938 after oil was discovered. Most of the property remained undeveloped until, following the decision to establish the

in the area, Humble Oil's venture, 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 ...

, made plans to establish a residential development. The company established the Clear Lake City Community Association, Inc. (CLCCA) in 1963.About CLCAA
." ''Clear Lake City Community Association, Inc.''. Retrieved on January 4, 2009. Clear Lake City was the former location of the

Clear Lake City STOLport Clear Lake City STOLport was an airport owned by Houston Metro Airlines, a commuter air carrier. It was located adjacent to Clear Lake City on Texas State Highway 3 (also known as Old Galveston Highway) approximately two miles west of the NASA ...

, a private airport constructed and owned by

Houston Metro Airlines Metro Airlines, originally Houston Metro Airlines, was a commuter airline that was originally headquartered in Houston, Texas, United States. Metro subsequently moved its headquarters to north Texas. The airline had an operational base located on ...

which was located on State Highway 3 just south of Ellington Field. This commuter airline operated up to 22 roundtrip flights every weekday in the mid-1970s between Clear Lake City (CLC) and Houston Intercontinental Airport (IAH) with de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter

STOL A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a fixed-wing aircraft that can takeoff/land on short runways. Many STOL-designed aircraft can operate on airstrips with harsh conditions (such as high altitude or ice). STOL aircraft, including tho ...

(short take off and landing) turboprop aircraft. Metro Airlines eventually ceased operations due to financial challenges. The Clear Lake City STOLport was subsequently abandoned and then demolished. There is no trace of this pioneering airfield to be found at the present time, and the land has been developed for commercial and residential use. The portion of Clear Lake City that was Houston's

extraterritorial jurisdiction Extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) is the legal ability of a government to exercise authority beyond its normal boundaries. Any authority can claim ETJ over any external territory they wish. However, for the claim to be effective in the external ...

(ETJ) was annexed by the city of Houston in 1977 despite a grass-roots campaign by its residents to stop it. Their slogan was "Free The Clear Lake 25,000!" Lawsuits over the annexation resulted in the conversion of Houston city government from at-large city councilmen to the current-day nine district and five at-large council seats. The 1977 annexation added of land to the Houston city limits.Lee, Renée C.
Annexed Kingwood split on effects
" ''

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''. ...

''. Sunday October 8, 2006. A21. Retrieved on July 6, 2011. Print version exclusively has the information cited; the information is ''not'' included in the online edition. At the time, under a Texas law established in 1963, a city of more than 100,000 people could unilaterally annex an unincorporated area. Proponents stated that the annexation allowed Houston to maintain a healthy tax base which would therefore keep taxes low and stimulate economic growth. This meant Texas cities would avoid the fates of Northern cities, locked in by other cities, which saw their tax bases relocate out of their respective city limits. The eastern portion in Pasadena's

(ETJ) was eventually annexed by the city of

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...

. Since 1980, part of Clear Lake City within the Houston City Limits is located in Council District E. From the 1980 U.S. Census to the 1990 Census, many Asian-Americans settled in Clear Lake City. They were mostly

Chinese American Chinese Americans are Americans of Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans have ancestors from mainland China, Hong Kong ...

Indian American Indian Americans are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly from India. The terms Asian Indian and East Indian are used to avoid confusion with Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans in the United States, who ar ...

, and

Pakistani American Pakistani Americans () are citizens of the United States who have full or partial ancestry from Pakistan, or more simply, Pakistanis in America. They can be from different ethnic groups in Pakistan like Punjabi or Muhajir. The term may also re ...

with some

Vietnamese American Vietnamese Americans () are Americans of Vietnamese ancestry. They constitute a major part of all overseas Vietnamese. As of 2023, over 2.3 million people of Vietnamese descent live in the United States, making them the fourth largest Asian Ame ...

Etymology

The community was named Clear Lake City for Clear Lake, which lies south of the

and, along with Clear Creek, separates Harris County from

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, its population was 350,682. The county was founded in 1838. The county seat is the City of Galveston, ...

. The lake is effectively the mouth of Clear Creek which empties into

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 ...

Government and infrastructure

Local government

Houston Police Department Clear Lake Station 2014

The Clear Lake City Water Authority serves the community. The authority was created on May 6, 1963, by House Bill 1003 during the regular session of the 58th Legislature of Texas. When it was created the authority had of land in its jurisdiction. Due to annexations, as of 2009 the authority now has of land in its jurisdiction.

Houston City Council The Houston City Council is a city council for the city of Houston in the U.S. state of Texas. The Council has sixteen members: eleven from council districts and five elected at-large. The members of the Council are elected every four years, wi ...

District E serves portions of Clear Lake City within Houston.

Harris Health System 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 ...

(formerly Harris County Hospital District) designated Strawberry Health Center in

for ZIP code 77058. The nearest public hospital is

Ben Taub General Hospital Ben Taub Hospital is a public hospital located in Houston, Texas within the Texas Medical Center. Having opened in May 1963, the hospital is owned and operated by the Harris Health System and is staffed by the faculty, residents, and students fr ...

in the

Texas Medical Center The Texas Medical Center (TMC) is a List of neighborhoods in Houston, neighborhood in south-central Houston, Texas, United States. It is immediately south of the Houston Museum District, Museum District and west of Texas State Highway 288. Over 6 ...

Fire service

The area was served from 1963 until sometime in the mid- to late-1990s by the Clear Lake City Volunteer Fire Department (CLCVFD). The CLCCA funded the CLCVFD and the CLCWA provided the fire station and surrounding land. When the CLCVFD ceased operations due to reduced funding as a result of Houston's annexation of the majority of CLCVFD's service area, the building did a brief stint as the headquarters of the Clear Lake Emergency Medical Corps
CLEMC
. The building is currently a maintenance depot for the CLCWA, which has held title to the building and surrounding land since the CLCWA's inception. The fire departments of

, and

currently serve sections of Clear Lake City. The

Houston Fire Department City of Houston Fire Department (HFD) is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for the city of Houston, Texas, United States, the fourth largest city in the United States. HFD is responsible for preserving life a ...

serves areas of Clear Lake City within the City of Houston limits. In 1978, City of Houston officials contracted with the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center to open a fire station on the base.Fire Station 72
." City of Houston. Retrieved on May 8, 2010. The city introduced plans to provide services for the Pipers Meadow area, which was annexed in 1994. A new Houston fire station #94 serving Piper's Meadow, Sterling Knoll, and surrounding areas within the city was built in January 2005. This new fire station had a price of $2,644,438.
." City of Houston. Retrieved on May 8, 2010.

Police service

The police departments of Houston, Pasadena, and Taylor Lake Village serve sections of Clear Lake City. The

Houston Police Department The Houston Police Department (HPD) is the primary municipal law enforcement agency serving the city of Houston, Texas, United States, and some surrounding areas. With approximately 5,300 officers and 1,200 civilian support personnel it is the fi ...

serves areas of Clear Lake City within the City of Houston limits. The Clear Lake Patrol Division serves the portion of Clear Lake City in Houston. Pasadena Police Department is the police department for Pasadena. The police department for Taylor Lake Village is the Lakeview Police Department, formed in January 1987 by a merger of the police departments of Taylor Lake Village and El Lago. Police protection is also provided by the Harris County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) and the Harris County Precinct 8 Constable's Office (HCCO Pct 8).

County, state, and federal representation

Harris County operates the County Courthouse Bay Area Annex, including a tax office, on Buccaneer Lane in Clear Lake City, Houston. 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 ...

operates the Albert Thomas Post Office on El Camino Real Drive in Houston and the Nassau Bay Post Office on Upper Bay Road in

Nassau Bay Nassau Bay is a city in Harris County, Texas, Harris County, Texas, United States, bordering the outermost southeastern edge of the city of Houston. It is located in the Clear Lake (region), Clear Lake Area near Galveston Bay, directly adjacent to ...

, near Clear Lake City.

Neighborhoods

Clear Lake City is itself subdivided into various neighborhoods. These include Bay Forest, Bay Glen, Bay Knoll, Bay Oaks, Bay Pointe, Brook Forest, Brookwood, Clear Lake Forest, Camino South, Meadowgreen, Middlebrook, Northfork, Oakbrook, Oakbrook West, Pipers Meadow, and Pinebrook. The growth of the subdivisions in Clear Lake resulted from the employment of thousands of people by NASA's then-new Manned Spacecraft Center (now the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center). Land values rose nearly 300%. In the neighborhood of Timber Cove, the local pool was designed in the shape of the Mercury capsule. It was completed in 1963.

Transportation

Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO) is a major public transportation agency based in Houston, Texas, United States. It operates bus, light rail, bus rapid transit, HOV and HOT lanes, and paratransit service (under the nam ...

(METRO) operates the Bay Area Park and Ride. In addition Harris County Transit operates services going through Clear Lake City.Clear Lake/La Porte/Seabrook 5
." Harris County Transit. Retrieved on January 15, 2010.

Education

Primary and secondary schools

Clear Lake City is served by the

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 29 ...

. The community is divided between CCISD Board of Trustees Districts 2 and 3. As of 2008, they are represented by Win Weber and Ken Baliker, respectively. Five high schools in the district, Clear Lake High School, Clear Creek High School,

Clear Springs High School Clear Springs High School (CSHS) is an American public high school located in League City, Texas. It is one of seven high schools in the Clear Creek Independent School District (CCISD). The school opened in 2007 serving most of League City we ...

Clear View High School Clear View High School is a secondary school located in Webster, Texas, in the Clear Creek Independent School District. The school serves all of CCISD, including the cities of Kemah, Clear Lake Shores, Nassau Bay, Webster, El Lago, and Taylo ...

and

Clear Brook High School Clear Brook High School is a secondary school located in unincorporated Harris County, Texas, with a Friendswood postal address. The school, which serves grades 9 through 12, had its first graduating class in 1991. The school opened in 1988, ...

, serve the community.

Clear Lake Intermediate School 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 29 ...

and Space Center Intermediate School serve sections of Clear Lake City. Clear Lake Intermediate was named a

National Blue Ribbon School The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States Department of Education award program that recognizes exemplary public and non-public schools on a yearly basis. Using standards of excellence evidenced by student achievement measures, ...

in 1986–87. The

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

operates the St. Clare of Assisi school in the community. St. Bernadette Catholic Church also offers early childhood education. The Clear Lake Christian School is located in the Bay Knoll neighborhood in Clear Lake City.About CLCS
" Clear Lake Christian School. Retrieved on October 8, 2009.

Colleges and universities

The

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

is adjacent to the community (the majority of the UHCL campus lies in the corporate limits of Pasadena, while the part of campus south of Horsepen Bayou lies in the city of Houston). Residents of the Harris County part of Clear Creek ISD (and therefore Clear Lake City) are zoned to

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

Properties

From 1961 until 1992, the

Lunar and Planetary Institute The Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) is a scientific research institute dedicated to study of the Solar System, its formation, evolution, and current state. The Institute is part of the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) and is ...

was housed in the mansion until it moved to a bigger, more modern building. In 2013 the property was sold to former

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player

Hakeem Olajuwon Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon ( ; ; born January 21, 1963), nicknamed "the Dream", is a Nigerian and American former professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played Center (basketball), center in the National Basketball Association (NB ...

's property management company, and for years it was a high-end men's clothing store called DR34M ("Dream", after Olajuwon's nickname and with a stylized "34" representing his jersey number). The mansion was demolished in November 2019.

Public libraries

The Clear Lake City–County Freeman Branch is administered by

Harris County Public Library Harris County Public Library (HCPL) is a public library system serving Harris County, Texas, United States. Since its inception in 1921, HCPL has grown from a system of small book stations in homes, stores and post offices to 26 branch libr ...

, and is funded in part by the

Houston Public Library Houston Public Library is the public library system serving Houston, Texas, United States. History Houston Lyceum and the Carnegie Library The Houston Public Library system traces its founding to the creation of the second Houston Lyceum in ...

. The Freeman Branch Library, named after Theodore C. Freeman, opened in 1964. It moved to the Harris County multipurpose annex in 1976. The current city-county facility opened in 2004. The Friends of the Freeman Library raises $80,000 annually to fund the library.

Gallery of schools

File:ClearLakeISHouston.JPG,

Parks and recreation

The City of Houston operates the Sylvan Rodriguez Park on Clear Lake City Boulevard. In 1991 the city purchased a property for $1,399,000. In 1999 the city appropriated $2.5 million to begin building the park. In 2001 the park received its current name. Bay Area Park is also home to an off leash dog park, which offers both small dog and large dog areas. It is located on Bay Area Blvd next to the University of Houston Clear Lake and the Armand Bayou Nature Center. The Clear Lake City Community Association, Inc. (CLCAA) operates the Kermet H. Applewhite Sports and Recreation Center at 16511 Diana Lane. The center includes an indoor heated pool, a fitness room, several outdoor pools, an air-conditioned gymnasium, and tennis courts. The Clear Lake Golf Course opened in 1963 and closed in 2005. It took up about of land. The Clear Lake City Water Authority (CLCWA) took possession of the property. The CLCWA proposed a storm detention area and a dog park for the former property.

Culture

A number of cultural events occur in and near the community. The

Bay Area Houston Ballet and Theatre Bay Area Houston Ballet and Theatre is a non-profit performance theater group located in the Galveston Bay Area, Bay Area of Greater Houston in the United States. The group offers performances in genres ranging from ballet to American Musical theat ...

group stages ballet and American musical theater performances. The Clear Lake Symphony offer performances each year from classical to "pops". The Arts Alliance at Clear Lake, a group of 50 area arts organizations, regularly schedules arts exhibits, musical performances, and other arts programs. The Gulf Coast Film Festival annually showcases independent films from local, regional and international artists in various categories ranging from short films to documentaries. The Ballunar Festival is an annual hot-air balloon spectacular. The Wings over Houston Air Fest at

Ellington Field Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base is a joint installation shared by various active component and reserve component military units, as well as aircraft flight operations of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) under the aegi ...

offers air acrobatics by military and civilian pilots.

Notable people

Bobby Burling Robert Charles Burling (born October 15, 1984) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a defender. Career College Burling played college soccer at Loyola Marymount University and with Colorado Springs Blizzard in the U ...

, soccer player *

Queen Mary of Denmark Mary (born Mary Elizabeth Donaldson; 5 February 1972) is Queen of Denmark as the wife of King Frederik X. Mary met Frederik (then Crown Prince of Denmark) while attending the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. They married on 14 May 2004 at ...

Ellison Onizuka was an American astronaut, engineer, and U.S. Air Force flight test engineer from Kealakekua, Hawaii, who successfully flew into space with the Space Shuttle ''Discovery'' on STS-51-C. He died in the destruction of the Space Shuttle ''Cha ...

, one of the seven

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

s killed in the

Challenger disaster On January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, killing all seven crew members aboard. The spacecraft disintegrated above the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 16:3 ...

and first Asian American to go into space. *

Kevin Kwan Kevin Kwan (born ) is a Singaporean-born American novelist and writer of satirical novels ''Crazy Rich Asians'', '' China Rich Girlfriend'', and '' Rich People Problems''. His latest book, '' Lies and Weddings'', was released in June 2024. In ...

, Singaporean–American novelist best known for his satirical novels ''

Crazy Rich Asians ''Crazy Rich Asians'' is a 2018 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Jon M. Chu from a screenplay by Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim, based on the 2013 novel by Kevin Kwan. The film stars Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Gemma Chan, Lis ...

'', '' China Rich Girlfriend'', and '' Rich People Problems''

References

External links

Clear Lake Community Web site

Clear Lake City Community Association, Inc.

Clear Lake City Water Authority
*
Bay Area Youth Symphony
{{Authority control Neighborhoods in Houston Galveston Bay Area Geography of Pasadena, Texas

History

Etymology

Government and infrastructure

Local government

Fire service

Police service

County, state, and federal representation

Neighborhoods

Transportation

Education

Primary and secondary schools

Colleges and universities

Properties

Public libraries

Gallery of schools

Parks and recreation

Culture

Notable people

See also

References

External links