South Houston is a city in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

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 to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, within Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area and Harris County. The population was 16,153 at the 2020 census. It is bordered by the cities 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 Pasadena, and geographically located southeast of Houston.

History

C.S. Woods of the Western Land Company founded the settlement of Dumont in 1907. A post office appeared in 1910. In 1913 Dumont was incorporated as the city of South Houston. Because of the 1913 incorporation, Houston did not incorporate South Houston's territory into its city limits, while Houston annexed surrounding areas that were unincorporated. South Houston's initial industrial activity consisted of shipping produce along the Galveston, Houston and Henderson Railroad. The hurricane of 1915 destroyed many of the local industries. The establishment of the Houston Ship Channel resulted in the establishment of manufacturing industries inland, including in South Houston. Between the 1940s and the early 1960s South Houston found rapid population growth. The city had 7,523 inhabitants in 1960. In 1980, South Houston had 11,782 inhabitants and 303 businesses. In 1990, 14,207 inhabitants lived in South Houston. Legend has it, elephants belonging to former South Houston mayor George Christy, a circus owner, assisted the construction of the Spencer Highway. From the 1980 census to the 1990 census,

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 ...

s began to move into South Houston by an amount between 1,000 and 3,500 per square mile. Most Hispanics in South Houston were of Mexican descent.

Geography

South Houston is located at (29.660980, –95.229787). 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 7.8 km², all land.

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 16,153 people, 5,221 households, and 4,107 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 2010, there were 16,983 people from 4,617 households residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 1.1%

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 ...

, 1.2%

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 ...

, 0.80% Native American, 0.70% Asian, 0.00%

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 ...

, 1.74% from other races, and 2.6% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 89.4% of the population. There were 4,593 households, out of which 47.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.1% 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, 13.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.5% were non-families. 15.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.45 and the average family size was 3.86. In the city, the population was spread out, with 34.1% under the age of 18, 11.7% from 18 to 24, 30.8% from 25 to 44, 16.5% from 45 to 64, and 6.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 28 years. For every 100 females, there were 104.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.6 males. The median income for a household in the city was $44,607 n 2017 dollars 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 $15,611. About 24% of the population was 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 25.8% of those under age 18 and 10.5% of those age 65 or over.

Government and infrastructure

Local government

The South Houston City Council establishes city policies, considering resolutions and ordinances, appointing South Houston residents to positions on municipal committees and boards, and establishing the annual budgets. City council meets during the first and third Tuesdays of each month in the South Houston Municipal Court; meetings begin at 7:30 PM; it is open to members of the public. As of 2024 the mayor is Joe Soto. The council members are Mary Castillo, Willie Rios, Cynthia Piña, Mauro Barrera, and Louis Martinez. The South Houston Fire Department serves the city. The South Houston Police Department is headquartered at 1101 West Dallas Street. As of 2008 Herbert Gilbert is the chief of police.

County, state, and federal representation

South Houston is located within Harris County Commissioner Precinct 2; as of 2019, Adrian Garcia heads Precinct 2. South Houston is located in District 145 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 ...

. As of 2019, Christina Morales represents the district. South Houston is within District 6 of the

Texas Senate The Texas Senate is the upper house of the Texas Legislature, with the Texas House of Representatives functioning as the lower house. Together, they form the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the state of Texas. The Senate ...

; as of 2018 Carol Alvarado is the representative. South Houston is within

Texas's 29th congressional district Texas's 29th congressional district of the United States House of Representatives covers the eastern portion of the Greater Houston area in the state of Texas. The current Representative from the 29th district is Democratic Party (US), Democra ...

; as of 2019. Sylvia Garcia is the representative. 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 South Houston Post Office at 315 North Allen Genoa Road. The nearest public health center of the Harris Health System (formerly Harris County Health System) is Strawberry Health Clinic in Pasadena. The nearest public hospital is Ben Taub General Hospital in the Texas Medical Center, Houston.

Economy

The Lewis Food Town grocery store chain is based in South Houston. In 2006

H-E-B H-E-B Grocery Company, LP, is an American privately held company, privately held supermarket chain based in San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, with more than 435 stores throughout Texas and Mexico. The company also operates Central Market (Texas) ...

opened the "Mi Tienda" ("My Store") Hispanic-themed store in South Houston. As of 2007 all of its employees spoke Spanish.

Education

Primary and secondary schools

Public schools

South Houston is served by the Pasadena Independent School District. The following elementary schools serve sections of South Houston: * Pearl Hall Elementary School (South Houston) * Walter Matthys Elementary School (South Houston) ** It opened in August 1992. it had 775 students. * L.F. Smith Elementary School (South Houston) * South Houston Elementary School (South Houston) As of 2000 South Houston Elementary had computers and computer equipment in all of its classrooms as well as a broadcasting studio operated by students. In the period 1999–2000 South Houston Elementary, despite the low socio-economic backgrounds of its students, received "recognized" scores from 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.

. Sections of South Houston west of Old Galveston Road are served by Rick Schneider Middle School (Houston, Grades 5–6). Parts of South Houston are zoned to Carter Lomax Middle School (Pasadena, Grades 5–6). Parts of South Houston are not served by any "middle school" and instead are served by elementary schools, intermediate schools, and high schools. Sections of South Houston west of Old Galveston Road are served by South Houston Intermediate School (South Houston, Grades 7–8). Parts east of Old Galveston Road are served by Queens Intermediate School (Pasadena, Grades 6–8). South Houston Intermediate opened on property acquired by PISD in 1947; it previously housed the Asgard College for Girls, a prison for delinquent boys, a psychiatric hospital, a transit house for the federal government, and a National Youth Association Camp. All of South Houston is served by South Houston High School.

Public libraries

South Houston is served by the South Houston Branch of Harris County Public Library at 607 Avenue A. The first South Houston library opened in 1927. In 1937 money was raised to build a structure to house the library; this structure stands in a park next to the current library. In the 1950s the library moved into a building with a welfare office and a clinic. In 1967 the city purchased land and a barracks building from

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 ...

; the city then moved the library there, where it remained until 1991. The current branch opened in May 1991.

Colleges and universities

Residents of Pasadena ISD (and therefore South Houston) are zoned to San Jacinto College.

Gallery of schools

Image:SouthHoustonElementarySchooltexas.JPG, South Houston Elementary School Image:MatthysElementarySouthHoustonTexas.JPG, Walter Matthys Elementary School Image:LFSmithElementarySchoolSouthHoustonTexas.JPG, L. F. Smith Elementary School Image:PearlHallElementarySchoolSouthHoustonTexas.JPG, Pearl Hall Elementary School Image:SouthHoustonIntermediateSchoolTexas.JPG, South Houston Intermediate School

Transportation

Harris County Transit serves South Houston.Routes / Maps
" Harris County Transit. Retrieved on January 15, 2010.

Gallery

Image:SouthHoustonPDFrontEntranceTexas.JPG, South Houston Police Department front entrance Image:SouthHoustonMunicipalCourtTexas.JPG, South Houston Municipal Court

Notes

References

External links

*
South Houston Chamber of CongressSouth Houston Police Department
(Archive)

* {{Authority control Cities in Harris County, Texas Cities in Texas Greater Houston