Modern Houston
Postwar Connections
After World War II, Houston became a terminal for international air travel when the Civil Aeronautics Board selected the city in 1946. Major carriers began flying from Houston to Central America and South America, and passenger traffic grew through the late 1940s. Houston International Airport opened in 1954, and by 1957 it was serving more than 100,000 passengers each month.
Houston began planning a regional interstate highway network, with the Gulf Freeway as an early project. Completed in 1952, the Gulf Freeway became the first U.S. freeway finished after World War II, and suburban development increased along its corridor.
Medical and Space Growth
The Texas Medical Center expanded quickly after the war. A tract purchased from the Hermann Hospital Estate became the site of the U.S. Naval Hospital on Old Spanish Trail, which opened in 1945. Between 1948 and 1955, the medical center added Baylor College of Medicine, Houston Methodist Hospital, Arabia Temple Crippled Children’s Hospital, Texas Children’s Hospital, M. D. Anderson Cancer Hospital, St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, and the University of Texas School of Dentistry.
In 1962, NASA began planning and building the Manned Spacecraft Center in the Clear Lake area near Ellington Field and the Gulf Freeway. NASA leased an administrative building on Braes Bayou while developing its Clear Lake buildings in the following years. Nearby, Humble Oil developed subdivisions on surrounding land.
Civic Change and Expansion
Houston voters rejected zoning in 1962, the second such defeat in fifteen years. The University of Houston became a state university in 1963 by entering the Texas State System of Higher Education. The Astrodome opened in 1965 under the name Harris County Domed Stadium, and the Houston metropolitan area expanded that year to include Brazoria, Fort Bend, Liberty, and Montgomery counties. AstroWorld opened beside the Astrodome in 1968.
Intercontinental Airport opened in 1969 with two terminals designed around a hub-and-spoke plan. During the 1970s, the Chinese American community in Houston grew rapidly. The Houston Community College system was established by HISD in 1972, and the University of Houston System was created by the Texas Legislature in 1977.
Oil, Downtown, and Recession
The late 1970s brought a population boom connected to the Arab Oil Embargo, with many people moving to Houston from Rust Belt states, including Michigan.
In the 1980s, new downtown projects included The Park Shopping Mall, Allied Bank Tower, Gulf Tower, and other buildings. The Transco Tower was completed in 1983 outside the central business district. Voters rejected a METRO rail plan in 1983 but approved plans for the George R. Brown Convention Center. After oil prices fell in 1986, Houston’s population boom reversed and the economy entered several years of recession. In 1987, eleven banks closed during the first nine months, while the George R. Brown Convention Center, the Wortham Theatre, and the Menil Collection opened.
Recent Development and Flooding
Enron Field, now Daikin Park, was built for the Houston Astros, and Reliant Stadium was built for the Houston Texans. The new international Terminal E at George Bush Intercontinental Airport opened in 2003 with 30 gates. Toyota Center opened in fall 2003, and METRO began light rail service on January 1, 2004. Voters then approved light rail expansion by a close margin.
The Texas Medical Center also expanded in the early twenty-first century. Baylor College of Medicine planned a new 35-acre campus, and the partly finished Baylor McNair Campus opened in 2015 after Catholic Health Initiatives acquired a partial ownership share. Houston Methodist built annexes in the medical center core, including a twenty-six-story outpatient center, and the Menninger Clinic added a Houston branch on Main Street.
Tropical Storm Allison flooded many neighborhoods in June 2001 and interrupted all services within the Texas Medical Center for several months. Memorial Day storms in 2015 caused flash flooding, and historic flooding returned in April 2016. In August 2017, Hurricane Harvey brought record flooding to Houston and caused $125 billion in damage.