Horace Baldwin Rice (March 29,1861 –August 2,1929) was a businessman and a mayor of Houston,Texas. He was important in the development of the Houston Ship Channel.
Horace Baldwin Rice was born March 29,1861,in Houston,Texas,to Captain Frederick Allen Rice and Charlotte M. Baldwin. [1] He was a maternal grandson of Houston mayor,Horace Baldwin and maternal grandnephew of Charlotte Baldwin Allen. He was the paternal nephew of William Marsh Rice,founder and namesake of Rice University. [2] [3] He attended the Texas Military Institute in Austin,Texas. He married Georgia Dumble in 1883. [1]
In the early 1910s,Rice was President of Suburban Homestead Company and Vice-President of the Houston Ice and Brewing Company. [1]
In 1905,Rice was the first mayor of Houston under the commission form of government. [1]
Rice used his yacht,the Zeeland,as a tour boat to promote the Houston Ship Channel project. Thomas Ball,himself a central figure in bringing the Houston Ship Channel to fruition,said of Rice,"It is a well known fact that he used the larger part of his fortune in promoting the interests of the city and the Ship Channel." [2] In 1908,Rice called a meeting of Ship Channel supporters to discuss ideas for expediting the project,even suggesting it should the City of Houston should takeover control. The group voted unanimously for Rice's proposal and elected Ball to take lead over this plan. [4]
When famed anarchist Emma Goldman visited Houston in 1908,Rice invited her to speak at City Hall. While her disapproval of the government caused her to decline,she described the invitation as a sign of "astonishing courtesy." [5]
In January 1909,Rice appointed a committee representing the City of Houston to collaborate with leaders from Beaumont,Texas,who were lobbying Congress for a navigation district. Congress passed a bill that allowed the creation of navigation districts not just for Beaumont,but also for other Texas cities,each contingent on local referendum. In December 1909,Rice led a local delegation to lobby the House Rivers and Harbors Committee for a fifty percent federal grant to support the Houston Ship Channel project. [6]
Harris County sponsored a ballot measure to create the Harris County Houston Ship Channel Navigation District and bonding authority for $1.25 million. On election day,January 10,1911,Rice declared that businesses close early to allow voters to get to the polls. [7]
William Marsh Rice was an American businessman who bequeathed his fortune to found Rice University in Houston,Texas. Rice was murdered by his valet Charles F. Jones while sleeping. The murder was part of a plot to forge Rice's will. The instigator of the murder,attorney Albert T. Patrick,was sentenced to death.
Beaumont is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the seat of government of Jefferson County,within the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan statistical area,located in Southeast Texas on the Neches River about 85 miles (137 km) east of Houston. With a population of 115,282 at the 2020 census,Beaumont is the largest municipality by population near the Louisiana border. Its metropolitan area was the 10th largest in Texas in 2020,and 130th in the United States.
The city of Houston in the U.S. state of Texas was founded in 1837 after Augustus and John Allen had acquired land to establish a new town at the junction of Buffalo and White Oak bayous in 1836. Houston served as the temporary capital of the Republic of Texas. Meanwhile,the town developed as a regional transportation and commercial hub. Houston was part of an independent nation until 1846 when the United States formally annexed Texas. Railroad development began in the late 1850s but ceased during the American Civil War. Houston served the Confederacy as a regional military logistics center. The population increased during the war and blockade runners used the town as a center for their operations.
The Port of Houston is one of the world's largest ports and serves the metropolitan area of Houston,Texas. The port is a 50-mile-long (80 km) complex of diversified public and private facilities located a few hours' sailing time from the Gulf of Mexico. Located in the fourth-largest city in the United States,it is the busiest port in the U.S. in terms of foreign tonnage and the busiest in the U.S. in terms of overall tonnage. Though originally the port's terminals were primarily within the Houston city limits,the port has expanded to such a degree that today it has facilities in multiple communities in the surrounding area. In particular the port's busiest terminal,the Barbours Cut Terminal,is located in Morgan's Point.
Harrisburg is a community now located within the city of Houston,Texas.
Glenwood Cemetery is located in Houston,Texas,United States. Developed in 1871,the first professionally designed cemetery in the city accepted its first burial in 1872. Its location at Washington Avenue overlooking Buffalo Bayou served as an entertainment attraction in the 1880s. The design was based on principles for garden cemeteries,breaking the pattern of the typical gridiron layouts of most Houston cemeteries. Many influential people lay to rest at Glenwood,making it the "River Oaks of the dead." As of 2018,Glenwood includes the annexed property of the adjacent Washington Cemetery,creating a total area of 84 acres (34 ha) with 18 acres (7.3 ha) still undeveloped.
Timeline of historical events of Houston,Texas,United States:
The Houston Ship Channel,in Houston,Texas,is part of the Port of Houston,one of the busiest seaports in the world. The channel is the conduit for ocean-going vessels between Houston-area terminals and the Gulf of Mexico,and it serves an increasing volume of inland barge traffic.
James Addison Baker was an American attorney and banker in Houston,Texas. He was born James Addison Baker,Junior,and "Junior" appeared in his signature for many years. After the death of his father in 1897,he started signing his name "Captain James A. Baker," and from that point on people referred to him as Captain Baker.
Thomas William House Sr. was a merchant,cotton factor,investor,banker,and politician in Houston,Texas. House started as a baker in New York and New Orleans,before establishing his own businesses in Houston. These businesses included a bakery and confectionary,a general dry goods store,cotton factorage,and bank. He was also a major investor and organizer of Houston-based transportation and utility companies. He traded cotton while evading naval blockades during the American Civil War.
The Houston Plank Road Company was formed in 1850 by businessmen with interests in Houston,Texas,including Thomas M. Bagby,Paul Bremond,Thomas William House,William J. Hutchins,William Marsh Rice,A.S. Ruthven,and B.A. Shepherd. Many farmers along the Brazos and Colorado River valleys shipped their produce to the Houston wharf in order to transload to steamships. Freight transportation by wagon was both slow and expensive. They planned to construct a road from Houston to the Brazos River,just below Washington,Texas. The plank road would be fifty feet wide and built from oaken planks,which would allow teamsters to drive their draft animals on a dry and smooth road.
William J. Hutchins was a businessman and a Mayor of Houston.
Union Station is a building in Houston,Texas,in the United States. Dedicated on March 2,1911,and formerly a hub of rail transportation,the building now serves as a cornerstone for Minute Maid Park. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places,and has since been superseded by Houston's Amtrak station.
Horace Baldwin (1801–1850) was mayor of Houston,Texas in 1844. His brother-in-law,Augustus Chapman Allen,was a co-founder of Houston,Texas.
Joseph Jay "J. J." Pastoriza was a printer,real estate investor,and politician in Houston,Texas. He served both as Houston's Tax Commissioner and Mayor. Pastoriza was the first Hispanic mayor of the city of Houston. Pastoriza was orphaned and adopted as a young child in Houston. He started working in the printing business at about age twenty before establishing his own stationery and print shop.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Beaumont,Texas,USA.
Courtlandt Place,Houston is a residential subdivision consisting of a single street,south of downtown Houston,planned in 1906. Courtlandt Place is a member of the Neartown Houston Association.
John H. Sterrett was a ship captain and investor.
Houston Direct Navigation Company operated ships on Buffalo Bayou between 1866 and 1927. It had had two antecedent companies with similar subscriber lists and management:the Houston and Galveston Navigation Company,and the Houston Navigation Company.
Benjamin S. Campbell was an attorney and a mayor of Houston,Texas.