Allen's Landing

Allen's Landing is the birthplace of the city of Houston—the largest city in the U.S. state of Texas. In August 1836, just months after the Republic of Texas won its independence from Mexico, two brothers (and real estate developers) from New York—John Kirby Allen and Augustus Chapman Allen—purchased 6,642 acres (27 km²) in the area and settled there on the banks of Buffalo Bayou. Allen's Landing is located south of the University of Houston–Downtown Commerce Street Building, at the intersection of Commerce Street and Main Street.HistoryAllen's Landing is at the confluence of White Oak Bayou and Buffalo Bayou and serves as a natural turning basin. A dock was quickly opened on the site, and the steamer Laura was the first ship to anchor at the landing on January 26, 1837. The landing was officially named a port in 1841—the original Port of Houston. In 1910, the United States government approved funding for the dredging of a ship channel from the Gulf of Mexico to the present turning basin four miles (6 km) to the east of Allen's Landing.