100th Anniversary of the Houston Ship Channel

Business & Finance

As a part of the 100th anniversary, celebrating the opening of Houston’s Ship Channel, Port Commission Chairman Janiece Longoria led the ceremony where hundreds gathered to pay homage to early leaders’ vision for a deep-water port.

Hundreds of guests, including elected officials, members of the International Longshoremen’s Association, Houston Pilots, U.S. Coast Guard, current and former Port Commissioners, industry stakeholders and others, attended the Houston Ship Channel Rededication at Brady’s Landing overlooking the Houston Ship Channel.

The event took place 100 years to the day of the original ceremony in 1914 when President Woodrow Wilson fired a cannon by remote control from his office in Washington D.C.

This is a great day,Chairman Longoria said. “We gather to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the opening of the Houston Ship Channel, a remarkable achievement that came into being from great visionaries that refused to be stopped by any obstacle. I have often observed that visionary thinking and partnership go hand in hand, and when a bold idea is powered with effective partnership, there is no limit to what can be accomplished. And the Houston Ship Channel and the Port of Houston are one of the great examples of this principle in action.

Chairman Longoria stated that as a direct result of great visionary thinking, coupled with effective partnership, the Port of Houston is now home to the largest petrochemical complex in the nation and the second largest in the world; Houston has grown to be the fourth largest city in the nation and the premier metropolitan exporting region in the nation; and Texas has been the leading state for exports for over a decade.

 

Press Release