Pros and cons of houston

[madrone2k]

I cited the Archive War since it is the earliest evidence I've seen of any sort of rivalry between Austin and Houston. I can't think of any other evidence in the following 100 years (tho' I admit that I haven't researched the topic).

My first personal observation of anti-Houston bias in Austin came about when I was a freshman at UT-Austin in 1971. I was surprised to find it common for people -- upon learning that I was from Houston -- to react by expressing sympathy and saying things like "you won't go back there after you graduate, will you?". I don't think that attitude was specific to Austin; rather, I think that people from all over Texas, at that time, tended to regard Houston as having been taken over by outsiders from "New Yawk" et al. and therefore was viewed as an alien outpost in Texas.

Of course, it didn't take long for Dallas, Austin, and other Texas cities to become alien outposts, too. :-)

[Jack Lance]

Originally Posted by madrone2k

I cited the Archive War since it is the earliest evidence I've seen of any sort of rivalry between Austin and Houston. I can't think of any other evidence in the following 100 years (tho' I admit that I haven't researched the topic).

My first personal observation of anti-Houston bias in Austin came about when I was a freshman at UT-Austin in 1971. I was surprised to find it common for people -- upon learning that I was from Houston -- to react by expressing sympathy and saying things like "you won't go back there after you graduate, will you?". I don't think that attitude was specific to Austin; rather, I think that people from all over Texas, at that time, tended to regard Houston as having been taken over by outsiders from "New Yawk" et al. and therefore was viewed as an alien outpost in Texas.

Of course, it didn't take long for Dallas, Austin, and other Texas cities to become alien outposts, too. :-)

I think your citation of the Archive wars is pertinent. Most of the attitudes these various cities have towards one another have their genesis in the early days of the Republic and Statehood.

The rivalry is civic and commercial, I think the I-35 corridor in General have ganged up on Houston because Houston is the original population center and all others in Texas compare themselves with Houston and of course compete with Houston for new businesses and transplants.

[madrone2k]

It's interesting to think about how far back these rivalries go and what happened over the course of time.

If I recall correctly, San Antonio was the biggest city in Texas up until Galveston surpassed it in the late 1800s. Then Houston overtook Galveston in the years after the 1900 Storm and the building of the Houston Ship Channel.

I read somewhere that at one time, Texas law required all insurance companies operating in Texas to be based in Dallas. That seems like an odd law nowadays. Despite that, it seems to fit with the notion that "the ruling class" in Dallas has taken a more organized approach politically to advance their city's interests, compared to Houston. That effort became a lot stronger in the years after the Kennedy assassination there, because of the desire to overcome various bad publicity associated with that.

Another interesting historical footnote is that the Texas State Fair was originally held in Houston. It was suspended during the Great Depression and business interests in Dallas resurrected it there. (By the way, I'm not bashing Dallas. I like Dallas and admire the fact that it has often displayed a lot more spunk than Houston in recent years.)

[Jack Lance]

Originally Posted by madrone2k

It's interesting to think about how far back these rivalries go and what happened over the course of time.

If I recall correctly, San Antonio was the biggest city in Texas up until Galveston surpassed it in the late 1800s. Then Houston overtook Galveston in the years after the 1900 Storm and the building of the Houston Ship Channel.

I read somewhere that at one time, Texas law required all insurance companies operating in Texas to be based in Dallas. That seems like an odd law nowadays. Despite that, it seems to fit with the notion that "the ruling class" in Dallas has taken a more organized approach politically to advance their city's interests, compared to Houston. That effort became a lot stronger in the years after the Kennedy assassination there, because of the desire to overcome various bad publicity associated with that.

Another interesting historical footnote is that the Texas State Fair was originally held in Houston. It was suspended during the Great Depression and business interests in Dallas resurrected it there. (By the way, I'm not bashing Dallas. I like Dallas and admire the fact that it has often displayed a lot more spunk than Houston in recent years.)

Actually Houston had already overtaken Galveston in population before the storm , but they were roughly the same size in 1900. But Houston was destined to become the significantly bigger city, I mean Galveston is on a sand bar Island and was just not capable of handling the growth that Houston has.

Wow, I've never heard of that insurance law I will definitely research that. In support of your observation that Dallas has used political ploys to advance its interest , Dallas's selection as the Headquarters of the regional Federal Reserve was a interesting story. It seems there was a committee appointed by the Fed in Washington to select the various cities to be regional HQ's, and they got on a train to tour all the various cities in the US that were making bids. Every major city in Texas made a bid including Houston, San Antonio, and Austin, and of course Dallas. Weeks before the train came to Texas a contingent from Dallas booked passage on that train while it was still in Tennessee, and of course had 2 weeks to influence the process. It was said by the time that train got to Texas the decision had already been made. They still visited the various cities but the decision is now history.

In a very odd way the assassination of JFK worked in Dallas's favor. One it (Dallas) is now forever associated with the style and glamour of JFK and secondly all the conspiracy theories kept mentioning Dallas as the center of this really intriguing event. Like they say in Hollywood any publicity is good publicity just make sure they spell your name right. I guess Dallas and the Kardashians have a lot in common.lol

PS The " Texas State fair" is a State Fair in name only, it is a wholly owned corporation by the City of Dallas and is used to promote Dallas more so than Texas. The State of Texas has nothing to do with it...

[Jack Lance]

Originally Posted by madrone2k

I read somewhere that at one time, Texas law required all insurance companies operating in Texas to be based in Dallas. That seems like an odd law nowadays.

If this is true it would had to have been a long time ago, like in the 19th century,

"AMERICAN NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY. American National Insurance Company, headquartered in Galveston, covers seven million policy owners throughout the United States, Canada, Guam, American Samoa, and Western Europe. It was founded on the Strand in 1905 by William Lewis Moody, Jr., who served as company president until his death in 1954. In 1900 Moody became convinced that he could break into the Eastern-dominated insurance industry. In 1904 he became associated with the American National Insurance and Trust Company of Houston, which he moved to Galveston and incorporated in 1905 as the American National Insurance Company. The firm received its charter and made its first stock offering in 1905, using its initial profits to finance growth. The first dividends were paid in 1911."

AMERICAN NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY | The Handbook of Texas Online| Texas State Historical Association (TSHA)