View source for Port of Houston

{{Infobox Port
| name = Port of Houston
| image = GreensPortIndustrialPakr-BuffaloBayou (34933182210).jpg
| image_size= 300px
| image_caption = Aerial view of the Greens Point Industrial Park at the port
| logo = Port of Houston Authority.png
| logo_size= 100px
| logo_caption = Logo of the Port of Houston Authority
| country = United States
| location = [[Houston]] (Texas, USA)
| coordinates = {{coord|29|43|N|95|15|W|display=inline,title}}<ref name="fap-1">{{cite web |title=Port of Houston, U.S.A. |url=https://www.findaport.com/port-of-houston |website=www.findaport.com |publisher=Shipping Guides Ltd |access-date=24 March 2021}}</ref>
| locode             = USHOU<ref name="Locode-1">{{cite web |title=UNLOCODE (US) - UNITED STATES |url=https://service.unece.org/trade/locode/us.htm |website=service.unece.org |accessdate=24 March 2021}}</ref>
| opened =
| operated = Port of Houston Authority
| owner = City of Houston
| type = Artificial / natural
| sizewater =
| sizeland =
| size =
| berths =
| wharfs =
| piers =
| employees =
| leadershiptitle =
| leader =
| blankdetailstitle1 = Number of cargo container terminals
| blankdetails1 = 2
| blankdetailstitle2 = Number of major general cargo terminals
| blankdetails2 = 5
| blankdetailstitle3 =
| blankdetails3 =
| arrivals =
| cargotonnage = 212 million (2006)<ref name="POHA: Fast facts"/>
| containervolume = 1.6 million [[Twenty-foot equivalent unit|TEU]]s (2006)<ref name="POHA: Fast facts"/>
| cargovalue =
| passengertraffic =
| revenue = US$168 million (2006)<ref name="POHA: Fast facts">{{cite web | url=http://www.portofhouston.com/bondfacts/bondfacts.html | title=PHA and Bond Fast Facts | publisher=Port of Houston Authority | access-date=January 26, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090607041507/http://www.portofhouston.com/bondfacts/bondfacts.html | archive-date=June 7, 2009 | url-status=dead }}</ref>
| profit = US$42 million (2006)<ref name="POHA: Fast facts"/>
| blankstatstitle1 = [[Economic value]]
| blankstats1 = US$118 billion (2006)<ref name="POHA: Fast facts"/>
| blankstatstitle2 = Attributable jobs
| blankstats2 = 785,000 (2006)<ref name="POHA: Fast facts"/>
| blankstatstitle3 = [[Draft (hull)|Draft depth]]
| blankstats3 = 45 feet
| website = http://www.porthouston.com
}}

The '''Port of Houston''' is one of the world's largest ports and serves the metropolitan area of [[Houston|Houston, Texas]]. The port is a {{Convert|50|mi|4=-long|sp=us|adj=mid}} 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.<ref>{{cite news |last= Collier|first= Kiah|date= May 3, 2013|title= Houston has the busiest seaport in the U.S.|url= http://www.chron.com/discoverhouston/article/Houston-has-the-busiest-seaport-in-the-US-4486844.php|newspaper= [[Houston Chronicle]]|access-date= October 17, 2014}}</ref> 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, Texas|Morgan's Point]].

The Port of Houston is a cooperative entity consisting of both the [[port authority]], which operates the major terminals along the [[Houston Ship Channel]], and more than 150 private companies situated along [[Buffalo Bayou]] and [[Galveston Bay]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.portofhouston.com/geninfo/overview1.html | title=Overview | publisher=Port of Houston Authority | access-date=February 1, 2010 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509141210/http://www.portofhouston.com/geninfo/overview1.html | archive-date=May 9, 2008 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> Many petroleum corporations have built refineries along the channel where they are partially protected from the threat of major storms in the [[Gulf of Mexico]]. The petrochemical complex associated with the Port of Houston is one of the largest in the world.<ref>{{cite book | title=The World Without Us | author=Weisman, Alan | year=2008 | publisher=Macmillan | location=New York | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UEt_xWoju_MC|isbn=978-0-312-34729-1 | page=166 | quote=The industrial megaplex that begins on the east side of Houston and continues uninterrupted to the Gulf of Mexico, 50&nbsp;miles away, is the largest concentration of petroleum refineries, petrochemical companies, and storage structures on Earth.}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Lifting towers at Port of Houston.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Lifting towers at the port of Houston in the late 19th or early 20th century.]]
The original Port of Houston was located at the confluence of [[Buffalo Bayou]] and [[White Oak Bayou]] in downtown Houston by the {{nowrap|[[University of Houston–Downtown]]}}. This area is called "[[Allen's Landing]]" and is now a park.<ref>{{cite magazine | title=On the Waterfront | page=88 | magazine=Texas Monthly | date=July 1978 | author=Cartwright, Gary | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MiwEAAAAMBAJ}}</ref> It is the birthplace of the City of Houston.

Shipping points grew at multiple locations on Buffalo Bayou including the port of [[Harrisburg, Houston|Harrisburg]] (now part of Houston) and the docks on the [[Allen Ranch]]. By the end of the 19th century Buffalo Bayou had become a major shipping channel with traffic beginning to rival Galveston.<ref>{{Handbook of Texas | name=Houston Ship Channel | id=rhh11 | retrieved=February 1, 2010}} Texas State Historical Association.</ref>

The citizens of [[Harris County, Texas|Harris County]] approved creation of the modern port in 1909, believing that an inland port would better serve the region after the destructive [[1900 Galveston hurricane|Galveston Hurricane of 1900]]. [[United States President|President]] [[Woodrow Wilson]] officially opened the port to traffic as the World Port of Houston and Buffalo Bayou on November 10, 1914.<ref>{{cite web|title=WELCOME TO PASADENA, TEXAS !|publisher=Pasadena Chamber of Commerce|access-date=September 12, 2009|url=http://www.pasadenachamber.org/about/aboutpasadena.html}}</ref>  In the 1930s the Port became the focus of labor conflict, with sometimes intense battles between strikers and authorities, during the [[1935 Gulf Coast longshoremen's strike]] and the [[1936 Gulf Coast maritime workers' strike]] among other incidents.

In 1911, there was a campaign persuading voters to approve a $1.25 million bond to raise money for dredging the waterway. The campaign was successful and voters approved the bond issuance and creation of the Harris County Houston Ship Channel Navigation District that is called Port of Houston Authority (POHA) today.

Early supporters would prove to be correct; the port has grown to be one of the world's largest. By 1961, it was already among the busiest ports in the US.<ref name=NG>{{cite magazine |author=Stanley Walker |author-link=Stanley Walker (editor) |date=February 1961 |title=The Fabulous State of Texas|magazine=[[National Geographic]] |volume=119 |issue=2}}</ref>{{rp|184}} In 1977 the Port of Houston opened the [[Barbours Cut Terminal]], Texas' first [[cargo container]] terminal, at [[Morgan's Point, Texas|Morgan's Point]]. This new terminal, in the [[Galveston Bay Area|Bay Area]], quickly became the port's most important terminal.<ref>{{cite magazine| title=On the Waterfront | author=Cartwright, Gary | magazine=Texas Monthly | date=July 1978 | pages=161–162 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MiwEAAAAMBAJ}}</ref> The opening of the [[Bayport Terminal]] in 2006 further extended the port authority's reach outside the city of Houston.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.portofhouston.com/BayportTerminalProgress/index.html | title=Bayport Terminal Progress | publisher=Port of Houston Authority | access-date=February 1, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100216073026/http://www.portofhouston.com/BayportTerminalProgress/index.html | archive-date=February 16, 2010 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

Approximately 215 million short tons (195 Mt) of cargo moved through the Port in 2005, most of which is petroleum related. The Port has two separate terminals dedicated to the handling of [[Cargo container|cargo containers]]: [[Barbours Cut Terminal|Barbours Cut]] (at [[Morgan's Point, Texas|Morgan's Point]]), and [[Bayport Terminal|Bayport]] (in Pasadena, opened in October 2006). The Barbours Cut terminal was, in fact, the port's first terminal specifically designed for these shipments. Additional general cargo terminals include Turning Basin, Jacintoport, Woodhouse, and Care.

A renovation project for the Port's Turning Basin Terminal began in 2010 and is expected to take 10 years.{{Update after|2021}} The Turning Basin Terminal is a multipurpose complex with open wharves and 37 docks that are used for direct discharge and loading of breakbulk, containerized, project or heavy-lift cargoes.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Port of Houston |url=http://www.portofhouston.com/maritime/general_cargo/turningbasin.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100218175425/http://www.portofhouston.com/maritime/general_cargo/turningbasin.html |archive-date=February 18, 2010 |access-date=January 13, 2012}}</ref> The goal of the renovation is to accommodate the increase in the transportation of steel, which increased more than {{Convert|3.1|e6ST}} in the first nine months of 2011, up from {{Convert|1.9|e6ST}} over the same period in the previous year.<ref>[http://www.chron.com/business/article/Turning-Basin-turnaround-Port-upgrades-aging-2242123.php The Houston Chronicle]</ref>

== The port today ==

Houston’s Port is an essential economic engine for the Houston region, the state of Texas, and the U.S. In 2024, [https://porthouston.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Port-Houston-Record-Breaking-Volume-in-2024.pdf Port Houston’s] public terminals handled 53,066,219 short tons of cargo, a 6% increase over 2023 [https://porthouston.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/5-Cargo-Tonnage-2023.pdf]. During the same period, container traffic rose 8%, reaching 4,139,991 TEUs. Meanwhile, the broader shipping channel under Port Houston’s jurisdiction recorded approximately 309.5 million short tons of cargo in 2023, up 5.3% from the prior year.[https://porthouston.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Port-Houston-Commission-Meeting-Press-Release-April-2025-FINAL.pdf]

The Port Authority offers a 90-minute free cruise aboard the ''M/V Sam Houston'', details of which can be found on its website.  Since the Houston Ship Channel is closed to recreational traffic, this is the only means by which the general public can view port operations, and thus the tours are highly popular.<ref>{{cite magazine | magazine=Port of Houston magazine | volume=39 | publisher=Harris County Houston Ship Channel Navigation District, Port of Houston Authority |year=1997}}</ref>

Most [[Volkswagen]] (and [[Audi]]) automobiles sold in North America pass through the port of Houston.<ref>{{cite news | title=Factbox: Five facts about the Port of Houston | work=Reuters | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5BD04Q20091214 | date=December 13, 2009}}</ref>

The Port is operated by the Port of Houston Authority, an independent political subdivision of the State of Texas governed by a seven-member commission. The City of Houston and the Harris County Commissioners Court each appoint two commissioners; these two governmental entities also jointly appoint the chairman of the Port Commission. The Harris County Mayors and Councils Association and the City of [[Pasadena, Texas|Pasadena]] each appoint one commissioner.  Daily operations are overseen by an CEO who serves at the will of the Commission.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.portofhouston.com/geninfo/admin.html | title=Administration: The Port of Houston Authority Commissioners | publisher=Port of Houston Authority | access-date=February 1, 2010}}</ref>

===Trade data===
[[File:Houston Ship Channel Barbours Cut.jpg|thumb|The [[Barbours Cut Terminal]]]]

The Port of Houston is a major point of international trade for the United States. The following is the trade volume by world region reported by the Greater Houston Partnership as of 2006.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.regione.sicilia.it/Cooperazione/internazionalizzazione/info_paese_usa/Texas/Presentazione_Texas.ppt#280,30,Houston’s%202006%20Seaborne%20Trade%20with%%20World | publisher=Greater Houston Partnership | title=Houston: Open for Business: Houston Highlights | access-date=February 1, 2010}}</ref>
* Europe 31%
* Latin America 22%
* Asia/[[Pacific Rim]] 15%
* North America 13%
* Middle East 7%
* Africa 12%

===Foreign Trade Zone===
The Port of Houston Authority manages [[Foreign trade zones of the United States|Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) No. 84]], which includes many privately owned and port-owned sites located throughout Houston and Harris County, Texas. The Houston Zone offers users special benefits. For example, customs duties on imported goods entering the FTZ can be delayed until the cargo is removed from the zone. No duty is paid if the merchandise is exported directly from the zone.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.portofhouston.com/business-development/foreign-trade-zone/| publisher=Port of Houston Authority| title=Foreign Trade Zone| access-date=April 16, 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130407012639/http://www.portofhouston.com/business-development/foreign-trade-zone/| archive-date=April 7, 2013| url-status=dead}}</ref>

The following Sub Zones are a part of The Port of Houston FTZ No. 84:<ref>{{cite web| url=http://ia.ita.doc.gov/ftzpage/letters/ftzlist-map.html| publisher=International Trade Administration| title=List of Foreign-Trade Zones by State| access-date=April 16, 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160113084141/http://ia.ita.doc.gov/ftzpage/letters/ftzlist-map.html| archive-date=January 13, 2016| url-status=dead}}</ref>
* 84E Gulf Coast Maritime
* 84F [[Valero Refining Co.]]
* 84H Shaffer, Inc.
* 84I Tuboscope Vetco Int'l
* 84J [[Shell Oil Co.]]
* 84K Dril-Quip
* 84L Tadiran Microwave Networks
* 84M Hydril USA Manufacturing LLC
* 84N [[Pasadena Refining System]], Inc.
* 84O [[ExxonMobil]]
* 84P [[Houston Refining]] LP
* 84Q Equistar Chemicals
* 84R [[Michelin]] North America, Inc.

===List of firsts===
Despite being one of the youngest major ports in the world (the port reached its 100th birthday in 2014) it has already racked up an impressive list of firsts.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.portofhouston.com/pdf/pubaffairs/POHA-firsts.pdf | title=Firsts | publisher=Port of Houston | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614043355/http://www.portofhouston.com/pdf/pubaffairs/POHA-firsts.pdf | archive-date=June 14, 2007 | df=mdy-all }}</ref>

Notable firsts include:
* First port to be built with federal funds and local matching funds, thus guaranteeing local support (every port since 1930 has had a local match requirement)
* First direct shipment of cotton to Europe (November 1919 via the ''M/V Merry Mount'')
* First [[double-stack rail transport|double-stack]] container train (1981)
* When the [[Baytown Tunnel]] was removed in 1997 to allow deepening and widening of the Houston Ship Channel (it was replaced by the [[Fred Hartman Bridge]]), it was the largest tunnel so removed ({{Convert|35|ft}} diameter by {{Convert|1,041|ft}} length) without closing the channel, losing time due to accidents, or impacting the navigational safety of the port.
* First port to conduct air emissions testing of its off-road equipment (2000)
* First port to meet [[ISO 14001]] standards for environmental excellence (2002), and the first port to be recertified to [[ISO 14001]] standards (2004)

In 1968 Texas historian [[Marilyn McAdams Sibley]] published ''The Port of Houston: A History''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3AMarilyn%20McAdams%20Sibley&field-author=Marilyn%20McAdams%20Sibley&page=1|title=Books by Marilyn McAdams Sibley|website=Amazon |access-date=September 26, 2010}}</ref>

==See also==

* [[United States container ports]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Port of Houston}}
*[https://porthouston.com/ Port of Houston Official website]
*[http://www.ci.pasadena.tx.us/ City of Pasadena, Texas Official Website]
*View historical photographs of Houston and the Port at the [https://digitalcollections.lib.uh.edu/ University of Houston Digital Library]
*[https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2016/12/the-port-of-houston/511973/ Port of Houston, Atlantic Magazine]

{{Texas ports}}
{{Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown MSA}}
{{Texas}}



{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2012}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Port Of Houston}}
[[Category:Geography of Houston]]
[[Category:Ports and harbors of Texas|Houston]]
[[Category:Economy of Houston]]
[[Category:Greater Houston]]
[[Category:Port authorities in the United States]]