Wanna make something of it?
February 26, 2008 (Tuesday)
My grandfather was born in Worthington, Minnesota and my grandmother in River Falls, Wisconsin. After they married and had two children, they moved to Texas. One reason was probably the weather. The high temperature in both towns today will be in the low twenties. This morning’s low is 5 degrees to 8 degrees, and they are having lots of snow. No wonder Papa and Grandma Fake moved from there to Southeast Texas, where Monday’s temperature was near 80 degrees, with beautiful sunshine.
I discovered an old (1873) map of Houston today on the Wikipedia web site, in an article entitled, “Houston.” When magnified to full resolution, one can see the buildings, rendered in 3D fashion, revealing a community of rather small proportions. There was a lot of competition in those days between Houston and Galveston, and Galveston was winning the race until the awful 1900 hurricane, which killed 6000 people on the island. The momentum for growth then switched to Houston, with its deep port 50 miles inland, and much room for expansion. No doubt the moderate climate attracted people in those days, although Yellow Fever and the stifling humidity and heat probably deterred growth of the area. The war was eventually won over Yellow Fever and, later, air conditioning modified the effects of the summer climate. Houston was off and running, and Galveston eventually settled for a slower rate of growth.
Reminds me of the contest between Corpus Christi and Rockport before the 1919 hurricane. Many lives were lost that year, and it became clear that the better place for a big port would be Corpus Christi.
Accelerated growth of an area has lost its charm for many people. Congested highways and streets, climbing crime rates, keeping up with all the infrastructure problems of a metropolitan area – all this and more causes a massive exodus from the cities every Friday. Such is life in the 21st Century. We are no longer a rural people; we are urban to the core. It gets harder every year to “get away from it all.” “It” is omnipresent.
So, have a nice day.