The City of Houston was founded in 1837 after Augustus and John Allen had acquired land to establish a new town at the junction of Buffalo and White Oak bayous in 1836. From 1837 to 1839, Houston served as the Republic of Texas’s capital before moving to Austin on October 17, 1839. The town (now the City of Houston) developed as a regional transportation hub and later became a central hub of commercial activities of the republic.

As a commercial hub, Houston’s population grew exponentially; by 1900, the population had surpassed 58,000. Today, Houston is the Word Energy Center. Houston is home to the world’s largest Medical Center/Science destination, with over 9.8 million patient visitors per year. Greater Houston Metro Area population stands at 7.2 million according to the 2021 Population. According to the 2022 BEA and World Bank report, the Houston MSA GDP was $512.2 billion –  which is higher than that of the nations of Austria’s $520.3 billion, Israel’s $501.9 billion, and Argentina’s $483.7 billion, Norway’s $58.4 billion, and the Philippines $406 1 billion. If Houston were a state, its GDP would be far ahead of that of Maryland’s $454.1 billion, Tennessee’s $449.0 billion, and Indiana’s $448.2 billion.