Portal:Houston/Music, arts and culture

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The Houston Museum of Natural Science is a science museum located on the northern border of Hermann Park in Houston, Texas, USA. The museum was established in 1909 by the Houston Museum and Scientific Society, an organization whose goals were to provide a free institution for the people of Houston focusing on education and science. Museum attendance totals over two million visitors each year. The museum complex consists of a central facility with four floors of natural science halls and exhibits, Burke Baker Planetarium, Cockrell Butterfly Center and the Wortham IMAX Theater. The museum is one of the most popular in the United States and ranks second only to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City in attendance amongst non-Smithsonian museums. Much of the museum's popularity is attributed to its large number of special or guest exhibits. {{../box-footer|}} {{../box-header|Houston/Music, arts and culture 2 | Portal:Houston/Music, arts and culture/2 }} Portal:Houston/Music, arts and culture/2

Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens, located in Houston, Texas, is a 14-acre facility of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) that houses one of America's best collections of decorative art, paintings and furniture. Bayou Bend is the former home of Houston philanthropist Ima Hogg. Bayou Bend was marked with a Texas Historical Commission marker in 1973 and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

The mansion, designed by architect John F. Staub, was built between 1927 and 1928 for Miss Hogg and her brothers, William C. and Michael Hogg. Covered in towering trees and thick undergrowth, the home site was, in Miss Hogg's words, "nothing but a dense thicket". Miss Hogg created a series of gardens that were intended as outdoor rooms for living and entertaining. In 1957, Miss Hogg donated her home and her collection to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Bayou Bend opened to the public in 1966.

Staub's plan for Bayou Bend combined eighteenth-century Georgian architecture with elements that are distinctly Southern and of Spanish Creole architecture. Other aspects of Bayou Bend's design are borrowed from Southern plantation houses. The interiors borrow more heavily from the architectural traditions of the North. Staub incorporated floorboards and paneling from two eighteenth-century Massachusetts houses in Miss Hogg's bedroom and sitting room. {{../box-footer|}} {{../box-header|Houston/Music, arts and culture 3 | Portal:Houston/Music, arts and culture/3 }} Portal:Houston/Music, arts and culture/3

Destiny's Child, sometimes abbreviated as DC, was an American R&B and pop girl group. Originally a quartet, it eventually became a trio consisting of Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams. The group released four major studio albums with nine worldwide number-one singles. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, Destiny's Child has sold 17.5 million records wordwide,becoming the second best-selling female group of all time just behind TLC.

Formed in 1990 in Houston, Texas, Destiny's Child members began their musical endeavors while in their pre-teens. After years of struggling on the road, they signed in to Columbia Records. The release of their breakthrough album, The Writing's On The Wall, launched them to crossover mainstream that established them as a viable artist. While in their commercial peak, the group was plagued by public turmoil involving lawsuits; it eventually preempted two members. The strife, however, was believed to only push the remaining members to greater achievements; they recorded their third album, Survivor, which the public interpreted as a channel to the experience. In 2002 Destiny's Child announced a two-year hiatus which involved solo projects; the break allowed them to earn individual success. They re-united to record their final album, and again disbanded in 2005 to pursue individual careers in music, theatre, television, and film. {{../box-footer|}} {{../box-header|Houston/Music, arts and culture 4 | Portal:Houston/Music, arts and culture/4 }} Portal:Houston/Music, arts and culture/4

Houston is a multicultural city with a thriving international community supported by the nation’s third largest concentration of consular offices representing 77 nations. Officially, Houston is nicknamed the "Space City" as it is home to NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, where Mission Control Center is located. Because of this, "Houston" was the first word spoken on the moon. Many locals, however, prefer to call it the "Bayou City." Other nicknames include "H-Town," "Clutch City," and "Magnolia City."

About 90 languages are frequently spoken in the Houston area. Some neighborhoods with high populations of Vietnamese and Chinese residents have Chinese and Vietnamese street signs in addition to English ones. Houston has two Chinatowns—the original located in Downtown and the recent developed is along Bellaire Boulevard in the southwest area of the city. The city also has a Little Saigon in Midtown and Vietnamese businesses located in the southwest Houston Chinatown. {{../box-footer|}} {{../box-header|Houston/Music, arts and culture 5 | Portal:Houston/Music, arts and culture/5 }} Portal:Houston/Music, arts and culture/5

William Marsh Rice University, commonly called Rice University and opened in 1912 as The William Marsh Rice Institute for the Advancement of Letters, Science and Art, is a private, comprehensive research university located in Houston, Texas near the Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is particularly noted for its elite undergraduate division, as well as its strength in the applied sciences. The university has been a pioneer in the fields of nanotechnology, artificial heart research, structural chemical analysis, and space science.

At the undergraduate level, Rice placed at 17th in the 2006 U.S. News & World Report rankings of doctoral granting institutions. Further, in the Princeton Review's 2007 rankings, Rice was ranked third for “Best Overall Academic Experience for Undergraduates” as well as among the top 20 schools where students “Never Stop Studying.” Hence the expression: "Rice students never leave the hedges," referring to the plantings that both surround the campus and line the academic quad. The same publication also placed it as first in the nation for “Best Quality of Life” and “Lots of Race / Class Interaction.” {{../box-footer|}} {{../box-header|Houston/Music, arts and culture 6 | Portal:Houston/Music, arts and culture/6 }} Portal:Houston/Music, arts and culture/6

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River Oaks is an affluent community located in the geographic center of Houston, Texas, United States. Located within the 610 Loop and halfway between Downtown and Uptown, the community spans 1,100 acres (4.45 km²) in area. Established in the 1920s by brothers William and Michael Hogg, the community became a well-publicized national model for community planning. River Oaks is considered to be one of the wealthiest communities in Texas and has one of the wealthiest zip codes in the United States. The community is home to River Oaks Country Club which includes a golf facility designed by architect Donald Ross.

William and Michael Hogg, the sons of former Texas Governor Jim Hogg, and attorney Hugh Potter established River Oaks in the 1920s. Potter obtained an option to purchase 200 acres around the River Oaks Country Club in 1923, and in the following year William Hogg established the Country Club Estates in order to support the development of the community. The two brothers promoted the sale of lots in the subdivision for $2,200 apiece in 1928 ($27,638 in 2008). The brothers, along with sister Ima Hogg, oversaw the construction of Bayou Bend, a stately southern-style home on the banks of Buffalo Bayou. {{../box-footer|}} {{../box-header|Houston/Music, arts and culture 7 | Portal:Houston/Music, arts and culture/7 }} Portal:Houston/Music, arts and culture/7 Mercury W. Hayes (born January 1, 1973) is a former professional American football and Canadian football wide receiver, kickoff returner, and punt returner. He has played in the National Football League (NFL) for the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons,and he has played in the Canadian Football League (CFL) for the Montreal Alouettes. Prior to his professional football experience he was a University of Michigan Wolverines football star. He was drafted with the 136th overall pick in the 5th round of the 1996 National Football League draft.

Although he had a modest professional career, he was involved in many of the University of Michigan's most memorable football moments. He is notable for his game-winning catch in the 1995 Pigskin Classic against the University of Virginia. Hayes also once held the Michigan record for consecutive games with a reception (30). Hayes was a member of the 1992 Big Ten Champions who won the 1993 Rose Bowl.He had attended Booker T. Washington High School in Houston, Texas. {{../box-footer|}} {{../box-header|Houston/Music, arts and culture 8 | Portal:Houston/Music, arts and culture/8 }} Portal:Houston/Music, arts and culture/8

The Baytown Nature Center is located in Baytown, Texas, 20 miles east of Houston. It is located on a 450-acre peninsula along the Houston Ship Channel and surrounded on three sides by Burnet Bay, Crystal Bay, and Scott Bay. The Baytown Nature Center is both a recreation area and a wildlife sanctuary that is home to hundreds of bird species, mammals, reptiles, and aquatic species. The City of Baytown created this Nature Center 10 years ago. The SWA Group’s Houston office provided carried out land planning and landscape architectural services.

The Baytown Nature Center was, in the 1940s and 1950s, a highly desirable residential neighborhood known as Brownwood with nearly 400 substantial homes on a 500-acre peninsula. In 1961, Hurricane Carla devastated the Texas Gulf Coast, flooding Brownwood and ending any new development in the area. Afterwards, subsidence became a serious problem as oil and chemical facilities along the Houston Ship Channel pumped out groundwater faster than natural forces could replenish the water table. Thus, during the 1970s and 1980s, much of the Texan Gulf Coast (including Brownwood) sank a total of 10 to 15 feet. Brownwood, which had previously been high and dry, was repeatedly inundated by high tides and storms. {{../box-footer|}} {{../box-header|Houston/Music, arts and culture 9 | Portal:Houston/Music, arts and culture/9 }} Portal:Houston/Music, arts and culture/9 Bellaire is a city in southwest Harris County, Texas, United States within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the city population was 15,642 and is completely surrounded by the cities of Houston and West University Place. Bellaire is known as the "City of Homes" as the city is mostly residential, while there are offices along the 610 Loop within the city limits. As of 2000, Bellaire is the 27th wealthiest location in Texas by per capita income. John Nova Lomax, a journalist, stated in a 2008 Houston Press article that, due to the growth and dominance of Houston, municipal enclaves with their own services, including Bellaire, "are little more than glorified neighborhoods."

Bellaire was founded in 1908 by William Wright Baldwin, who was the president of the South End Land Company. Baldwin, a native of Iowa, was well known as the vice president of the Burlington Railroad. Bellaire was founded on what was part of William Marsh Rice's 9,449 acre (38 km²) ranch. Baldwin surveyed the eastern 1,000 acres (4 km²) of the ranch into small truck farms. He named those farms "Westmoreland Farms". Baldwin started Bellaire in the middle of "Westmoreland Farms" to serve as a residential neighborhood and an agricultural trading center. South End Land Company advertised to farmers in the Midwestern United States. Baldwin stated that the town was named "Bellaire", or "Good Air" for its breezes". Bellaire may have been named after Bellaire, Ohio, a town served by one of Baldwin's rail lines. {{../box-footer|}} {{../box-header|Houston/Music, arts and culture 10 | Portal:Houston/Music, arts and culture/10 }} Portal:Houston/Music, arts and culture/10

AstroWorld was a seasonally operated theme park located on approximately 57 acres (23 ha) of land (later expanded to over 75 acres (30 ha)) between Kirby Drive and Fannin Avenue, directly south of Loop 610 in Houston, Texas. It opened on June 1, 1968. AstroWorld was originally developed and constructed as part of the Astrodomain, the brainchild of local philanthropist and former Houston mayor Judge Roy Hofheinz, who intended it to complement The Astrodome. AstroWorld was sold to the Six Flags Corporation by the Hofheinz family in 1975. It was marketed as "AstroWorld: A Member of the Six Flags Family" so as to not confuse patrons with Six Flags Over Texas located in Arlington, Texas. Most people continued to call it "AstroWorld" and the company eventually responded by making the individual park's name more prominent. Its rides included the Texas Cyclone, one of the largest wooden roller coasters in the United States. AstroWorld was permanently closed by the Six Flags Corporation after its last day of operations on October 30, 2005. It was demolished between October 30, 2005 and the first half of 2006 (although parts of WaterWorld were being demolished prior to the final operating day at AstroWorld). (more...)

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