Pasadena, Texas
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pasadena is a city southeast of Houston in Harris County, Texas — it is the largest suburb anchoring the Houston Metropolitan Area. It was founded in 1893 by John H. Burnett of Galveston, Texas. At the time of its founding, the land's lush vegetation inspired Burnett to name the city after Pasadena, California.
As of the U.S. Census 2000, the city population was 141,674 and boasts the largest all volunteer municipal fire department (Pasadena Volunteer Fire Department). The city's employment is closely linked to the nearby Houston Ship Channel and its related industrial districts, as well as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in the nearby Clear Lake area.
Because of its location near the enormous amount of refineries that dot the ship channel (which help to make Houston's petrochemical complex the largest in the nation), Pasadena has been dubbed by locals with the nickname "Stinkadena," though many of the refineries that give the city its moniker are in fact located in Houston proper. Another reason for the name may be the large sewage treatment plant located along State Highway 225 that links Houston to Pasadena. Another nickname, "Pasa-get-down-dena", was coined in the mid-1980s by a Houston morning radio DJ named Moby on his show Moby in the Morning on the long gone station, 97 Rock. At least two country music songs have been recorded with "Pasa-get-down-dena" as the title: one by Kenefick on their album "Hard Road," and John Evans on his album "Biggest Fool in Town."
Pasadena was enshrined in film history when John Travolta, Debra Winger and others descended on the city to film the 1980 hit movie Urban Cowboy, which depicted life and young love in Pasadena. The film centered around the city's enormous honky-tonk bar Gilley's, which was co-owned by country music star Mickey Gilley. In 1989 Gilley's suffered an arson fire that gutted the interior, but the building's shell was still standing until 2006 when it was demolished by the Pasadena Independent School District, its current owner. Only the old sound recording studio remains. (the old sign can be found at the Cowboy Ranch, a local restaurant(the Cowboy Ranch is no longer open)). Gilley still makes his home in Pasadena.
The city has several museums, including the Pasadena Historical Museum, the Bay Area Museum and Armand Bayou Nature Center. Pasadena also has a community theater, rodeo and orchestra (the Pasadena Philharmonic). The city's newspaper is the Pasadena Citizen.
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[edit] History
Pasadena is near the location of the last battle of the Texas Revolution. The Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna was captured in 1836 at Vince's Bayou. A monument to that battle — the San Jacinto Monument — is located on the outskirts of the city.
The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 caused many people to resettle in Pasadena. Clara Barton of the American Red Cross purchased 1.5 million strawberry plants and sent them to Pasadena to help victims of the flood get back on their feet. By the 1930s those crops had flourished so much that Pasadena was claiming the moniker of Strawberry Capital of the World. At its height, the city's strawberry growers shipped as many as 28 train carloads of strawberries each day. To honor that history, the city still holds an annual "Strawberry Festival," and today Strawberry Road stretches through much of the city near where the old strawberry crops grew.
[edit] Geography
Pasadena is located at (29.676196, -95.173845)GR1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 115.3 km² (44.5 mi²). 114.4 km² (44.2 mi²) of it is land and 0.9 km² (0.4 mi²) of it (0.81%) is water.
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 141,674 people, 47,031 households, and 35,179 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,238.7/km² (3,208.1/mi²). There were 50,367 housing units at an average density of 440.4/km² (1,140.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 71.45% White, 1.63% African American, 0.68% Native American, 1.83% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 21.30% from other races, and 3.08% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 48.24% of the population.
There were 47,031 households out of which 43.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.8% were married couples living together, 13.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.2% were non-families. 20.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.99 and the average family size was 3.48.
In the city the population was spread out with 31.6% under the age of 18, 11.4% from 18 to 24, 31.2% from 25 to 44, 17.9% from 45 to 64, and 7.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females there were 99.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $38,522, and the median income for a family was $42,541. Males had a median income of $34,330 versus $25,869 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,301. About 13.2% of families and 16.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.8% of those under age 18 and 10.5% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Education
[edit] Colleges and universities
Institutions of higher education include:
- University of Houston Clear Lake (partially in Pasadena, partially in Houston)
- the San Jacinto College system (a community college system which serves all of Pasadena as well as all and portions of several other cities)
- Texas Chiropractic College
[edit] K-12 schools
Most of city of Pasadena is served by the Pasadena Independent School District. Some of the eastern part is served by Deer Park Independent School District, some of the southern part is served by Clear Creek Independent School District and La Porte Independent School District.
[edit] Public libraries
Pasadena owns the Pasadena Public Library [1]. In addition Pasadena residents are served by the Harris County Public Library. The nearest HCPL branch to Pasadena is the South Houston Library in South Houston.
[edit] Famous residents
- Bo Brinkman - Actor, Producer, Writer, Director (married to Melissa Gilbert 1988-1992)
- LeeAnne Locken - Miss USA finalist and actress
- Mickey Gilley - Country singer
- Ronald Clark O'Bryan - murderer nicknamed "The Candyman"
[edit] External links
- City of Pasadena
- City Information
- Pasadena Chamber of Congress
- Pasadena Citizen
- Pasadena Strawberry Festival
- Pasadena Livestock Show & Rodeo
- Pasadena, Texas from the Handbook of Texas Online
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
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