Fox J L Inc General Contractors

. Thousands of enslaved African-Americans lived near the city before the Civil War Many of them near the city worked on sugar and cotton plantations while most of those in the city limits had domestic and artisan jobs in 1860 forty-nine percent of the city's population was enslaved Frost Town a nearby settlement south of the Buffalo Bayou was swallowed by Houston.[citation needed]; Houston's building boom of the 1970s and 1980s ceased in the mid-1980s due to the 1980s oil glut Building of skyscrapers resumed by 2003 but the new buildings were more modest and not as tall During that year George Lancaster a spokesperson for the Hines company said "I predict the J.P Morgan Chase Tower will be the tallest building in Houston for quite some time.". After a failed attempt to convince Spanish authorities to reestablish missions in Texas in 1711 Franciscan missionary Francisco Hidalgo approached the French governor of Louisiana for help the French governor sent representatives to meet with Hidalgo This concerned Spanish authorities who ordered the reoccupation of Texas as a buffer between New Spain and French settlements in Louisiana in 1716 four missions and a presidio were established in East Texas Accompanying the soldiers were the first recorded female settlers in Spanish Texas, Cotton ranching and farming dominated the economy with railroad construction after 1870 a major factor in the development of new cities away from rivers and waterways Toward the end of the 19th century timber became an important industry in Texas as well in 1901 a petroleum discovery at Spindletop Hill near Beaumont was developed as the most productive oil well the world had ever seen the wave of oil speculation and discovery that followed came to be known as the "Oil Boom" permanently transforming and enriching the economy of Texas Agriculture and ranching gave way to a service-oriented society after the boom years of World War II Segregation ended in the 1960s due to federal legislation Politically Texas changed from the virtually one-party Democratic state achieved following disenfranchisement to a highly contested political scene until 2000 when it was solidly Republican the economy of Texas has continued to grow rapidly becoming the second-largest state in population in 1994 and became economically highly diversified with a growing base in new technology.

Houston's Theater District is ranked second in the country (behind New York City) in the number of theatre seats in a concentrated downtown area with 12,948 seats for live performances and 1,480 movie seats the Theater District is located in the heart of downtown and is home to nine of Houston's performing arts organizations and six performance halls Houston is one of only five cities in the United States with permanent professional resident companies in all of the major performing arts disciplines: opera (Houston Grand Opera) ballet (Houston Ballet) music (Houston Symphony Orchestra) and theatre (Alley Theatre) the city has visual and performing arts organizations along with a dose of homegrown folk art such as Art Cars. Houston is widely recognized as an important city for contemporary visual arts.[citation needed] the city is a stop for touring companies from Broadway concerts shows and exhibitions for a variety of interests ranging from the nation's largest quilting show to auto boat home and gun shows; . An expedition commanded by Pizarro and his brothers explored south from what is today Panama reaching Inca territory by 1526. After one more expedition in 1529 Pizarro received royal approval to conquer the region and be its viceroy the approval read: "In July 1529 the queen of Spain signed a charter allowing Pizarro to conquer the Incas Pizarro was named governor and captain of all conquests in New Castile" the Viceroyalty of Peru was established in 1542 encompassing all Spanish holdings in South America. ; Lakewood Church in Houston led by Pastor Joel Osteen is the largest church in the United States a megachurch it had 44,800 weekly attendees in 2010 up from 11,000 weekly in 2000. Since 2005 it has occupied the former Compaq Center sports stadium in September 2010 Outreach Magazine published a list of the 100 largest Christian churches in the United States and inside the list were the following Houston-area churches: Lakewood Second Baptist Church Houston Woodlands Church Church Without Walls and First Baptist Church. According to the list Houston and Dallas were tied as the second most popular city for megachurches; The 2010 United States Census reported that Houston had a population of 2,100,263 residents in 2017 the census-estimated population rose to 2,312,717 and in 2018 to 2,325,502 an estimated 600,000 undocumented immigrants reside in the Houston area comprising nearly 9% of the city's metropolitan population.