Allen's Landing

Allen's Landing is located at the site of the original city of Houston on the south bank of Buffalo Bayou and a fork of White Oak Bayou in central Harris County. The landing, at a natural turning basin, originally served as a boat dock for Houston real estate development at the "head of navigation" on Buffalo Bayou. Oceangoing ships, steamers, and sailing vessels loaded from its wharves, and the steamer Laura first docked there on January 26, 1837. The city of Houston officially established the port in June 1841, and in 1910 the federal government approved funding for the dredging of a ship channel from the Gulf to the present turning basin four miles to the east of Allen's Landing. A historical marker was placed at the nearly two-acre parksite when it was dedicated as Allen's Landing Memorial Park in 1967. The park serves as a memorial to Houston founders John K. and Augustus Chapman Allen. The Southern Pacific Railroad also donated 4,000 square feet of land to the park, which was developed by the Houston Chamber of Commerce, the City of Houston, and the Harris County Navigation District. In 1990 the landing was a dock for the Laura. In the 2000s a local organization, Buffalo Bayou Partnership, spearheaded fundraising efforts to further revitalize Allen's Landing into a historic park. The improvements included an entry plaza, public art, hike and bike trails, and the restoration of the Sunset Coffee Building, scheduled for completion in 2017.