Harrisburg Steamships Birth Maritime Trade

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Harrisburg, TX brought many firsts to the region: the 1st colonists, the 1st schooner exporting Texas cotton, the 1st steam sawmill, the 1st steamships and the 1st railroad. In 1823, Stephen F. Austin persuaded the Mexican government to name him empresario to promote development of maritime trade in Texas through colonization and the development of ports along the northern coast of Mexico. Captain John Richardson Harris, great grandson of the founder of Harrisburg, PA, aligned with Austin to found the town of Harrisburg at the junction of Buffalo and Bray’s Bayous in 1825. Harris opened one of the 1st general stores in Texas and began a packet service between New Orleans and the Galveston Bay region to provide colonists in Texas the tools and provisions necessary for survival. The development of the town’s maritime trade continued, and the town was annexed by the City of Houston in 1926. John Richardson Harris continues to be remembered today as the namesake of Harris County, and the successful maritime ventures of Harrisburg proved essential to the development of the Houston Ship Channel which officially opened in November 1914.