Houston Public Library Exhibit in Celebration of Houston’s 175th Anniversary
From Draft Horse to NASA: 175 Years of Transportation in
Houston
What: From Draft Horse to NASA: 175 Years of
Transportation in Houston an exhibit celebrating Houston’s birthday.
This exhibit will be part of October 29, 2011 exhibit crawl. The exhibit
is free and open to the public. For more information visit
http://houston175.org.
When: September 15, 2011 through November 15, 2011.
Where: Houston Public Library’s Central Library, 500
McKinney, 77002, 832-393-1313
About the Exhibit
From Draft Horse to NASA: 175 Years of Transportation in Houston exhibit
traces Houston’s transportation history. While Houston may be well-known
as an oil town, Houston’s history as a hub for transportation continues
to be a part of its culture and economy. Once a landing place on the
bayou for cargo ferried inland from the Gulf of Mexico, Houston
continuously transformed itself until it eventually became the home of
NASA. As part of a city-wide celebration of Houston’s 175th anniversary,
the Houston Public Library (HPL) presents an exhibit exploring the
history of transportation in our city. Images from the collections of
the Houston Metropolitan Research Center, part of HPL’s Special
Collections Division, will describe our city’s evolution through
transportation. The exhibit will include the days of animal-drawn
transport, Houston’s stint as a railway nexus where “17 railroads met
the sea,” the rise of the automobile and Houston’s famous car culture,
and much more.
About Celebrations for Houston’s Birthday
City of Houston 175 Birthday celebrations are scheduled for September 15
through November 15, 2011. For more information visit
http://houston175.org.
One date to remember is October 29, 2011! A Houston History Conference
will be held in addition to an all-day exhibit crawl. Ten venues
throughout the city are each creating an exhibit exploring Houston’s
history and development through one of the following broad areas:
architecture, arts, commerce, education, government, medicine, people,
public spaces, sports, and transportation. All ten venues will be open
for the October 29, 2011 exhibit crawl.
This celebration is a collaborative effort between Houston Public
Library, AIA Houston, the ArCH Foundation, City of Houston, DiverseWorks,
FotoFest, Harris County Heritage Society, Harris County-Houston Sports
Authority, Houston Arts Alliance, Houston Center for Photography,
Houston History Association, Museum of Printing History, Texas Medical
Center, and the University of Houston-Downtown.
About the Houston Public Library
The Houston Public Library (HPL) operates 35 neighborhood libraries,
three HPL Express Libraries, a Central Library, the Houston Metropolitan
Research Center, the Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research,
The African American Library at the Gregory School, and the Parent
Resource Library located in the Children’s Museum of Houston. Serving
more than 4 million customers per year, HPL is committed to excellent
customer service and equitable access to information and programs by
providing library customers with free use of a diverse collection of
printed materials and electronic resources, Internet, laptop and
computer use, and a variety of database and reference resources with
live assistance online 24/7.
For further information, visit the Houston Public Library at
www.houstonlibrary.org or
call 832-393-1313.
