Did you know that Buffalo Bayou played  the most important role of any other natural feature in the settlement of Houston? And do you know how the bayou was initially traversed?  By canoe, of course!  Accounts of Indian dugout canoes on Buffalo Bayou are recorded in several documents highlighting the early history of Houston.

Rising in northern Fort Bend County, the bayou flows 65 miles east across Harris County to its confluence with the San Jacinto River at Lynchburg. It is responsible for draining about 360 square miles of relatively flat terrain. The bayou winds through neighborhoods, retail areas, and idyllic wooded spots.  It meanders through Memorial Park, along Allen Parkway, into the City of Houston and finally cuts through the industrial and chemical corridor below the Turning Basin and into the Houston Ship Channel.

Most Houstonians know that the Allen brothers, Augustus C. and John K., founded the city. They sought to establish the town nearer to Harrisburg but the price of land was high so they traveled further up Buffalo Bayou to find their piece of the Texas frontier. How did they maneuver up the bayou?  According to historical records, the Allens took soundings and surveys of the bayou from a "canoe-like boat" and determined that it was navigable up to its juncture with White Oak Bayou. They purchased one and one half leagues from a Mrs. T.F.L. Parrott along the banks of the Bayou and staked out the town that would become Houston.

Where did the Bayou get its name? According to several historical documents we've read, it comes either from the buffalo fish ... and the stream was full of them at one time ... or from the bison that roamed the area.  Early maps show the bayou as Cibolo Creek", Cibolo being the Spanish word for buffalo. Archeologists have also found bison bones at several locations that have been excavated along the Bayou.

Want to fascinate your friends with Bayou trivia as you paddle the Buffalo Bayou Regatta? Here are a few historical tidbits for you.

Although the bayou between present day Wilcrest and Shepherd Drive was never used commercially for navigation because of dense growth and its narrow channel, it still has an interesting industrial history.  Remember the picture that ran in a recent issue of WaterLine showing the Shepherd's Dam? Did you know that the original name of Shepherd Drive was "Shepherd's Dam Road", after the dam in that location!  Grist mills and flour mills are noted on early maps of Houston along the Bayou in the area of Shepherd Drive. Sawmills were located along the north side of the bayou in the area of Memorial Villages to take advantage
of the thick forestation. And brick plants are noted on the north bank of  Buffalo Bayou in the area of Houston Avenue and Washington Avenue.

Speaking of street names, did you know that Allen's Parkway which runs along the Bayou was originally named Buffalo Drive and that the Buffalo Motel stood at the southeast corner of the intersection of Buffalo Drive and Waugh Drive.

Did you know that the village of Frost Town, which began at Jackson Street and ran parallel with the Bayou for about twelve blocks, was populated almost entirely by Germans and was one of the first German settlements in the state of Texas? It was just one of the early German settlements along the Bayou - others were located near present day Piney Point and the other Memorial villages.

Another interesting note - although it had been a German community for over 100 years, the  Memorial villages on the banks of the bayou were not incorporated until the 1950's.  An attempt was made to incorporate them as one village but the factionalism among the residents caused them to be incorporated as five different villages, including Hedwig Village, Piney Point, Bunker Hill, Spring Valley and Hillshire Village.

You think today's highways are bad? One of the most historic roads in Texas was the San Felipe Road, the link to Stephen F. Austin's Colony, that ran along the South side of Buffalo Bayou. Early records show that it was so muddy and rutted, it often took a whole day to travel six miles. The road stretched from what is now present-day Dallas Street and Freedman's Town (near Allen Parkway Village), dropped down as far as Westheimer Road along the unwooded marsh, went just to the south of the forested area known as Pine Point, cut up across the bayou near the present location of Highway 6 to the Habermacher Farm. The next stop along the road was at the Virginia Wheaton Farm above the vicinity of the current I-10. The road
continued  north of the Bayou along the high land to San Felipe.

Are you inconvenienced by the bridge construction over Highway 59?  Did you know that the first bridge over Buffalo Bayou was just six to seven feet wide and consisted of two planks and branches of trees joined together?

And speaking of transportation, did you know that there was also a narrow gauge railroad along the Bayou?  The Texas Western Narrow Gauge Railroad was founded in 1875 and followed the route of the traditional San Felipe road with stations at Pine Point and at the Habermacher Farm (Station), just south of the intersection of Buffalo Bayou and Highway 6. The railroad  crossed over the bayou and through what is now Addicks Reservoir to Pattison - its sole purpose to haul cotton.

As you pass Memorial Park on your trip down the Bayou imagine a bustling Army camp along the north bank.Construction began on Camp Logan,  a WWI Army post, in July of 1917. Our research indicates that it was quite a substantial installation for awhile, training 25,000 men for World War I duty. The Hogg family acquired the site after it was closed as a military installation and turned 1000 acres over to the City of Houston. Memorial Park is on that site and the name dedicates it to the soldiers who served there.

Did you know that many famous people are buried in cemeteries along Buffalo Bayou including Howard Hughes? His final resting place is on the north bank of the Bayou in Glenwood Cemetery just northwest of the Police Memorial.

Many other famous Texas citizens also have links to the Bayou.  For instance, did you know that Susanna Dickinson, survivor of the Alamo, was baptized in Buffalo Bayou?

And finally, can you match this story with any of the river cleanups you've participated in?  When the First Baptist Church was built in 1847 near Buffalo Bayou, dissension arose over the purchase of an organ. One night the organ mysteriously disappeared. Later, in the course of dredging operations on the Bayou, the organ was brought to the surface!

We hope this article has given you a new appreciation for the wonderful natural resource right around the corner. Our book should be out sometime next summer and will actually be a hiking, biking and paddling guide to Buffalo Bayou.  You can be sure we'll include many more interesting details about the history of the Bayou in its pages!