Houston Direct Navigation Company
Type | Corporation |
---|---|
Industry | Transportation |
Predecessor | Houston Navigation Company |
Founded | October 9, 1866 |
Founder | Thomas M. Bagby, Charles S. Longcope, Joseph Robert Morris, William Marsh Rice, Alexander Sessums, John H. Sterrett, and others.[1] |
Defunct | 1927 |
Fate | Defunct |
Headquarters | Houston, Texas , United States |
Area served | Buffalo Bayou and Galveston Bay |
Key people | John H. Sterrett, founder and agent; John Shearn, President |
Services | Intermodal freight , passenger service |
Houston Direct Navigation Company operated ships on Buffalo Bayou between 1866 and 1927. It had had two antecedent companies with similar subscriber lists and management: the Houston and Galveston Navigation Company, and the Houston Navigation Company.
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In 1851, William Marsh Rice founded the Houston and Galveston Navigation Company with his own capital of $5,000 and the capital of twenty-five other investors.[2] These included Paul Bremond, Cornelius Ennis, William J. Hutchins, and John H. Sterrett.[3]
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One of the company's antecedents was the Houston Navigation Company, formed in 1854 by many of the same principals as the Houston and Galveston Navigation Company.[4]
After the Civil War[]
The Houston Direct Navigation Company transported freight and passengers from Houston to railheads along Buffalo Bayou. Houston Direct Navigation Company was founded on October 9, 1866 by William Marsh Rice, , John H. Sterrett, and several others.[1][5] Businesses receiving and shipping goods from Houston were paying high fees for moving freight through Galveston, Texas. The company offered cheaper transportation, which bypassed Galveston and its .[6]
At first, the company's main business in the late-1860s consisted of lightering around Galveston and interlining freight through the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado Railroad; however, it expanded service, running five passenger steamers by 1870.[7] The company continued to expand its fleet, even as passenger demand diminished. Three steamers operated for freight-only in 1873, along with 22 barges with three tugs, the only two steamers transported passengers.[8]
References[]
- ^ a b McComb, David G. (1981). Houston: A History. Austin: University of Texas Press. p. 33.
- ^ Hall, Andrew W. (2012). The Galveston–Houston Packet: Steamboats on Buffalo Bayou. Charleston, SC: History Press. p. 49. ISBN 978-1-60949-591-6.
- ^ Sibley, Marilyn McAdams (1968). The Port of Houston: A History. Austin: University of Texas Press. p. 69.
- ^ Hall (2012), p. 56.
- ^ Sibley, Marilyn McAdams (1968). The Port of Houston: A History. Austin: University of Texas Press. p. 87.
- ^ Reed, S.G. (May 31, 2017). "Houston Direct Navigation Company". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
- ^ Hall (2012), 88–89.
- ^ Hall (2012), 92.
- Navigation organizations
- United States transportation company stubs