The age of everything

There is something to be said about history.  I lived in Williamsburg, Virginia and the place is just dripping with 300 year old places and buildings.  The Jamestown settlement, Yorktown, and Colonial Williamsburg are all wonderfully fascinating places to live and visit.  Throughout Virginia there are living museums and architectural examples of the colonial era.

Having grown up in Springfield, Illinois, and having the last name of Herndon brought about a wealth of history from the mid-19th century.  Growing up in Abraham Lincoln's "home town" and having my great (x4) grand pappy who was Lincoln's longest serving law partner (and biographer) immeshed me in that era.  Growing up with the history of the Chicago fire, and the Gateway to the West (St. Louis) instilled a sense of place.  For that matter, I grew up in a house that was about 100 years old.

Houston is not that at all.  It is still a
young city.  Granted, it was founded in 1836 but the stories tell that it really did not take off until oil was discovered in 1901 and after the Galveston hurricane of 1900.  Evidently, after the hurricane wiped out most of Galveston people figured it might be better to move inland a bit.

But being in a young city is not a bad thing.  There is a wonderful vibrancy about the place.  There is not the worry of removing a building that is 200 years old.  The folks of this city are still exploring their sense of place and that can give a wonderful sense of energy to the area.

Now do not get me wrong, there is history all around Houston and the folks are rightfully proud of it.  There are also a lot of wonderful areas to visit in the vicinity to learn about Texas.  But, I want to applaud the vibrancy of a major metropolitan city that is still discovering itself and not stuck in the past.