Clear Lake,
is a master-planned community located in southeast Harris County,
Texas, within the Bay Area of Greater Houston. Clear Lake City
is one of the largest master-planned communities in Houston,
second only to Kingwood. “Technically” there is no “Clear
Lake City” as it was annexed by Houston in 1977 despite
major efforts by its residents to stop it. “Free the Clear
Lake 25,000!” bumper stickers were common in that day however,
Houston won out. While most of the community lies in the corporate
limits of the city of Houston, a small portion is within the
city limits of Taylor Lake Village and a small eastern portion
is in the city limits of Pasadena.
The community is home to NASA’s
Johnson Space Center, as well as other major aerospace companies—including
Boeing and Lockheed-Martin. Clear Lake and its adjacent areas
have a high concentration of engineers due to both the local
petrochemical industries and NASA.
James Marion West started the first substantial
development in Clear Lake City. West migrated to Texas from Mississippi
in 1880 as a boy. He became a wealthy businessman with interests
in ranching, lumber, and oil. His main ranch property and the
site of his home was around the shores of Clear Lake and Clear
Creek.
Exxon-Mobile (then Humble Oil) purchased
the Clear Lake property from West in 1938 after oil was discovered.
It remained mostly untouched until the decision to establish
the Johnson
Space Center in the area in the early 1960’s. Humble
Oil’s venture, the Friendswood Development Company, made
plans to establish a residential development.
Clear Lake is served by the Clear
Creek Independent School District.
Again while there technically there is
no Clear Lake City, just ask any resident who resides here where
they live and they will proudly tell you, “I live in Clear
Lake.”
The Clear Lake area is home to about
200,000 residents. Surrounding communities include Clear Lake
Shores, El Lago, Friendswood, Kemah, League City, Nassau Bay,
Seabrook, and Taylor Lake Village.
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