[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 176 (Tuesday, October 31, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1453]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   RECOGNIZING AND CELEBRATING THE 125TH ANNIVERSARY OF DEER PARK, TX

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                            HON. BRIAN BABIN

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 31, 2017

  Mr. BABIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and celebrate the 
125th anniversary of the City of Deer Park, in Harris County, Texas.
   After an overwhelming Texian victory at Battle of San Jacinto, 
General Sam Houston, Interim President David G. Burnet, and members of 
the Texas Cabinet met in present-day Deer Park and began to draft the 
initial treaty documents securing Texas' independence from Mexico. 
Because of this historic event on Deer Park soil, Deer Park holds the 
distinction of being the true ``Birthplace of Texas.''
   Deer Park was founded on December 20, 1892 by Simeon Henry West, a 
farmer, retired legislator, and pioneer from Illinois. He named the 
area Deer Park after the large number of deer that roamed the coastal 
prairie. As settlers from the north arrived to build homes and farms, 
West built a hotel and post office in 1893. West granted the land for 
the first railroad through Deer Park for one dollar and later built a 
wharf on Buffalo Bayou that was later destroyed by The Great Galveston 
Hurricane of 1900. On October 3, 1902, West donated the right-of-way to 
the Houston Ship Channel to the United States of America.
   In 1928 Shell Oil Company began building a new refinery. In the 
1930s an independent school district was established, the population 
began to grow, and the town began to flourish. Deer Park voted to 
incorporate as a general law city on December 11, 1948. On December 6, 
1960 the residents of Deer Park voted to become a home rule city. By 
1960 the city's population was five thousand with a fire station, city 
hall, parks, independent water supply, and four major industries within 
the city limits. Today, Deer Park has approximately thirty-three 
thousand residents, a school district with fifteen campuses, numerous 
major industrial facilities, and several smaller light industrial 
companies.
   Mr. Speaker, it is my distinct honor to recognize and celebrate the 
125th anniversary of the City of Deer Park. May God continue to bless 
Deer Park in these next 125 years.

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