Houston

=== World War II to the late 20th century ===
When [[United States home front during World War II|World War II]] started, tonnage levels at the port decreased and shipping activities were suspended; however, the war did provide economic benefits for the city. Petrochemical refineries and manufacturing plants were constructed along the ship channel because of the demand for petroleum and synthetic rubber products by the defense industry during the war.<ref name="shipchannel">{{cite web |title=Houston Ship Channel |work=TSHA Handbook of Texas |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/rhh11 |access-date=May 5, 2015 |date=June 15, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150201105943/http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/rhh11 |archive-date=February 1, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Ellington Airport (Texas)|Ellington Field]], initially built during [[World War I]], was revitalized as an advanced training center for bombardiers and navigators.<ref>{{cite web |last=Carlson |first=Erik |title=Ellington Field: A Short History, 1917–1963 |work=National Aeronautics and Space Administration |date=February 1999 |url=http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/ellington/Ellington.pdf |access-date=February 18, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061102113204/http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/ellington/Ellington.pdf |archive-date=November 2, 2006 |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Brown Shipbuilding Company]] was founded in 1942 to build ships for the [[U.S. Navy]] during World War II. Due to the boom in defense jobs, thousands of new workers migrated to the city, both Black, and white people competing for the higher-paying jobs. President Roosevelt had established a policy of [[Anti-discrimination law|nondiscrimination]] for defense contractors, and Black people gained some opportunities, especially in shipbuilding, although not without resistance from white people and increasing social tensions that erupted into occasional violence. Economic gains of Black people who entered defense industries continued in the postwar years.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Race, Roosevelt, and Wartime Production: Fair Employment in World War II Labor Markets |first=William J. |last=Collins |journal=The American Economic Review |volume=91 |number=1 |date=March 2001 |pages=272–286 |publisher=American Economic Association |jstor=2677909 |doi=10.1257/aer.91.1.272}}</ref>

In 1945, the M.D. Anderson Foundation formed the [[Texas Medical Center]]. After the war, Houston's economy reverted to being primarily port-driven. In 1948, the city annexed several unincorporated areas, more than doubling its size. Houston proper began to spread across the region.<ref name=HouHTO/><ref>{{cite web |last=Streetman |first=Ashley |title=Houston Timeline |work=Houston Institute for Culture |url=http://www.houstonculture.org/resources/houstontime.html |access-date=February 6, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061208185328/http://www.houstonculture.org/resources/houstontime.html |archive-date=December 8, 2006 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1950, the availability of air conditioning provided impetus for many companies to relocate to Houston, where wages were lower than those in [[Northern United States|the North]]; this resulted in an economic boom and produced a key shift in the city's economy toward the energy sector.<ref>[http://www.oldhouseweb.com/stories/Detailed/725.shtml "How Air Conditioning Changed America"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061213053143/http://www.oldhouseweb.com/stories/Detailed/725.shtml |date=December 13, 2006 }}, ''The Old House Web'', Retrieved on April 4, 2007</ref><ref>[http://www.hgs.org/en/articles/printview.asp?26 "A Short History"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070216122901/http://www.hgs.org/en/articles/printview.asp?26 |date=February 16, 2007 }}, ''Houston Geological Auxiliary'', Retrieved on April 4, 2007</ref>

The increased production of the expanded shipbuilding industry during World War II spurred Houston's growth,<ref>{{cite web |title=Shipbuilding |work=TSHA Handbook of Texas |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ets03 |access-date=February 18, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110506030037/http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ets03 |archive-date=May 6, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> as did the establishment in 1961 of NASA's "Manned Spacecraft Center" (renamed the [[Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center]] in 1973). This was the stimulus for the development of the city's aerospace industry. The [[Astrodome]], nicknamed the "[[Eighth Wonder of the World]]",<ref>{{cite journal |last=Barks |first=Joseph V. |title=Powering the (New and Improved) "Eighth Wonder of the World" |journal=Electrical Apparatus |date=November 2001}}</ref> opened in 1965 as the world's first indoor domed sports stadium.

During the late 1970s, Houston had a population boom as people from the [[Rust Belt]] states moved to Texas in large numbers.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://texasalmanac.com/topics/culture/polish/polish-texans |title=Polish-Texans |work=Texas Almanac 2004–2005 |access-date=July 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180703162430/https://texasalmanac.com/topics/culture/polish/polish-texans |archive-date=July 3, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> The new residents came for numerous employment opportunities in the petroleum industry, created as a result of the [[1973 oil crisis|Arab oil embargo]]. With the increase in professional jobs, Houston has become a destination for many college-educated persons, most recently including African Americans in a [[New Great Migration|reverse Great Migration]] from northern areas.

In 1997, Houstonians elected [[Lee P. Brown]] as the city's first African American mayor.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/biography.asp?bioindex=937&category=politicalMakers |title=Lee P. Brown – Biography |work=TheHistoryMakers.com |access-date=January 22, 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161110215849/http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/biography.asp?bioindex=937&category=politicalMakers | archive-date=November 10, 2016 | url-status=dead}}</ref>