Oscar Fitzallen Holcombe (December 31, 1888 – June 18, 1968) was an American businessman who served as the
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...
of
Houston, Texas, for 22 years, in 11 non-consecutive terms.
Biography
Holcombe was born in
Mobile, Alabama, and raised in
San Antonio, Texas
("Cradle of Freedom")
, image_map =
, mapsize = 220px
, map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1= State
, subdivision_name1 = Texas
, subdivision_t ...
. He moved to Houston when he was 18, and founded his own construction business, the O. F. Holcombe Company, at age 26. His business acumen and contacts eventually made Holcombe a millionaire.
Six years after founding his business, in 1921, Holcombe won his first term as mayor. He served as mayor from 1921 to 1929. Holcombe was defeated in the 1929 election by Walter Monteith, who supported a more fiscally conservative approach. Holcombe ran for mayor again in 1931, promising to do more for the unemployed, but Monteith was elected again.
Holcombe served subsequent mayoral terms from 1933 to 1937, 1939 to 1941, 1947 to 1953, and 1956 to 1958. His administrations were considered to be conservative and pro-business, though Holcombe was also aggressive about expanding the city's boundaries and improving public services (such as libraries, a municipal auditorium, and an improved sewage system).
Holcombe married Mary Grey Miller on May 3, 1912. They had one daughter, Elisabeth, who married Henry Markley Crosswell, Jr.
Honors
During the early 1960s, Houston renamed the stretch of
Bellaire Boulevard
Bellaire Boulevard (also known as Holcombe, and as 百利大道 ''Bǎilì Dàdào'' in Chinese and ''Đại Lộ Sàigòn'' in Vietnamese) is an arterial road in western Houston, Texas, United States. The street also goes through unincorporated a ...
east of
Southside Place, which runs through the
Texas Medical Center
The Texas Medical Center (TMC) is a medical district and neighborhood in south-central Houston, Texas, United States, immediately south of the Museum District and west of Texas State Highway 288. Over 60 medical institutions, largely concentrat ...
, as Holcombe Boulevard. In the late 1980s, the municipality of
West University Place
West University Place, often called West University or West U for short, is a city located in the U.S. state of Texas within the metropolitan area and southwestern Harris County. At the 2020 U.S. census, the population of the city was 14,955. ...
also renamed Bellaire Boulevard as Holcombe Boulevard within its jurisdiction.
References
External links
*
* Holcombe, Oscar
Oscar Holcombe Radio Addresses Houston Oral History Project, October 28, 1940.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holcombe, Oscar F.
1888 births
1968 deaths
People from San Antonio
Mayors of Houston
20th-century American politicians