Sesquicentennial Park is an urban park in
downtown
''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...
Houston, Texas
Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
. Established in 1989 along the banks of
Buffalo Bayou
Buffalo Bayou is a slow-moving river which flows through Houston in Harris County, Texas. Formed 18,000 years ago, it has its source in the prairie surrounding Katy, Texas, Katy, Fort Bend County, Texas, Fort Bend County, and flows approximately ...
, the park was established in 1986 to commemorate the 150-year anniversary of the founding of the city of Houston and of the
Republic of Texas
The Republic of Texas (), or simply Texas, was a country in North America that existed for close to 10 years, from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846. Texas shared borders with Centralist Republic of Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande, an ...
.
Built in two phases, the entrance to the park and a site that flanks Buffalo Bayou as it flows past
Wortham Theater Center and the northern section of the
Houston Theater District was completed in August 1989. The second phase was completed in May 1998, ending the $19 million project that took 14 years to complete.
The park features ''Seven Wonders'', a set of seven pillars illuminated from within by Houston native Mel Chin and several sculptures titled ''The Big Bubble'', ''Site Seeing'', and ''Sounds from the Past'', by artist Dean Ruck, who also lives and works in Houston.
See also
*
History of Houston
References
External links
Sesquicentennial Park website
1989 establishments in Texas
Downtown Houston
Parks in Houston
Protected areas established in 1989
Urban public parks
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