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East End Points of Interest

Visit the East End, an historic and culturally diverse community in the heart of Houston.

The East End cradles our city’s roots and offers the rich cultural, educational and economic diversity that make Houston a true city of the twenty-first century.

The East End is recognized for its strong industrial base. Today, twenty-four per cent of the land area is used for manufacturing and warehousing. We’re surrounded and crisscrossed by major highways and railways, making transportation and shipping easy. The Port of Houston, on our eastern boundary, is one of the world’s ten busiest ports.


Houston’s history begins in the East End. Buffalo Bayou runs past the site of old Harrisburg, early Texas trading post and seat of government for the Republic of Texas in 1836. Today, historic plaques speak to this history at the site of Mrs. J. R. Harris’s home and at Glendale and Harrisburg cemeteries.

Always diverse, today’s East End reflects a largely Latino residential population. In Second Ward and Magnolia Park, two of the city’s oldest Hispanic neighborhoods, you’ll find Mutalistan Hall on Canal Street, Our Lady of Guadalupe Church on Navigation Boulevard and the intricate concrete bandstand designed by V. Linzano and inscribed “From Houston Mexicans to their city” in Hidalgo Park. The City of Magnolia Park will celebrate its centennial in fall, 2009.


We’re home to many of Houston’s best Mexican restaurants and bakeries, most of them family owned. You’ll find cabrito Monterrey style, sizzling fajitas, Yucatan panuchos and empanadas, Mexican pastries, and licuados made with fresh mangos.


Houston’s East End offers rich educational opportunities at the University of Houston, Houston Community College-Southeast and Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service. Immediately adjacent is Texas Southern University in Houston’s Third Ward.

The East End is home to The Orange Show, an internationally recognized folk art environment; Eastwood, Houston’s earliest planned subdivision; Talento Bilingue De Houston, the largest Latino cultural center in the county; the Harrisburg Hike and Bike Trail, and a growing number of community murals.


We’re excited about new development in the East End. On our western boundary, the old Myers Spalti Mfg. Co. (formerly El Mercado Del Sol) was purchased by Trammel Crow and is now fully leased as Alexan Lofts. On the east Wulfe & Co redeveloped Gulfgate, Houston’s first shopping mall.

The new day begins in the East End. We know when you visit that you’ll stay awhile.