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Its name came not from Humble Oil Company, as newcomers to the area often believe, but from a vagabond fisherman by the name of P.S. "Pleasant" Humble who wandered into the area in the late 1850s and settled along the banks of the San Jacinto River with his wife and family. Humble Oil Company got its name from the town near its most famous discovery, not the other way around.
Uncle Plez, as Humble was called, operated a ferry on the San Jacinto River near the present crossing over Highway 59. After a flood, Humble moved his family away from the river, settling near what was later known as Uncle Booge Isaack’s place. He opened the first post office, informing surrounding towns to "deliver the mail to Humble." Hence, the town was named after him.
Today the city limits of Humble encompasses only ten miles of land compared to the surrounding area that has taken its namesake. These surrounding communities include Kingwood, Atascocita, Summerwood, Eagle Springs, and the new Fall Creek subdivision.
Kingwood was developed by Friendswood Development Company, the pioneer in the design and implementation of "master-planning," to develop a "new town" in cooperation with nature on the 14,000 acres closest to Houston.
On December 28, 1967, Friendswood Development Company purchased 50,000 acres of land from the Foster Lumber Company. This land, located on Highway 59, is about 25 miles northeast of downtown Houston. At that time, Kingwood was one of only two master-planned communities in the Houston region. The other community, also developed by Friendswood Development Company, is Clear Lake City, the home of NASA-Johnson Space Center.
In 1970 and 1971 the first five families moved into Trailwood, the first of 21 villages that now make up the master-planned community of Kingwood, The Livable Forest. The founders of Kingwood, in all their wisdom, realized for Kingwood to be successful they needed to be a part of the surrounding community. Friendswood Development Company discussed whether they should form their own chamber or help create a regional chamber and be a partner in regional growth and development. Friendswood Development Co. joined the Humble Chamber. The Humble Area Chamber was born. Start-up businesses in Kingwood joined the Humble Area Chamber, and the regional partnership has continued for more than thirty years. Kingwood is now almost 15,000 acres. Atascocita and other communities have joined the partnership, and created one of the most recognized regions and Chambers in Texas. The Humble Independent School District and Lone Star College District are also results of this regional partnership and recognized as tops in the nation. As the communities around Lake Houston continued to grow, in 2009 the Chamber Board voted to rename the Chamber to The Lake Houston Area Chamber in order to better reflect the service area.
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