Deer Park was founded in 1892 by Simeon H. West, a farmer, retired legislator, and much-traveled adventurer from Illinois. He named the town for the large number of deer that roamed the Gulf plains. A railroad station opened later that year and a post office followed in 1893.[4]
The subdivision was established in 1893 and was the site of a Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway station by about 1894. A Deer Park post office was established in 1893, discontinued in 1919, and reestablished in 1930. In 1896, the community, with a population of forty, had a hotel, a general store, and three resident carpenters. By 1922, Deer Park had dwindled down to almost nothing with four houses, one little schoolhouse, and an old hotel with a few scattered shacks along the railroad right-of-way. In 1928, Shell Oil Company broke ground on a new refinery. In the 1930s, an independent school district was established. By 1940, the population had grown to 100. By 1946, however, the area began to flourish as Deer Park became the site of refineries and toluene plants for the production of TNT.[5]
The citizens of Deer Park voted to incorporate on December 12, 1948, and a few weeks later Earl E. Dunn became the first mayor.[6]
Because of the 1948 incorporation, Houston did not incorporate Deer Park's territory into its city limits.[7] The first city council meeting was held on February 7, 1949. The population had grown to 700 by 1948, to 5,000 by 1960 with a fire station, city hall, playground parks and an independent city water supply. A public library was begun in 1962 on Center Street. Population was 12,773 in 1970, and 28,520 in 2000. This growth has been fueled by the growth of the petrochemical industry as well as the growth of business along the Houston Ship Channel. Deer Park has a school district with 14 campuses, a city library, community theater, municipal court building, three fire stations, numerous city parks and recreational facilities, state-of-the-art water and sewer processing facilities, a post office, several hotels, 14 major industries as well as several light industrial companies. Today, Deer Park has approximately 9,000 homes and more than 30,000 residents.
Deer Park is near the site of the Battle of San Jacinto, where, on April 21, 1836, Texas won its independence from Mexico. Because the initial surrender treaty after the battle was drafted in Dr. George Moffitt Patrick's cabin, Deer Park bills itself as the "Birthplace of Texas".[8][9] The original cabin was located on Buffalo Bayou where Rohm and Haas, now owned by Dow Chemical Company, established a chemical plant in Deer Park. A replica of Dr. Patrick's cabin is in front of the Theatre/Courts Building on Center Street. The Texas State Historical sign marker was relocated from the Dow Chemical parking lot to the replica log cabin home of Dr. Patrick located at the Theatre/Courts Building.
Shell Chemical plant explosion
On June 22, 1997, an ethylene explosion occurred at the nearby Shell Chemical Company plant that was heard and felt as far as 25 miles (40 km) away. While no evacuation of the city was ordered, residents living within a mile west of the plant were advised to remain inside their homes.[10]
Intercontinental Terminals Company's chemical fire
On March 17, 2019, a chemical fire broke out at Intercontinental Terminals Company. The fire, which was caused from a pump seal failure, eventually spread to a dozen tanks.[11]
The resultant fire and smoke plume could be seen for miles and lasted for three days. The tanks involved in the fire contained chemicals including xylene, naptha, pyrolysis gasoline (Pygas), and toluene.[12] Deer Park residents were required to shelter in place during the fire.[13] A probe by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board concluded that leaking chemicals had accumulated in an above-ground storage tank for about 30 minutes before they ignited.[14] In April 2024, the state of Texas and the U.S. government reached a $6.6 million settlement with ITC; the money will be used to reimburse the state and federal government for damages caused by the blaze.[14]
Deer Park has been known for several smaller and less destructive tornadoes in its past, but on January 24, 2023, a large EF3tornado hit downtown Deer Park. It caused damage most notably to a nursing home, an animal shelter and knocked out power to many areas, including schools in the Deer Park Independent School District. Schools were still in session at the time of the tornado, but no students or teachers in the affected schools were injured or killed. Entire neighborhoods were severely damaged as a result of the tornado. The tornado prompted the first ever tornado emergency issued by the National Weather Service in League City.[15]
2023 Shell refinery explosion
In May 2023, a Shell petrochemical plant in Deer Park, causing a three-day blaze that resulted in toxic contamination in the air and water. The Shell plant had a long history of chemical incidents between 2016 and 2022, including 68 emissions events that released 974,847 pounds of toxic emissions into the air.[16] The company had eight "excessive" events at the plant during that time.[16]
2023 Emergency siren overhaul
Deer Park's 10 emergency warning sirens began experiencing failures over the years following a 2019 upgrade on the former siren system. In August 2023, the City of Deer Park replaced all 10 outdoor warning sirens with rotating, more efficient sirens. That also included strobe lights on each siren across the city to make fit for the hearing-impaired. 17-year-old deaf citizen William Stokes, presented the idea to the city during the replacement project. Emergency sirens are tested every Saturday at 12:00 PM.[17]
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 34,495 people, 11,637 households, and 8,813 families residing in the city. The American Community Survey reported a population of 33,474 in 2019.[23]
According to the 2019 American Community Survey, the racial and ethnic makeup of the city was 57.5% White, 1.8% Black and African American, 1.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.6% Asian, 3.2% multiracial, and 37.8% Hispanic and Latin American of any race. In 2000,[3] the racial makeup of the city was 90.01% White, 1.31% African American, 0.41% Native American, 1.13% Asian, 0.13% Pacific Islander, 5.25% from other races, and 1.76% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 15.22% of the population.
In 2000, the median income for a household in the city was $61,334, and the median income for a family was $66,516. Males had a median income of $50,867 versus $30,926 for females. The per capita income for the city was $24,440. About 4.0% of families and 5.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.4% of those under age 18 and 4.9% of those age 65 or over. By 2019, residents of Deer Park had a median gross rent of $1,170 in 2019 and median household income of $80,592. The per capita income was $33,083 and 7.3% of the population lived at or below the poverty line.
Government
Deer Park Post Office is located at 200 East San Augustine Street.[24]
Deer Park city hall is located at 710 E. San Augustine Street.
Most Deer Park pupils attend schools in Deer Park Independent School District. A small number of students who live in Deer Park near the cross streets of Spencer and Luella attend school in the La Porte Independent School District.
Deer Park High School serves the DPISD.
Deer Park has 4 junior high schools, Deer Park Junior High, Bonnette Junior High, Deep water Junior High and Fairmont Junior High. There are 7 elementary schools that serve the area as well. Deer Park ISD has an open enrollment program that allows students that do not reside within the boundaries of DPISD to attend DPISD Schools. LPISD has two elementary schools in Deer Park: College Park Elementary and Heritage Elementary. The 10,000-capacity Clyde Abshier Stadium is the home of the Deer Park Deer.
Colleges
Deer Park is also served by the San Jacinto College District, Central Campus.
Public libraries
The city operates the Deer Park Library at 3009 Center Street.[28]
^Kleiner, Diana J. (June 12, 2010). "Deer Park, TX". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Society. Retrieved August 20, 2017.
^Owen, Ann (February 25, 1971). "Provile: Mayor Earl E. Dunn". The Deer Park Progress. Deer Park, TX: 1. Retrieved August 20, 2017.
^Lee, Renée C. "Annexed Kingwood split on effects." Houston Chronicle. Sunday October 8, 2006. A21. Retrieved on July 6, 2011. "Some of the area communities that incorporated as cities and escaped annexation by Houston:" Print version exclusively has the information cited; the information is not included in the online edition.
^"Patrick's Cabin". City of Deer Park, Texas. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
^Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.[22]
