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Welcome to Houston ...

Houston is located in Randolph County<1>.


We aren't confident of the location of Houston, so consider the above location as an estimate.<2>


The pronunciation of Houston: HUS-tuhn<3>

While we don't have a date for the founding of Houston, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1874.

When the people of Houston refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Houstonian<4>

Houston is 430 feet [131 m] above sea level.<5>.

Time Zone: Houston lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

Houston is within the (618) area code.

Communities Also Named Houston ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 28 communities that are also named Houston - they are located in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, British Columbia, California (2), Colorado, Delaware (2), Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi (2), Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina (2), Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Houston.

Communities near Houston ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Houston.

  • Chester
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chester have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chester
    • Chester is located in Randolph County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,145 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chester <7>
  • Sainte Genevieve
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sainte Genevieve have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sainte Genevieve
    • Sainte Genevieve is located in Sainte Genevieve County (MO)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,406 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sainte Genevieve <7>
  • Freeburg
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • Sparta
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sparta have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sparta
    • Sparta is located in Randolph County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,202 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sparta <7>
  • Red Bud
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Steeleville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • New Athens
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Athens
    • New Athens is located in Saint Clair County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,865 people
  • Marissa
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marissa
    • Marissa is located in Saint Clair County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,785 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marissa <7>
  • Percy
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Coulterville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Houston. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Houston.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Houston. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Houston.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Houston. See our Newspapers Page for Houston.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Houston ...

Looking for more information about Houston? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Houston, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Houston.

Adding Houston to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Houston in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Houston was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<8>

From that list, the Houston post office opened in 1874.

We also found Houston in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Houston.

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Houston. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Illinois' counties, including Randolph, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<3>The pronunciation we've provided is our attempt to give a phonetic pronunciation for Houston. While it might not be exactly right, hopefully it will be close. If we have it wrong or there's a better way to pronounce the name, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
<4>A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Houston refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a community's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Houston may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different.
<5>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Houston - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<6>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<7>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<8>A copy of their list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 10 Mar 2024