Channelview, Texas

Channelview was given its name from its located on the northeastern curve of the Houston Ship Channel. The site of Channelview was home to Lorenzo de Zavala, one of the founding fathers of the Republic of Texas. During World War II, the area south of Market to the Ship Channel, and what is now DeZavala St. to the tollway, was part of the U.S. Army San Jacinto Ordnance Depot. In 1990, an explosion occurred at the ARCO petrochemical plant in Channelview that killed 17 people and injured five others. In 1991, Channelview was the site of a notable murder plot. Wanda Webb Holloway was convicted of attempting to hire a hitman to kill the mother of her daughter's junior high school cheerleading rival. In 1992, Channelview was struck by Houston's only ever recorded F4 tornado just before Thanksgiving on November 21st,1992. The tornado grew to over a mile wide during its peak intensity.