Pasadena, Texas | |
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City | |
Motto: "Enriched by our Heritage. Inspired by our Future." | |
Location in Harris County and the state of Texas |
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Coordinates: 29°40′34″N 95°10′26″W / 29.67611°N 95.17389°WCoordinates: 29°40′34″N 95°10′26″W / 29.67611°N 95.17389°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Texas |
County | Harris |
Founded | 1893 |
Incorporated | December 22, 1923 and December 26, 1928 |
Government | |
• Type | Mayor-Council |
• Mayor | Jeff Wagner |
• City Council | Ornaldo Ybarra Bruce Leamon Pat Van Houte Cody Ray Wheeler Cary Bass Sammy Casados Darrell Morrison |
Area | |
• City | 44.5 sq mi (115.3 km2) |
• Land | 44.2 sq mi (114.4 km2) |
• Water | 0.4 sq mi (0.9 km2) |
Elevation | 30 ft (9.1 m) |
Population (2010) | |
• City | 149,043 |
• Density | 3,208/sq mi (1,238.7/km2) |
• Metro | 5,628,101 |
Time zone | CST (UTC-6) |
• Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
ZIP codes | 77501-77506 |
Area code(s) | Area codes 281, 346, 713, and 832 |
FIPS code | 48-56000 |
GNIS feature ID | 1343631 |
Website | ci.pasadena.tx.us |
Pasadena /ˌpæsəˈdiːnə/ is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the city's population is 149,043, making it the seventeenth most populous city in the state of Texas, as well as the second-largest city in Harris County. The area was founded in 1893 by John H. Burnett of Galveston, who named the area after Pasadena, California, because of the perceived lush vegetation.
The Pasadena Volunteer Fire Department is the largest of all volunteer municipal fire departments in the United States.
Prior to European settlement the area around Galveston Bay was settled by the Karankawa and Atakapan tribes, particularly the Akokisa, who lived throughout the Gulf coast region. Spanish explorers such as the Rivas-Iriarte expedition and José Antonio de Evia charted the bay and gave it its name. The pirate Jean Lafitte established a short-lived kingdom based in Galveston in the early 19th century with bases and hide-outs around the bay and around Clear Lake. Lafitte was forced to leave in 1821 by the U.S. Navy.