Clear Lake

Clear Lake Homes

With the high concentration of businesses and close proximity to the Gulf Coast, it’s no wonder why Clear Lake homes are some of the most desirable in the area. Clear Lake is a master-planned community located in southeast Harris County, Texas, within the Bay Area of Greater Houston. Clear Lake City is one of the largest master-planned communities in Houston, second only to Kingwood. While most of the community lies in the corporate limits of the city of Houston, a small portion falls within the city limits of Taylor Lake Village, and a small eastern portion is in the city limits of Pasadena.

The community is home to NASA’s Johnson Space Center, as well as other major aerospace companies—including Boeing and Lockheed-Martin. Clear Lake and its adjacent areas have a high concentration of engineers due to both the local petrochemical industries and NASA.

Clear Lake is served by the Clear Creek Independent School District.

The Clear Lake area is home to about 200,000 residents. Surrounding communities include Clear Lake Shores, El Lago, Friendswood, Kemah, League City, Nassau Bay, Seabrook, and Taylor Lake Village.

Clear Lake Attractions

Festivals & Events

Among the many annual events in the Clear Lake area, The Gulf Coast Film Festival showcases independent films from local, regional and international artists in various categories ranging from short films to documentaries. Other annual events include the Wings over Houston Air Fest (Ellington Field) and the Ballunar Liftoff Festival.

Farmers markets in the area, including the Farmers Market at Clear Lake Shores, provide opportunities for area residents to connect with local growers, producers, and other businesses. The League City Historic District provides views of early area architecture in addition to unique shopping venues.

Parks

The Armand Bayou Nature Center is one of the largest urban wilderness preserve in the nation. It features a boardwalk through the marshes, numerous nature trails, and boat tours offering views of natural habitats for animals ranging from bison to seagulls to butterflies. The Texas Armand Bayou Coastal Preserve features one of region’s most popular paddling trails. The Seabrook Trail System, which includes Robinson and Pine Gully Parks, offers primitive access to natural habitats for numerous species. These sites are all part of the larger Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail. Other major area parks include Harris County Clear Lake and Bay Area parks, Clear Creek Nature Park and Challenger 7 Memorial Park.

The area contains many marinas for boating and fishing enthusiasts such as the Watergate Yachting Center.The shoreline of Clear Lake itself has the greatest concentration of recreational boats in Texas and ranks third nationwide.

Clear Lake in Context

Technically, there is no “Clear Lake City” as it was annexed by Houston in 1977 despite major efforts by its residents to stop it. “Free the Clear Lake 25,000!” bumper stickers were common in that day however, Houston won out. Again while there technically there is no Clear Lake City, just ask any resident who resides here where they live and they will proudly tell you, “I live in Clear Lake.”

James Marion West started the first substantial development in Clear Lake City. West migrated to Texas from Mississippi in 1880 as a boy. He became a wealthy businessman with interests in ranching, lumber, and oil. His main ranch property and the site of his home was around the shores of Clear Lake and Clear Creek.

Exxon-Mobile (then Humble Oil) purchased the Clear Lake property from West in 1938 after oil was discovered. It remained mostly untouched until the decision to establish the Johnson Space Center in the area in the early 1960’s. Humble Oil’s venture, the Friendswood Development Company, made plans to establish a residential development.

Clear Lake At A Glance

Clear Lake Properties