Samuel Oliver Young 
A Thumb-Nail History of the City of Houston, Texas 

This beautiful, small historical work is divided into twelve chapters, each devoted to some phase of the city’s activities and tracing its history from the inception of that interest to the year 1912. Chapter 1 gives an account of the founding of Houston and outlines its municipal history; Chapter 2 tells of the building activities, private and public, at different periods, and of the organization of fire companies; Chapter 3 does the same for railroad building, and gives some notes on the lawyers and doctors; many more chapters follow. Obviously. the book is far from being a complete history of Houston. There is enough history, however, to indicate the leading role Houston has played in the business enterprise of the State, and the wonderful transformation of the old Houston into a modern city.