Downtown Houston in the context of "Interstate 45"

Corporate headquarters is the part of a corporate structure that deals with tasks such as strategic planning, corporate communications, taxes, law, books of record, marketing, finance, human resources, and information technology. Corporate headquarters takes responsibility for the overall success of the corporation and ensures corporate governance. It is sometimes referred to as the head office, which is the location where the executives of a business work and where many of the key business decisions are made. Generally, corporate headquarters acts as a core when the business is operating.

The corporate headquarters includes: the CEO (chief executive officer) as a key person and their support staff such as the CEO office and other CEO related functions; the "corporate policy making" functions: Include all corporate functions necessary to steer the firm by defining and establishing corporate policies; the corporate services: Activities that combine or consolidate certain enterprise-wide needed support services, provided based on specialized knowledge, best practices, and technology to serve internal (and sometimes external) customers and business partners; the interface: Reporting line and bi-directional link between corporate headquarters and business units. Most other divisions and branches report to the corporate headquarters and staff may visit there periodically for training or other instructions". The corporate services are often relocated into a separate legal entity called shared services center. Research shows that the city in which a company is headquartered has a significant influence on the company's activities, including its business practices and its corporate philanthropic giving.

White Oak Bayou is a slow-moving river in Houston, Texas. A major tributary of the city's principal waterway, Buffalo Bayou, White Oak originates near the intersection of Texas State Highway 6 and U.S. Highway 290 (the Northwest Freeway) and meanders southeast for 25 miles (40 km) until it joins Buffalo Bayou in Downtown. The river serves as a greenway which connects Downtown to the Houston Heights, Oak Forest, Garden Oaks, and Inwood Forest.

A large majority of White Oak Bayou's route travels through highly developed areas. The river's 111-square-mile (290 km) watershed contains a population of over 430,000.

Allen's Landing is the officially recognized birthplace of the city of Houston, Texas, United States, the largest city in Texas and the fourth largest in the United States. Located in Downtown Houston between the Main Street and Fannin Street viaducts, the landing encompasses the southern bank of Buffalo Bayou, the city's principal river, at its confluence with White Oak Bayou, a major tributary. Allen's Landing is located south of the University of Houston–Downtown Commerce Street Building.

In August 1836, just months after the Republic of Texas won its independence from Mexico, two New York real estate developers, John Kirby Allen and Augustus Chapman Allen, purchased 6,642 acres (26.88 km) of coastal prairie and settled the town of Houston on the banks of Buffalo Bayou. The present-day landing area was advertised as the head of navigation of the bayou and served as the city's first wharf.

1600 Smith Street (previously named Continental Center I and also known as Cullen Center Plaza) is a 51-story, 732-foot (223 m) office tower in Downtown Houston, Texas, United States. It served as the headquarters of Continental Airlines prior to its merger with United Airlines in 2010, and at one point also served as the headquarters of ExpressJet Airlines. It is a part of the Cullen Center complex.

The 51 story building has about 1,098,399 square feet (102,044.6 m) of rentable Class "A" office space. The design architect was Morris Architects, the general contractor was Linbeck Construction Company, the mechanical engineer was I.A. Naman, and the structural engineer was CBM Engineers. The building was completed in 1984.

KBR Tower (formerly the M. W. Kellogg Tower) is a 550 ft (167.6 m) tall skyscraper in Downtown Houston, Texas, United States; it is a part of the Cullen Center complex. The KBR Tower has the headquarters of KBR, Inc., an engineering, procurement, and construction company.

The 40 story building has about 1,047,748 square feet (97,339.0 m) of rentable office space. The design architect was Neuhaus & Taylor, the general contractor was Linbeck Construction Company, the mechanical engineer was Sam P. Wallace, and the structural engineer was Ellisor Engineering, Inc. The building was completed in 1973.

Cullen Center is a skyscraper complex in Downtown Houston, Texas, United States. The complex is now managed by Brookfield Properties. Previously Trizec Properties owned all four office buildings. The complex includes the headquarters of the Houston Fire Department and KBR, and it formerly included the headquarters of Continental Airlines.

The buildings include 1600 Smith (formerly Continental Center I), 600 Jefferson (formerly Continental Center II), KBR Tower, and 500 Jefferson Street.

Harrisburg (originally Harrisburgh, shortened to Harrisburg in 1892) is a community now located within the city of Houston, Texas.

The community is located east of Downtown Houston, south of the Brays Bayou and Buffalo Bayou junction and west of Brady's Island. It was founded before 1825 on the eastern stretches of the Buffalo Bayou in present-day Harris County, Texas, on land belonging to John Richardson Harris. In 1926, Harrisburg was annexed into the city of Houston. The original name of Harris County was Harrisburg (Harrisburgh) County until it was shortened after the demise of the City of Harrisburg. Historical markers at the John Richardson Harris site tell of General Santa Anna's razing the town as he chased Sam Houston and his retreating army just before they reached Lynch's Ferry.

Sugar Land (sometimes incorrectly spelled as Sugarland) is the largest city in Fort Bend County, Texas, United States, located in the southwestern part of the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area. Located about 19 miles (31 km) southwest of downtown Houston, Sugar Land is a populous suburban municipality centered around the junction of Texas State Highway 6 and Interstate 69/U.S. Route 59.

Beginning in the 19th century, the present-day Sugar Land area was home to a large sugar plantation situated in the fertile floodplain of the Brazos River. Following the consolidation of local plantations into Imperial Sugar Company in 1908, Sugar Land grew steadily as a company town and incorporated as a city in 1959. Since then, Sugar Land has grown rapidly alongside other edge cities around Houston, with large-scale development of master-planned communities contributing to population swells since the 1980s.

Sims Bayou is a 23-mile (37 km) bayou that flows within Houston in a primarily west to east movement. Its origin is in Southwest Houston near Missouri City, Texas, and terminates in Manchester, Houston approximately seven miles east of Downtown Houston, where it feeds Buffalo Bayou as a major tributary. Unlike all other major Houston bayous, Sims Bayou is contained entirely within the city limits. It is a major watershed for the City of Houston.

Sims Bayou is believed to be named after Bartlett Samuel Sims—a member of the Old Three Hundred. From 1990 through 2012, the Galveston District of the United States Army Corps of Engineers performed a widening and deepening of the bayou to reduce flooding. This allowed for new development in the southern portion of the city, and removed an estimated 35,000 homes and 2,000 commercial structures from a 100-year floodplain.