"Houston 175" celebration

Explore the Bayou City's past at Houston History Crawl this weekend

Allen School
Chuy Benitez, Charros at Fiestas, Patrias, Downtown Houston, 2005, from theHouston Cultura series, ultrachrome print (detail)
Geoff Winningham, Lame Pants, 1972, vintage silver gelatin print
Main Street

Exploring the city's past through a wide range of perspectives — from art and architecture to education and government to medicine and transportation — the Houston History Crawl on Saturday covers quite a bit of historical terrain.

Part of the ongoing "Houston 175" celebration, the free self-guided tour takes visitors to nine curated exhibits throughout downtown, the Texas Medical Center, and two locations off Allen Parkway (named after real estate tycoons John and Augustus Allen, who founded the city in 1836).

“We have to constantly remind ourselves of Houston’s history,” said Architecture Center Houston curator Barrie Scardino, one of the History Crawl’s key organizers. “The city wasn’t just built by oil companies in the last few decades.”

“There have been so many waves of economic success in Houston’s past,” she noted. “The city’s had the financial freedom to continuously rebuild itself again and again. As a result, many of its older buildings are gone. Sometime's it's easy to overlook the city's history.”

Below is a quick rundown of the nine exhibitions on the History Crawl, which runs from noon to 5 p.m.

PEOPLE AND PLACES: Architecture, Art, and Photography

Architecture Center Houston (315 Capitol) presents hundreds of photographs to help unravel the multi-layered history of the city's built environment. See Portrait of Houston: 1900–2011 at the space125gallery (3201 Allen Parkway), featuring the work of Houston-based artists exploring various sides of life in the city.

Fotofest and the Houston Center for Photography offer a photographic exploration of the cultures and sub-cultures that make up the intricate and diverse fabric (One and Two Allen Center).

INSTITUTIONAL PILLARS: Education, Government, and Medicine

At the Willow Street Pump Station (811 North San Jacinto), Educating Houston: 1836–2011 examines the city's earliest institutions of learning. Trace the city's governmental history at City Hall (901 Bagby) with a collection of images and historical documentation.

At the John P. McGovern Commons (6550 Bertner), follow the rise of the Texas Medical Center from its land purchase from the city to the first buildings of Hermann Hospital and the Baylor College of Medicine.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Sports, Transportation, and Commerce

Catch the sporting life in Hall E at the George R. Brown (1001 Avenida de las Americas) with a presentation of Houston's early bicycle and fishing clubs, amateur teams, professional teams and college teams.

At Houston Public Library's central building (500 McKinney), the exhibition From Draft Horse to NASA examines how various mean of transportation shaped the city's neighborhoods, infrastructure, and economy — a topic covered in detail at the Museum of Printing History's exhibit on Houston commerce (1324 West Clay).

A 68-page commemorative publication titled Houston 175: Celebrate! will be available for $10 at each exhibit site on Saturday's History Crawl, running from noon until 5 p.m. Click here for further details and a map of the tour.

For those interested in delving deeper in the city's past, the University of Houston will offer the Houston History Conference. The event Saturday costs $50 and includes a luncheon with former Houston mayor Bill White. The Buffalo Bayou Partnership celebrates the city's 175th this Saturday with a family-friendly events from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Kids Day on Buffalo Bayou.

And for those who need a little more history, don't miss the Cemetery Crawl on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. — perfect for the Halloween weekend.

unspecified

money woes

Texas dips on ranking of America's most financially distressed states

Photo by Image Source/Getty Images

Texas actually improved in this year's ranking.

After spending an unfortunate year as the No. 1 state with the most people in financial distress, Texas has slightly recovered. But the Lone Star State isn't out of the woods yet: it's still among the five most financially distressed states in America for 2026.

According to WalletHub's 2026 report, Texas sits in the No. 4 spot this year, while Kansas, Louisiana, and Florida moved up to become the top three states with the most financially distressed residents.

The personal finance website's experts compared all 50 states based on residents' average credit scores, the share of people with "accounts in distress" (meaning an account that's in forbearance or has deferred payments), the one-year change in bankruptcy filings from March 2025, and search interest indexes for "debt" and "loans."

Despite improving in the overall ranking, the study found Texas has had the fourth-biggest spike in bankruptcy filings nationally from March 2025 to March 2026. Texas residents also have the 10th worst average credit scores in the country, according to the findings.

This is how Texas ranked across the study's six key dimensions, where No. 1 means "most distressed:"

No. 4 – Change in bankruptcy filings from March 2024 to March 2025 rank
No. 5 – Average number of accounts in distress rank
No. 8 – "Loans" search interest index rank
No. 8 – People with accounts in distress rank
No. 12 – Credit score rank
No. 13 – “Debt” search interest index rank

It feels like inflation and affordability have been top-of-mind for many Americans over recent years, and uncertainty around the national economy also adds another level of distress. That's especially true for Houston residents, which were dubbed the second most financially distressed people in America earlier in 2026.

"Americans have faced significant financial challenges in recent years, as inflation, shifting unemployment levels, public health emergencies, and natural disasters have made it more difficult for many households to stay on top of their bills," the report said.

The top three states that have the least financially distressed residents are Maine (No. 50), Rhode Island (No. 49), and Hawaii (No. 48).

The top 10 most financially distressed states in America for 2026 are:

No. 1 – Kansas
No. 2 – Lousiana
No. 3 – Florida
No. 4 – Texas
No. 5 – South Carolina
No. 6 – Wyoming
No. 7 – Georgia
No. 8 – California
No. 9 – North Carolina
No. 10 – Kentucky

economy wallethub reports texas finance