We all know that the Port of Houston was officially opened in 1914 with some fanfare but it was several months later, in 1915 when the first seagoing ship arrived. However, there were pilots on hand to guide the first ships up the channel. Almost nothing is on the record about these first pilots. We don't even know their names.

In the beginning of the Houston Ship Channel, there were two pilots employed by the Houston Chamber of Commerce. Their service was provided to ships at no charge. Progress was slow at first but the First World War brought some increase in ship traffic and by 1919 there were four state commissioned pilots working together in a sort of loose agreement. There is no record of when the free pilotage was discontinued.

By 1921 there were five pilots commissioned by the Governor of the State of Texas as Branch Pilots for the Houston Ship Channel. They formed the present Houston Pilots Organization when they signed Articles of Association in 1921. In 1923 they came under jurisdiction of the Houston Port Authority with the Port Commissioners acting as Pilots Commissioners as they do now. The Pilot Office does have the records and the names of these five pilots and it is assumed that two of them were the original two pilots mentioned earlier.

The Port of Houston continued to grow through the 1920's and 1930's and the number of pilots increased along with the growth. At the beginning of World War II there were twenty some pilots.

Since the Second World War as traffic increased, the Houston Pilots have added about ten pilots every decade. At the present time there are eighty-one pilots, including two deputy pilots that are still in training.

In selecting candidates to become deputy pilots the Houston Pilots accept only experienced working mariners that have already been qualified and licensed by the Federal Government as First Class Pilots for Galveston Bar and the Houston Ship Channel and then trains them for three years before recommending them to the Pilot commissioners and the Governor for a full commission.

The Houston Ship Channel is known as the most difficult pilotage in the world because of the very long and very narrow channel and the heavy load of traffic that it carries. The Houston Pilots from the beginning now and in the future are totally committed to the safety on the Houston Ship Channel and service to the shipping industry.

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