Houston is a young city. Yes, we were founded in 1836, but we really didn’t take off until the dawn of the twentieth century. Houston’s secret for remaining young-looking is the city’s constant facelifts. To say we’ve “had a little work done” would be a mild understatement. Sadly, this euphemism really just means too-many-to-count demolitions. With that frustrating civic mindset, it’s nearly a miracle that we have any historic landmarks at all, but we do.

Houston’s population finally cracked 100,000 residents in the 1920 Census. With the muddy streets and Yellow Fever–infested nineteenth century solidly in the rearview mirror, the year 1924 distinguishes itself with several noteworthy milestones from which we’re still benefiting—it produced three significant landmarks, delivered one seismic death, and saw the birth of three unforgettable Houstonians. All 100 years ago. Here’s a look at one of the most consequential years in Houston history.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is born

On April 12, 1924, the Houston Art League opened its first permanent home, where Main Street and Montrose Boulevard touch on the edge of Hermann Park and radiate northeast and north respectively. The neoclassical structure, designed by architect William Ward Watkin, presents a dramatic entrance to the art museum surrounded by Ionic columns, and is aligned for a view south to Hermann Park. Over the years, and following a renaming to Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, additions were made to the original building, the most drastic being a breathtaking expansion with design by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, which included a reorientation of the front to Bissonnet Street. Today, the campus spans 14 acres on multiple blocks, and boasts the best pedestrian tunnels in town.

A hospital destined for (haunted) lofts is founded

The Jefferson Davis Hospital’s construction was completed in 1924 in the former First Ward, adjacent to and, some say, over a Confederate cemetery overlooking White Oak Bayou. The three-story, Classical-style brick and stone structure served residents of Houston and Harris County, but quickly became obsolete in the booming, modern city. In 2002, Harris County sold the building, which now houses artists and is known as the Elder Street Artist Lofts. And yes, it’s definitely haunted.

Memorial Park springs from a US Army training camp

In the years following the end of World War I, Camp Logan army training camp remained unused until land developers Will and Mike Hogg bought it along with additional acres further west and down to the northern shore of Buffalo Bayou, just across from the brothers’ biggest venture yet: River Oaks. In 1924, they sold the land to the city with the stipulation that it be a public park. The “memorial” name honors those who fought in the Great War. The Hogg brothers also built the first home in River Oaks that year for cotton industrialist Will Clayton.

A billionaire son becomes a billionaire man

Howard Hughes Jr. lived and died as one of the world’s richest men. He came by his wealth the old-fashioned way—from daddy. The first Howard Hughes hit the big time with a patent for a durable drill bit, the kind that could bust through rock and liberate the oil hidden underneath. When he died suddenly in January of 1924, only-child Howard Jr. inherited 75 percent of the oil field equipment company. Once the 19-year-old successfully petitioned the court to be declared an adult, he bought the remaining company shares, quit Rice Institute, and moved to California. Hughes Tool Company remained in Houston, and grew alongside the oil industry as Houston matured into the Energy Capital of the World. Hughes, the industrialist, aviator, and filmmaker, returned to Houston often for business or golf. He maintained friendships with Jesse “Mr. Houston” Jones and wild-ass wildcatter Glenn McCarthy, even lending the latter a plane to bring celebrities to the grand opening of the ostentatious Shamrock Hotel. Howard Hughes, Jr. died en route to Houston in 1976, and was buried in Glenwood Cemetery.

Houston’s (hypothetical) Mount Rushmore takes shape

And speaking of powerhouse Houstonians, 1924 saw the birth of three who would be contenders for a Houston Mount Rushmore. (#MountRushmoreHOU) These three seminal Houstonians, like so many before and after, were not born here, but that’s never been an obstacle to success in the Bayou City. Visual artist and educator John T. Biggers, President George H.W. Bush, and “Mama” Ninfa Laurenzo were all born in 1924.

By the time he was hired to lead Texas Southern University’s art department in 1949, visual artist John Biggers had been featured in a group show at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, and earned two degrees in education (and a doctorate in 1954). In the racially segregated Houston of the mid-twentieth century, Biggers taught art to generations of Black students. Almost instantly upon his arrival in Houston, John Biggers won acclaim, and grew in stature as a leader and educator in the Black community specifically, as well as in Houston’s provincial art scene. But as Houston’s prominence grew, so did Biggers’s. In 1995, the Museum of Fine Arts mounted a career retrospective. Biggers died in 2001, but many of his murals can still be found around town.

Arriving in Houston in 1959, George and Barbara Bush brought their young family and Zapata Off-Shore Company from the Northeast. As a rising star in the Republican party, George H.W. Bush represented Houston in Congress for two terms, and ultimately won the presidency in 1988. Bush was always proud of his adopted hometown, and as the world’s most famous Houstonian (at the time), he reveled in showing it off during the G7 Summit in 1990 and the Republican National Convention in 1992.

On July 3, 1973, Ninfa Laurenzo, the widowed mother of five, opened a 10-table, 40-seat restaurant in front of her tortilla factory on Navigation Boulevard. Her children worked with her, earning $188 on the first day. By the 1980s, most of Houston enjoyed one of many Ninfa’s restaurants, and the rest of the nation copied her innovative sizzling fajitas. Let’s not forget the Ninfarita, which she successfully trademarked. For decades, she enjoyed hosting celebrities and world leaders at her modest East End restaurant. Like Biggers, she also died in 2001. Mama Ninfa’s epic, entrepreneurial story is now permanently imprinted on the Houston mythos, and is replayed in dozens of other business owners’ success stories, and in those yet to make their homes in Houston.