Wading in the shallow pool of history

So here's a Houston quiz: Do you know what and where Allen's Landing is?

Houstonist wagers most Houstonians don't know what it is — or that, if they do, they've never been there. But the fact is, Allen's Landing is Houston's Plymouth Rock, the spot where those lovable real estate shysters Augustus and John Kirby Allen decided to build a town. Allen's Landing sits at the confluence of Buffalo and White Oak bayous, which form a (cramped) natural turning basin that became Houston's first port. Despite that, KHOU found you shouldn't try to dock your boat there today — the water in the bayou at Allen's Landing is as shallow as three-and-a-half feet in places.

The reason for the shallow water is tons of concrete beams dropped in Buffalo Bayou in the late '90s to keep Allen's Landing from collapsing into the water. Some of the beams, called "rip rap," have been removed, but there are enough in place that private boats sometimes scrape the concrete when trying to dock at Allen's Landing. It's prompted an investigation from Harris County: “That would sound unusual, as to what I would expect in this area,” Mike Talbott of the county flood control district said. “This is an authorized barge canal, really, back from the early 1900s and it should have more depth than that.”

The shallow water isn't the only problem in the area, though: Across the bayou, near the foundation of the Harris County Jail at 701 North San Jacinto, is a large sinkhole causing the ground to collapse. Maybe that's part of the county's plan to move inmates out of its jails?

(By the way, Allen's Landing is at Main and Commerce, under the southern end of the Main Street Viaduct.)