Neil Armstrong's family left a mark on Houston area, too - Houston Chronicle

Tranquillity Park opened in downtown Houston in 1979, a decade after Apollo 11 landed Neil Armstrong on the moon. The tribute displays his replica footprint as a reminder of the contributions Armstrong made to Houston and the world.

There's another park in a tiny town tucked in between Clear Lake and Seabrook that pays homage to the first man to step on the moon: Armstrong Park nestled in El Lago, a small bedroom community where the famed astronaut made his home after joining NASA. He lived in El Lago for most of the 1960s, leaving NASA in 1971 to move to Ohio.

Armstrong was part of a group of nine men who moved their families to the Houston-area after joining the U.S. astronaut program in 1962. Six of those astronauts, including Armstrong and his fellow moon man Buzz Aldrin, settled in El Lago, a community built the year before the announcement that the Manned Spacecraft Center - later named Johnson Space Center - would be built in the Clear Lake area.

Armstrong, wife Janet and 5-year-old son Eric made the trek from California to their new home in Texas. The couple welcomed a second son, Mark, shortly after Armstrong joined the astronaut program.

While Armstrong spent his days training for space missions, Janet Armstrong helped the El Lago community create its first synchronized swim team. Janet Armstrong even returned for the team's 40th anniversary celebration, where an attendee recalled how the astronauts's wife would sneak over her back fence to attend swim practices without the notice of the media trailing the family.

A couple years after moving to the community, the Armstrong's home was badly damaged in fire.

Armstrong and his wife were able to rescue their sons from the flames, which were extinguished by a local fire department, according to news reports.

After the moon landing, the Apollo 11 trio received a grand homecoming in Houston, complete with a downtown parade and celebration in the Astrodome.

The quiet El Lago buzzed with media and the mayor at the time awarded the astronauts with medals from the city.

Armstrong joined the faculty of the University of Cincinnati as a professor of aerospace engineering after leaving El Lago and NASA.

 

anita.hassan@chron.com