Tranquillity Park stretches two blocks between Walker and Rusk Streets in front of you, with the United States federal courts building for the Southern District of Texas on one side and Houston City Hall on the other. This two-block-long municipal park opened to visitors in the summer of 1979 and was officially dedicated on the tenth anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing. The park takes its name — spelled Tranquillity — from the Sea of Tranquility, where man first landed on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission on July 20, 1969.
As you wander, notice the water and walkways, the mounds and depressions meant to suggest a cratered lunar surface, and the 32-level Wortham Fountain at the heart of the design. Bronze plaques along the main entrance carry Neil Armstrong’s first transmitted words, "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed," reproduced in 15 languages. A replica of one of Neil Armstrong’s footprints on the Moon is on display inside the park. Built over a subterranean parking garage, this oasis is quietly celebratory — a downtown remembrance of one human step on the Moon. Notice the bronze plaques nearby carrying Neil Armstrong's first words from the Moon, reproduced here in fifteen languages.