Bridge at Mason Park

[Gary S]

... Anything that starts in the Houston area is a bayou. And the pronunciation is "by - yo".

My understanding is a bayou is man made. it is some kind of a canal. Bayou is the southern states word for canal.

Agreed. These waterways existed naturally long ago, but over the course of time they have been managed, widened, deepened, and maintained by various flood control districts and the Corp of Engineers.

Louisiana is full of them and "some" of them do not originate in Houston (but we may change that...)

I think Louisiana uses the term "bayou" much more liberally. It also replaces the terms "stream", "creek" and "small river" regardless whether man did any rerouting or manipulating. And many of the folks down on the bayou pronounce it "by u".