TexasEscapes.com HOME Welcome to Texas Escapes
A magazine written by Texas
Custom Search
New   |   Texas Towns   |   Ghost Towns   |   Counties   |   Trips   |   Features   |   Columns   |   Architecture   |   Images   |   Archives   |   Site Map

Jefferson County TX
Jefferson County

Counties
Texas Counties


Texas Towns
A - Z

Port Arthur Hotels

More Hotels

 


PORT ARTHUR, TEXAS


Eastern Jefferson County, Texas Gulf Coast

29°53'6"N 93°56'24"W (29.884864, -93.939902)

Highway 87
On West Bank of Sabine Lake
17 miles SE of Beaumont the county seat
SE of Nederland, Groves, and Port Neches
SW of Bridge City
90 miles E of Houston
5 miles E of the Neches River Rainbow Bridge
ZIP codes 77640-77642
Area code 409
Population: 54,280 Est. (2019)
53,818 (2010) 57,755 (2000) 58,724 (1990)

Book Hotel HerePort Arthur Hotels

 Port Arthur, Texas -Grain elevator and ship
Grain elevator and ship at the port
Photo courtesy Museum of the Gulf Coast

Port Arthur, Texas Topics

  • History
  • Landmarks / Attractions / Photo Gallery
  • People
  • Arthur Edward Stilwell
  • John W. (Bet-a Million) Gates

  • Port Arthur, TX - Cotton Docks
    Port Arthur Cotton Docks, postcard circa 1910
    Courtesy The Will Beauchamp Collection

    History in a 55-Gallon Drum

    Arthur Edward Stilwell was born in Rochester, New York in 1859. As a teenager he ran away from home to "seek his fortune." His gentile upbringing endeared him to the movers and shakers of the period and they shared their knowledge with the young man. By 1886, he had gone from traveling salesman to belt-line railroad promoter. His first major project was a railway from Kansas City to Sabine Pass, Texas, but Stilwell got sidetracked in Port Arthur.

    In December of 1895 Stilwell and Co. acquired property in Jefferson County and began platting a city, which he modestly named after himself.
    The Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad (which later became the Kansas City Southern) arrived in Port Arthur in 1897. Late that year Port Arthur had nearly 1,000 residents. To become a seaport, Port Arthur needed a canal, so in April 1897 the Port Arthur Channel and Dock Company began dredging a canal to the to deep water at Sabine Pass (completed in 1899). Stilwell’s railroad went bankrupt in 1899 and he lost interest in his dream.

    In 1900 Stilwell announced an even more ambitious project: to connect Kansas City to the Pacific Coast (through Mexico). He founded Port Stilwell in the state of Sinaloa, Mexico. After bankruptcy and another quest for a Pacific railroad connection, Stilwell turned to writing books on finance. He then turned to poetry and novels. In his stories he let it be known that his Port Arthur dreams had been advice from "brownies."



    Historical Marker: 1300 Proctor St., Port Arthur

    Arthur Edward Stilwell

    Son of Charles H. and Mary Stilwell, was born on October 21, 1859, in Rochester, New York. Young Arthur was greatly influenced by his grandfather, railroad builder Hamlin Stilwell, and according to family tradition vowed to be a railroad builder himself one day.

    He married Virginian Jennie A. Wood in 1879 and after many business successes set his sights on building a railroad system from the farming region of the midwestern U.S. to the Texas Gulf Coast. Stilwell established the town of Port Arthur here on 4,000 acres in 1895. He later extended the Kansas City, Pittsburg, and Gulf Railroad from Shreveport south through western Louisiana to its terminus at Port Arthur. To promote settlement of the area Stilwell established a successful experimental farm, drilled water wells, and built a hotel, indoor swimming pool, and pleasure pier.

    In 1897 Port Arthur contained about 1,100 inhabitants. By 1900 Stilwell had completed a canal from Mesquite Point (7 miles south at Sabine Pass) to substantial port facilities at Port Arthur. By fulfilling a childhood dream Arthur Stilwell not only founded the town of Port Arthur but in large measure laid the foundation for its future prosperity. Stilwell died on September 26, 1928, and was cremated.

    Sesquicentennial of Texas Statehood 1845 - 1995

    Arthur Stilwell bust
    Bust of Arthur Stilwell
    Photo Courtesy Museum of the Gulf Coast



    Port Arthur TX - John W. Gates' Farm
    John W. Gates' model truck, fruit and dairy farm
    Click on image to enlarge
    Old Photo courtesy Dan Whatley Collection

    Stilwell was replaced by John W. (Bet-a Million) Gates, a man who had made a fortune in barbed wire and who didn’t believe in brownies. Gates arrived in December 1899 just as Stilwell was leaving. Gates didn’t live too many years longer and in 1918, Gates Memorial Library, was established by his widow as a memorial to her husband (and her son).

    Port Arthur became a port of entry in 1906 and two years later the canal was extended up the Neches River to Beaumont and Orange.

    Port Arthur TX - JohnGates
    Protrait of John Gates in the Gates Memorial Library
    Photo Courtesy Gates Memorial Library

    Historical Marker: 317 Stilwell Blvd., Port Arthur

    Gates Memorial Library

    John Warne "Bet a Million" Gates (1855-1911), a native of Illinois, was instrumental in the early growth of Port Arthur. A prominent businessman and financier noted for his promotion of barbed wire, he became a leader in the development of the city founded by Arthur Stilwell, the president of the Kansas City Southern Railroad. Gates was initially attracted to the Port Arthur area by the local oil boom of the early 1900s. As an investor, he figured prominently in the development of the Texas Company, now Texaco. Later a resident of New York, Gates maintained his business and philanthropic interests in Port Arthur with the help of his son Charles. Gate's contributions to the city include Port Arthur Business College, St. Mary's Hospital, and the Plaza Hotel. In 1909 John Gates set aside land at this site for a public library, but initial plans for the project were discontinued after his death in 1911. Planning resumed five years later when it became apparent the public library in the nearby high school could not adequately serve the city. Through the efforts of Gate's widow Dellora (1855- 1918) and local residents, this library was completed in 1917. The following year it was dedicated and deeded to the city.
    1981



    Stilwell and Gates gave Port Arthur its start, but Spindletop guaranteed its future. On January 10, 1901, the first big Texas oil boom blew in. The household names of Gulf, Magnolia, Humble, and Texaco were all born with Spindletop. Pipelines and refineries were built and their workers required housing and stores. By 1914 Port Arthur was the second largest oil-refining point in the U. S. The population jumped from 900 in 1900 to 7,000 in 1910. By 1930 it was over 50,000.

    Port Arthur refineries area employed some 12,000 workers in 1950. Their salaries directly accounted for half of the city’s economy.

    After the late 1960s, when the population reached a zenith of 69,000, a decline began.

    Port Arthur annexed Sabine Pass in 1978.

    Port Arthur, Texas Landmarks / Attractions
    Photo Gallery

    BRIDGES

    Neches River Rainbow Bridge (1939) crosses the Neches River on State Highway 87 between Port Arthur and Orange.

    The Gulfgate Bridge (since renamed the Martin Luther King Bridge) was built in the 1960s to connect Port Arthur with Pleasure Island and Louisiana.

    Sabine-Neches Ship Canal, Port Arthur , Texas
    The Gulfgate Bridge over the Sabine-Neches Ship Canal

    "The Bridge only has a 136 vertical clearance and is a restriction to the Height of which a ship can safely pass under."

    Photo courtesy Capt. David R. Byrnes, Sabine Pilots


    Port Arthur TX Draw Bridge
    Draw Bridge in Port Arthur
    Postcard courtesy Will Beauchamp Collection



    Port Arthur TX - Sub Courthouse
    Port Arthur Sub Courthouse
    TE Photo, May 2003


    Port Arthur TX - Sub Courthouse
    Old postcard of Port Arthur Sub Courthouse


    Port Arthur TX - Sub Courthouse
    Port Arthur Sub Courthouse
    TE Photo, May 2003


    Port Arthur TX - Sub Courthouse  eagle
    Port Arthur Sub Courthouse eagle
    TE Photo, May 2003
    See Eagle Eyes of Texas


    Port Arthur TX - Sub Courthouse  Moses
    Port Arthur Sub Courthouse architectural detail - Moses relief
    TE Photo, May 2003


    Port Arthur TX - Sub Courthouse  boat
    Port Arthur Sub Courthouse architectural detail - boat relief
    TE Photo, May 2003


    Port Arthur TX - Sub Courthouse  statue
    Port Arthur Sub Courthouse statue
    TE Photo, May 2003
    More Texas Statues




    Port Arthur TX - Port Arthur Savings Building Doorway
    Port Arthur Savings Building Doorway
    TE Photo, May 2003


    Port Arthur TX - Port Arthur Savings Building Gargoyles
    Port Arthur Savings Building Gargoyles
    TE Photo, May 2003


    Port Arthur TX - Port Arthur Savings Building Gargoyles
    Port Arthur Savings Building Gargoyles
    TE Photo, May 2003
    More Texas Gargoyles | Texas Banks


    Port Arthur depot, Texas
    The Port Arthur Depot today is in use as a residence.
    TE Photo, May 2003
    More Texas Depots


    Port Arthur TX - Port Arthur Middle School
    Port Arthur Middle School
    TE Photo, May 2003
    More Texas Schoolhouses


    Port Arthur TX - Kress Building
    Port Arthur Kress Building
    TE Photo, May 2003


    Port Arthur TX - Kress Building Sign
    Kress Building Sign
    TE Photo, May 2003
    See Kress Buildings Across America


    Port Arthur TX - Building
    A building in Port Arthur
    TE Photo, May 2003


    Port Arthur TX - Greyhound Station
    Port Arthur Greyhound Station
    TE Photo, May 2003


    Port Arthur TX - Greyhound Station
    Port Arthur Greyhound Station
    TE Photo, May 2003


    Port Arthur TX - Worker Silhouettes
    Worker Silhouettes
    TE Photo, May 2003


    Port Arthur TX - Keyhole Club Old Neon
    Keyhole Club Old Neon
    TE Photo, May 2003
    More Texas Old Neons


    Port Arthur TX - Three Sisters sidewalk sign
    Three Sisters sidewalk sign
    TE Photo, May 2003


    Port Arthur TX -  Richard's sidewalk sign
    Richard's sidewalk sign
    TE Photo, May 2003
    See How to Explore a Small Town


    Port Arthur TX  - Unlawful to possess
    Unlawful to possess ...
    TE Photo, May 2003
    More Texas Signs


    Port Arthur TX - Goodhue Hotel, Dick Dowling Hotel
    Goodhue Hotel, Dick Dowling Hotel
    Old Postcard


    Port Arthur TX - Goodhue Hotel  site
    Former Goodhue Hotel site
    TE Photo, May 2003


    Port Arthur TX - Vaugham Hotel
    Vaugham Hotel
    Old Postcard


    Port Arthur TX - Hotel Sabine
    Vaugham Hotel now Hotel Sabine
    TE Photo, May 2003
    More Rooms with a Past


    Port Arthur TX - Museum Lighthouse Light
    Lighthouse light displayed in museum
    TE Photo, May 2003


    Port Arthur TX - Eagle
    TE Photo, May 2003
    See Eagle Eyes of Texas


    Port Arthur TX - 1929 Eddingston Court
    1929 Eddingston Court
    TE Photo, May 2003


    Port Arthur TX - Ghost Sign
    Downtown Port Arthur
    Port Arthur's Past as seen by Carl Owen


    Port Saloon, Port Arthur, Texas
    Port Arthur, Texas livery stable
    L - A 1902 painting shows that Port Authurians had Business Priorities
    R - A livery stable in early Port Arthur.

    Photos courtesy Museum of the Gulf Coast


    Sparks Settlement Cemetery


    Port Arthur TX - Sparks Settlement Cemetery Historical Marker
    Sparks Settlement Cemetery Historical Marker
    TE Photo, May 2003


    Port Arthur TX - Baby Arthur Stilwell Smith Tombstone
    Baby Arthur Stilwell Smith Tombstone
    TE Photo, May 2003


    Port Arthur TX - Baby Arthur Stilwell Smith Tombstone
    TE Photo, May 2003
    More Texas Cemeteries


    PEOPLE

  • Tulip Transplants To East Texas: The Dutch Migration To Nederland, Texas, 1895-1915 by W.T. Block
    To the East Texas of 1900, whose non-native population can be delineated as the overflow of the Anglo-Saxon Lower South, a Dutch colonization scheme must have appeared somewhat phenomenal. To the promoters...

  • "Babe" Didrikson by Archie P. McDonald
    The outstanding woman athlete of the twentieth century.

  • The Port Arthur/Lapland Connection by Christy Nilluka Broussard
    "Great Grandpa MIK Nilluka did not just herd reindeer; he made two incredible journeys with the reindeer."

  • Looking for Grandfather in Port Arthur

  • Port Arthur TX -
    TE Photo, May 2003



    Port Arthur TX - Janis Joplin portrait
    Janis Joplin
    Perhaps Port Arthur's most famous personality, Janis Joplin now has a memorabilia display in the Museum


    Photo courtesy Museum of the Gulf Coast
    Historical Marker: 4330, 32nd St., Port Arthur

    Janis Lyn Joplin

    (January 19, 1943 - October 4, 1970)
    A native of Port Arthur, famed blues and rock and roll singer Janis Joplin lived here with her family. She graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1960 and attended Port Arthur College and Lamar State College of Technology (Lamar University) in Beaumont.

    A liberal and outspoken free spirit, Janis rebelled against the conservatism of her hometown, and in 1962 she moved to Austin to study art at the University of Texas. She connected to the burgeoning Austin music scene and began singing in clubs around town, most notably at Threadgill's, a bar operated by Texas country singer and yodeler Kenneth Threadgill. With her raw and raspy singing style exhibiting the blues, jazz, country, cajun, gospel and soul music influences of east Texas and Louisiana, she was a popular local performer.

    Searching for wider acceptance, Joplin moved to San Francisco in 1963 and quickly became part of the growing folk music and counter-culture movement of the 1960s. Her performances at the 1967 International Pop and Jazz Festivals in Monterey brought her widespread recognition. Her first album, Cheap Thrills, with the band Big Brother and the Holding Company, was a wild success even as her personal life became marred with alcohol and drug abuse. Later recording with the Kosmic Blues Band and the Full-Tilt Boogie Band, she was an international sensation by the end of the decade. In August 1970, at the height of her fame, Joplin returned to Port Arthur for her ten-year high school reunion. Just two months later, she died of an accidental overdose of heroin and alcohol; her ashes were spread along the coast of northern California. Her final album, Pearl, released after her death, earned a gold record.
    (2007)



    Port Arthur TX - Captain Michael Kendrick

    Captain Michael Kendrick


    TE Photo May 2003



    Port Arthur Chronicles

    The Eagle Befriends the Stork by John Troesser

    Port Arthur's legend of F. B. Wright
    A Hurricane Story

    Port Arthur TX - Post Office Building
    Port Arthur Post Office Building
    TE Photo, May 2003



    TX - Jefferson County 1907 postal map
    Jefferson County 1907 postal map showing The Neches River, Sabine Lake, Port Arthur, Beaumont, Orange and Sabine Pass
    Courtesy Texas General Land Office

    Port Arthur Tourists Information
  • The Port Arthur Chamber of Commerce
    4749 Twin City Hwy, Suite 300
    Port Arthur, TX 77642
    (409) 963-1107
  • The Port Arthur Convention & Visitor's Bureau
    3401 Cultural Center Drive Port Arthur, TX 77642
    1-800-235-7822
    Website - http://www.portarthurtexas.com/



  • Take a road trip

    Texas Gulf Coast

    Port Arthur, Texas Nearby Towns:
    Beaumont the county seat
    Nederland
    Groves
    Port Neches
    Sabine Pass
    Bridge City
    Houston

    See Jefferson County | Orange County

    Book Hotel Here:
    Port Arthur Hotels | More Hotels

    Anyone wishing to share photos of Port Arthur after flooding from hurricanes, please submit here
    Texas Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories, landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact us.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     


    Texas Escapes Online Magazine »   Archive Issues » Home »
    TEXAS TOWNS & COUNTIES TEXAS LANDMARKS & IMAGES TEXAS HISTORY & CULTURE TEXAS OUTDOORS MORE
    Texas Counties
    Texas Towns A-Z
    Texas Ghost Towns

    TEXAS REGIONS:
    Central Texas North
    Central Texas South
    Texas Gulf Coast
    Texas Panhandle
    Texas Hill Country
    East Texas
    South Texas
    West Texas

    Courthouses
    Jails
    Churches
    Schoolhouses
    Bridges
    Theaters
    Depots
    Rooms with a Past
    Monuments
    Statues

    Gas Stations
    Post Offices
    Museums
    Water Towers
    Grain Elevators
    Cotton Gins
    Lodges
    Stores
    Banks

    Vintage Photos
    Historic Trees
    Cemeteries
    Old Neon
    Ghost Signs
    Signs
    Murals
    Gargoyles
    Pitted Dates
    Cornerstones
    Then & Now

    Columns: History/Opinion
    Texas History
    Small Town Sagas
    Black History
    WWII
    Texas Centennial
    Ghosts
    People
    Animals
    Food
    Music
    Art

    Books
    Cotton
    Texas Railroads

    Texas Trips
    Texas Drives
    Texas State Parks
    Texas Rivers
    Texas Lakes
    Texas Forts
    Texas Trails
    Texas Maps
    USA
    MEXICO
    HOTELS

    Site Map
    About Us
    Privacy Statement
    Disclaimer
    Contributors
    Staff
    Contact Us

     
    Website Content Copyright Texas Escapes LLC. All Rights Reserved