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PORT NECHES,
TEXAS
Jefferson County,
Texas Gulf Coast
Highway 347, FMs 365 and 366
7 miles NW of Port Arthur
10 miles SE of Beaumont
33 miles SW of Orange
95 miles E of Houston
Population 13,601 (2000) 14,500 (1990)
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History
in a Seashell
For the first 60 years of it's life Port Neches was known as Grigsby's
Bluff. Settlers found that the area had previously been an Indian
village and started retrieving relics from the time they arrived.
In the 1830s a man named McKinney surveyed his land on which he was
planning a town he wanted to name Georgia. McKinney sold the property,
however and it was bought by Joseph Grigsby who had no intentions
of naming the place Georgia. Grigsby modestly named the place Grigsby's
Bluff and established a plantation and boat landing.
In 1862 The Confederate Army erected Fort Grigsby to block
a Union invasion of the area. Federal forces were repulsed in October
1862, and Fort Grigsby was abandoned in January 1863.
A post office was opened shortly before the war, closed for the war,
reopened and closed again (for good) in 1893 when the population of
Grigsby's Bluff was less than 100 persons.
On its way to Port Arthur, the Kansas City railroad put a stop at
Grigsby's Bluff and called it Port Neches. Even though there
was no post office to officially undergo a name change, Port Neches
sounded like growth to the citizens and the Grigsby name was soon
dropped.
The newly-formed Texas Oil Company from nearby Spindletop
opened a refinery at Port Neches in 1906.
In 1915 rice production and oranges groves were major crops, but interest
in citrus waned after hurricanes and frosts. With the demand for refinery
and oil well workers, Port Neches grew rapidly during World War II. |
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