Jefferson County, Texas
Port Arthur is home to 37 official Texas Historical Commission markers — each one telling a piece of the city’s story. Browse the markers below, then find them on the map and discover more nearby with RoadHistorical.
This marks route of Texas' first oil pipelines to tidewater, constructed 1901 to transport oil from famed Spindletop gusher (7 mi. north), which came in on Jan. 10, and flowed at rate of 75,000 barrels a day. A group…
View on map ↗Laid out in 1835 on land grant from government of Mexico to Horatio M. Hanks. At least 160 blocks were planned. After the Texas Revolution, Hanks' partner and agent Alamazon Huston sold first 15 lots on Nov. 27, 1837.…
View on map ↗Part of the huge transportation complex that moves petroleum to world markets. Traffic in oil tankers and barges in Texas mushroomed two months after the state's first oil gusher, "Spindletop," roared in. On March 11,…
View on map ↗(Pompeiian Villa) Built in 1900 as the winter home of Isaac L. Ellwood (1833-1910), principal developer of barbed wire. Architects G. C. Nimmons and W. K. Fellows, of Chicago, designed the house in a classic revival…
View on map ↗The last remaining landmark of the "dream city" planned by the founder of Port Arthur, railroad magnate Arthur E. Stilwell (1859-1928). The house was built in 1900 as the winter resort home of Isaac L. Ellwood…
View on map ↗[RTHL medallion and plate on house] (Rose Hill) J.H. Baxter of the Griffing Lumber Company built this residence in 1906 for R.H. Woodworth (d. 1923). Wide verandas extend beyond the impressive columned portico of the…
View on map ↗(June 26, 1911 - September 27, 1956) One of seven children, Mildred Ella "Babe" Didrikson was the daughter of Norwegian immigrants Hannah Marie (d. 1945) and Ole Didrikson (d. 1943). For the first several years of her…
View on map ↗The Federated Women's Clubs of Port Arthur is a league of sixteen individual clubs which represent a variety of interests and public service projects. Together, through the organization, they combine their efforts for…
View on map ↗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…
View on map ↗John W. Gates (1855-1911), a noted financier and philanthropist, set aside land at this site for a public library. In 1917, through the efforts of his widow Dellora (1855-1918), this classical revival library was…
View on map ↗In 1923, twenty-five years after their founding, the Port Arthur Federated Women's Clubs began planning for construction of their own clubhouse. Mrs. C. L. Wignall chaired the planning committee, and her husband, local…
View on map ↗(White Haven) Built in 1915 for Dr. Harvey D. Morris, this has also been the home of the C. E. Booz and Carl White families. The home underwent major renovations about 1923, including the additions of the wraparound…
View on map ↗The growth of the petrochemical industry in the southern part of Jefferson County in the early 1930s resulted in the need for extended county government services. State legislation was required in order to enable the…
View on map ↗John and Melinda Sparks and their family came to southeast Texas from Tennessee in 1838. They settled on the Jeremiah Mixon headright on Lake Sabine and later set aside land for a family burial ground. The land was…
View on map ↗The rapid growth of the petrochemical industry in Jefferson and Orange counties in the early 20th century led to increased population in this area. In order to serve escalating transportation needs, plans began in the…
View on map ↗The Port Arthur Townsite Company, planning the layout of Port Arthur in 1898, set aside Lakeshore Park along the Sabine Lake shoreline. In 1920 a portion of the park was named Lions Park in honor of the Lions Club…
View on map ↗Frederick Shepherd, who helped the Rev. Napoleon Harris establish an African Methodist Episcopal (A. M. E.) mission in nearby Sabine in 1902, founded this church at his Port Arthur home in 1903 with the Rev. Harris…
View on map ↗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…
View on map ↗Born in Rotterdam, Holland, Adrianus Jacobus Maria Vuylsteke (1873-1912) immigrated to the U. S. in 1893. In 1894-96 he moved to Texas and helped plat the town of Port Arthur. Following his marriage to Nettie Minerva…
View on map ↗This congregation was first organized in early 1906 by the Rev. Mr. Stevenson, Nancy Copeland (Coplan), Laura Herbert and Sharlit Bill (Beal). As the local African American population grew, eleven more people joined the…
View on map ↗The Beaumont-Port Arthur area was booming at the turn of the 20th century after the January 10, 1901, discovery of oil at Spindletop. The Texas Fuel Company was formed on March 28, 1901, by J. S. Cullinan, a…
View on map ↗Francis John (Frank) Trost (June 24, 1868 - August 4, 1944) Frank Trost, the photographer of record on the day the Lucas Gusher erupted in the Spindletop Oil Field, came to Port Arthur in 1895 from Kansas City,…
View on map ↗Illinois native John Warne Gates (1855-1911) arrived in Port Arthur in 1899 at the urging of his business partner and town promoter, Arthur Stilwell. Gates' time here as a financier, entrepreneur and philanthropist left…
View on map ↗Port Arthur-Beaumont Interurban Railway Electric railways known as Interurbans existed in Texas from 1901 until the 1940s to provide frequent opportunities for the public to travel between urban centers. Interurban…
View on map ↗The eruption of the Lucas Gusher at the Spindletop Oil Field in January 1901 established Texas as a major oil source and signaled the beginning of a significant economic boom to the state. The new town of Port Arthur…
View on map ↗On January 10, 1901, the landscape of Texas changed forever. On that day, the Lucas Gusher came through at the Spindletop oilfield, discovered on a salt dome formation near Beaumont. Flowing at an estimated 100,000…
View on map ↗Noted musician Harry Henry Choates, whose career was shortened by an early death, was born in Louisiana in 1922. During the 1930s, he moved with his mother to Port Arthur, where as a child he began to develop and shape…
View on map ↗(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…
View on map ↗Situated between Port Arthur and Lake Sabine and drainages of the Sabine and Neches Rivers, the Sabine-Neches Canal is a vital route for commerce from the Gulf of Mexico to port facilities in Beaumont, Port Arthur,…
View on map ↗Originally named Jefferson County Airport, this facility has served area residents since the World War II era. Jefferson County Commissioners purchased land to build the airport in 1941, and its development, which…
View on map ↗John W. Gates founded Port Arthur College in 1909 as a nonprofit, non-sectarian, vocational school focusing on stenography, accounting and communications. Gates, one of the founders of the Texas Company (Texaco),…
View on map ↗This building was constructed in 1915 as the new home of Port Arthur's First United Methodist Church, which had organized in 1897. The building was designed by C.W. Ward, and church member Warren McDaniel served as the…
View on map ↗The city of Port Arthur was platted in 1895 as the terminus of a railroad envisioned by Arthur E. Stilwell as the shortest route from Kansas City, Missouri to the Gulf of Mexico. The Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf…
View on map ↗Since 1937, the Hughen School and other related facilities have provided assistance to individuals with disabilities. The school grew out of a vision by the Rotary Club of Port Arthur to start a movement in the interest…
View on map ↗ROCK ISLAND BAPTIST CHURCH IN 1910, A SMALL GROUP OF CHRISTIANS (KNOWN AS THE SIXTH STREET BAPTIST CHURCH) BEGAN WORSHIPING IN PORT ARTHUR. THE FOLLOWING YEAR, IN 1911, THE ROCK ISLAND BAPTIST CHURCH ORGANIZED WHEN…
View on map ↗In 1944, a group of citizens discussed establishment of a retirement home in Port Arthur. Federated Mission Society members from several churches served on the board of directors. Incorporated as the Community…
View on map ↗In 1915, Reverend S.D. Hackett introduced Methodism to the historic westside of Port Arthur, creating Hackett Chapel, a black Methodist church, with seventeen faithful members. The “prayer band” began meeting at the Ila…
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