Port Arthur, Texas

Port Arthur is a city in the state of Texas, United States of America, located 90 mi (140 km) east of metro Houston. Part of the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, the city lies primarily in Jefferson County, with a small extension in Orange County. The largest oil refinery in the US, the Motiva Refinery, is located in Port Arthur.

The population was 53,818 at the 2010 census, down from 57,755 at the 2000 census. In 2020, its population was 56,039. In the 19th century, initial attempts to settle the area had all failed, mostly. However, in 1895, Arthur Stilwell founded Port Arthur, and the town quickly grew, being incorporated as a city in 1898. It soon developed into a seaport and, eventually, became the center of a large oil-refinery network. The Rainbow Bridge across the Neches River connects Port Arthur to Bridge City.

Due to its location on the Gulf of Mexico, Port Arthur is vulnerable to hurricanes and other intense tropical weather, as well as extreme heatwaves, high humidity, and tornadoes. Since its inception, the city has experienced several incidences of extreme weather resulting in significant damages and casualties.

Aurora was an early settlement attempt near the mouth of Taylor Bayou on Sabine Lake, about 14 miles (23 km) long and 7 miles (11 km) wide. It is a saltwater estuary formed by the confluence of the Neches and Sabine Rivers. Through its tidal outlet, 5-mile-long (8 km) Sabine Pass, Sabine Lake drains some 50,000 sq mi (100,000 km²) of Texas and Louisiana into the Gulf of Mexico. The town was conceived in 1837, and in 1840 promoters led by Almanzon Huston were offering town lots for sale. Some were sold, but Huston's project failed to attract many settlers. The area next was known as "Sparks", after John Sparks, who moved his family to the shores of Sabine Lake near the site of Aurora. The Eastern Texas Railroad, completed between Sabine Pass and Beaumont, Texas, passed 4 miles (6 km) west of Sparks. However, the American Civil War soon began, and rail lines were removed. In 1886, a destructive hurricane hit the coast, causing the remaining residents to dismantle their homes and move to Beaumont. By 1895, Aurora had become a ghost town.

Arthur Stilwell led the resettling of the area as part of his planned city as the southern terminus of his Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad, predecessor to the Kansas City Southern Railway. Stilwell named the city Port Arthur after himself, not the British Royal Navy Lieutenant who gave his name to Port Arthur, China.

Pleasure Island now separates the city from the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. The 18.5-mile (29.8 km) man-made island was created between 1899 and 1908 by the Corps of Engineers to support development of the port.

Arthur Stilwell founded the Port Arthur Channel and Dock Company to manage the port facilities. The port officially opened with the arrival of the British steamer Saint Oswald in 1899.

When oil was discovered at Spindletop, the J.M. Guffey Petroleum Company, later Gulf Oil, had run pipelines to Port Arthur as a shipping point and a location for an oil refinery. In November 1901, the first tanker, the Cardium, departed with Spindletop oil. The refinery was enlarged in 1902, and a pipeline connected to the Glenn Pool Oil Reserve in Oklahoma. The Texas Company, later Texaco, also started building a refinery in 1902. By 1916, the Port Arthur refinery was one of the three largest in the United States.