History
Spindletop to Port Arthur Oil Pipeline Corridor
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 barrels a day, the Lucas Gusher marked the beginning of a Texas oil boom that would last for decades.
History
Sprott Hospital
In 1944, African American physicians and brothers Dr. Edward D. Sprott, Jr. and Dr. Curtis B. Sprott founded Sprott Hospital in order to provide quality care for Black patients of Beaumont often denied care in other local hospitals due to Jim Crow era laws. Their brother, Dr. Maxie Sprott, joined them in 1955. The doctors, along with other family members, lived nearby.
History
Tex Ritter
(January 12, 1905 - January 2, 1974) Western singing star Woodward Maurice ("Tex") Ritter was born in Panola County, Texas. After attending college, he began singing cowboy ballads on a Houston radio station in 1928. He advanced to broadway, where he was nicknamed "Tex," and in 1936 began a series of popular western movies.
History
Texas' First Rice Mill
Beaumont Rice Mill, founded 1892 by J. E. Broussard, was developed after first commercial planting of rice in Texas in 1863. Earlier crops, due to dependence on rain, were dubbed "Providence Rice." Broussard, pioneer grower and irrigator, was also co-founder of Rice Millers' Association. His efforts caused factories to spring up in nearby counties. Firm is still operated by his descendants.
Civic & Local
The Clubhouse, The Woman's Club of Beaumont
Early meetings of the Woman's Reading Club, now the Woman's Club of Beaumont, were conducted in area homes, churches, and public buildings until 1909, when this two-story frame clubhouse was built. Constructed during the presidencies of Mrs. John B. Goodhue and Mrs. J. L. Cunningham, it was designed by C. C. McDonald. T. W. Thomas served as the contractor.
Civic & Local
The Hughen School
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 of children with disabilities. In 1933, the Port Arthur Society for Crippled Children organized, and in 1936, the society was incorporated.
Transport
The Kansas City Southern Railway in Port Arthur
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 Railroad was completed in September 1897 and became the Kansas City Southern Railroad in 1900.
History
The Lucas Gusher
Erected by the State of Texas to Commemorate The Lucas Gusher. Discovery well of the Spindletop Oil Field and the first important well on the Gulf Coast. It blew in on Jan. 10, 1901, flowing 100,000 barrels of oil a day from a depth of 1020 feet. The oil production which resulted made Beaumont a city and the Sabine District a major oil refining and exporting center of the world.
History
The Mayumi Legacy
The modern Texas rice industry was shaped in part by the Mayumi brothers, who arrived here from Japan in the early twentieth century. Rice had been grown in limited quantities in Jefferson County since the 1840s, but production remained relatively low for decades. Many believed that with improved agricultural practices the crop could become successful in the region.
Civic & Local
The Woman's Club of Beaumont
On January 18, 1895, Mrs. Hal W. Greer hosted a meeting at her home which resulted in the formation of this club. Present were Mrs. Greer's friends Mrs. E. C. Weiss, Mrs. T. A. Lamb, Miss Mary Lamb, and Miss Harriet Ferrand. Through their guidance, the Beaumont Literary Club was organized. On April 24, 1899, as the Woman's Reading Club, it was affiliated with the Texas Federation of Women's Clubs.
Architecture
The Woodworth House
[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 Classical Revival structure. Woodworth, a business and civic leader, and his wife Mary (d. 1946) hosted numerous social gatherings here in the early 20th century.
Industry & Science
Travis Street Substation
When Gulf States Utilities Company built this Travis Street substation building in 1929, a new era of progress began in Beaumont and all of southeast Texas. Additional farms, homes, and industries received access to dependable and economic electric power. In spite of the Great Depression, the company expanded to include 22 more communities.
History
Trinity Lutheran Church
Twelve people heard the Rev. C. G. Kuppler of Louisiana deliver the first German Lutheran sermon in this area in early 1899. The small group applied for a regular pastor; the Lutheran Mission Commission sent Dan Poellot, a theological student, who served about six months. In August 1899 Pastor Kuppler installed Concordia Seminary graduate H. C.
History
Tyrrell Public Library
Built in 1903 as the First Baptist Church, this limestone structure replaced a red brick church on the same site. Architect of the Romanesque Revival style edifice was A. N. Dawson and contractor was G. D. Patterson. In 1923, when the Baptist congregation moved to larger facilities, Capt. William C. Tyrrell purchased the building and donated it to the city for use as a public library.
Military
United States Forces at the Battle of Sabine Pass
United States Forces at the Battle of Sabine Pass Federal forces in the Civil War failed in most of their early efforts to capture Texas. In the fall of 1863, after taking New Orleans and Vicksburg, their leaders attacked Western Louisiana in a renewed effort.
Architecture
Vuylsteke House
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 White in 1898, they settled in Port Arthur. Vuylsteke was an agent for various shipping lines and assistant secretary of the American Land and Oil Company.
History
William G. "Bill" Hall
(1929-1983) Music publisher William G. Hall helped start and promote the careers of dozens of musicians. Hall was raised in Beaumont's Multimax Village and graduated from South Park High School and Lamar State College. He was considering a career in law before turning his attention to the burgeoning Texas music scene. By 1956, he was managing George Jones. Soon after, he and his friend, J.P.
History
William McFaddin
(1819-1898) Served in Texas War for Independence at first Siege of the Alamo and San Jacinto. Supply agent in Civil War. McFaddin, noted for his hospitality and generosity, founded empire in ranching that survives today.
History
World War II Coastal Defenses at Sabine Pass
The natural coastal cut of Sabine Pass has long been an important military strategic point, as evidenced by the battle that took place here during the Civil War. It was no less significant in World War II, when it became one of the primary points of defense along the United States Gulf Coast. In 1941, the U.S.
History
Young Men's Christian Association of Beaumont
The 1901 Spindletop oil boom brought vice, corruption and inadequate housing problems to Beaumont. H. G. Behrman, a young man who was sleeping in a tent in his friend's backyard, met W. M. Lewis, state secretary of the YMCA. Through their efforts, a community meeting was held Nov. 3, 1901, and the Beaumont YMCA was organized. A board was elected, George W.
History
Young Woman's Christian Association of Beaumont
Established in 1911 with ten members, the Beaumont Young Women's Christian Association was officially chartered three years alter. Meetings were held in the town Temperance Hall until a separate building was constructed for the members at this location in 1918. That same year Frances Morris, a local teacher, formed a club for the black girls of the city.
Elsewhere in Texas
Hear it from the road
Whistlestop tells you this story automatically when you drive past. No searching, no tapping, nothing to ask.
