Several years ago I was inspired by a friend to explore Texas. Back then I was working and had limited time off. Now, I have all the time in the world and can go anywhere that peaks my interest. And we did. Beaumont/Port Arthur peaked our interest so we went down.
They have a few murals down there but I thought this one was cool at night. Beaumont was an oil town. It's about an hour away from Houston and is the county seat of Jefferson County.
Our first stop was the beautiful catholic church. It's St. Anthony's Basilica built in 1894. Back then there was only one catholic diocese and that was in Galveston. The priests would travel around on horseback and minister to the people. I guess there were enough people here to start a parish. They also have a school across the street. It's a beautiful church.
This is the Jefferson County Courthouse, the third to stand in that spot. It was built in 1931 and at 13 stories, is the tallest courthouse in Texas. Floors 8 - 13 used to be a jail. You can't see it from this photo but all the windows on those floors have bars. Now it's used for storage.
I never knew there was a Port of Beaumont but there is. The railroad would brings stuff here to be shipped by boat. This is a caboose from the Atchison, Topeka, Santa Fe Railroad.
This is the Neches River Railroad Bridge. In order to let marine traffic pass, the bridge is raised up those two columns so that the ships can pass underneath. That is so cool! It was built in 1906. We didn't see the bridge go up but we did see a train pass over.
Beaumont sits right on the Neches River. There's a little river walk so you can get steps or just hang out and relax by the water and watch the ships.
Downtown is the Tyrrell Library. It was built in 1903 as the First Baptist Church. It's a gorgeous building and you can go in for free. The Baptists moved to a new location in 1925. The library houses books about Texas and lots of genealogical data so it's more a research library than a place where you can go check out the latest novel. It's still cool.
Also in downtown Beaumont is the World's Largest Fire Hydrant. You can't pass that up!
The hydrant is in front of the Fire Museum of Texas. This is an interesting museum. It's free and it has a lot of historical fire trucks along with some narrative to tell you how things used to work. It used to be a fire house but now it's the HQ for the fire department. The upstairs are the admin offices and the downstairs is the museum. Definitely worth a visit.
Another interesting building downtown is the Jefferson Theater built in 1927. It was run by Saenger Amusements, which I've come across before, specifically in our last trip to Meridian, MS. This place had live performances and then became a move theater. The building next to it was the Beaumont Hotel. There was a tunnel between the hotel and the theater. Now the theater has classic movie night. I wish they'd had a movie while we were there!
This is the John Jay French House. It's the oldest house in Beaumont built in 1845. John Jay French was a tanner and trader from New York. He built this dog run house for his wife and two sons. Normally, a dog run house would have a corridor or breezeway through the middle to allow animals to wander through but Mrs. French wanted it enclosed and it was. This was a cool museum. The tour guide was very knowledgeable about the family, the house and the implements used during the time. Best $5 admission fee spent!
I mentioned before that Beaumont was an oil town. In 1901, the Lucas Gusher was discovered. It spewed for nine days at 100,000 barrels a day before they could cap it. The discovery led to the "oil age" in America and started a frenzy of oil exploration.
This is the Spindletop Gladys City Boomtown Museum. It's very interesting. Once they discovered oil, a "boomtown" grew up around it. The museum starts with a short film and then you go out into the town.
The buildings are actual businesses that were around in 1901. I'm guessing the buildings were recreated but in each business is a short history about the business itself, the owners and potentially some of the items in the building. Some businesses were combined like the guy who owned the livery where the horses were kept. He was also your undertaker. Once again, I liked all the history and the explanations so that you'd have context on what you were looking at.
On our way to Port Arthur, we stopped in a little town called Nederland. It's a Dutch settlement that developed along the Kansas City Southern Railway. I love that they have the mural!
Their big claim to fame is that Tex Ritter (dad of John Ritter) is from here. They, too, have free museums. The Dutch Windmill museum houses items from Tex Ritter's life as well as relics from Holland. The cabin in the back is Les Maisons de Acadiens, also a free museum. Being this close to Louisiana, there were lots of Cajun settlers here as well.
Onward to Port Arthur, Texas. If you thought Beaumont was a little run down, poor Port Arthur! The downtown area is mostly abandoned buildings that once looked amazing. It was settled in 1897 and named for Arthur Stillwell, the founder of the city. This is the Museum of the Gulf Coast.
I'll be honest. I wasn't expecting much but it was a cool museum. When you walk in, on the left is a big mural that depicts the history of the area starting with the dinosaur age. Then it progresses to this - the discovery of oil. This is the Lucas Gusher at Spindletop.
There was another exhibit. This is a photo taken by photographer, Thomas Mangelson. He takes pics for national magazines like National Geographic. I liked this one. That polar bear must be a teenager!
The most famous person from Port Arthur has to be Janis Joplin. This is a replica of her Porsche Cabriolet. She had a great blues-y voice but a sad story. The museum has a whole section on the second floor about famous people from this area. It's split up by musicians, sports heroes and other. There are a lot of people from this area. One name you might recognize is Jimmy Johnson, coach of the Dallas Cowboys from the glorious 90s.
These old ghost signs are fantastic. You usually see ones for Coca Cola. This one is for Spearmint gum.
One of the major employers in Port Arthur is an oil refinery company called Motiva. Luckily for the city, Motiva has purchased a few run down buildings and they are renovating them for future use by the company. This was the old Federal Courthouse and U.S. Post Office. It was built in 1911 and has been vacant since 2000.
Right next to that old federal building is the Adams Building/World Trade Building. It was built in 1924 during the oil boom days. It, too, was eventually abandoned and left to rot. But Motiva is renovating this building as well.
I wish Motiva could save this one as well. It's the Hotel Sabine. It's the tallest building in Port Arthur and was built in 1929 as Hotel Vaughn. It was a very opulent hotel. I saw a YouTube video where a guy when inside this wreck of a building and you can see some of the beauty that was there. But, having seen that video, I have no idea how anyone could save it. They will probably have to tear it down.
Back in Beaumont, we stopped at the Botanical Gardens. It was pretty small but very peaceful.
It was good for a place to get some steps.
This is the Hildebrandt Bayou. Beautiful. So, Beaumont/Port Arthur isn't a place I'd want to live but, like any other place, it was interesting to go for a visit and check it out. We stayed off the interstate on the way down and on the way back and it was a fantastic drive. We stopped in several small towns on the way, including Athens, Crockett and Palestine, and looked around. That's just as much fun as getting to your destination!
I can't wait to pick out new places to visit in 2026. It was a great year for travel and I'm looking forward to next year.
