East Texas City

Port Arthur, Texas

Home Of Lamar State College

Visit The Sabine Pass Battleground

This town began as an inland port for shipping Midwestern grain, but with the Spindletop oil discovery in 1901, it became a leading center for refining and shipping oil. Experience the area’s industrial history and stories of Paleo-Indians and Spanish explorers at the Museum of the Gulf Coast. The museum’s Music Hall pays tribute to local musical greats, such as J.P. Richardson Jr. (the Big Bopper) and Janis Joplin, and houses a replica of Joplin’s psychedelic-painted Porsche. Thirteen miles south of town is the Texas Historical Commission’s (THC) Sabine Pass Battleground State Historic Site. A statue honors Lt. Dick Dowling, who led a small Confederate force in preventing a Union fleet of gunboats from invading this Texas port during the Civil War.

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Texas Forest Trail Partners

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150 Years Of Texas History In The Starr Family Home In Marshall

Nestled in the heart of Marshall’s museums and cultural activities, Starr Family Home State Historic Site is composed of several elegant structures. Period furnishings, clothing, and antiques trace the transition of the buildings through four generations of the Starr family in Texas history. Click here to read more.