Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

FROM AN ALLIGATOR-INFESTED AND FEVER-RIDden swamp, in less than a half-century, to a modern, pulsing, landscaped city of nearly 50,000 inhabitants—more than 60,000 in its metropolitan area—seventh among United States seaports and third among those of Texas; this is the story of Port Arthur, product of one of the most amazing promotional schemes ever pushed […]

1543—July 25. Survivors of the Hernando de Soto expedition are driven ashore near Lake Sabine by a storm. 1745—Spaniards learn that Frenchmen are trading in the section. 1756—Spanish establish the Presidio San Agustin de Ahumada and the Mission Nuestra Senora de la Luz del Orcoquisac near the mouth of the Trinity River, and tradition says […]

13. THE PORT ARTHUR-ORANGE BRIDGE (free; parking forbidden)-, 5 m. E. of the Port Arthur city limits on State 87, spans the Neches River, and in 1940 was the tallest highway bridge in the South. The structure permits the passage of large ocean-going vessels, with a vertical clearance for shipping of 176 feet. The tiptop […]

1. ST. MARY’S HOSPITAL, GATES MEMORIAL (open 10-11 a.m., 2-4 and 6-8 p.m. daily), 1931 Ninth Ave. has a $600,000 plant, operated by the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word. The institution is the outgrowth of a gift made to the city by John W. Gates on New Year’s Day, 1909, in memory of […]

PORT ARTHUR HAS KNOWN EVENTFUL YEARS during its very recent history. Important civic events and developments, tending to foreshadow the future of this city built upon the dreams of Stilwell and the spectacular ventures of Gates, were many in the decade of the 1930’s. Not the least of these was the increase in the area […]

BUILDING BOOMS, LONG A FAMILIAR EXPERIENCE in Port Arthur, took a spurt after the port was opened to all railroad lines. Plans were made for the construction of a new Mary Gates Hospital; the Lutherans secured a permit for a $96,000 church building; Forrest Goodhue, Beaumont capitalist, announced he would build a ten-story hotel costing […]

PORT ARTHUR, MORE. THAN MANY OTHER CITIES of this country, felt the profits and dangers, the alarms and more prosaic but equally as spectacular business activities, of the World War. The flags that flew in its harbor, the gigantic cargoes of oil, lumber and other commodities for warring nations, brought the conflict of Europe very […]

Area: 11 sq. m. Altitude: 4 ft. Population: U. S. 1940 Census of city proper, preliminary report, 45,500; conservative estimate of metropolitan area, 62,000. Railroad Stations: Kansas City Southern, Houston Ave. at foot of Procter St.; Southern Pacific, 449 7th St. Airports: Parker Air Service, 5.5 m. north of city on US 96-69; charter service, […]