Port Arthur

I had scheduled to make a short visit to Port Arthur before visiting the state parks north of Beaumont. I never got that far, because the city gives so many photo opportunities. On Monday, I had a hard time explaining to my colleagues what is so interesting about Port Arthur. Yoiu can judge yourself.

On January 10, 1901, a well at Spindletop struck oil. The new oil field soon produced more than 100,000 barrels (16,000 m3) of oil per day. Since there wasn’t a refinery in Beaumont, the oil was shipped to Pennsylvania from Port Arthur. Starting. Today, there are many oil related plants in Port Arthur.

The population dropped since the 80s of the past century. Add a few hurricanes (Rita & Katrina 2004, Ike 2008) into the mix and you end up with many abandoned houses and retail space. The surprising part is that they never bounced back to business as usuall. To business owners just left. This is a big negative for the population, but creates some great photos.

Jet Taxi is one of the companies that did not return to business after the Katrina.,


I luckily always have half a dozen water bottles in my car, because the Port Arthur Water Plant didn’t predict too much.


This is a typical image for Port Arthur: close to the plants and a few abandoned houses. I have to point out that there are also very nice neighborhoods in Port Arthur. Click on the image for the large size photo.


With the temperatures finally dropping from a 110F heat index, the early evening is the right time to shoot hoops.