Port Arthur is a city in Jefferson County within the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area of the U.S. state of Texas. A small, uninhabited portion extends into Orange County; it is 90 mi (140 km) east of Houston. The largest oil refinery in the United States, the Motiva Refinery, is located in Port Arthur. Port Arthur is vulnerable to hurricanes and extensive damage to the city has been caused several times. Port Arthur’s Museum of the Gulf Coast is recognized as the area’s definitive collection of items and displays for figures from Port Arthur and the surrounding communities.
The population of Port Arthur was 53,818 at the 2010 census, down from 57,755 at the 2000 census. By 2020, its population rebounded to 56,039. Early attempts at settlements in the area had all failed. However, in 1895, Arthur Stilwell founded Port Arthur, and the town quickly grew. Port Arthur was incorporated as a city in 1898 and soon developed into a seaport. It eventually became the center of a large oil refinery network. The Rainbow Bridge across the Neches River connects Port Arthur to Bridge City.
Home to a large portion of United States oil refining capacity, Port Arthur has seen renewed investment in several key installations. Motiva Enterprises began undertaking a major addition to its western Port Arthur refinery, expanding capacity to 600,000 barrels per day (95,000 m³/d). This $10.0 billion project is the largest U..S refinery expansion to occur in 30 years. Premcor Refining (now Valero) completed a $775 million expansion of its petrochemical plant, and BASF/Fina commenced operations of a new $1.75 billion gasification and cogeneration unit on premises of its current installation, which had just completed its own $1 billion upgrade. These operations are supported by the Port of Port Arthur, one of Texas’ leading seaports. Port Arthur still suffers, though, from one of the highest unemployment rates in the state.
The commercial center of Port Arthur was at its peak in the early 1900s. Together with the effects of suburbanization, which drew off wealthier residents to new housing away from town, gradually taking businesses with them, from 1960 until 1974, successive waves of economic recession caused much distress in the town. The central business district has many boarded up and vacant locations. Hurricane Rita struck a direct hit on the Proctor Street Seawall, and damaged many downtown businesses and homes. As economic activity picked up in the region, calls for downtown revitalization have been advanced. The true center of commercial activity has gravitated from downtown to other areas. The main shopping center is Central Mall, opened outside the downtown in 1982.
The Hotel Sabine opened at 600 Proctor Street in 1929 and operated as the Vaughn Hotel until the mid-1930s. At 118 feet, 10 stories, and the tallest building in Port Arthur, the building is of Beaux-Arts architecture style, built with steel-reinforced concrete and brick on 640 steel-laced wooden cypress pilings driven 60 ft into the ground. It was designed to withstand the most severe coastal storms. The hotel closed down in the mid-1980s. The Port Arthur News reported August 28, 2010, that “DWA (Digital Workforce Academy) Buys Sabine Hotel”. By November 2011, the hotel was reported to be slated for demolition. The cost of renovations were estimated at $10– 12,000,000 dollars and demolition estimates as $500,000 to 1.2 million.
