Port Arthur, Texas

 

 

Population ~53,000 (67,000 in 1960)

 

Grew out of the southeast Texas oil discovery in 1901.

 

The Sabine Hotel (1929) is vacant, as is most of the entire downtown. From what I have read, it needs an investor soon, or could face demolition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Beaumont, Texas

 

Population ~118,000  (~119,000 in 1960)

metro ~375,000

 

From what I have discovered, Beaumont is possibly the only city in east Texas that does not have any vacant Art Deco towers.

 

 

 

 

Orleans Building (1925)-

 

 

 

Hotel Beaumont (1922)-

 

 

Jefferson Theater(1927)-

 

 

Tyrrell Historical Library (First Baptist Church-1903)

 

 

Julie Rogers Theater (City Hall 1928)-

 

 

Jefferson County Courthouse (1931)-

 

 

 

 

 

San Jacinto Building (with clock tower) (year unknown)-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goodhue Building (1927)-

 

 

Crockett Street. One side is full of contributing buildings, and across is a giant automobile-parking lot. It appears this block is the entertainment district-

 

 

 

 

 

Edison Plaza (and within, a museum dedicated to Thomas Edison even though he never visited Beaumont...) (1982)-

 

 

 

Largest functional fire hydrant in the world…

 

 

Edison Hotel (1928)-

 

 

 

 

(The towers may not be vacant, but plenty of the other structures are)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lot of big, beautiful buildings for a city that size.

Word to UGK.

I can see how Janis Joplin came from that.

galveston, port arthur, beaumont. you pretty much doing a trip i planned several years ago but never pulled off. should we be holding on for upcoming cajun country threads...?

I can see how Janis Joplin came from that.

isn't there a memorial for her there? I understand that when she was growing up all her classmates mocked her for being so different (go figure) but of course now proudly claim her as one of their own.

Port Arthur looks like the Gary, Indiana, of Texas.

 

I did a co-op a little inland from Port Arthur and drove through several times. It's an incredibly depressing area. Hurricane Ike didn't do that area any good either, helping to thin everything out even more than it already was. I honestly hated being there because the entirety of that region of East Texas is like this. The coast was destroyed during the hurricanes, industry dominates what would be otherwise naturally beautiful areas, and abandonment reigns supreme. But it was definitely interesting and I really enjoyed this photo set. Thanks for showing us your photos.

should we be holding on for upcoming cajun country threads...?

 

Maybe another year. For this adventure I stayed in Texas.

Jay Bruce (Cincinnati Reds) is from Beaumont.  I've heard the radio announcers refer to him as the Beaumont Bomber, which is how I remember that.

It's like a ghost town!  I see no human beings in these shots - how is that possible?

It's like a ghost town!  I see no human beings in these shots - how is that possible?

 

Well, the main reason is because there are no human beings in these shots...

 

-East Texas downtown regions make Youngstown look like a thriving boomtown.

 

-I prefer my pictures to be of buildings, not people.

Even if there actually were people out in these cities, I don't do what some people do, and make it a point to go out of their way and include them in the pictures. (Same thing for anywhere I go, not just abandoned cities like this.) If they happen to be walking along the street at the time, then they might be included, but I'm not going to stage my images to have people.

 

 

^Sure, I realize this is architectural photography and not street shots, but out of all those shots I'd have thought you'd catch at least one random person...

From my experiences down there it would actually be more difficult to get shots including people than shots excluding them. Deserted doesn't even begin to describe it.

Gosh, always wondered what these places looked like.  Man, Port Arthur looks like a little Gary.  But Beaumont was pretty impressive for a small city.  Those high rises are indeed pretty tall  (but I recall Amarillo also had suprisngly tall skyscraper or two for a city its size, so maybe a Texas thing?).