Editing Port Arthur, Texas (section)

==History==
Aurora was an early settlement attempt near the mouth of Taylor Bayou on [[Sabine Lake]], about {{convert|14|mi}} long and {{convert|7|mi|0}} wide. It is a saltwater estuary formed by the confluence of the [[Neches River|Neches]] and [[Sabine River (Texas–Louisiana)|Sabine]] Rivers. Through its tidal outlet, {{convert|5|mi|km|adj=mid|-long|0}} [[Sabine Pass]], Sabine Lake drains some {{convert|50000|sqmi|km2|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} of Texas and Louisiana into the [[Gulf of Mexico]].

The town was conceived in 1837, and in 1840 promoters led by Almanzon Huston were offering town lots for sale. Some were sold, but Huston's project failed to attract many settlers. The area next was known as "Sparks", after John Sparks, who moved his family to the shores of Sabine Lake near the site of Aurora. The Eastern Texas Railroad, completed between Sabine Pass and [[Beaumont, Texas]], passed {{convert|4|mi|0}} west of Sparks. However, the [[American Civil War]] soon began, and rail lines were removed. In 1886, a destructive hurricane hit the coast, causing the remaining residents to dismantle their homes and move to Beaumont. By 1895, Aurora had become a [[ghost town]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Wooster |first=Robert |title=Aurora, TX (Jefferson County)," Handbook of Texas Online |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hva32 |access-date=February 21, 2011}}</ref>

Arthur Stilwell led the resettling of the area as part of his planned city as the southern terminus of his [[Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad]], predecessor to the [[Kansas City Southern Railway]].<ref name=McManus>{{cite web|url= https://meridianspeedway.weebly.com/kcpg-centennial-history.html  |title= The Completion of the KCP&G – A Centennial History|publisher= Lowell G. McManus, The Meridian Speedway|access-date=August 19, 2020}}</ref> Stilwell named the city Port Arthur after himself,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Arthur-E-Stilwell|title=Arthur e. Stilwell &#124; American leader &#124; Britannica|newspaper=Encyclopedia Britannica }}</ref> not the British Royal Navy Lieutenant who gave his name to [[Port Arthur, China]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=LAH19040725.2.42&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1 
|title=The Name Port Arthur, History and Origin of How It Was Applied|publisher=Los Angeles Herald, Volume XXXI, Number 300, 25 July 1904 (accessed at UCR Center for Bibliographical Studies and Research)|access-date=December 11, 2020}}</ref>

Pleasure Island now separates the city from the [[Gulf Intracoastal Waterway]]. The {{convert|18.5|mi|adj=on}} man-made island was created between 1899 and 1908 by the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers|Corps of Engineers]] to support development of the port.

Arthur Stilwell founded the Port Arthur Channel and Dock Company to manage the port facilities. The port officially opened with the arrival of the British steamer ''Saint Oswald'' in 1899.

When oil was discovered at [[Spindletop]], the J.M. Guffey Petroleum Company, later [[Gulf Oil]], had run pipelines to Port Arthur as a shipping point and a location for an [[oil refinery]].  In November 1901, the first tanker, the ''Cardium'', departed with Spindletop oil.  The refinery was enlarged in 1902, and a pipeline connected to the [[Glenn Pool Oil Reserve]] in Oklahoma.  The Texas Company, later [[Texaco]], also started building a refinery in 1902.  By 1916, the Port Arthur refinery was one of the three largest in the United States.<ref name=jl>{{cite book |last1=Linsley |first1=Judith |last2=Rienstrad |first2=Ellen |last3=Stiles |first3=Jo |title=Giant Under the Hill, A History of the Spindletop Oil Discovery at Beaumont, Texas in 1901 |date=2002 |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |location=Austin |isbn=9780876112366 |pages=186–187, 199, 209–210}}</ref><ref name="Hunt">Hunt, Herschiel. ''The History of Port Arthur''. Southern Publishing Concern, 1926.</ref>

In 1977, a slate of four black candidates (McElroy, Benjamin, Linden, and Strawder) challenged four white city council members, including Mayor Bernis Sadler. The "torrid" election (as the Port Arthur News described it)<ref>{{Cite news |last=Brittain |first=Martha |date=April 3, 1977 |title=Sadler Sweeps to Victory |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=16102947270&utm_content=141791886877&utm_term=news%20paper%20archive&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA19e8BhCVARIsALpFMgFlfdRzzX6ZmlgfrpPJYcp_Sz6UDrUm1p3NV_54TVdAoVDEJZi1VTYaAstBEALw_wcB|access-date=January 26, 2025 |work=Port Arthur News |pages=1}}</ref> led to the 1982 Supreme Court voting rights decision in [https://www.oyez.org/cases/1982/81-708 City of Port Arthur v. United States].

In 2015, the city council proposed an ordinance to declare Port Arthur a "film friendly city".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Holley|first=Joe|date=2015-05-02|title=One idle downtown's brilliant idea for revival|url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/columnists/native-texan/article/One-idle-downtown-s-brilliant-idea-for-revival-6237367.php|access-date=2021-12-26|website=Houston Chronicle|language=en-US}}</ref> In October 2021, [[Greg Abbott|Governor Abbott]] announced that the city had officially been declared a "film friendly city" by the Texas Film Commission.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Meaux|first=Mary|date=2021-10-09|title=What does the new 'Film Friendly City' designation for Port Arthur mean?|url=https://www.panews.com/2021/10/09/what-does-the-new-film-friendly-city-designation-for-port-arthur-mean/|access-date=2021-12-26|website=Port Arthur News|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Kersey|first=Rachel|date=2021-10-19|title=Do you think of movie producers when you think of Port Arthur?|url=https://www.beaumontenterprise.com/entertainment/article/Calling-all-filmmakers-Port-Arthur-is-ready-16559206.php|access-date=2021-12-26|website=Beaumont Enterprise|language=en-US}}</ref>