Sabine Pass, Texas, Jefferson County. (original) (raw)

An outbound shrimpboat passes an incoming tanker on the Sabine River estuary which connects Sabine Lake with the Gulf of Mexico.
TE Photo March 2007

Getting ThereTo get to Sabine Pass, you would head south from Beaumont on Highways 89/96/ 287. After passing numerous prisons and the site of Spindletop on your right, you'll pass the Nederland exits and come to the intersection with highway 87. Take a right and drive until it intersects with highway 82. To the south you'll see the easy-to-spot MLK Bridge. Turn right here on highway 82 and this will take you into Sabine Pass. Turning left would take you to downtown Port Arthur. Long before you come to Sabine Pass, you'll start noticing torn and twisted debris with an occasional stranded boat on the horizon. As you enter Sabine Pass, you can see that a lot of debris has been removed - based on the numerous bare foundations and empty posts that once held signs.

Bert Karrer-Lions Park

At the main intersection, a small park is to your left (look for the old lighthouse lanternand watchroom) and the cemetery is about a quarter of a mile to the right - on the south side of the road.

The Sabine Bank Lighthouse lantern in Bert Karrer-Lions Park. The still-functioning lens is on display in a Port Arthur Museum.
TE photo, March 2007

Sabine Bank Lighthouse Marker
TE photo, 2007

On the way to the cemetery (also on the south side of the road) you will see the granite marker erected by the Texas Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy to commemorate Dick Dowling's lopsided defeat of the invading Union gunships in 1863.

**The Sabine Pass Cemetery**The Sabine Pass Cemetery is just to the west of the town's main intersection while the battleground is several miles south.

The cemetery, which is still in use, has a deep and wide vacant spot in the middle. Although there are no tombstones, Mr. Block informed us that an estimated 100-150 people are buried in several mass graves here - hastily dug during a Yellow Fever epidemic.

The area abounds in wildlife and during our visit Ken Rudine, who is an avid birder, identified a large flock of white and black Egyptian Ibis that were wading in large puddles looking for food.

According to the historical marker, the cemetery contains the remains of both Confederate and (at least two) Union soldiers as well as veterans of the War of 1812, the War for Texas Independence and the reason for our visit, the final resting place of Kate Dorman, the "heroine of Sabine Pass."

Among the Yellow Fever victims and fallen soldiers, there also the remains of a young man who died in 1901 as a result of of shooting into a pit of unexploded ordnance left in an abandoned gun emplacement. His remains were covered and a cenotaph placed in Port Arthur's Evergreen Cemetery.

While the cemetery isn't fenced in black iron or rich with funereal statuary, it's a memorable cemetery to visit for its typical coastal flora and fauna - and for its somber timelessness.

Sabine Pass Cemetery - more images

**Sabine Pass Battleground State Historic Site **To get to the battleground park, return to the intersection and go right on 3322. This road follows the Sabine River estuary and is plied by ships entering Port Arthur, the gas terminals and refineries or the Neches River which passes alongside downtown Beaumont. Damage from Rita is evident in many forms - including the barnacles on this shrimpboat (above).

The battleground boat ramp and parking lot is open although most of the visitor's area (including Dick Dowling's statue) is currently surrounded by ugly flexible orange construction fencing. The status of the once-numerous historical markers is not known. The thing least affected by the storm is the grouping of WWII era ammunition bunkers.

The road south from the Battlefield is a potholed unpaved road that eventually reaches the site of Sabine City, a ghost town that once had a railroad connection. The decommissioned Sabine Pass Lighthouse (on the Louisiana side) is visible access the marshes and the faded paint and weathered cement give it a watercolor effect. A painting of the lighthouse in better days is hanging in the Museum of the Gulf Coast in Port Arthur.

See Sabine Pass Battleground State Historic Site ›

Another view of the Sabine River Estuary at Battlefield Park
TE photo, July 2003

Rita was Here. Barnacles had time to form on this once partially submerged shrimpboat.
(On the way to Sabine Pass Battlefield)
TE photo, March 2007

The old lighthouse on the Louisiana side of the channel is visible from just south of the SPBSHS.
TE Photo March 2007

If you're planning a visit to Sabine Pass, you might consider waiting awhile. Highway 87 between Sabine Pass and High Island has been shown on TxDoT maps as "temporarily" closed since 1989. Mr. Block corrected our guess that the damaging storm was Carla. Specifiaclly it was damaged in August of 1989 by a "very small" storm named Chantille, repaved shortly after and then damaged heavily by Hurricane Jerry in October of that same year.

Our visit had the best guide imaginable and a bird expert to boot. Even in the current state, it's a drive worth taking for a picnic or ship or lighthouse-spotting.

See what you can and try to squeeze in a visit to the first-class museum in downtown Port Arthur.

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Editor's Note:
On a beautiful Spring day after a heavy downpour, TE photographic contributor Ken Rudine and TE editor decided to visit author, historian and columnist W.T. "Cannonball" Block at his home in Nederland. Mr. Block was kind enough to guide us to the Sabine Pass Cemetery (which we had missed during our Pre-Hurricane Rita visit in 2003) so that we might get a photo of the marker erected to Kate Dorman. Mr. Block had been instrumental in having the official marker installed - as well as manually punching out aluminum plaques for many of the unmarked graves in the cemetery. The cemetery, which had been unkept for years, had a new THC marker erected recently and now receives a yearly cleaning by county workers and volunteers.

Sabine Pass, The Town

One of the Eight Corners of Texas

Population: 1,500 in 1984 � now included in the Port Arthur census.

History in a Pecan Shell

The town dates from 1836. The town�s future as a major port once seemed very promising.

The post office was granted in 1846 and the town was incorporated just before the Civil War. Fort Sabine and Fort Griffin were constructed nearby to prevent Union incursions into East Texas.

Yellow fever in 1862 caused an exodus of locals, but prevented the Union Army from occupying the town. The battle of Sabine Pass in 1863 was one of the most lopsided victories of the entire war. It made a hero of Houston saloonkeeper Richard Dowling and his victory left him with a bronze statue at the battleground and a marble statue (and a street named after him) in Houston.

Dowling�s niece, who was held in high regard by Texas society � was buried in the State Cemetery in Austin, although her father rests in Houston's St. Vincent's Cemetery.

The 1880 population was 460 people - making Sabine Pass Jefferson County�s second city.

The Sabine and East Texas Railroad that appeared in 1881 replaced a prewar line that had been abandoned.

The towns limitless future was dimmed when a hurricane in 1886 destroyed the town and killed 86 residents. Storms struck again in 1900 and 1915.

In the late 1800s, The Kountze brothers, who owned vast acreage in Jefferson County, refused to negotiate with developer Arthur Stilwell. Stilwell decided to pour his money and energy into Port Arthur instead. As Beaumont, Orange and Port Arthur grew - Sabine Pass traded its promising potential for guaranteed tranquility.

The 1900 population was a mere 363 people.

Port Arthur eventually annexed the town in 1978, although the town maintains an entirely separate identity.

Historical Marker - Sabine Pass Lions Park, Sabine Pass

City of Sabine and Sabine Pass

The first known settlers in this area were John McGaffey and Thomas Courts, who arrived in 1832. Sam Houston assisted Manuel de los Santos Coy in acquiring a land grant here in 1833. Two years later Houston and two partners purchased Coy's property holdings. On January 19, 1839, Gen. Sam Houston signed the charter that established the city of Sabine. Houston was active in promoting the sale of 2,060 town lots. The city soon flourished. Houston and his partners lost title to the town when the General Land Office determined that John McGaffey held original claim to the lands.

The city of Sabine developed into a major port. In 1860 the State Legislature, in approving a new charter for the city, changed the name to Sabine Pass. It was the scene of a major Civil War engagement in 1863, with Confederate forces preventing a Union attempt to capture the port and gain major inroads into Texas. The Federal Harbor Act of 1882 led to construction of jetties here and development of inland ports along the Neches and Sabine rivers. By the early 20th century Sabine Pass began to decline due to hurricane damage which prevented railway maintenance.

An ante-bellum house, said to be the Pass' oldest home, undergoes repair. It has weathered worse storms than Rita.
TE Photo 3-2007

	Sam Houston makes up part of a larger sculpture in the city park. TE Photo, 7-2003

Port Arthur Tourists Information

The Port Arthur Chamber of Commerce
4749 Twin City Hwy, Suite 300
Port Arthur, TX 77642
(409) 963-1107

The Port Arthur Convention & Visitor's Bureau
3401 Cultural Center Drive Port Arthur, TX 77642
1-800-235-7822
Website - http://www.portarthurtexas.com/

Jefferson County 1907 postal map showing Sabine Pass
Courtesy Texas General Land Office

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