National Register Listing

Marconi Tower at Port Arthur College

1500 Procter, Port Arthur, TX

The Marconi wireless telegraph tower at Lamar State College-Port Arthur was built in 1909 as the key educational component of the new vocational school, then known as "Port Arthur College." The Marconi Wireless Telegraphy Company, headed by radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi, donated the 50-foot tall antenna that was mounted on top of the steel tower, as well as the instruments needed to teach the wireless telegraphy to students at the school. Port Arthur College students greatly benefited from the tower's placement, gaining hands-on experience by sending and receiving messages to and from vessels on the high seas via the tower. Later used as a radio broadcast tower, the structure served both the college and the Port Arthur community at large through 1978. Although the 130-foot tower no longer supports a broadcast antenna, the structure retains a good degree of integrity. As the oldest structure on campus, the tower serves as a reminder of the earliest days of the college and is nominated to the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A, in the areas of Education and Communications, at the local level of significance. The period of significance was 1909-1958.

Port Arthur is on State Highway 87, 17 miles southeast of Beaumont in southeast Jefferson County. In 1895, Kansas railroad promoter Arthur E. Stilwell and his financial backers established the city of Port Arthur on the western shore of Sabine Lake as the terminus of the Kansas City, Pittsburg, and Gulf Railroad. In 1897 the Port Arthur Channel and Dock Co. began cutting a canal to reach deep water at Sabine Pass. With the completion of the canal in 1899, Port Arthur became a true port. By the fall of 1897, the population reached 860, and the city incorporated the following year. The railroad went into receivership in the spring of 1899, but the city's proximity to the Spindletop oilfield (first tapped in 1901), placed Port Arthur near the heart of the state's primary oil region. Major oil companies soon established facilities in Port Arthur, including Gulf and Texaco, which built refineries in 1901 and 1902, respectively. By 1914, the city had become the second-largest oil-refining point in the nation, and the population exploded to 7,663 in 1910 and 50,902 by 1930.

Local significance of the structure:
Education; Communications

Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.

education communications
The city of Austin, the state capital, is known as the live music capital of the world. It is home to many music festivals, including South by Southwest (SXSW) and the Austin City Limits Music Festival.
Texas random facts
Jefferson County, Texas, has a rich history that spans back several centuries. It is home to the indigenous tribes who had lived in the area for thousands of years before the arrival of European settlers. In the early 16th century, Spanish explorers reached the area and claimed it as part of New Spain. However, it was not until the early 19th century that the region began to see significant settlement.

In the early 1820s, Empresario Joseph Vehlein obtained a contract to settle 300 families in the region. The land, once inhabited by the Atakapa people, soon attracted settlers of various origins, including Americans, Europeans, and enslaved Africans. The area became known for its fertile soil, offering ideal conditions for agriculture and ranching.

The city of Beaumont was established in the mid-19th century and quickly developed into a major trading and shipping center due to its access to the Neches River and the Gulf of Mexico. The discovery of oil at Spindletop in 1901 marked a turning point in the county's history, as the region experienced a significant oil boom. This brought great prosperity and transformed the area's economy, leading to the development of the petrochemical industry in the following decades.

Throughout the 20th century, Jefferson County witnessed various social and economic changes. It played a key role in World War II, serving as the location for significant military activity, including the establishment of one of the largest military shipbuilding centers in the country. The county also experienced desegregation struggles during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s, which eventually led to greater equality.

Today, Jefferson County continues to be an important industrial center for petrochemicals and petroleum-related industries. It is also home to a diverse population and offers a mix of urban and rural landscapes, with a variety of cultural and recreational opportunities for residents and visitors.

This timeline provides a concise overview of the key events in the history of Jefferson County, Texas.

  • 1836: Jefferson County is established as a municipality of the Republic of Texas.
  • 1838: The town of Beaumont is founded.
  • 1840: Jefferson County becomes part of the newly-formed State of Texas.
  • 1845: Texas is admitted to the United States, and Jefferson County becomes a county within the state.
  • 1858: A railroad is completed, connecting Beaumont to surrounding areas.
  • 1865: The Civil War ends, and Jefferson County begins to recover from the war's impact.
  • 1881: The Spindletop oil field, the first major oil discovery in Texas, is found in Jefferson County.
  • 1901: The Lucas Gusher at Spindletop oil field erupts, launching the Texas oil boom.
  • 1925: The Neches River is first navigable by deep-draft vessels, boosting the county's shipping industry.
  • 1943: The Port of Beaumont is established as a major center for the shipping and petrochemical industries.
  • 1989: Hurricane Gilbert strikes Jefferson County, causing significant damage to the area.
  • 2005: Hurricane Rita makes landfall in Jefferson County, leading to widespread devastation.
  • 2017: Hurricane Harvey causes widespread flooding in Jefferson County.