Port Arthur, Texas, a city in Jefferson County. It is on Sabine Lake about 90 miles (145 km) east of Houston and 18 miles (29 km) north of the Gulf of Mexico. The Sabine-Neches Waterway and Intracoastal Waterway connect Port Arthur with the Gulf of Mexico. The city is primarily a refining and shipping center for petroleum and petroleum products, but also ships grain, cotton, and lumber. There also are shipyards, railway shops, rubber and chemical plants, and metal works. Port Arthur is connected to surrounding oil fields by pipeline. The city was founded as a railway terminus in 1895. It grew rapidly after the discovery of oil in 1901.
Population: 57,755.
