BlockFrom the record
One of 27 National Register listings published here for Jefferson County · listed in 2021 · category: District.
Sources: the National Register database, National Park Service
Port Arthur Downtown Historic District
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2021.
The listing
- Address. Roughly bounded by West Reverend Doctor Ransom Howard St., Fort Worth Ave., Lakeshore Dr., and Waco St., Port Arthur, 77640
- When was it listed? January 2021
- Category. district
- Census division. Port Arthur
- National Register reference number. 100006046 - assigned by the National Park Service when the property was listed.
Mines and quarries near this property
3 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Port Arthur Downtown Historic District: 3 producers. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Sulfur, Silica. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mid-County Dirt Pit | Silica | Producer | ||
| Port Arthur Sulfur Plant | Sulfur | Producer | ||
| Port Arthur Sulfur Plant | Sulfur | Producer |
Storms near this property
50 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Port Arthur, the town this property stands in, in 50 storm reports between 1993 and 2024: 19 thunderstorm wind, 17 hail, 7 flash flood, 4 tornado. The reports record 1 death and 7 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2007 | Lightning | Port Arthur | 1 killed | A 25 year old man was killed when lightning struck him. He was working on a barge near the Motiva Port Arthur dock. |
| July 1997 | Tornado (F0) | Port Arthur | 3 hurt, $50,000 | no account filed |
| December 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Port Arthur | 2 hurt, $100,000 | Six RVs were flipped along the west bank of Sabine Lake on Pleasure Island. Two people were injured. This was caused by strong winds flowing into the approaching tornadic supercell that would pass to the south of the RV park. |
| March 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Port Arthur | 2 hurt, $70,000 | Trees were knocked down in western Beaumont and in Groves. In Port Arthur, a microburst produced wind gusts estimated at 70+ mph. It caused structural damage to some buildings, broke many windows, and knocked numerous trees. The storm path was 200 yards wide and 2 miles long. Two people were slightly injured by flying glass. |
| April 2024 | Tornado (EF2) | Port Arthur | $500,000 | A NWS storm survey revealed that an EF-2 tornado impacted areas of Port Arthur. The tornado began near the intersection of 17th Street and Savannah Ave southeast of Motiva. The tornado path traveled east, peaking out near the Progressive Missionary Baptist Church where a large portion of the masonry walls collapsed. Another home near 11th Street and Orange Ave had the roof completely removed and some walls collapsed. Home and tree damage was extensive across these neighborhoods in Port Arthur. The path continued across Rose Hill Park and onto Pleasure Island. The tornado likely continued into Sabine Lake. Maximum estimated winds were 120 mph. |
| June 2018 | Flash Flood | West Port Arthur | $100,000 | Numerous streets were flooded in Port Arthur, Groves, and Central Gardens with several cars reported flooded. |
| March 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Port Arthur | $100,000 | no account filed |
| December 2002 | Flash Flood | Port Arthur | $50,000 | no account filed |
| July 2022 | Flash Flood | West Port Arthur | $25,000 | Multiple streets were flooded with some cars stranded in Port Arthur, Nederland, and Groves. Water also approached some structures in Port Arthur. |
| February 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Port Arthur | $20,000 | no account filed |
| July 1997 | Flood | Port Arthur | $20,000 | no account filed |
| July 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Port Arthur | $15,000 | A home received roof damage from a thunderstorm near the intersection of Bluebonnet and Richmond Avenues in Port Arthur. |
| June 2017 | Flash Flood | Port Arthur | $10,000 | Heavy rain produced flooding in Port Arthur. This caused several cars to be stalled on Jimmy Johnson Blvd. |
| February 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Port Arthur | $10,000 | no account filed |
| September 1997 | Flood | Port Arthur | $10,000 | no account filed |
| April 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Port Arthur | $5,000 | Broadcast media relayed reports of minor damage to commercial buildings along with power poles and lines downed. |
| October 2006 | Flash Flood | Port Arthur | $5,000 | Residential streets had 2-3 feet of water on them and were impassable. |
| December 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Port Arthur | $5,000 | no account filed |
| December 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Port Arthur | $5,000 | no account filed |
| March 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Port Arthur | $5,000 | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Flash Flood | Port Arthur | $2,000 | no account filed |
| August 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Port Arthur | $1,000 | Port Arthur Daily News reported large tree branches blown down in Port Arthur. |
| May 2024 | Hail | Port Arthur | - | A report of three quarter to one inch hail was received from Port Arthur. |
| December 2024 | Hail | Port Arthur | - | Golf ball size hail was reported at the Pleasure Island RV resort just before winds flipped multiple RVs. |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Port Arthur | - | A wind gust of 51 knots was recorded at PORT2. |
| July 2022 | Tornado (EF0) | West Port Arthur | - | Numerous videos and pictures were received through social media of a slow moving waterspout moving from Sabine Lake into Motiva. The land spout produced no noticeable damage beyond tipping over trash cans. |
| January 2016 | Hail | Port Arthur | - | A picture was received through Facebook of hail of half dollar size near Port Arthur. |
| November 2015 | Flash Flood | Port Arthur | - | Closed streets and highways from flooding was reported from Beaumont, Central Gardens, Port Arthur, and Groves. |
| July 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Port Arthur | - | A trained spotter estimated 65 mph winds in Port Arthur. |
| March 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Port Arthur | - | Tug boat operator recorded wind gust of 58 mph. |
| April 1995 | Tornado (F0) | Port Arthur | - | An National Weather Service employee spotted a tornado between one-half and two miles west of the Jefferson County Airport moving to the northeast at 30 mph. This tornado was in sight for about five minutes before being blocked by heavy rainfall. No damage was noted. |
| May 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Port Arthur | - | Port Arthur police report trees and power lines down along Highway 87. |
| April 1993 | Hail | Port Arthur | - | The Port Arthur Police Department reported dime-size hail in downtown. |
| March 2017 | Hail | Port Arthur | - | no account filed |
| March 2017 | Hail | Port Arthur | - | no account filed |
| March 2017 | Hail | Port Arthur | - | no account filed |
| June 2011 | Hail | Port Arthur | - | no account filed |
| June 2011 | Hail | Port Arthur | - | no account filed |
| September 2011 | Hail | Port Arthur | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Port Arthur | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Port Arthur | - | no account filed |
| April 2004 | Hail | Port Arthur | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Port Arthur | - | no account filed |
| August 2003 | Hail | Port Arthur | - | no account filed |
| April 2003 | Hail | Port Arthur | - | no account filed |
| April 2000 | Hail | Port Arthur | - | no account filed |
| April 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Port Arthur | - | no account filed |
| May 1999 | Hail | Port Arthur | - | no account filed |
| January 1998 | Hail | Port Arthur | - | no account filed |
| February 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Port Arthur | - | no account filed |
Map coverage status
No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.
Listed places nearby
6 within 8 milesOther National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.
| Photograph | Property | Distance | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
| First National Bank of Port Arthur | under 500 feet | 2015 | |
 | US Post Office and Federal Building | 0.1 miles | 1986 |
 | Gates Memorial Library | 0.7 miles | 1981 |
 | Marconi Tower at Port Arthur College | 0.8 miles | 2008 |
 | Port Arthur Federated Women's Clubhouse | 1.0 miles | 1985 |
 | Pompeiian Villa | 1.1 miles | 1973 |
Sources for this property
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 100006046 in Record Group 79. |
| Jefferson County | All 27 listed properties in this county. |
Provenance
- Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
- Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
- How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
- Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
- Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.