First National Bank of Port Arthur

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.

From the record

One of 27 National Register listings published here for Jefferson County · listed in 2015 · category: Building.

Sources: the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
Address. 501 Proctor St., Port Arthur, 77640
When was it listed? November 2015
Category. building
Census division. Port Arthur
Architectural style. modern architecture, Neoclassical architecture
Architect. Favrot & Livaudais
National Register reference number. 15000837 - assigned by the National Park Service when the property was listed.

Mines and quarries near this property

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of First National Bank of Port Arthur: 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.

Site	Commodity	Status
Mid-County Dirt Pit	Silica	Producer
Port Arthur Sulfur Plant	Sulfur	Producer
Port Arthur Sulfur Plant	Sulfur	Producer

Every working recorded in Jefferson County

Storms near this property

50 since 1993

Regional 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

Every storm recorded in Jefferson County

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 miles

Other 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.

Property	Distance	Listed
Port Arthur Downtown Historic District	under 500 feet	2021
US Post Office and Federal Building	under 500 feet	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 15000837 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.