Texas History
April 18, 2024
New Markers Remember Enslaved People Brought to Texas by Sea
Volunteers and historians are breaking new ground in a less widely told story of slavery in Texas.
Port Arthur
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1-23 of 23 Articles
Hunting & Fishing
February 26, 2024
He Fished Around the World and Landed Right Back Where He Started—at Sea Rim State Park
Donny Crain teaches classes at Sea Rim State Park, sharing his love of Gulf Coast fishing with anyone who crosses his path.
Energy
January 4, 2024
German Activists Take Aim at Texas Natural Gas
An overseas nonprofit brought journalists to Port Arthur to expose their homeland to the environmental effects of our state’s fossil fuel exports.
The Texanist
March 14, 2023
The Texanist: What Makes a Vanity License Plate Offensive?
A Port Arthur resident wants to know what’s wrong with “BBQ*GNG” and “EAT@TACO.”
Texas Country Reporter
May 27, 2022
A Group of Veterans in Port Arthur Honors Those Who Served
Pastor Buddy Blake led volunteers who help step in for the Department of Defense to honor fallen soldiers with a proper military burial.
Texas Country Reporter
March 17, 2022
Big Doobie’s Is the Life of the Party in Port Arthur
Joshua Rodrigues opened a food truck to serve up good times and classic dishes to a community hungry for Cajun flavors.
Health
September 2, 2020
In Port Arthur, Creating COVID-19 Medical Equipment Puts Residents’ Health at Risk
Local petrochemical facilities pump out essential plastic goods—for gloves, masks, gowns, and more—as well as harmful pollutants.
Meanwhile, in Texas
April 15, 2020
Meanwhile, in Texas: A Girl Wakes up to Find a Raccoon Sitting Next to Her in Bed
Plus, a rare pink grasshopper was spotted in Travis County.
Books
October 21, 2019
The Secret Side of Janis Joplin
Holly George-Warren's biography of the Port Arthur singer covers the drugs and excess, of course. But it also uncovers the hard-working professional hidden behind all the live-hard-die-fast trappings.
Parks & Recs
June 20, 2019
Sea Rim State Park’s Fragile Magic
The park offers quiet coastland and abundant wildlife, and feels like a defiant bulwark against some very particular cares of urban life.
Recipes
January 15, 2014
Seafood Gumbo
You won’t roux the time you spend on this delicious stew.
Art
March 1, 1998
The Return of the Native
With a major retrospective of his work at three Houston museums, Robert Rauschenberg is once again the talk of Texas. What’s he been up to? A portrait of the artist as an old man.
Texas History
May 31, 1997
Babe Didrikson
Which sports did Babe Didrikson dominate, and in what Hepburn-Tracy film did she appear?
Books
August 31, 1996
Literature • Mary Karr
Form follows dysfunction.
Music
September 30, 1992
O Janis
Janis Joplin’s life was about music, rebellion, and excess—but she was influenced most by her tormented relationship with the people and spirit of Port Arthur.
Health
March 1, 1992
Hazardous Duty
My father loved his job at a Gulf Coast oil refinery. In fact, he loved it to death.
Food & Drink
March 1, 1991
King Crab
In tiny Sabine Pass, two restaurants battle to see which will be the barbecued-crab master of the universe.
Sports
October 1, 1987
The World According to Coach
Never say Kant, Socrates it to ’em, and other collected wisdom from Texas’ Friday-night philosophers.
True Crime
April 1, 1986
Swamp Gas
When Jimmy Lee, an unrepentant troublemaker, felt he had taken one insult too many from the powerful Fredeman family, he called in the law. The results of that action have exposed decades of larceny and corruption in Port Arthur and threaten a Gulf Coast empire.
Being Texan
April 1, 1985
Mikey
He left his parents’ house in search of a world where things were black and white, where there were heroes and villains. What he found in the slums of Port Arthur was a world that would tolerate people like him-and take advantage of them.
Critters
December 1, 1984
The Great Texas Alligator Hunt
They told me alligators don’t eat people. But when I found myself face to face with one in a dark East Texas swamp, I hoped they’d told him too.
Sports
April 30, 1976
Learning the Ropes
Wrestling isn’t fixed; it was never broken.
Music
June 30, 1975
Janis on My Mind
Requiem for a musical heavyweight, the hard-singing, hard-living girl from Port Arthur.