Port Arthur

Port Arthur is a city in Jefferson County within the metropolitan area of the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 57,755 at the 2000 census. Port Arthur is located on the western bank of Sabine Lake. The Rainbow Bridge across the Neches River connects Port Arthur to Bridge City. Port Arthur was founded by Arthur Edward Stilwell in the late 19th century, and was once the center of the largest oil refinery network in the world. In the 1940s there was an influx of middle class African Americans - most of them coming from neighboring towns, this led to what is often referred to as white flight where many whites moved to neighboring towns such as Nederland, Port Neches, and Groves. By the late 1950s the city was segregated. The African Americans were forced to the west part of town. There the city built the Carver Terrace housing unit for low income Blacks. By the 1970s Blacks were able to purchase homes on the other side of the KCS Railroad and many Black families expanded through... full article at wikipedia