I guess that my choice of the title for this week was sort of predictable but the trip was unexpected, although a familiar trip, as I have traveled I10 east many times in the past. Our destination was to Lafayette Louisiana and we saw some interesting and very different land from the trip last week to the west of Houston and Harris County. So Welcome! to another segment of Texas Land Talk.
Leaving Harris County to the east along Interstate 10, the first county we drove through was Chambers County Texas, established in 1858. The county line is right before you get to hwy 146 along I10. The county seat of Chambers County is Anahuac, which is south of I10 on hwy 562 towards Trinity bay and East bay and the Gulf of Mexico. As you might suspect from that statement the county has a lot of land area fronting along the water. There is a total area of 872 square miles in Chambers County and 273 square miles is water, with 599 square miles of land. Most of the land is fairly flat with good stands of Oak and Pine trees dotting the country side. There are a few developments and water front lots are easily available. I remember some land in Oak Island which I brokered shortly after the last hurricane came through and that area got hit hard from the huge surge that washed through Galveston and into the Galveston bay. They say the surge was over 25 feet in some places. I know that with my own eyes I saw land that was more than a mile away from the coast line with debris washed in that far. The property has recovered well and there is plenty of land for expansion. Chambers county has done well as a whole with over 34% growth in the population shown in the 2010 census. The population in 2010 was 35,096 from the census. As you also may know or suspect, the fishing is always great and there are plenty of places to wet a hook as they say. There is also a very large Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge on the Southeast corner of the county which is wonderful for bird watching and also maybe seeing a few alligators. Before we leave Chambers County along I10 we drive through Winnie Texas where hwy 1406 crosses I10 from the north and Hwy 124 crosses from the south and hwy 73 splits off heading east to Port Arthur. Take any of these roads and you will see miles of farm land, ranches and rice fields. The land is mostly flat and black gumbo as we Texans call it. You will also see a lot of oak trees and moss hanging from the trees as well as gator farms, crawfish farms and hunting fishing accommodations.
Moving on along I10 east we roll through Jefferson County Texas and the county seat of Beaumont Texas. Jefferson county was founded in 1836 and gets its name from former US President Thomas Jefferson. The county has a total land and water area of 1,111 square miles with a population of 252,273 as shown in the 2010 census. Beaumont is the largest city in the county with a population over 118,000 and Port Arthur is the second largest city with a population of over 57,000. There is a lot of industry in the two cities and one of the most famous areas would have to be Spindletop where the Texas oil boom really got started. Downtown Beaumont is a national historic district and there are many points of interest to see like the Crockett street entertainment district and the Beaumont Botanical gardens. Lamar University is a fine college and I enjoyed my first year of college life there, staying in the on campus dorms. My older brothers Ronald and Donald Mahan graduated from Lamar with degrees in chemical engineering. The student enrollment is now over 14,000. Of course Port Arthur in the southern part of the county is famous for being the home of Janis Joplin. A rock and roll singer of the sixties. Well some of us old folks can remember back that far, me being one, so I hope you'll indulge me on that one. As you approach the coast around here there is a lot of industry and the chemical industry plays a big part of the economy. But there is still plenty of that great Texas gulf coast and beaches and fishing all that goes with it. Oh, and did I mention fewer crowds?
As we leave Beaumont headed east we go through Vidor Texas and into Orange County Texas. Orange county Texas sets right on the Texas Louisiana border along the Sabine river and was founded 1852. Orange Texas is the county seat for Orange County and the total population of the county is 81,837 as of the 2010 census. The county is a small county compared to it's neighbor Jefferson county, when it comes to total area, as it only covers 380 square miles. Orange county is mostly flat with sandy soil which is typical of land along the Texas gulf coast. There are plenty of beautiful old oak trees with moss hanging everywhere. This places certainly has the look and feel of down home southern land. There is a lot of petroleum refining industry, timber and paper milling, rice farming and shrimping in the county. I have enjoyed crawfish boils in this town and down home Cajun music so I highly recommend you stop and stay awhile when you can. On this trip we were only passing through but the beauty is to the beholder and the swamps and bayous and cypress trees hold a special charm for everyone to see.
Reference link http://en.wikipedia.org/
