Port Acres: History and Montrose Park

Port Acres is still often regarded as a distinct community. The area offers two different starting points for planning your trip: the history of its subdivision, parish, school, and historic railroad connection, as well as Montrose Park and its facilities. If you are looking for a hotel for a stay in Port Acres, you might consider whether you are mainly interested in tracing the area's development or including a park in your plans.

Locating Port Acres geographically

Port Acres lies between State Highway 73 and Farm Road 365, west of downtown Port Arthur. Its location relative to these roads and downtown helps situate the community before you turn to local history or the park.

How Port Acres came to be

A specific historical starting point is 1923, when the Tyrrell-Combest Company of Beaumont subdivided Port Acres on land belonging to J. M. Hebert. A subdivision is the division of land into lots; it describes the creation of lots, not the construction of a single facility.

St. Therese and local history

The parish of St. Therese in the Port Acres area built its first church in 1928. A special shrine was erected on the lawn in front of the parish church in 1988. The dates mark different stages in the church's history: the construction of the first church and, later, the erection of the shrine. St. Therese is considered the only Catholic institution in Jefferson County whose patron reflects the French culture evident in the county. This connects the parish's history with a cultural context whose geographic scope is all of Jefferson County. Taken together, 1923, 1928, and 1988 trace a timeline from the establishment of the community to two stages in the parish's history.

School history and El Vista

The history of the local school also offers a distinct perspective on the community's development. The settlement's rapid growth made it necessary to build a schoolhouse. A newspaper report dated January 7, 1934, describes an eight-room brick schoolhouse in Port Acres and puts the cost of providing it at about $80,000. The eight rooms give a sense of the size of the building described; the approximate figure adds the cost of providing it to the area's history. One historical location reference places the Port Acres schoolhouse half a mile southwest of the El Vista station. Port Acres is also historically associated with the El Vista Railroad stop.

Montrose Park

Montrose Park is located at Wilson Street and Amy Street in Port Acres. The park has benches, a barbecue area, and picnic tables, as well as a playground and a basketball court. You can consider the park as a separate point in your plans if you want to include any of these amenities in your trip. Park facilities may change due to maintenance; if you are making specific plans, check their current condition before your visit.

Discover more destinations: Nederland, Beaumont, Groves, Port Arthur

For the broader travel overview: Jefferson.