Port Arthur Tour

The Port Arthur tour takes 8 hours beginning at 9:00 and ending at 5:00 PM. See the rough schedule below. During this tour, you will learn about the fascinating history of Port Arthur. The Atakapa Indians were the first settlers of the area now known as Port Arthur. White people's earliest attempt to settle the area was in the 1840s with a failed town called Aurora. Port Arthur was incorporated in 1895. Its most important founder was Arthur Stilwell. It was a port and railroad city. It rose to prominence with the discovery of oil in Beaumont in 1901. Several refineries were established there. The city's peak was by the 1950s. Notable people from Port Arthur include Babe Zaharias, Janis Joplin, football coach Jimmy Johnson, and businessman Mach Hannah, Jr.