City of Sabine and Sabine Pass

The fever of July 1862 came off the blockade runner Victoria, and within a week a local youth named Hart and four other family members were dead. About 250 residents caught it and more than half died, by W. T. Block's account roughly 150. Beaumont posted armed guards at its docks, roads and depots, and Galveston, Beaumont and Houston quarantined the Pass. Decline came on top of that: on October 12, 1886, a hurricane left all but five houses destroyed and drowned 86 people.

What the plaque says

City of Sabine and Sabine Pass The first known settlers in this area were John McGaffey and Thomas Courts, who arrived in 1832. Sam Houston assisted Manuel de los Santos Coy in acquiring a land grant here in 1833. Two years later Houston and two partners purchased Coy's property holdings. On January 19, 1839, Gen. sam Houston signed the charter that established the city of Sabine. Houston was active in promoting the sale of 2,060 town lots. The city soon flourished. Houston and his partners lost title to the town when the General Land Office determined that John McGaffey held original claim to the lands. The city of Sabine developed into a major port. In 1860 the State Legislature, in approving a new charter for the city, changed the name to Sabine Pass. It was the scene of a major Civil War engagement in 1863, with Confederate forces preventing a Union attempt to capture the port and gain major inroads into Texas. The Federal Harbor Act of 1882 led to construction of jetties here and development of inland ports along the Neches and Sabine rivers. By the early 20th century Sabine Pass began to decline due to hurricane damage which prevented railway maintenance. (1989)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Sabine Pass Battleground State Historic Site — 1.2 mi
  A waterfront park at the mouth of the Sabine where the earthwork of Fort Griffin stood, with a Dowling statue, a Union memorial, wartime magazines and a walkway for fishing.
• Sea Rim State Park — 8.3 mi
  Texas's far southeast corner: nearly two miles of Gulf shoreline backed by 4,000 acres of marsh, reached by boardwalk or paddle trail, rebuilt after Rita and Ike.
• Museum of the Gulf Coast — 9.8 mi
  Port Arthur's regional museum in a former bank building: fossils, Native Americans, the petroleum story, a 125-foot history mural and Halls of Fame for musicians, athletes and artists.
• Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum — 23 mi
  A re-created oil boomtown on the Lamar University campus, with a derrick, period shops, a 1941 granite monument and an optional re-enactment of the January 1901 Lucas gusher.

More markers nearby

• 1886 Hurricane at Sabine Pass — steps away
• Spaight's 11th Battalion — steps away
• Spanish-American War Fortifications — 1.2 mi
• Fort Manhassett — 1.2 mi