Community Retirement Home

A Port Arthur historian sees the home as ahead of its time. Sam Monroe, president of the Port Arthur Historical Society, told the Port Arthur News he believes it was a first of its kind before assisted living facilities were found everywhere. A 2023 News column by Mary Meaux says it is private pay, serves three family-style meals a day and offers worship services, communion and Bible studies, and that it is said to be one of two nonprofit retirement homes in the state.

What the plaque says

Community Retirement Home In 1944, a group of citizens discussed establishment of a retirement home in Port Arthur. Federated Mission Society members from several churches served on the board of directors. Incorporated as the Community Retirement Home on August 28, 1944, the board purchased the model apartment building on Procter Street for residents. Work began in 1970 to replace the main service building and add a kitchen, dining and administrative facilities and living areas. In December 1988, Dr. John White donated his former office building on the adjacent lot. The Community Retirement Home is a nonprofit residence, receiving no state or federal funding but operating by resident fees, donations, memorials and fund drives. (2012)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Museum of the Gulf Coast — 1.8 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.
• Sabine Pass Battleground State Historic Site — 12 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.
• Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum — 14 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.
• Sea Rim State Park — 15 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.

More markers nearby

• Birthplace of Babe Didrikson Zaharias — 0.8 mi
• Pompeiian Villa — 0.9 mi
• Federated Women's Clubs of Port Arthur — 1.0 mi
• Gates Memorial Library — 1.3 mi