Site of First Mercantile Building

G. W. J. Kilsdonk was a bulb grower from Holland who reached Port Arthur in March 1897 to work at the experimental farm and prepare for the Dutch settlers. By late 1897 he was the land company's resident overseer at Nederland, began two store buildings and became its first merchant. He resigned on May 5, 1898. After the 1909 fire, which the Port Arthur News says was believed to be arson, the town moved a two-story frame building from 1898 across the street to 1166 Boston Avenue, where a grocery ran until 1955.

What the plaque says

Site of First Mercantile Building As agent for the Port Arthur Land Company, Dutch immigrant G. W. Kilsdonk, Jr., worked to encourage people from his native Holland to settle in this area in the late 1890s. He built a number of businesses to serve the developing community, including a two-story mercantile store at this site. In addition to its function as a supply center, the Mercantile building also served as a community gathering place and meeting hall for many organizations, businesses, churches, and social groups. The original Mercantile building was destroyed by fire n 1909. (1991)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum — 6.6 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.
• Museum of the Gulf Coast — 7.9 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.
• McFaddin-Ward House — 11 mi
  A Beaux-Arts Colonial Revival mansion finished in 1906 and lived in by one family for 75 years, with free guided tours of three furnished floors, the carriage house and gardens.
• Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center — 17 mi
  More than 250 acres on Adams Bayou, begun by H. J. Lutcher Stark in 1937, with garden rooms, a cypress-tupelo swamp, a heronry blind and free pontoon tours in season.

More markers nearby

• City of Nederland — 0.2 mi
• First Baptist Church of Port Neches — 1.4 mi
• First United Methodist Church of Port Neches — 2.0 mi
• Southeast Texas Regional Airport — 2.2 mi