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Getting
There
Head south from Beaumont on Highways
89/96/ 287. After passing numerous prisons and the site of Spindletop
on your right, you'll pass the Nederland exits and come to the intersection
with highway 87. Take a right and drive until it intersects with highway
82. To the south you'll see the easy-to-spot MLK
Bridge. Turn right here on highway 82 and this will take you into
Sabine Pass. Turning left would
take you to downtown Port Arthur. Long before you come to Sabine Pass,
you'll start noticing torn and twisted debris with an occasional stranded
boat on the horizon. As you enter Sabine Pass, you can see that a
lot of debris has been removed - based on the numerous bare foundations
and empty posts that once held signs.
The Sabine Cemetery is just to the west of the town's main intersection
while the battleground is several miles south. To
get to the battleground park, at the intersection go right on 3322.
This road follows the Sabine River estuary and is plied by ships entering
Port Arthur, the gas terminals and refineries or the Neches River
which passes alongside downtown Beaumont. |
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A view of
the Sabine River estuary at the edge of the battlefield.
TE photo, July 2003 |
| Offshore rigs
are restored and refurbished just outside the park boundaries. The
foreground is the park itself - surrounded by orange construction-site
fencing. As of March 2007 the boat ramp was accessible. TE Photo March
2007 |
| The battleground
boat ramp and parking lot is open although most of the visitor's area
(including Dick Dowling's statue) is currently surrounded by ugly
flexible orange construction fencing. The status of the once-numerous
historical markers is not known. The thing least affected by the storm
is the grouping of WWII era ammunition bunkers. |
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Onward,
through the guano! A clean-shaven version of Dick Dowling photographed
pre-Rita.
TE Photo 2003 |
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| The statue
and pedestal inscribed with the names of Dowling's command. (Dowling's
niece once stated that this was her favorite statue of her uncle.
She said that she always hated the mustache on the Dowling
statue in Houston's Herman Park. TE photo 2003 |
| The road south
from the battlefield is an unpaved road that eventually reaches the
site of Sabine City, which existed only to the Civil War. The town
then moved inland creating Sabine Pass. This road passes a Coast Guard
station and several shrimpboats which have been raised but are not
yet seaworthy. |
One of the
shrimp boats on the way to the battlefield.
TE photo, March 2007 |
| The decommissioned
Sabine Pass Lighthouse (below) is visible across the marshes on the
Louisiana side. The faded paint and weathered cement give it a watercolor
effect even when viewed in full sun. |
The decommissioned
Sabine Pass Lighthouse
TE photo, March 2007 |
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The Old Sabine
Pass Lighthouse is included in this oil painting that now hangs
in Port Arthur's Museum of the Gulf Coast
TE
Photo 2003
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Sabine Pass
Battleground State Park & Historic Site
Information
c/o Sea
Rim State Park
P O Box 1066 Sabine Pass, Texas 77655
Tel: 409-971-2559
Fax: 409-971-2917
Website:
www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/sabine_pass_battleground/
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Anyone wishing to share travel, stories or photos of Sabine Pass Battleground
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us.
Copyright John Troesser |
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