DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of the story the official marker sets down about Arthur Edward Stilwell — and it's one worth hearing. Now, some men are born into ordinary lives and find their way to extraordinary ones. Arthur Edward Stilwell was born on October 21, 1859, in Rochester, New York, son of Charles H. and Mary Stilwell.
But the man who shaped young Arthur most wasn't his father — it was his grandfather, Hamlin Stilwell, a railroad builder. And according to family tradition, little Arthur looked at that grandfather and made himself a vow: one day, he was going to build railroads too. That's the kind of promise a boy makes in dead seriousness, the kind most folks forget by the time they're grown.
Arthur Stilwell was not most folks. He married a Virginian, Jennie A. Wood, in 1879, and after racking up more than a few business successes, he set his sights on something big — a railroad system stretching from the farming regions of the midwestern United States all the way down to the Texas Gulf Coast.
Now that is not a small dream. That is a dream with a lot of miles in it. In 1895, Stilwell established a town right here in Jefferson County — laid it out on four thousand acres and called it Port Arthur.
Then he extended the Kansas City, Pittsburg, and Gulf Railroad from Shreveport, pushing it south through western Louisiana, all the way to its terminus at Port Arthur. To pull people in, he didn't just build track and call it done. He established a successful experimental farm, drilled water wells, and put up a hotel, an indoor swimming pool, and a pleasure pier.
He was building a place, not just a stop on a line. By 1897, Port Arthur had about eleven hundred inhabitants. And Stilwell kept going.
By 1900 he had completed a canal running from Mesquite Point — seven miles south at Sabine Pass — up to substantial port facilities right at Port Arthur. That canal wasn't an afterthought. It was the kind of infrastructure that turns a town into something lasting.
By fulfilling the childhood dream he'd made standing in the shadow of his grandfather, Arthur Stilwell didn't just found Port Arthur — he laid the foundation, in large measure, for its future prosperity. That's what the marker says, and the evidence has a way of backing it up. Arthur Edward Stilwell died on September 26, 1928, and was cremated.
The boy who vowed to be a railroad builder put four thousand acres and a whole city between that vow and the day he left this world. Not bad for a promise made in Rochester, New York.
What the marker says
Son of Charles H. and Mary Stilwell, was born on October 21, 1859, in Rochester, New York. Young Arthur was greatly influenced by his grandfather, railroad builder Hamlin Stilwell, and according to family tradition vowed to be a railroad builder himself one day. He married Virginian Jennie A. Wood in 1879 and after many business successes set his sights on building a railroad system from the farming region of the midwestern U.S. to the Texas Gulf Coast. Stilwell established the town of Port Arthur here on 4,000 acres in 1895. He later extended the Kansas City, Pittsburg, and Gulf Railroad from Shreveport south through western Louisiana to its terminus at Port Arthur. To promote settlement of the area Stilwell established a successful experimental farm, drilled water wells, and built a hotel, indoor swimming pool, and pleasure pier. In 1897 Port Arthur contained about 1,100 inhabitants. by 1900 Stilwell had completed a canal from Mesquite Point (7 miles south at Sabine Pass) to substantial port facilities at Port Arthur. By fulfilling a childhood dream Arthur Stilwell not only founded the town of Port Arthur but in large measure laid the foundation for its future prosperity. Stilwell died on September 26, 1928, and was cremated. Sesquicentennial of Texas Statehood 1845 - 1995