The Port of Texas City is located on the southwest shore of Galveston Bay. Part of the Galveston-Texas City complex and the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown metropolitan area, this deep-water port is one of the State’s busiest. Since World War II, industrial activities in the Port of Texas City have grown quickly with increased production of oil refineries, tin smelting facilities, and petrochemicals manufactures.

In 1893, Great Lakes shippers recognized the potential of the area for a port. While the area has suffered several serious disasters (the 1915 hurricane, 1947 Grandcamp explosion, and 1961 hurricane), the Port of Texas City has continued to play a major role in trade and commerce for the State of Texas. Today, the Port of Texas City is the 8th largest port in the United States.

Frank Davison was the first grocer and postmaster for Texas City and founder of the town. The Port of Texas City was site of what many consider the United States’ worst industrial disaster in 1947 when three freighters (the Grandcamp, High Flyer, and Wilson B. Keene) exploded. A longshoreman tossed a burning cigarette on the Grandcamp, starting a slow-burning fire. The ship was carrying a load of ammonium nitrate. When the ship exploded, it ignited fires on the other two vessels, both of which exploded later in the morning. The explosions killed almost 600 people, many of whom were never found, and injured more than 5000. This experience led Texas City to call itself “the town that would not die.” A more recent disaster in 2005 rocked the Port of Texas City when a local oil refinery exploded, killing 15 and injuring more than 100.

The Port of Texas City was founded in 1893. Its major cargoes are crude oil, chemicals, and coke. Operated by the Port of Texas City and the Texas City Terminal Railway Company, it’s Texas’ third busiest port, handling more than 78 million tons of water-borne cargo each year. A privately-owned port, the Texas City Terminal Railway Company offers the critical land link between port and hinterlands, with over 25 thousand cars a year moving through the port.

The City of Texas City has little to offer for vacationing travelers. Mainly an industrial working town, it is dominated by oil refineries and petrochemical plants.

However, travelers can find ample entertainment and amusement in the area because the Port of Texas City is less than 12 from Galveston Island to the southeast and 35 miles from Houston to the northwest.