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LOUISIANA-TEXAS STATE LINE
Sabine River.
The new bridge 3 mi. long was completed November, 11127. The cost, $1,000,000, was shared by the Orange and the Lake Charles districts, the states of Louisiana and Texas, and Federal Aid funds. Many years spent struggling with the financial difficulties; then when the contractors began, floods and marshes, alligators and l>ests, sink holes and discouragements, had to be conquered. But this Is the story of most of the Old Spanish Trail construction, costs that were an acid test of faith, engineering that knew no defeat, builders equal to every demand.
TEXAS—931 MILES
EAST TEXAS
Orange to San Antonio, 329 miles
Koad Conditions	^
Kast Texas will be nearly all paved by summer of 1929.
Description of Country
Kast Texas Is one of tbe richest sections on the Old Spanish Trail. Beaumont und Houston are developing industrial and financial leadership and growing: fast. Houston’s ship channel, with Galveston at the entrance, carries exports of 17 railroads.
In the Sabine District are the Ports of Beaumont- and Orange, Port Arthur and Port Neches, serving southeast Texas and contiguous states and themselves harboring big Industrial plants and expanding rapidly.
This Sabine District is one of the big oil producing, refining, manufacturing, distributing and exporting centers of the I'. S. Beaumont is also the commercial center of a rich agricultural and lumber region. Farm products of large acreage are sugar cane, figs, corn, cotton, peanuts, rice, satsuma oranges, truck, goats, sheep, cattle and poultry.
Texas is large. One-third	of the Old Spanish	Trail	is	in
Texas. Travelers, seeing so much unsettled country, get mistaken ideas. Texas has proven	its agricultural	fertility, yet	it#
vast area is developed only in	spots. In South	and	Kast	Texas
these areas offer unusual opportunities to the liomeseeker and homeseekers are coming in large numbers. Hydro-electric power linos, oil pipe lines and natural gas lines total tens of thousands of miles and new lines being continually constructed.
New hotels along the Old Spanish Trail just built or now building total over $30,000,000 in Texas alone.
West of Houston, to San Antonio, the rolling hills begin.
This country Is closely farmed, fertile, prosperous and pretty*
The drinking water generally is good.
Old History
The battlefield	of San Jacinto	is east of Houston.	There
Gen. Sam Houston	and	his band	of Texas patriots destroyed
the army of Santa	Ana	and won	Texas freedom from	Mexico,
April 21, 1836. The	first	attempt to disarm the patriots	was at
Gonzales, now known as the “Lexington of Texas," October 2,
1835. Then came the fall of the Alamo, March 6, 1836, and the pursuit of Sam Houston’s little army by Santa Ana across Texas to the banks of the San Jacinto River where the rugged Texans swept thru the Mexicans and won this land for Americans.	^
*0RANGE. Deep-water port and municipal docks. Large lumber interests of the Sabine River. Creosoting, pine paper pulp, and iron works. Important oil fields near. * NEW HOLLAND HOTEL, good. Inf.—Chamber of Commerce.
NECIIES RIVER. Long bridge and approaches involved many construction problems.
♦BEAUMONT. Deep-water port and industrial city, center of a dozen oil fields, big refineries, shipyards, steel and tank car and other manufacturing; commercial center of the vast East Texas truck, fruit and farming areas and of the Louisiana-Texas rice growing region, the largest In the world. Living conditions are reflected by the fact Beaumont shows the lowest death rate of any city in Texas.
Beaumont and the Sabine district have grown with the
automobile: the cars and people of a million roads are moving by the mysterious power generated here. Spindle Top, in sight of Beaumont's skyscrapers, was the first and most famous gusher field in America; it produced 50,000,-
000	bbls. and was thought exhausted. Then the Yount-Lee Company in 1925 brought in a 5,000 bbl. well on lower levels and Beaumont lived anew the excitement of the pioneer days. 100.000.000 bbls. are claimed as Spindle Top's record. Networks of pipes lie under this land. Thousands of producing wells feed the refineries—from Spindle Top’s prodigal flow and from the countless fields of Texas. Oklahoma. Kansas, Arkansas and Louisiana. At Beaumont is the Magnolia refinery and near are other Magnolia plants. At Port Arthur, 22 mi. southeast of Beaumont is the Gulf refinery embracing 3.000 A.—largest in Texas, and also the chief refinery of the Texas Company, and at Texas Island is the big plant where the cans are made and the Texaco products manufactured and shipped; at Port Neches their usphult plant. The Pure Oil Co., Humble, Atlantic. Yount-Lee. Prairie and others add to the net work of oil industries in this district. An annual payroll of $50,000,000 is claimed from the oil companies. The automobile was a toy when oil was discovered. Gasoline had no market and was dumped into the sea. Today the products from this district go out to the world over the seven seas. Today the automobile is king and the Sabine district is the king’s market place.
HOTELS—HOTEL BEAI MOXT is modern, well equipped and popular with all classes. LA SALLE HOTEL is new, well equipped and well liked. CROSBY HOTEL (J.
A.	Sparkman) is one of the older houses but well kept; 75 rnis. have private bath; running water in others, fans, phones, cafe, storage yard. S1.00 up without bath; S2.00 up with bath.
CAMPS—BEAUMONT TOURIST PARK, 3038 Magnolia Ave., nice locality, well equipped, city natatorium near. Cabins SI.25 daily; $6.00 weekly. Camp space 50c.
MCDONALD'S and BURGE'S storage and service garages near the hotels; both well liked.
INF.—Automobile Association (AAA) at Hotel Beaumont.
♦LIBERTY. One of the old settlements of Texas and center of fertile farming country. Several big oil fields. Rice, cotton and cattle. The CENTRAL, a clean country hotel, fills early Inf. and service Jackson's Filling Sta. opp. the railroad station; also his tourist camp one-half mile east, both on the OST. Camp grounds are free. Cabins are 75c. New and clean.
TRINITY RIVER. Another of the big flood rivers draining into the gulf.
DAYTON. Cotton, rice, cattle and oil fields. Developing into a busy little town. Lodging. Camp space.
CROSBY'. Cotton and general farming. Lodging. Free camp, good shade.
SAN JACINTO RIVER. Private camps. Camp sites by the river.
♦HOUSTON. Deep-water sea channel: greatest port and one of the important failroad centers of the Southwest ; oil and cotton exporting and products manufacturing ; one of the rich and fast growing cities of Texas. East 25 mi. is San Jacinto Battlefield where Gen. Sam Houston and the Texas patriots defeated Santa Ana and won Texas freedom in 1N'5<>. Iiig sulphur mines to the south. Galveston at the gulf. Rice Institute is passed on South Main St.. a fine and distinctive college: a drive about the spacious campus will repay.
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