once known as Grigsby Bluff, is located on the Neches River in eastern Jefferson County, ten miles southeast of Beaumont. The city has a population of approximately 13,600.

History

Thomas F. McKinney located a land claim on this site in the 1830's and went so far as to survey a townsite to be called Georgia. His plans never materialized, however, and in 1837 he sold two-thirds of his claim to Joseph Grigsby, owner of a nearby plantation and boat landing.

In 1862, Confederate troops constructed Fort Grigsby to block a Union advance up the Neches River, which they successfully repulsed in October of that same year. The fort was abandoned in January 1863.

In 1902, the Central Asphalt Company set up a plant near Grigsby's Bluff. A townsite on the new Kansas City Railroad was drawn up the same year and called Port Neches.

Port Neches was incorporated as a city in 1927.

Questions or comments about this page?