Baytown History

Fast-forward thousands of years and the Baytown area and its’ inhabitants saw the shipwreck of the famed explorer Cabeza de Vaca. Shortly thereafter, the Baytown area saw the rule of famed pirate, Jean Lafitte, of which treasure was found as recently as the 1960’s in Kemah, TX.

The Baytown area continued its’ rich history into the nineteenth century as monumental events took place in and around it, namely the Texas Revolutionary War. William Scott (one of Stephen F. Austin’s Old 300), Nathaniel Lynch (involved in the Runaway Scrape), Ashbel Smith, David Burnet and Sam Houston all held property in the area just to name a few. As a reminder of these instrumental times, some Baytown residents, today, can view the San Jacinto monument from their homes, the symbol of Sam Houston’s’ victory over Mexico’s former President Lopez de Santa Anna.

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As the new Republic of Texas was in its infancy, Cedar Bayou was named as one of its first bay establishments. The general economic development, post war, included rice farming, and the development of brickyards as result of the high quality clays found along the bayous, creeks and streams. Then in 1908, there was an oil boom which spurred the rapid development of the Goose Creek community among others (Wooster, Pelly, and Bay Town) that later became one community known as Baytown in January 1948.

The Goose Creak oilfield became famous as the first offshore drilling operation in Texas and second in the nation. Due to the oilfield’s success, Humble Oil and Refining Company (later to become ExxonMobil) was founded in 1917 by Ross S. Sterling. It was around this time that the Baytown community developed and grew.