Gates Memorial Library
Port Arthur, Jefferson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
John W. Gates (1855-1911), a noted financier and philanthropist, set aside land at this site for a public library. In 1917, through the efforts of his widow Dellora (1855-1918), this classical revival library was completed. It was designed by the New York firm of Warren & Westmore, Architects of several New York landmarks, including Grand Central Station. Deeded to the city of Port Arthur in 1918, the library is now part of Lamar University at Port Arthur. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1981
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The financier and philanthropist John W. Gates set aside this Port Arthur land for a public library, and after his death in 1911 his widow Dellora saw the project through to completion in 1917. Designed by the prestigious New York firm Warren & Wetmore — architects of Grand Central Terminal — the Classical Revival building brought big-city refinement to a Gulf Coast industrial town. Deeded to the city in 1918, it now serves as part of Lamar University at Port Arthur.
Why it matters
Gilded Age wealth turned into civic gifts like this library, spreading access to books and learning well beyond the great eastern cities.
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Related people
- · John W. Gates
- · Dellora Gates
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Gates Memorial Library
Port Arthur, TX
John Warne "Bet a Million" Gates, an Illinois-born financier famed for promoting barbed wire, helped drive the early growth of Port Arthur after the coastal oil boom drew him in around 1900. A major backer of the company that became Texaco, he funded a business college, hospital, and hotel, and in 1909 set aside land for a public library. His plans stalled after his death in 1911, but his widow Dellora and local citizens saw the library completed and dedicated in 1917–18.
Port Arthur College
Port Arthur, TX
Steel magnate John W. Gates—a founder of the Texas Company (Texaco)—launched Port Arthur College in 1909 as a memorial to his mother, envisioning a vocational school to feed the region's booming industries with stenographers, accountants, and bilingual clerks for Panama Canal-era trade. Briefly run by the Methodist Episcopal Church as a collegiate institute, it grew into an accredited commercial school whose communications program advanced from wireless telegraphy to radio and television. During World War II it trained some 1,500 Army Signal Corps operators, and in 1975 it became part of the Lamar system, today's Lamar State College–Port Arthur.
Henry Jacob Lutcher Stark
Orange, TX
Born in Orange in 1887 into the Lutcher lumber fortune, Henry Jacob Lutcher Stark joined the family empire after graduating from the University of Texas in 1910 and, though he lived modestly, was ranked Texas's wealthiest man by the 1920s. He diversified into banking, real estate, oil, and manufacturing while serving 24 years on the UT Board of Regents, twelve of them as chair. An avid collector of art and rare books, he founded a philanthropic foundation and gave generously to universities, the Stark Museum of Art, and local causes from sports teams to a boys' band.
William Henry Stark
Orange, TX
William Henry Stark came to Orange in 1870, learned every phase of the sawmill trade, and in 1881 married Miriam Melissa Lutcher, daughter of lumber magnate Henry Jacob Lutcher. Joining his father-in-law's firm, he rose to run mills in Louisiana and parlayed his lumber fortune into iron, coal, real estate, and ranching. His progressive vision—deep-water ports on the Sabine and irrigation that spurred the region's rice industry—helped drive Orange's growth, and he served as a University of Texas regent from 1911 to 1915.