John Warne Gates
Port Arthur, Jefferson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Illinois native John Warne Gates (1855-1911) arrived in Port Arthur in 1899 at the urging of his business partner and town promoter, Arthur Stilwell. Gates' time here as a financier, entrepreneur and philanthropist left a significant legacy to the city in the form of numerous charitable bequests, businesses and educational institutions. Prior to his arrival in Port Arthur, Gates had gained fame as a barbed wire salesman and earned his fortune as a steel magnate. Soon after his arrival on the Gulf Coast he helped finance Patillo Higgins' endeavor to drill for oil, which resulted in the discovery of oil at the Spindletop field in January 1901. Gates founded the Port Arthur Rice Milling Company and promoted the recognition of Port Arthur as a United States port of entry, which was achieved when President Theodore Roosevelt signed the congressional act to that effect in 1906. Other endeavors included the Gates model dairy farm, the Mary A. Gates Memorial Hospital and the Gates Plaza Hotel. He founded and endowed the Port Arthur Business College (now Lamar State College - Port Arthur) in 1909, and set aside land for what became the Gates Memorial Library after his death. Gates' Classical Revival mansion, built near this site in 1909, epitomized his social and economic position in the city. Boasting 18 rooms and numerous outbuildings, it took nine months to build at a cost of $500,000. The house later became the home of Dr. Murff F. Bledsoe, who developed the Bledsoe Place addition, and was razed in 1960. (2001)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
John Warne Gates (1855–1911) made his name selling barbed wire and his fortune in steel before town promoter Arthur Stilwell drew him to Port Arthur in 1899. He helped finance Patillo Higgins' drilling that struck oil at Spindletop in 1901 and poured his wealth into the young city—a rice mill, a dairy farm, a hospital, a hotel, and the business college that became Lamar State College–Port Arthur. His $500,000 Classical Revival mansion, built near this site in 1909, epitomized his standing before it was razed in 1960.
Why it matters
Gates embodies the Gilded Age financier-booster whose barbed-wire and steel fortune helped conjure a Gulf Coast city and its lasting civic institutions out of the oil boom.
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Related people
- · John Warne Gates
- · Arthur Stilwell
- · Patillo Higgins
Related events
- · Spindletop oil discovery
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Ellwood-Craig House
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Built in 1900 as a winter home for Isaac L. Ellwood, a principal developer of barbed wire, this classic-revival villa was designed by Chicago architects Nimmons and Fellows with a raised Roman Doric portico. Its nickname, the Pompeiian Villa, came from a planned but never-executed series of Bacchanalian frescoes evoking ancient Pompeii. Port Arthur pioneer G. M. Craig made it his home from 1903 to 1950.
Pompeiian Villa
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The Pompeiian Villa is the last survivor of the "dream city" that railroad magnate Arthur E. Stilwell envisioned for Port Arthur at the turn of the century. Built in 1900 as a winter resort home for barbed-wire developer Isaac L. Ellwood, it stood near a mansion of the gambler-financier John W. "Bet-A-Million" Gates. In 1903 it passed to Port Arthur developer George M. Craig, reportedly traded for a ten-percent stake in the company that became Texaco.
Morris-Booz-White House
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Built in 1915 for Dr. Harvey D. Morris, this Port Arthur home later sheltered the Booz and White families and gained its grand wraparound porch and paired-Ionic portico in a 1920s remodeling. Standing along fashionable Lakeshore Drive, it typifies the stately residences that rose as the Gulf port city prospered in the early 20th century. Its architecture reflects the cosmopolitan ambitions of a booming oil-era town.
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.