Lakeshore/Lions Park
Port Arthur, Jefferson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The Port Arthur Townsite Company, planning the layout of Port Arthur in 1898, set aside Lakeshore Park along the Sabine Lake shoreline. In 1920 a portion of the park was named Lions Park in honor of the Lions Club members who made numerous improvements there. Through the years, the Lions Club provided playground equipment, water fountains, landscaping, picnic tables, and a two-story southern colonial style bandstand. The bandstand in the center of the park became a focal point of community social, political and recreational activities. The park was an especially popular gathering place for citizens of all ages during the long, hot summer months. Texas Senator (and future governor) Allan Shivers, campaigning successfully for reelection in 1938, appeared at political rallies in the park. W. Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel, successful candidate for Governor of Texas that same year, and his band, the Light Crust Doughboys, also appeared in a rally at the park. City records indicate that the bandstand was razed in 1954. The park was donated to Lamar University, Port Arthur in September 1989 and has become a focal point of Lamar's campus.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When the Port Arthur Townsite Company laid out the new Gulf Coast city in 1898, it reserved this shoreline park along Sabine Lake. Renamed in part for the Lions Club in 1920, the grounds gained playground equipment, fountains, landscaping, and a two-story colonial-style bandstand that became the hub of community life. Its stage drew campaigning politicians—including future governors Allan Shivers and W. Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel with his Light Crust Doughboys band—before the park passed to Lamar University in 1989.
Why it matters
The park captures how a planned industrial boomtown's public square doubled as a stage for the music, recreation, and rough-and-tumble politics of twentieth-century Texas.
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Related people
- · Allan Shivers
- · W. Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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