Photos: Aurora Remembered: Our Family History

In October 1837, two San Augustine men, H. M. Hanks and Colonel Almonzan Huston, former quartermaster general of the Texas army, teamed up to found the townsite of Aurora at present-day Port Arthur.34 One record indicates that the townsite contained 6,677 lots. Although Huston sold some lots to residents of San Augustine, no more than six transactions are recorded in Jefferson County, and the realty venture was soon abandoned. In time, the townsite’s name was transferred to nearby “Sparks’ Settlement,” at the mouth of Taylor’s Bayou, where John and Solomon Sparks settled in 1841 and operated a ferry.
Chapter VI: A History of Jefferson County, Texas Early Town-Building and Government By W. T. Block

Settlement on the Sabine Lake, first known as Sparks Settlement, and is now Port Arthur, where the Sparks, Courts, Gentz, Burrell, Johnson, Clark, Hayes, and other families lived from 1830s until late 1890s when disease, hurricanes, and mosquitos forced the families to abandon their settlement, moving further inland to Port Neches, Groves, and Beaumont.

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Aurora Remembered

Owner of original	John Sharp
Date	c 1992
File name	stillwell.jpg
File Size	157.12k
Dimensions	538 x 800
Albums	Aurora Remembered

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