Texas Almanac, 1943-1944 Page: 284
[338] p. : ill. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this book.
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TEXAS ALMANAC.-1943-1944.
S.
Ships loadingg at the port of Beaumont. On
Port Arthur, Port Neches and Orange.the Sabine-Neches waterway are Beaumont,
Foreign Trade-Ports.
Because o f the need of wartime secrecy, no
statistics of foreign trade movements through
United States ports have been issued for any
year since 1939. These data were carried in
the Texas Almanac of 1941-1942. During that
year, foreign export business through Texas
ports amounted to 18.496.736 tons valued at
$392,716,257. Import business was 1.134,966
tons valued at $30.5241.451. Coastwise business
amounted to 66,027.236 tons of outward ship-
ments and 6.113.339 tons of inbound freight.
Internal receipts, canal and barges operating
on landlocked waters, were 870,494 tons of
shipments, and 5,051.661 tons of receipts.
Total traffic aas 102,159323 tons of outbound
and inbound freight valued at $1,814,183,762.
In both foreign and interstate coastwise ship-
p)ing, outbound freight is many times greater
than inbound traffic. (This is not true of the
internal traffic where tonnage comes primari-
ly from deliveries of heavy materials by
barge to Texas ports from the Mississippi
Canal system and the transport of gravel and
shell from dredging grounds to port centers.)
The value to Texas of its ports is primarily
as outlets for the great commodity surpluses
of Texas and the mideontinent regions to the
north.
Readjustment to wartime needs has un-
doubtedly brought great changes to Texas
shipping, notably, the almost complete elimi-
nation of coastwise oil tanker service due to
the need of these tankers in foreign trade.
Probably the foreign trade of Texas ports has
increased as coastwise tonnage has stood still
or declined.
Texas' deepwater ports may be grouped as
follows with respect to geographic location
and harbor and channel facilities: (1) Hous-
ton, Galveston and Texas City: (2) Beaumont.
Port Arthur, Port Neches and Orange; (3)
Corpus Christi, Aransas Pass and Ingleside:
(4) Brownsville and Port Isabel; (5) Free-
port. While the coastline of Texas. as viewed
n the map, presents a picture with excellent
port facilities, these indentations are the shal-
low estuaries of silt-laden Texas rivers. Much
dredging has been necessary to obtain deepwaters. However, the Texas ports mentioned
above are now open to practically all sea-
going vessels. Six of these ports are situated
from fifteen to fifty-five miles inland on deep-
water channels cut through the easily exca-
vated earth of the Coastal Plain. Relatively
few seaboards of comparable length anywhere
in the world have greater shipping tonnage
than the Texas coastline.
Customs Districts.
Four U.S. customs districts have their head-
quarters in Texas, two of which lie wholly,
and two of which lie partly, within the state,
as follo ws: Sabine District, headquarters at
Port Arthur, including ports of entry of Port
Arthur, Sabine, Orange and Beaumont. Texas,
and Lake Charles, La.; Galveston District,
headquarters at Galveston, including the ports
of entry of Galveston combined with Texas
City and Port Bolivar. Houston. Freeport,
Colrpus Christi and Dallas; Laredo District,
headquarters at Laredo, including ports of
entry of Laredo, Brownsville, Roma, Rio
Grande City. Hidalgo, Del Rio, Eagle Pass
and San Antonio; E1 Paso District, headquar-
ters at El Paso, including ports of entry of
El Paso, Fabens, Ysleta and Presidio, Texas,
and Columbus, N.M.
Inland Waterways.
The principal inland waterway of Texas
other than the deepwater channels is the In-
tracoastal Canal of Texas and Louisiana. ex-
tending from the Mississippi westward as far
as Corpus Christi with tentative operation to
Brownsville and eventually down the Mexican
coast to Vera Cruz. No tonnage figures were
issued for 1941 and 1942, but traffic increased
rapidly to meet wartime demands. Principal
river project of Texas is that of the Trinit
conservation and reclamation district which
includes navigation of the Trinity from the
Gulf to Dallas and Fort Worth. In 1943, this
project having approval of government engi-
neers, was going ahead with plans for con-
servation measures though holding the navi
gation project in abeyance until close of the
war.vlv , t}
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Texas Almanac, 1943-1944, book, 1943; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117165/m1/286/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.