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S.C.R. No. 64
1 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, Residents of Sabine Pass are gathering on May 3,
3 2009, to celebrate the 170th anniversary of the founding of their
4 community; and
5 WHEREAS, First settled in the early 1830s, the town of Sabine
6 City was officially established on January 19, 1839, by a charter
7 signed by General Sam Houston; the Sabine City Company began to
8 advertise lots in the town on May 1, 1839, and in 1860, the city
9 changed its name to Sabine Pass; and
10 WHEREAS, In the 1800s, Sabine Pass was a major port on the
11 Gulf of Mexico, an important shipping point for cattle and cotton;
12 during the Civil War, the port was defended by Forts Sabine and
13 Griffin, and the town was the site of the Battle of Sabine Pass on
14 September 8, 1863, when Confederate gunners drove off an attack by
15 four Union gunboats; and
16 WHEREAS, Sabine Pass is the birthplace of Pattillo Higgins,
17 the entrepreneur who helped initiate the Spindletop oil strike in
18 the early 1900s; the town is also the birthplace of J. P.
19 Richardson, the rock 'n' roll star known as the Big Bopper; and
20 WHEREAS, Since 1978, the community has been part of Port
21 Arthur; its economy continues to depend on the oil industry,
22 commercial fishing, and marine repair; and
23 WHEREAS, Throughout the years, Sabine Pass has been hit hard
24 by hurricanes; an 1886 storm killed 86 people and almost destroyed
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