Baytown

History

White American settlers first arrived in the now-Baytown area in 1822. One of its earliest settlers was Nathaniel Lynch, who set up a ferry crossing at the junction of the San Jacinto River and Buffalo Bayou. The still-operating ferry service is known as the Lynchburg Ferry. Other early settlers of Baytown included William Scott, one of Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred, and Ashbel Smith, who owned a plantation in the area. The city now known as Baytown was originally three separate towns. The first of these was Goose Creek, named for the bayou of the same name where Canada geese wintered and whose name is still reflected in the area's Goose Creek school district, whose establishment dates back to before 1850. With the discovery of the Goose Creek Oil Field, the rival communities of Pelly in the late 1910s, and East Baytown in the early 1920s, developed as early boomtowns. Serious talk of merging the three cities began shortly after World War I, but the community of Baytown was opposed to this idea. However, in 1947, the three cities finally agreed to consolidate. The citizens settled on the name Baytown for the new combined city. Baytown as it is known today was officially founded January 24, 1948. Following the discovery of oil nearby, the population of Baytown and the tri-cities boomed. Many immigrants arrived in Baytown, among them a number of Jewish families who founded a synagogue, K’nesseth Israel, in 1930. Steel manufacturing in Baytown began in 1970 when United States Steel opened the Texas Works near the city. The plant was officially closed in July 1986, due to a poor economic climate and the decline of American steel in the 1980s. The mill was later purchased by Jindal Steel and now operates as JSW Steel USA, Inc.

Geography

The city of Baytown is located at the mouth of the San Jacinto River on Galveston Bay, by road east of Houston. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and , 2.92%, is covered by water. Baytown is located on the Gulf coastal plain, and its vegetation is classified as temperate grassland and marshes. The municipalities have been built on reclaimed marshes, swamps, and prairies, which are all still visible in undeveloped parts of the Galveston Bay area. Baytown is bordered by water on three sides. Along the south and west is Galveston Bay. On the east is Cedar Bayou. The city is roughly bordered along the north by Interstate 10. Portions of the city to the east of Cedar Bayou lie in Chambers County. Flatness of the local terrain and proximity to the bay have made flooding a recurring problem for the area. Baytown and surrounding communities once relied on groundwater for its needs, but severe land subsidence has forced much the city to turn to ground-level water sources. The land beneath Baytown consists of layers of sand and clay to great depths. These layers were created by millennia of river-borne sediments which gradually incorporated plant and animal matter, creating the petroleum deposits for which the Gulf Coast is now known. The region around the city has numerous faults, many considered active, but none have produced significant earthquakes in recorded history. These faults tend to move at a smooth rate in what is termed "fault creep", which reduces the risk of an earthquake. Baytown's climate is classified as humid subtropical (Cfa in Köppen climate classification system). Spring supercell thunderstorms sometimes create tornadoes (but not to the extent found in tornado alley). Prevailing winds…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  7,668
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  7,130
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  6,661
• Laughing Gull

  Leucophaeus atricilla (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  6,273
• Great Egret

  Ardea alba Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  6,088
• Great Blue/Cocoi Heron

  Ardea herodias Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  5,165
• Snowy Egret

  Egretta thula (Molina, 1782) · Aves
  5,049
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  4,772