La Porte, Texas

Everything La Porte is known for

10 songs mention this city 2 artists from here

La Porte, Texas, founded in 1892 on the shores of upper Galveston Bay, has deep musical roots for a city its size. Country artists Jake Worthington and B.B. Watson are both from La Porte, and songs in our collection like "Harris County Blues" by Jesse Dayton are tied to the area.

The city's bayfront also holds a piece of Texas music history: the Sylvan Beach Pavilion, a dance hall that drew big bands and touring acts in its mid-century heyday and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Music in La Porte

Songs About La Porte

Supermarine
Hans Zimmer
100%
Go Rest High on That Mountain
Vince Gill
100%
Hurt
Johnny Cash
100%
Take Me to Texas
George Strait
44%
"Where a pride rose from the ashes of San Jacinto"
The Beast
Jóhann Jóhannsson
24%
Cornfield Chase
Hans Zimmer
23%
Elegy
Lisa Gerrard
21%
harris county blues
jesse dayton
20%
Remains
Volker Bertelmann
19%
Harris county jail
luba dvorak

Artists From La Porte

J
Jake Worthington
country Pop: 46
B
B.B. Watson
country Pop: 6

Rivers & Roads in Song near La Porte

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near La Porte.

Interstate 10 23 songs Interstate 45 2 songs US Route 90 6 songs Trinity River 8 songs U.S. Route 59 3 songs FM 3005 2 songs

Musical Heritage

Joe Tex: The Soul Star Raised in Baytown RoadyGoat

1940

Soul star Joe Tex, born Joseph Arrington Jr. in Rogers, Texas, in 1935, was raised in Baytown from the age of five. He sang in school and church choirs here before winning amateur-night contests at Harlem's Apollo Theater as a teenager, launching a career that produced soul hits across three decades, including 'I Gotcha,' which reached number 2 on the Hot 100 in 1972. His preaching, talking style of soul made him one of the genre's great originals. He died in 1982. (Source: Handbook of Texas.)

RoadyGoat → · 5.3 mi away

History of La Porte

La Porte, TX RoadyGoat

La Porte, Texas, sits on the shores of Galveston Bay, and its name speaks directly to its location and history. "La Porte" is French for "the door" or "the gateway," and the city was named by its founder, a land developer named Jules Frotscher, who was of German descent but clearly had an affinity for the French language. Frotscher envisioned La Porte as a resort town, a welcoming entry point for visitors arriving by boat from Galveston and other coastal cities. He saw it as a literal gateway to recreation and opportunity. That vision was tied directly to the bay. For decades, La Porte was a destination for day-trippers and vacationers. Sylvan Beach, with its amusement park and boardwalk, was a bustling center of activity. The name "La Porte" wasn't just a marketing ploy; it reflected the town's role as a connector, a place where the water met the land and where people came to find leisure and escape. Even today, though the town has grown and changed, the name still evokes that sense of welcome and the promise of possibilities connected to the water and the world beyond.

Morgan's Point: The Burned Town of New Washington and the Texas Gold Coast RoadyGoat

1835

You're at Morgan's Point, where Col. James Morgan laid out the town of New Washington in the mid-1830s as agent for a group of New York financiers. In April 1836, Santa Anna's army swept through and nearly captured President David Burnet and the fleeing Texas government here -- Burnet escaped by rowboat -- and the Mexican army burned New Washington to the ground days before its defeat at San Jacinto. The point was reborn decades later as a resort: the Bay Ridge Park Association arrived in 1893, and by the 1920s and 30s this shoreline was the Texas 'Gold Coast,' lined with grand bayfront homes, including Governor Ross Sterling's roughly 20,000-square-foot replica of the White House, built by the Humble Oil founder. (Sources: Handbook of Texas; City of Morgan's Point.)

RoadyGoat →

Morgan's Point, TX RoadyGoat

Morgan's Point is on its fourth name. This bayfront point was Rightor's Point in the 1820s, then Hunter's Point, then Clopper's Point, after the Clopper family, who planted orange and lemon seeds out here. Then, just before Christmas 1834, a merchant named James Morgan bought sixteen hundred acres of it, opened a store and a warehouse, and founded a town called New Washington. The name Morgan's Point stuck to the land even after Santa Anna's army burned New Washington to the ground in April 1836, days before the Battle of San Jacinto, fought within sight of here. And there is a legend attached. Emily West, a young housekeeper hired for the hotel at New Washington, was seized by Mexican troops here that April. Later storytellers spun her into the Yellow Rose of Texas, the woman who supposedly distracted Santa Anna at San Jacinto. Historians call that part mostly fiction. The seizure was real, the song endures, and the point still carries Morgan's name.

West, Emily D.

1836

Emily D. West, erroneously called Emily Morgan by those who presumed her a slave of James Morgan and the "Yellow Rose of Texas" by twentieth-century myth-makers, was born a free Black in New Haven, Connecticut. She signed a contract with agent James Morgan in New York City on October 25, 1835, to work a year as housekeeper at the New Washington Association 's hotel, Morgan's Point, Texas. Morgan was to pay her $100 a year and provide her transportation to Galveston Bay on board the company's schooner, scheduled to leave with thirteen artisans and laborers in November. She arrived in Texas in December on board the same vessel as Emily de Zavala and her children. On April 16, 1836, while James Morgan was absent in Galveston in command of Fort Travis, Mexican cavalrymen under command of Col. Juan N. Almonte arrived at New Washington to seize President David G. Burnet , who was embarking on a schooner for Galveston Island. As the president and his family sailed away, the troops seized Emily and other Black servants at Morgan's warehouse, along with a number of White residents and workmen. Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna arrived at New Washington the following day, and after three days of resting and looting the warehouses, he ordered the buildings set afire and departed to challenge Sam Houston 's army, which was encamped about ten miles away on Buffalo Bayou. Emily was forced to accompany the Mexican army. With regard to the Yellow Rose legend, she may have been in Santa Anna's tent when the Texans charged the Mexican camp on April 21, but it was not by choice. She could not have known Houston's plans, nor could she have intentionally delayed Santa Anna. Moreover, in their official reports after returning to Mexico, none of his disaffected officers mentioned the presence of a woman or even that el presidente was in a state of undress. After the battle Emily found refuge with Isaac N. Moreland , an artillery officer, who later made his home in Houston and served as county judge. Strangers assumed Emily was James Morgan's slave because she was Black. A story was told around campfires and in barrooms that Emily had helped defeat the Mexican army by a dalliance with Santa Anna. The only discovered documentation for this in the nineteenth century was a chance conversation in 1842 between a visiting Englishman and a veteran on board a steamer from Galveston to Houston. William Bollaert recorded in his journal, "The battle of San Jacinto was probably lost to the Mexicans, owing to the influence of a Mulatta Girl (Emily) belonging to Col. Morgan who was closeted in the tent with G'l Santana." Bollaert does not identify the veteran or say Emily was Morgan's slave. The edited diary, published in 1956, included that notation as a footnote with Bollaert's name attached, a fact that led readers to believe the note was a footnote in the original manuscript. The editor's 1956 footnote launched prurient interest on the part of two amateur historians who concocted the modern fiction. Francis X. Tolbert , a prolific journalist, says in his The Day of San Jacinto (1959) that Emily was a "decorative long-haired mulatto girl...Latin looking woman of about twenty." No footnote documents this description or the author's statement that she was in Santa Anna's tent. Tolbert also presumptively identified Morgan as the informant. Henderson Shuffler , also a journalist, became a publicist for Texas A&M University in the 1950s, wrote historical articles for the Southwestern Historical Quarterly , and made speeches while working at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas in the 1960s. On one occasion he said Emily was "the M'latta Houri" of the Texas Revolution , a "winsome, light-skinned...slave of James Morgan." He added that she was a fitting candidate for the identity of the girl in the then-popular Mitch Miller version of "The Yellow Rose of Texas." Shuffler credited Tolbert for bringing Emily's story out into the open and

Tsha Handbook →

Smith, Ashbel, M. D.

1805

(1805-1885) Born in Hartford, Connecticut, this prominent physician, statesman, soldier, and educator received his degree from Yale Medical College in 1828. After a period of study in France, Smith returned to the United States to practice medicine in the state of North Carolina. He determined to go to Texas upon hearing news of the events of the mid-1830s and arrived in 1837, too late to participate in the revolution. He soon, however, was appointed surgeon-general of the Texas army and established a home, known as Evergreen Plantation, one mile east of this site. Smith later served the Republic of texas as secretary of state and as minister to Great Britain, France, Belgium, and Spain. After Texas attained statehood, Smith served several terms in the State Legislature. A Civil War veteran, he was elected captain of the Bayland Guards and colonel of the 2nd Texas Infantry of the Confederate army. Also noted for his work in higher education, Ashbel Smith served as president of the first Board of Regents of the University of texas and led support for establishment of its medical branch in Galveston. A significant leader during Texas' formative years, Ashbel Smith died at his home on Evergreen Plantation and is buried in the state cemetery in Austin.

Historical Marker → · 4.4 mi away

New Washington

1835

Located at the junction of Buffalo Bayou and San Jacinto Bay, the townsite of New Washington was settled by Col. James Morgan (1786-1866), who bought 1600 acres of land in the area in 1835. A native of Philadelphia, Morgan had come to Texas in 1830 and served at various times and places as merchant, civic leader, and land agent. While away from his home, serving as a colonel during the Texas Revolution, Mexican troops burned the town of New Washington. After the war, Morgan and others rebuilt New Washington, and the townsite began to flourish. Morgan realized, however, that it could never compete with the growth of nearby Houston, and during the 1850s he began to promote plans for a channel along Buffalo Bayou that would increase the region's trade potential. That dream was completed in 1876 with the dredging of the Houston Ship Channel by steamship tycoon Charles Morgan. As Houston continued to grow, New Washington was recognized only as a major bend for the ship traffic along the bayou. Now known as Morgan's Point, the townsite was incorporated in 1949 and stands as a reminder of the early commercial history of Harris County.

Historical Marker →

Gribble-Hofheinz Huse

1896

Constructed in 1896 as the summer home of prominent Houston businessman Risdon D. Gribble (1836-1907) and his wife Adelaide (8141-1926), this house was oriented toward the water to take advantage of bay breezes. Flamboyant Houston businessman and politician Roy M. Hofheinz (1912-1982) bought the house from the Gribbles' descendants in 1950. Judge Hofheinz, developer of the Astrodome and part owner of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, decorated rooms in a circus theme and named it "Huckster House." It remained in his family until 1987.

Historical Marker →

Haydon, George W.

1839

George W. Haydon (Hayden), priest, son of Joseph and Sallie (Hoskins) Haydon, was born in Marion County, Kentucky, in the early 1800s. He and Edward A. Clarke were the first American-born Catholic priests to settle and minister in Texas. Haydon attended St. Mary's College near his home. Sometime before 1824, along with his childhood friend Clarke, he entered St. Thomas Seminary in the Diocese of Bardstown; the two completed their ecclesiastical studies at St. Joseph's Seminary and were ordained at St. Joseph's Cathedral on September 30, 1832. Haydon apparently joined Clarke on the teaching staff of St. Joseph's College after a few years of pastoral work and was appointed vice president of that institution in October 1838. In March 1839 the two decided to go to Texas as missionaries, at the request of a number of Kentucky and Missouri Catholics planning to migrate to the young republic. In a letter to John Timon , visitor (soon prefect) of Texas, Haydon offered Clarke's and his own services as priests, expressed their common desire to open a school, and requested information about the San Antonio area. Reported doubts about their qualifications for pastoral work on the frontier delayed Timon's approval, but the Kentuckians finally left their homeland and arrived in Texas before the end of the year. They were received by Bishop Anthony Blanc of New Orleans, administrator of what later became the Diocese of Galveston, who provided them with faculties for active ministry in Texas; they also obtained a letter of introduction to President Mirabeau B. Lamar from the Abbé Anduze, in which the chaplain of the French fleet described them as "the advanced guard of a numerous emigration of respectable families who leave Kentucky." Once in Texas, the two priests visited the settlements of about 100 Kentuckians established in Brazoria and then proceeded to make long missionary circuits of the republic. In 1840 Haydon settled at Refugio, where he started to repair the old mission church, and Clarke moved to Brown's Settlement on the Lavaca River, where he helped the residents build St. Mary's Church. While residing in separate locations, the friends still managed to work together in the construction, amid the Lavaca farms, of a two-story log cabin "with a passage in the middle" designed to serve as a school for children and unlettered adults in the region. In 1841 Jean Marie Odin , newly appointed vicar apostolic of Texas, put Haydon in charge of the Galveston Bay district. Haydon had scarcely begun his new assignment when he was stricken by yellow fever while assisting the victims of an epidemic near the mouth of the San Jacinto River. He died in October 1841. The exact place of his burial is unknown, but it is thought to be near the present town of Morgan's Point. Haydon was probably the first American-born priest to die on Texas soil.

Tsha Handbook →

Things to Do in La Porte

historical 8.6 mi away
Space Center Houston

Houston we have a problem. Every word spoken between Apollo astronauts and Earth came through Mission Control at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston. The…
historical 9.3 mi away
NASA Johnson Space Center

Houston we have a problem. Where Mission Control guided Apollo 11 to the moon.
food 19.9 mi away
The Original Ninfa's on Navigation

Ninfa Laurenzo was a widow with five kids when she opened a little restaurant in her late husbands failing tortilla factory on Navigation Boulevard in 1973.…
historical 6.9 mi away
San Jacinto Monument

On April 21 1836 Sam Houston and nine hundred Texans caught Santa Annas army napping at San Jacinto and won Texas independence in eighteen minutes. Six hundred…
historical 6.9 mi away
San Jacinto Monument

Taller than the Washington Monument. Where Texas won independence in 18 minutes.
historical 7.6 mi away
Battleship Texas

The last surviving WWI-era dreadnought. Fought at D-Day and Iwo Jima.
food 17.1 mi away
Killen's Barbecue

Chef Ronnie Killen's Pearland powerhouse. A classically trained chef who chose brisket over fine dining. The beef rib is absurd.
quirky 22.6 mi away
Eclectic Menagerie Park

An outdoor display of giant welded-metal sculptures along the edge of the Texas Pipe and Supply pipe yard including a King Kong hanging from a crane a 20-foot…

Sports in La Porte

⭐ HOMETOWN LEGENDS Class 5A · Football

La Porte Bulldogs — La Porte — a college & pro athletic pipeline

8 alumni who reached major-college or pro sports

La Porte High School, a Class 5A powerhouse, has a proud tradition of developing athletes who excel beyond the high school fields and tracks. Many former Bulldogs have gone on to compete at the highest levels of college and professional sports. This impressive list includes NFL football players such as Terrel Bernard (Buffalo Bills), Mike Clendenen (Denver Broncos), and Curvin Richards (Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions).

The athletic talent from La Porte extends across multiple sports. Shaun Rogers, an NFL football player for the Detroit Lions and New York Giants, and Yusuf Scott, an NFL football player for the Arizona Cardinals, are also notable alumni. The school's legacy also includes Olympic track and field gold medalist Kerron Clement, who brought international recognition to the La Porte community.

Pro/D1 alumni
8
Class
5A
Founded
1915
Key Players
  • Terrel Bernard — NFL football player (Buffalo Bills)
  • Kerron Clement — 2-time Olympic track and field gold medalist, 4-time world championships gold medalist
  • Mike Clendenen — NFL football player (Denver Broncos)
  • Albert Regis — NFL football player (Jacksonville Jaguars)
  • Curvin Richards — NFL football player (Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions)
  • Shaun Rogers — NFL football player (Detroit Lions, New York Giants)
The moment

Kerron Clement is a 2-time Olympic track and field gold medalist and 4-time world championships gold medalist.

Sources: Wikipedia · SI High School (ScoreBook Live)

Everything Near La Porte

353 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

Explore La Porte on the Map
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