Omaha bankers Herman and Augustus Kountze developed the Sabine and East Texas Railroad extending north from Beaumont and in 1881 laid out a town, attracting numerous sawmills to the immediate area. Kountze was named the county seat in 1887. Oil discoveries in the early 1950s supported the area’s economy following the decline of forestry. Scattered sections of the Big Thicket National Preserve are all that remain of the once pervasive dense swamp and forest landscape.
Writing Credits
If SAH Archipedia has been useful to you, please consider supporting it.
SAH Archipedia tells the story of the United States through its buildings, landscapes, and cities. This freely available resource empowers the public with authoritative knowledge that deepens their understanding and appreciation of the built environment. But the Society of Architectural Historians, which created SAH Archipedia with University of Virginia Press, needs your support to maintain the high-caliber research, writing, photography, cartography, editing, design, and programming that make SAH Archipedia a trusted online resource available to all who value the history of place, heritage tourism, and learning.