By the time the railroad was finished, Port Arthur had several hotels, two newspapers, two banks, two churches, a school, a saloon, electricity, a 2,000-foot pleasure pier into Sabine Lake, and an agricultural experiment farm. The population was 860. On the afternoon that the last spike was driven, a number of excursion trains rolled into town from Kansas City and other locations. There were speeches, parades, music, and dancing with plenty of food and drink for all as the celebrations ran late into the night.

Pleasure Island Park had a Roller Coaster as pictured in image above from 1940-1957. Pleasure Island Park ?? Pleasure Pier ?? More information needed. This area had hurricanes that swept everything off the island so more information needed as to dates and exact name of parks.

CREDITS: EXCERPTS: Library of Port Arthur