Sabine Pass, Port Arthur, Texas

The name of the community evolved over time from City of Sabine, to Sabine City, and then to Sabine Pass. Although requested in 1839, and there was a steam lumber mill in the community in 1846, a post office was not established until 1847, as the Sabine City Post Office. In 1841, William Kennedy, in The Rise, Progress and Prospects of the Republic of Texas (published in London in 1841), mentioned the settlement of the area and wrote, "Taylor's creek, a small stream that enters Sabine Bay from the west, a few miles above the city of Sabine ...", By not capitalizing "city" it appears that the city was named Sabine. No records indicate that the settlement was ever called just "Sabine" so this might have been referring to the name of the place as "City of Sabine".[11] There is reference that General J. B. Magruder, "ordered construction of a major fortification of five redoubts seven miles west of Sabine City ..." in 1863,[12] but Sabine Pass was incorporated on June 15, 1861.[13]

The expectations of the earlier settlers, as well as the founders of Sabine Pass, never materialized. Arthur Stilwell had original plans for the southern terminus of the Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad Company to be Sabine Pass. But the Kountze brothers, who owned the land Stilwell needed for the railroad, refused to make a deal so Port Arthur was born.[14]

During the American Civil War, Fort Manhassett, Fort Sabine, and Fort Griffin (not to be confused with the later frontier fort) were built by the Confederacy to protect the waterway of Sabine Pass, the Sabine River, and the Neches River[15] under General J. B. Magruder.

Two battles, the First Battle of Sabine Pass, and the Second Battle of Sabine Pass, both occurred around the Sabine Lake estuary, in Sabine Pass, between the southern end of the current community of Sabine Pass, Texas and the Sabine Pass Lighthouse on the Louisiana side. In 1970, construction crews attempting to repair SH-87 accidentally dug up Civil War era ammunition. The following is an excerpt from Texas State Highway 87:

In 1970, road machinery used in its construction accidentally dug up several cannonballs and crumbling kegs of black powder about 10 miles west of Sabine Pass. Further excavation eventually produced more kegs of black powder and several hundred cannonballs. The ammunition had been buried there by Confederate soldiers in what were the diches of Fort Manhassett in 1865. Fort Manhassett was a series of earthworks constructed by the Confederacy in 1863 to defend the western approaches to Sabine Pass.

Church and building severely damaged by Hurricane Ike

Because of the short distance separating Sabine Pass from the Gulf of Mexico, the city has suffered greatly from numerous hurricanes since its founding. After hurricanes in 1886, 1900, 1915, and the devastating Hurricane Audrey in 1957, economic development moved north from Sabine Pass to the cities of Beaumont, Port Arthur, and Orange, which still dominate the area's economy today.

On September 24, 2005, Hurricane Rita came ashore over Sabine Lake—the surge from the storm destroyed more than 90% of the structures in Sabine Pass. In February 2006, the team from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (EM: HE) visited the town and rebuilt the Firehouse (which included a new Firetruck worth $400,000), the High School Auditorium and gave dozens of families $350 gift cards from Sears to replace items such as clothes, space heaters, blankets etc., lost due to Hurricane Rita. This town was featured in the EM:HE - After The Storm Texas Special which aired on the ABC on April 14, 2006.[17][18] Adam Saunders, a spokesperson for the City of Port Arthur, said that of the 225 houses in Sabine pass, 20% of them were livable after Rita hit Sabine Pass.[16]

In September 2008, Hurricane Ike struck Galveston and managed to generate the highest surge ever recorded at Sabine Pass.[19][20] Saunders said that a fewer number of houses remained livable after Ike than after Rita. Cindy Horswell of the McClatchy - Tribune Business News said that Sabine Pass was "among those hardest hit" by Hurricane Ike.[16] 225 families lived in Sabine Pass pre-Ike, and in January 2009 Steve Fitzgibbons, the city manager of the City of Port Arthur, estimated that at that time, half of the families had returned to Sabine Pass post-Ike.[16] Fire station #4, the one built by Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, was destroyed by Ike, and FEMA provided funding for a new fire station. The new station, built 12 feet above sea level and able to withstand 150 mile-per-hour winds, was dedicated in August 2013.[21]

• State Board of Education; District 007
• Texas House of Representatives; District 021
• Texas Senate; District 017
• U.S. Congressional; District 002