06-19-02 Orientation - Laserfiche WebLink

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The town faltered until I.R. Holmes convinced a group of New York financiers to invest in it. The ' La Porte Investment Company purchased the holdings from the mortgage company and once again began to advertise the town. One of the first things they did was move much of the town ' about one mile to the East. Lobit Street became the "main" street and many of the huge, old buildings, including the Artesian Hotel and the Palace Livery Stable, were placed on log rollers and pulled by mule to "New Town." The Artesian Hotel was one of the first buildings in La Porte. It later burned completely in the disastrous 1915 fire. ~n 1900 the destructive storm that engulfed Galveston also did a great deal of damage to the ' Sylvan Hotel. The Catholic Diocese of Galveston bought the building and renovated it to house St. Mary's Seminary. The seminary graduated a number of priests who became prominent in the area. ~n about 1910, the town faltered again and the La Porte Investment Company sold out to a group 7 of local investors. ~n 1915, a fire destroyed all of the Main Street area. As the town was rebuilding from the fire, the ' fierce hurricane of 1913 again destroyed the Main Street area. Undaunted, they built again. Of the fifteen merchants who were wiped out by the fire, only one chose not to rebuild. ' Nearby Sylvan Beach Park had always been an attraction with the famous Moonlight Specials running from the downtown Houston Depot to Sylvan as early as 1898. The trains ran until 1930 1 when the popularity of the automobile forced them to shut down the line. La Porte had become a resort town with the reputation of being Houston's playground. After the destruction of Sylvan Beach by the 1941 hurricane, La Porte became a bedroom community for workers i~ the nearby industrial plants. Sylvan Beach was reopened in 1956 as a County park and attracted a great many visitors until Hurricane Alicia destroyed the pavilion in 1983. Presently the City of La Porte leases the pavilion from the County and has completed renovation of the building, which has many fond memories for La Portians.