Southeast Texas Regional Airport

Originally named Jefferson County Airport, this facility has served area residents since the World War II era. Jefferson County Commissioners purchased land to build the airport in 1941, and its development, which included three runways, a taxiway system and apron facilities, began the following year, with initial construction completed in early 1944. Eastern Airlines conducted the first scheduled flight in March of that year. During the war, the airport also served U.S. Marine Air Corps Dive Bomber Squadron No. 931 as a base for advanced training. Pilot trainees used floating targets in the Gulf of Mexico off Sabine Pass for gunnery and divebombing practice. The airport has accommodated developments in air technology through enhancement of its facilities. Improvements in the 1950s and 1960s included additional land, buildings and taxiways, and installation of runway lighting and an instrument landing system. In the early 1980s, when Texas International, Southwest Airlines, Air Texana and Metro Airlines all operated out of the airport, additional improvements were made, including completion of a new terminal. In 1999, County Commissioners approved a name change for the facility to the Southeast Texas Regional Airport. As chemical and petrochemical industries, paper and pulp manufacturing and other area businesses grew, the airport became an increasingly important transportation center. In 2005, it was the site of one of the largest civilian airlifts in U.S. History, when the U.S. military evacuated thousands of local residents with special medical needs during landfall of Hurricane Rita. Today, the airport continues to play a vital economic role in southeast Texas.

Southeast Texas Regional Airport is a historical marker in Port Arthur, Jefferson County, dedicated in 2007. It is one of 109 historical markers documented in Jefferson County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 137 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 29.9548, -94.0191 near Port Arthur. The nearest cataloged historic site is First Baptist Church of Nederland (historical marker), about 1.8 miles away. Others within a short drive include Nederland, First Mercantile Building, and Early Texas Oil Pipelines.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5507015372. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.