A Lasting Legacy of Texas Gulf Sulphur

LIBERTY, September 25, 2004 – Businesses and industry do a lot for any community and such was the case with the Texas Gulf Sulphur Company Plant at Moss Bluff in south Liberty County.

The Trinity River played a significant role in the building of the plant. Steel for the plant was transported to Moss Bluff by barge up the Trinity and Sulphur produced at the plant was shipped by barge from the plant. This was the first major shipping project on the lower Trinity which today has no commercial shipping traffic.

The plant closed long ago after being a major economic moving force in Liberty County for decades. Even though the plant closed years ago Texas Gulf Sulphur Company left a lasting legacy which people still enjoy and benefit from today.

Documents at the Sam Houston Regional Library and Research center tell of an announcement made by Texas Gulf Sulphur Company on Friday, January 30, 1948. The announcement told of a residential building program to be started immediately and stated that at least 25 homes would be built in various residential areas of Liberty to take care of the experienced Sulphur Company employees who would be moving from New Gulf, TX to Liberty to operate the plant that was rapidly nearing completion. It was announced that the plant would employee about 125 people most of whom would be Liberty residents.

The houses Texas Gulf Sulphur built in Liberty remain long after the plant has disappeared. These homes were an early form of prefabricated housing. They were brought to Liberty on trucks and erected in only a few days time. All were the same floor plan and were constructed on small lots in the inner blocks of Liberty bounded roughly by Missouri Street on the West, Grand Ave. on the north and Sam Houston and Beaumont Ave on the south and Texas Street on the east.

Prior to the construction of the houses, workers from New Gulf stayed at the Fuller Hotel (now gone) and the Ott Hotel working at the plant until the houses became available. The houses were sold to the employees and soon families moved in.

The houses have three bedrooms, one bath, living room, dining room, kitchen and utility room.

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These houses and their occupant’s benefit today from the fact they were “prefabricated homes.” Being that meant that they were well planned and engineered. Few suffer the indignities of some older homes, which have sagging rooflines and other structural problems.

The floor plan is very efficient with efficiency being defined as the ratio of space devoted to circulation (hallways) compared to the usable space contained in rooms. These houses have only one small hallway about 8 feet long that connects all the usable spaces.

The floor plan is also easily adaptable to today’s lifestyle with bedrooms that can be converted to other uses such as a home office. Although the announcement in 1948 stated that at least 25 would be built it is unknown just how many were actually built. If you look around Liberty’s inner city, you can easily spot at least 20 of these five decade old houses that have been altered little since they were built.

The houses have interesting interior architectural details such as paneled doors and hardwood floors now days mostly covered and protected by carpet.

These homes, which represent a part of the housing stock in the inner blocks of Liberty, still survive in private hands and are still in use today.

Sometimes companies leave a lasting legacy that a community benefits from long after they themselves are gone. Such is the case with Texas Gulf Sulphur and the homes they constructed here in Liberty. You may want to look into acquiring one of these homes. They are usually worth their modest price.

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