Making a mark on history

By Barrett Goldsmith Baytown Sun Published November 20, 2007

The Bayland Park boat ramp will soon be the site of a pair of historical markers honoring Baytown’s past, and organizers hope it will be the prelude to a renewed sense of historical appreciation in the community.

The Harris County Historical Commission worked with local resident Bert Marshall and other area history buffs to create a marker honoring the Confederate Naval Works at Goose Creek, a naval shipyard that produced warships during the Civil War. The marker was purchased entirely from a donation by Bayer Material Sciences.

Marshall said he was excited to do the research on the shipyard and make a contribution to Baytown’s historical landscape. The HCHC approached Marshall in March of 2006, and Marshall had already been looking into the history of the shipyard.

“I don’t think people realize there was such an involvement in this area with the Civil War,” Marshall said. “They built the little schooners that could go into shallow waters. Six ships were built right there. Goose Creek has a lot of history, and we’re gradually developing that so people can take pride in the area.”

Brothers Thomas and John Chubb created the Chubbs Shipyard in 1854, and answered the call of duty to convert it into a naval shipping yard. The brothers continued to manufacture ships for the government and private mariners until selling the land in 1869, and it later became part of the Goose Creek oil fields.

The parks department is also planning to relocate the existing marker for the Bayland Orphanage, also at Bayland Park. The school was chartered in 1866 and at one point housed 250 orphans, and the board of trustees included prominent citizens of the day. Before the turn of the 20th Century, however, the school was moved to Houston, then to Bellaire, where it became the Bayland Home for Boys.

Parks director Scott Johnson said the marker’s current location is not in an ideal spot, facing as it does an abandoned parking lot. He and the historical commission believe it will be more prominent next to the shipyard marker near the boat ramp. The signs will likely be placed sometime in the next few weeks, Johnson said.

“Baytown is strategically located with the oil fields and the naval yards, and we’re not far from the San Jacinto battleground,” Johnson said. “A lot of things have happened in our neck of the woods that have been important to Texas. Any historical spot needs to be recognized or else another generation comes and goes and nobody will know what took place.”

The HCHC will host a formal dedication of the site sometime in the spring of 2008, likely March, said commission secretary Trevia Wooster-Beverly. Her middle name is no coincidence, as she is a former resident of the Wooster subdivision in Baytown. A graduate of Lee High School, Beverly said

“I’ve been concerned for a while that there are a number of markers that should be in Baytown,” Beverly said. “Maybe this will be the catalyst for getting people interested in some of those things. This is a phase of the Civil War that happened right here in Baytown, and very few people know about it. There’s a lot of history in this county that has not been told. We’re volunteers, but the pay is good when we see something historical noted.”

More information on the naval shipyard is available at www.ourbaytown.com. Beverly said anyone with additional questions on the orphanage could contact the historical commission at 713-864-6862.