Museum of the Gulf Coast — Attraction in Port Arthur

Ok little museum, lots of history. I enjoy different little museums for lots of strange reasons and this one hit on a few of those. One thing is... The bad taxidermy of the birds. They're old, and haven't been kept up well, and are therefore fascinating and fun to look at. The second floor is all the music and sports, and let be real....we are all here for Janis. The Janis display is ok. Not well maintained. THE LIGHTING IN THIS ENTIRE MUSEUM IS MADDENING. You will ALWAYS cast a shadow EXACTLY on what you want to look at. It's seriously why I would never consider giving this place five stars, or even 4. It needs help, and a good cleaning. That said... Janis would never have come here and would be sick to know her work is here. The area of Port Arthur that the museum is in is desolate and rundown. The museum charges WAY more money for Janis memorabilia than anything else. Shirts are $10-17, but all Janis shirts are $25. Postcards are $1. Janis postcards are $3. As a Janis fan, knowing how much she hated this town and how much it hated her (until they could make a dime)... It's pretty gross. The museum has potential,...

Definitely worth a short detour if you're passing through the Beaumont area. Orbits only 1.5 hours from Houston making a nice half day trip. To be honest, the two hours in the museum wasn't long enough but, as we were on the way to a concert in Lake Charles that was our limit. I could have spent three hours there easily. First floor is history of Texas and the second floor is Music, Art and Sports plus local ceramic collections. I will let the pictures speak for themselves. Most visit for Janis, I told them my interest also includes Rauschenberg which threw them for a loop. In addition to Janis, this part of the Texas Gulf Coast produced so much talent including UGK, The Big Bopper, George Jones, Gatemouth Brown and so so many more. Definitely stop here for a gander. Exit through the gift shop - as always. Adding a few pictures if downtown Port Arthur in it's current post...

My friends and we’re there a couple days ago. Fabulous place !!!! Don’t miss it folks. We went to see Janis . Joplin but we’re taken back at all the amazing history offered. The layout of the building is nothing short of. Fabulous!! Art. History. Pre historic. Etc. A little about. A lot I was telling my friends that there wasn’t any Jack Johnson articles. ( he is the heavy weight champion back in the 30’s ftom. Galveston. Island Was born on 8 th and Broadway. Apparently the curator over heard me and took us to a sit down film featuring. Jack. Johnson. She said they were still compiling the sports area of the museum. They did not have any of Jack Johnson’s private articles but were hopeful. I told her he was imprisoned for taking his white wife over state lines . She was not aware of that. This lady was amazing Her knowledge vast ...