While going through the archive of random ephemera that I’d inherited from my grandparents, I came across an old map of Port Lavaca, Texas.
Unfortunately, I am unable to precisely date when it was published, though it does helpfully list the 1970 population as 17,831 for Calhoun County but, notably, doesn’t list a 1980 population, so we can, at the very-least, date this to sometime in the malaise era.
Reading through it, the most interesting part, to me at least, is this:
CRUISES:.
Caribbean and South American Jungle Cruises are available to the public in Calhoun County. The cruises originate and terminate at the ALCOA docks and are offered by the ALCOA Steamship Company, Inc. Information may be obtained from the Company’s offices located at the ALCOA, Point Comfort Operations. Mailing address is:
ALCOA Steamship Company, Inc. P. O. Box 646
Point Comfort, Texas 77978 ATTENTION: CRUISES
Or
Phone No. AC 512-987-2651
My guess here is that you could book passage to South America or the Caribbean on an ALCOA freighter. In the past, booking a small cabin on a freight ship was a fairly-common way to travel for the somewhat-adventurous traveler. Accommodations were sparse, there was no Lido deck or casino and you ate dinner with the crew, but it got you to where you wanted to go. In fact, there are specialist travel companies that will book these kind of voyages for you, but now they’re targeted towards the well-heeled adventure traveler and are, in most cases, a lot pricier than just booking a flight.
As for ALCOA’s Steamship division, there’s surprisingly-little information available online, though I did find this blurb:
The Alcoa Steamship Company started in 1917 due to the shortage of ships during the World War I. At the start foreign flag ships (non US Flagged) were used until just before W W 2. From 1940 till 1969 Alcoa operated US flag vessels before returning to operate foreign flag vessels again. The company is still in operation but I think they are using chartered vessels at the present time. They are located in Pittsburgh PA. 1
There was also an intriguing list of sponsors and supporters, so I thought it’d be interesting to go through the list and see which of these business were still around almost 50 years later.
Grocers
| Name | Still with us? |
|---|---|
| Weaver’s Grocery | No. But there is a Weaver’s Austin Street Market that may or may not be related. |
Manufacturers
| Name | Still with us? |
|---|---|
| Union Carbide | Yes. And they killed 16000 people in India in 1984. |
Motels
| Name | Still with us? |
|---|---|
| Shell Fish Motor Inn “A Best Western Motel” | There’s now a Motel 6 on this site |
| The Viking Inn Motel | Closed in 1970 (which means this map is probably from right around 1970, so maybe the money they paid to sponsor should’ve been spent on staying open. |
| Surf Motel | Now a Budget Motel |
Realtors & Developers
| Name | Still with us? |
|---|---|
| Bill Duke Real Estate | It’s namesake passed away in 2012 |
| Bowman Real Estate Co. | As far as I can tell, this is now RE/MAX Land & Homes On the Bay |
| Russell Cain Real Estate | Still dealing properties on the Texas Gulf Coast. |
| Sea Lake | Its description (A Recreational & Permanent Home Development North Of Point Comfort, Texas On State Hwy 1593) seems to indicate that this was a housing development, but I can’t find a record online of it and a survey of the described location doesn’t show any kind of housing development, so I assume it never came to fruition |
| Gateway Real Estate & Insurance | No information found |
| Royal Insurance and Real Estate | No information found |
Automobile Agencies
| Name | Still with us? |
|---|---|
| Marshall Chevrolet | Its founder passed away a few years ago. It seems he sold off the dealership in 2000 and it’s now Port Lavaca Chevrolet. |
| Terry Bunch Ford | Terry Bunch passed away in 2001. His dealership is now Port Lavaca Ford. |
Builders and Lumber
| Name | Still with us? |
|---|---|
| Marshall Lumber Company | No longer with us, but also no solid evidence of when it met its demise. |
| Port Lavaca Lumber & Hardware | Same for this place |
Department Stores
| Name | Still with us? |
|---|---|
| Regan’s Clothiers | Originally founded in 1850, there’s scant information available beyond this story in the Victoria, Texas, newspaper |
| Bottom Dollar Discount Center | This small chain died in 1986 |
| Cole’s Department Store | Not to be confused with Kohl’s, I couldn’t find a fate for this retailer |
Hardware
| Name | Still with us? |
|---|---|
| Ed Melcher Company, Inc. | Appears to still be in business |
Pharmacies
| Name | Still with us? |
|---|---|
| Cunningham Pharmacy | No information found |
| The Pharmacy | No information found and its generic name isn’t helpful |
Restaurants
| Name | Still with us? |
|---|---|
| El Patio Cafe | This might still be around, as there are Google results, but the latest review I found was from 2019, so Covid might’ve killed them off |
| Marie’s Pizza Palace | No longer with us |
| Shell Fish Restaurant | No real information found, though a Shellfish Sports Bar & Grill, which may or may not have been related, closed in 2019. |
| Whitecap Restaurant | No information found |
Banks
| Name | Still with us? |
|---|---|
| Bank of Commerce | This seems to have been a branch of IBC, which is still with us |
| First National Bank in Port Lavaca | Still hanging around |
| First State Bank & Trust | Acquired by IBC in 1994 |
Fishing & Hunting Centers
| Name | Still with us? |
|---|---|
| Capt’s. Fishing Center | Who knows? |
| Indianola Fishing Center | My guess is that this is now the Indianola Fishing Marina |
| Oshman’s “The Fun Store” | The Oshman’s chain went out of business in 2005 |
| Port O’Connor Fishing Center | Still with us |
There you have it…very few of these businesses have survived since the 1970s. In some cases, they were bought out. In others, they were no doubt victims of Carter-era inflation or Reagan-era “trickle-down” economics. Or they died with their owners or were finally done in by Covid and President Trump’s and Texas Governor Abbott’s criminal mismanagement of the pandemic.
Or maybe that’s just my neo-Liberal shitty political take on it.
Either way, take a few minutes to peruse the map and enjoy a slice of 1970s Texas Gulf Coast small-townedness. You can download it here.