Baytown has a number of famous settlers. One of the first was Nathaniel Lynch, who in 1822 set up a ferry crossing at the junction of the San Jacinto River with Buffalo Bayou. It is still in operation today. Another early settler was William Scott, one of Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred. Near his home on San Jacinto (Scott's) Bay, a settlement grew to include a small store and a sawmill. It was called Bay Town.

Later area settlers included Ashbel Smith, who in 1847 purchased a plantation named Evergreen on Tabbs Bay. Also living in the area for a time were Mrs. Anson (Mary Smith McCrory) Jones, David G. Burnet, and Sam Houston.

The area, though, remained largely undeveloped and isolated into the twentieth century. Then, in 1908, after two unsuccessful drilling attempts, an oil strike was made beside Tabbs Bay. In 1916 the Goose Creek oilfield became famous as the first offshore drilling operation in Texas (second in the nation) and the third-largest producing field, after the Humble and Sour Lake oilfields.

The towns of Pelly and Goose Creek developed near the oilfield in 1917-18. In 1917 Ross S. Sterling and his associates decided to build a refinery near the Goose Creek field and founded the Humble Oil and Refining Company (now known as ExxonMobil).

Baytown grew up around the refinery. At first the community was only a collection of army tents, barracks, and small shacks; it became permanent in 1923 when Humble laid out streets, provided utilities, sold lots, and even furnished financing for employees' homes.

However, the community of Baytown never incorporated, and in December 1945, Pelly annexed the "contiguous and unincorporated" territory of Baytown. But, when Pelly and Goose Creek voted to consolidate in early 1947, the citizens selected the name Baytown for their new combined city. On January 24, 1948, the city of Baytown was established.

Baytown grew in population from 20,958 in 1948 to 67,117 in 1990 and in area from 7½ square miles to more than thirty-two. Its boundaries stretch from near the San Jacinto River eastward into Chambers County and include several former communities such as Cedar Bayou and Wooster.

ExxonMobil, still a major employer, runs one of more than ten major petrochemical plants now in the Baytown area. The city is served by two railroads and an interstate highway. In September 1953 the Baytown-La Porte Tunnel, which crossed the Houston Ship Channel, opened for traffic. In the mid-1990s the innovative eight-lane, 450-foot, twin-tower, cable-stayed Fred Hartman Bridge replaced the forty-year-old tunnel. In 2000 Baytown had 66,430 residents and 2,565 businesses.

This entry was edited from an entry compiled by Buck A. Young for the Texas State Historical Association. Other authors whose work was cited for this entry include Anne Rebecca Daniels, Margaret Swett Henson, Henrietta M. Larson and Kenneth Wiggins Porter, and Walter Rundell, Jr.