This was one of the 6,000 pecan trees originally planted in the Groves area in 1919.

"A City amid the Groves"

Groves had its beginning in 1886 when Sam Lee moved his family from Sabine Lake settlement in Port Arthur, into a house on 640 acres he had purchased.

Moving with the Lees was their only child, Emma, her husband J.C. Beaumont, and their six month old son, Walter. The Beaumont family built a house on the site now occupied by Jefferson Chemical Company.
One of the old tales in the area's early history recounts a group of rice farmers drilling for water on a site where Groves Elementary School stands today. To their great dismay they struck oil at about 800 feet, so they filled in the well and went elsewhere for water. It is possible that if the group had realized the value of their discovery Groves, instead of Beaumont, would have had the distinction enjoyed by Spindletop today.
Rice farming was the main occupation of the few settlers in the Groves area around the early 1900's. In 1919, Wiley Choate, then employed by Griffin Brothers Nursery, supervised the planting of 6,000 pecan trees that have made Groves one the most beautiful communities in this area.
Several years later the land was sold to a Madison, Wisconsin real estate syndicate which developed it into a residential subdivision. Asa B. Groves, representative of the syndicate, was the man for whom Groves was named.

In 1929, the first elementary school was opened. Today there are two elementary schools, a middle school, and one junior high school. Groves is a part of both the Port Neches and Port Arthur Independent School Districts. The Groves Public Library has been in operation since 1930.

The Post Office was established in 1927. The first store was built in the 6100 block of Jefferson in 1920. The Lions Club, Chamber of Commerce, Volunteer Fire Department, and other groups were organized in the early 1940's. Also, on September 28, 1940, the City ushered in the modern convenience of running water with its initial $180,000 water system. There was even a festival to celebrate access to treated water.

The power to annex adjacent territory without its consent was not granted to Groves by its citizens until the charter change election of November 7, 1961. By that time, however, nearly all the land which surrounds the original Groves city limits had been annexed by Port Arthur or Port Neches. Thus Groves' boundaries and physical size are fixed.

Pecan trees have made Groves one the most beautiful communities in the area.
City of Groves

Copyright © 2003 City of Groves, Groves, TX