Gladys

Gladys, also known as Gladys City, was on the Southern Pacific line three miles south of Beaumont in east central Jefferson County. Pattillo Higgins, the site's promoter, named it after Gladys Bingham, a young resident of Beaumont. In 1892 Higgins unveiled ambitious plans for an industrial and residential complex that was to be part of the Gladys City Oil, Gas, and Manufacturing Company, south of Beaumont. Although he already had a rough plat outline, Higgins's dream of establishing a major manufacturing center at Gladys City never came to fruition. The little community was overrun by eager wildcatters and roughnecks in the wake of the discovery of the adjacent Spindletop oilfield in 1901. The Gladys railroad stop was apparently replaced by that of nearby Guffey soon after the Spindletop boom. Tank farms and oil wells now mark the unrealized community. A replica of the old town, however, was built in 1976 through the combined efforts of the Lucas Gusher Monument Association, the Heritage Committee, the Southeast Texas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, and Lamar University. The restoration project, at a site on the Lamar campus at Beaumont, serves as a tourist attraction and center for festivals and historical commemorations.