NEW CONSTRUCTION AT HUMBLE OIL & REFINING COMPANY’S BAYTOWN REFINERY FAMED TURNING BASIN OF THE PORT OF HOUSTON This aerial view shows the skyscrapers of the CHy of Houston ~n the background WE OFFER YOU: Port of Houston Offices Are as Near as Your Telephone! ¯ Southwest’s best inland transportation network NEW YORK CITY HOUSTON KANSAS CITY JOHN A. LALA NICHOLAS PATTON CHARLES A. BARROWS ¯ Six trunk-line railroads Room 442, 25 Broadway General Sales Manager Board of Trade Building ¯ 35 commoncarrier truck lines Telephone 1519 Capitol Ave. Te!ephone Victor 2-5732 BOwling Green 9-7747 P.O. Box 2562 ¯ 119 steamship services Telephone CA 5-0671 ¯ 28 barge lines; 90 tanker lines e Marginal tracks at shipside CHICAGOHUMEHENDERSON DALLAS~OHNR.WEILER ¯ Heavy lift equipment ~,i Board of Trade Building 616 Gibraltar Life Building ¯ Prompt, efficient service Telephone WEbster 9-6228 TelephoneRI .... ide 1-6894 Always Specify, via tl~PoRt oF Housto. Executive Offices: 1519 Capi al Avenue, Telephone CA 5-0671r P. O. Box 2562, Houston 1, Texas PORT OF HOUSTON MAGAZINE 2 \ \ If you have shipping that needs fast, economical loading or un- loading facilities, you’ll save time and money by using Manchester Terminal. Here it is easy for ships, trucks and rail cars to load and unload cargo with no delay. Complete modern plant ¯ Concrete wharves ¯ Two-story transit sheds ¯ High-density cotton compresses ¯ Automatic sprinkler system ¯ Large outdoor storage area ¯ Rapid truck loading and unloading ¯ Modern handling methods and equipment For complete cargo handling service, use Manchester Terminal. Manchester Terminal Corporation P. O. Box 2576 General Office: CA 7-3296 Houston 1, Texas Wharf Office: WA6-9631 SEPTEMBER,1959 SHIPSUPPLIES ~11 of your shipboard requirements are imme- diately available from Texas Marine & Indus- trial Supply Co. Special departments for steward sundries, deck and engine, fire pro- tection, electrical and food guaranteesfilling your needswith one call. i TOKEEP IT TURNING LONGER... FOR LESS To keep pace with the rapid advances in marine propulsion units, Sinclair Research is constantly exploring new ways to improve fuels and lubricants. The result is a great line of Sinclair Marine Products you can rely on to keep your wheel turning at highest efficiency and lowest cost. Such products as Sinclair Diesel Fuels and Sinclair Lubricants RUBILENE® and TENOL® have made Sinclair a great It will pay you to contact your local Sinclair Representative or write Sinclair Refining Company, Marine Sales Dept., 600 Fifth Avenue, New York 20, N.Y. name in marine oils. SmclmrMorine Lubricnnrs PORT OF HOUSTON MAGAZINE (_ Official Publication of the Harris County Houston Ship Channel Navigation District Volume 1 Number 9 SEPTEMBER, 1959 Directory Of Officials FOR THE Ship Channel Attracted Giant Humble Company .......... 7 Port of Houston Port’s Report on Progress ..................................... 9 PORTCOMMISSIONERS HOWARDTELLEPSEN, Chairman 1958 Tonnage Set Record ............................... 11 W. N. BLANTON,Vice Chairman JOHN G. TURNEY R. VERNON WHITESIDE Largest Ship Calls at Houston ............................... 11 J. P. HAMBLEN EXECUTIVEDEPARTMENT New Terminal Office Opened .................................. 13 J. P. TURNER, General Manager VERNON BAILEY, Assistant General Manager J. L. LOCKETT, JR., Counsel Four Japanese Firms Locate Here ................................. 15 SAMUEL B. BRUCE, Auditor EDITH HANNER, Executive Assistant NORMANE. HUENI, Chie/Engineer Women’s Traffic Club Meets on Ship ............................ 17 ROBERTW. ROBINSON,Business OHice Manager T. E. WHATLEY, Administrative Assistant VINCENT D. WILLIAMS, Administrative Assistant Bureau Aids Port Customers ..................................... 19 PUBLICRELATIONS DEPARTMENT Port of Houston Shipping Directory .............................. 23 LLOYDGREGORY, Director o/ln/ormation ’rED SUMERLIN, Editor o/Magazine VAUGltN M. BRYANT, Director o/ Sailing Schedule ............................................. International Relations 24 SALESDEPARTMENT GEORGFW. ALTVATER,General Sales Manager JOHNA. LALA,District Sales Manager THE COVER 25 Broadway, New York, N. Y. HUMEHENDERSON, District Sales Manager One of the greatest industrial complexes in the United States is located Board of Trade Building, Chicago, Ill. along the Houston Ship Channel. And one of the greatest industries of this CHARLES A. BARROWS, District Sales Manager complex is the Humble Oil & Refining Company’s huge plant at Baytown so Board of Trade Building, Kansas City, Mo. it is appropriate that we salute this outstanding company in the first of a JOHNR. WEILER, District Sales Manager series of articles about Ship Channel industries. It is also appropriate to show 1519 Capitol, Houston new construction, because there is always something new going on at Humble. OPERATIONSDEPARTMENT W. F. LAND,Terminal Manager T. H. SHERWOOD,Manager o~ Grain Elevator D. M. FRAZIOR,Maintenance Manager THE PORT OF HOUSTON Magazine is pub- mission is given for the reproduction or use lished monthly and distributed free to mari- of any material, provided credit is given to the time, industrial and transportation interests in Port of Houston. EXECUTIVEOFFICES the United States and foreign countries. Its purpose is to inform shippers and others inter- Additional information or extra copies of 1519 Capitol Avenue at Crawford Street ested in the Port of Houston of its develop- this magazine may be obtained by writing the Telephone CApitol 5-0671 ment, facilities, plans and accomplishments. office of publication, The Port of Houston, P. O. Box 2562, Houston 1, Texas This publication is not copyrighted and per- Post Office Box 2562, Houston 1, Texas. SEPTEMBER, 1959 5 RoyalNetherlands Steamship Company The 25 Broadway, New York 4, N. Y. BANKLINE Ltd. RegularSailings [rom Regular Service from Mobile, Houstonand NewOrleans U. S. Gulf Ports to WEEKLY Australia to La Guaira, Pto. Cabello, Guantaand Trinidad and Separate WEEKLY Sailings NewZealand To MARACAIBOand CURACAO ¯ Brisbane a Melbourne EVERY TWO WEEKS ¯ Auckland To Aruba, Pto. Sucre, Carupano, ¯ Lyttleton Georgetownand Paramaribo ¯ Sydney ¯ Adelaide ¯ Wellington ¯ Dunedin n n u General Agents BOYD, WEIR and SEWELL,Inc. Agents New York STRACHAN SHIPPING COMPANY Gulf Agents New Orleans--Houston--Mobile--Chicago--St. Louis STRACHAN Cinci n nati--Dallas--Ka nsas City--Memphis--Aft a nta SHIPPING CO. Houston- Galveston- Mobile Memphis- NewOrleans - Dallas FUNCH, EDYE & CO., INC. Chicago- Atlanta- St. Louis NewYork-- Detroit KansasCity - Cincinnati PORTOF HOUSTONMAGAZINE SHIP CHANNEL ATTRACTEDGIANT HUMBLECOMPANY IFIRST OF A SERIES SALUTING INDUS- TRIES AT THE PORT OF HOUSTON I BUSYSCENE at Humble’s Baytownrefinery docks shows No. 1 dockin foreground.Houston Ship Channel curves out of left of picture. HUMBLEOIL & REFINING Company’s Baytown refinery, 30 miles from Houston on the Ship Channel at Mitchell Bay, covers approximately 3,000 acres. Its southeast portion in- cludes Blackwell Peninsula between Black Duck Bay and the Ship Channel. The first tract of land, comprising approximately 2,200 acres adjacent to the Houston Ship Channel, was chosen for its tidewater advantages. Construction was begun in 1919 on a refinery to process grade "A" coastal crude for the produc- tion of lubricating oils. Loading docks on the channel, and a housing section for employees were begun at the same time. In the meantime, men lived in tents, ate in mess halls and workedin the low-lying, rice-field land turned into a sea of mudby incessant rains. OnMay 11, 1920, the first oil was charged to stills. Formal completion was celebrated on April 21, 1921. Even before the plant was placed in operation, however, Baytownrefinery underwent considerable change in original plans. This pattern of improvement, and expansion, has been carried on by Humblefrom that time to the present. Today, HEARTOF Baytown refinery operating section showsthree catalytic with a crude oil charging capacity of 282,000 barrels a day, crackingunits amidstother processingplants. No.3 Cat Crackerat left Baytownrefinery is one of the nation’s largest and most effi- is Humble’snewest cracking plant. No. 1 is in the center, andNo. 2 at cient refineries. extremeright. By the fall of 1919. for example, in response to growing demandsfor gasoline, Humbleadded 16 pressure stills to re- plant to a complete, well-rounded refinery emphasizing motor fining equipmentoriginally planned. fuels. Addition of pressure stills, to crack gas oil for the produc- In 1923, the Baytown refinery was still producing more tion of gasoline, was not the only major change in Humble’s lubricating oils than anything else. However, by 1925 the initial plans for its new refinery. So manystills and other value of its motor fuels outstripped that of lube oils, refined units (not called for in original plans) were added that the oils, and fuel oils combined,and the refinery’s rated capacity refinery, originally estimated to cost $1 million or $U/2 mil- was 50,000 barrels a day. lion, actually cost $10 million. But along with this camean Following its early-established pattern of expansion and increase in capacity up to 10,000 barrels a day. improvement, Humbleset up a refining research organization Early difficulties in use of equipment and refining tech- in 1924 at Baytownrefinery for the primary purpose of im- niques-had scarcely been overcome before Baytown under- proving quality of lubricating oils as well as other products. went further expansion. In 1922, ten