Port Lavaca

Seat of Calhoun County, southern Texas, USA, on the southern side of Lavaca Bay, 174 km/108 mi southwest of Houston; population (1990) 10,900. Offshore gas and oil wells and commercial fishing are central to its economy. Seafood, particularly shrimps and oysters, is processed and marketed. In the 1960s a huge Alcoa bauxite plant opened in Point Comfort to the north, enlarging the area's economic base. Tourist attractions include sea angling, duck hunting, and beaches. Port Lavaca was established in 1840.

The previous settlement, Linnfield, was burned by Comanches, and Port Lavaca took its name from an earlier Spanish town of 1815, and the Lavaca River, located north across the bay. The French explorer Robert de la Salle landed at Indianola, 19 km/12 mi to the southeast, in 1685. Before hurricanes wrecked it in 1875 and 1886, Indianola was a major southern Texas port; it is now a ghost town and tourist venue.