Baytown

It’s not really the place to visit, unless you enjoy visiting a city of chemical plants. I spent the past month in Baytown and what I love most about it is the people. If you’re not there for a reason, like visiting people, then it’s not really worth just stopping to see the sights.

Do not waste your time visiting the suburbs of Houston. You will only be disappointed.

baytown is nothing but a chemical city. it has exxon in it and the air always stinks. take if from someone who has lived there pretty much all her life. every since i was about 7. now i live in houston…which isnt all that exciting either but alot more things to do then in baytown. the only good thing about baytown is my friends. but i wouldnt have them if i wasnt forced to live there. the end.

It’s a small town…they’re just getting their first Best Buy, and only have one Target…but it’s real close to Houston. My bestfriend lives there, so I enjoy it :O)
—Tracy

Baytown is a city located approximately 25 miles east of Houston, Texas, in Harris County. (It actually straddles Harris and Chambers counties). Its estimated population, in 2003, was 67,251. Located on Galveston Bay, Baytown lies alongside the Houston Ship Channel. The city was formed when the former communities of Goose Creek and Pelly merged, which accounts for the existence of three Main Streets.

In 1916, Oil was discovered near here. Thus, the community developed around the Humble Oil Refinery, which is now known as ExxonMobil, one of the largest Oil and Petro-Chemical companies in the USA.

With an incredibly low crime rate, the number of violent crimes recorded by the FBI in 2003 was 264. The number of murders and homicides was 5.

In 1968, Baytown was the location of the movie “Hellfighters”, starring John Wayne. This movie was about Chance Buckman, played by Wayne, who was the CEO of a company that fights fires. Oil well fires that is. The action is plenty and the story entertaining. The women in this movie were there as the faithful ladies, whose husbands battle the flaming liquid from the bowels of the earth. No film had been made about oil well fire fighters, so this made it an original.

In 1998, Baytown was the location of the movie “Rushmore”, starring Bill Murray. This movie was about Max Fischer, a precocious 15-year-old whose reason for living is his attendance at Rushmore, a private school where he’s not doing well in any of his classes, but where he’s the king of extracurricular activities – from being in the beekeeping society to writing and producing plays, there’s very little after school he doesn’t do. His life begins to change, however, when he finds out he’s on academic probation, and when he stumbles into love with Miss Cross, a pretty teacher of the elementary school at Rushmore. Added to the mix is his friendship with Herman Blume, wealthy industrialist and father to boys who attend the school, and who also finds himself attracted to Miss Cross. Max’s fate becomes inextricably tied to this odd love triangle, and how he sets about resolving it is the story in the film.

Baytown was also once the home of Renée Zellweger, who was born in Katy, Texas. Renée got interested in acting in high school while working on the drama club. She also took an acting class at the University of Texas (Austin), where she began looking towards acting as a career. After graduation, she wanted to continue acting, but Hollywood is a tough town to break into, so Renée decided to stay in Texas, and auditioned for roles around Houston, where she managed to grab roles in such films as “Reality Bites” (1994) and “Empire Records” (1995).

She then took a role in the sequel “The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (1994), where she met fellow-Texan, Matthew McConaughey, another Hollywood up-and-comer. He was working on a project at the time that Renée was interested in, auditioned for, and won the role in the film “Love and a .45” (1994), which earned her enough critical praise that she decided to move to Los Angeles. Another role in “The Whole Wide World” (1996) followed which led to her big break. Cameron Crowe was busy casting his next film, “Jerry Maguire” (1996), starring Tom Cruise. Crowe was considering such actresses as Cameron Diaz, Bridget Fonda, Winona Ryder, and Marisa Tomei, when he heard of Zellweger’s performance in “The Whole Wide World” (1996). He auditioned Zellweger and was sure he’d found his Dorothy Boyd. The rest, they say, is Hollywood history!