Baytown, Texas is a flourishing Gulf Coast industrial city. The city of Houston is only 23 miles from Baytown, which is considered part of the Baytown-Houston-Sugar Land metropolitan area. The city is bordered by Cedar Bayou on the east and Galveston Bay on the west and south.
From 1822 onwards, some settlements were established within the region, though Baytown wasn't established officially until 1947 after an amalgamation of three area cities. The first offshore drilling operation in Texas was constructed by the Humble Oil and Refining Company in the year 1916. It was also the second to be built in the United States. The Baytown Refinery quickly became amongst Exxon's largest refineries in the globe. It presently remains the largest refinery within the nation. The Texas Works was established by United States Steel in the year 1970 but was closed several years later.
Several of the main businesses in the city of Baytown consist of chemicals, oil refinery, plastics, and rubber. While there are several big businesses within the city of Baytown, Exxon-Mobil, Bayer, Exxon Chemical, Chevron Phillips and Amoco are the leading employers.
The city of Baytown has three industrial districts, located just outside the city limits but falls inside the extra-territorial jurisdiction, which supports petroleum and petrochemical processing. ExxonMobil, Bayer, and Chevron Phillips are the centerpieces of the economy of Baytown. Of all of Bayer's U.S. chemical processing sites, the one located within Bayer Baytown Industrial Park is the biggest. Similarly, the Cedar Bayou Chemical Plant is Chevron Phillips biggest manufacturing location. The newest manufacturing location is Cedar Crossing Business Park, which has recently obtained Samson Controls, Jindal Steel and Power Limited as tenants.
There is more the city's economy then just heavy industry. Several main regional warehouses and distribution centers are located there as well, such as Walmart and Home Depot.
The top taxpayers within the city of Baytown are CenterPoint Energy, Car Son Bay LP, Camden Property Trust, Continental Airlines, LCY Elastomers LP, ExxonMobil Company, Memorial NW Pavilion Trust, Verizon Southwest, Valero marketing & Supplies and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
The city of Baytown provides many opportunities for outdoor activities, such as sailing, duck hunting, and salt and fresh water fishing. With the assistance of the Gulf winds, summertimes are enjoyably warm. They also help keep the harsh winter climate from entering the city of Baytown. The Baytown Park Marina is famous for fishing and boating, and offers a dock and a boat launch. A vast number of wildlife, birds and wild flowers could be found in the Baytown Nature Center, that is a large acreage featuring wetlands. The Evergreen Point Golf Course will please the golf enthusiasts.
A vast number of parks are littered all over the city of Baytown. The Goose Creek Stream Greenbelt has some opportunities for canoeing along with numerous walking and bicycle trails. A lighted ball field, together with nature trails and other various facilities, is offered by the Gray Sports Complex.