Port of Texas City, Texas

Located on Galveston Bay, southeast of Houston, at the edge of the massive Marathon Texas City refinery and chemical plant (formerly owned by BP), and Valero's Texas City Refinery. The port serves the regional petrochemical industry. It is a large petroleum coke terminal, and a major port for crude and refined products. Also the site of what is often called America's worst industrial accident. On April 16, 1947, a ship at the port, loaded with ammonium nitrate, caught fire and exploded, setting off a series of other explosions at the refineries. Over 560 people were killed (113 of whose remains were never found), and over 500 homes were destroyed. A two ton anchor from the ship was hurled over a mile, and stands nearby as monument to the disaster.