Port Freeport (formally Brazos Harbor Navigation District of Brazoria County) is the geographically smallest deep-water seaport along the U.S Gulf Coast.

This section covers the early history of the Brazos River from the time Texas was founded until the current entity was formed in 1925.

[3] The United States Army Corps of Engineers proposed spending $40,000 to remove the sand bar and add palmetto pilings.

However, later that year, the Corps amended their proposal to build two parallel jetties of brush, stone and concrete instead of piles at an estimated cost of $522,890.

Spring floods impacted the river causing silting near the mouth so there was a continual need for dredging to keep commerce viable.

Another major feature of the Brazos River is that it empties directly into the Gulf of Mexico without crossing a bay or estuary.

Port Freeport is a taxing authority with the power to issue bonds “for improving the inland and coastal waters, and for the preservation and conservation of inland and coastal waters  for navigation … and that all property, real and personal, situated within the district and subject to taxation will be benefitted by the improvements to be constructed by the District” (Section 59, Article 16, Texas Constitution)  The port collects taxes for two purposes, to develop and improve waterways and facilities, and to maintain said waterways and [public] facilities.

(Freeport Facts, 1949) This bond was matched by the federal government which directed the Corps of Engineers to begin a project to protect the harbor by diverting the mouth of the Brazos River over five miles from the existing rock jetties.

The first notable project of the Navigation District was the relocation of the Brazos River which was completed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to control flooding in the town of Velasco and Freeport and provide a protected harbor for the fledgling shipping industry that supported sulfur mining in the area.

Almost all the dirt work was done by mule powered equipment, as the diversion channel was dug in dry ground before being opened to the river water.

One of the results of this project was the Highway 36 bridge leading into Freeport being built over dry ground then having the channel dug under it.

This provided a more stable channel for ships calling on Port Freeport which primarily carried sulfur, crude oil for the inland refineries, and the new chemical market that developed during World War II.

In the early 1950s a public dry cargo terminal was built and operated by the Brazos River Navigation District of Brazoria County.

This has evolved into the current facility located in the city of Freeport which houses various tenants such as American Rice, Dole, Chiquita and Horizon Terminals as well as a dozen stevedoring companies.

Port Freeport (AKA Brazos Harbor Navigation District) was originally structured with only three elected commissioners.

This structure remained in place from 1925 to about 1960 when port officials petitioned the state legislature to increase the number of commissioners to six.

Publicly owned and operated deep-draft warehousing and terminal facilities for general cargo are located in the Brazos Harbor Turning Basin.

Typically, large scale infrastructures and public investments have their value measured by their effect on commerce, employment, or incomes, and is referred to as economic impact.

Every few years Port Freeport commissions a study to value the economic impact on the community as a part of evaluating the performance of the organization.

Supplemental to the local and state impacts, researchers also estimate Port Freeport contributes about $149 Billion to the national economy.

Freeport, Texas had everything a chemical company could want - seawater rich in magnesium and bromine, a proximity to natural gas reserves and salt domes, a large harbor and good weather.

Dow was a major military contractor during WWII with their magnesium extraction process perfected just months prior to the Japanese attack on Peal Harbor.

[citation needed] In 1953, the Port Authority passed a bond to build public docks and warehouses in order to handle bulk and dry goods.

Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) formed in 1975 as defense against oil shortages and resulting economic hardships for the country.

The SPR site located on the Brazos River Diversion Channel south of Freeport is the largest of these facilities in the United States with a capacity exceeding 40 Million barrels.

In the early 2010s, Freeport LNG switched their market focus to build export capacity, which led to major investments in their facility.

[6] On June 8, 2022, a fire and explosion occurred as a result of a pipeline rupture, taking the LNG terminal fully offline.