Orange County, Texas Attractions

Located right on Interstate 10 at the Texas-Louisiana border, Orange is the cultural mix of cowboys and Cajuns. A wonderful variety of attractions, exciting and beautiful, adorn our lovely town. You will find Orange to be the "The Sweetest Taste of Texas Any Way You Slice It!"

For Information Call, Write or Email:

Orange Convention & Visitors Bureau
803 Green Avenue · P.O. box 520
Orange, Texas 77631-0520

409-883-1011
1-800-528-4906
FAX 409-988-7321

cvb@orangetexas.net

USS Orleck
Gearing Class Destroyer

NOT ACCESSIBLE due to damage from Hurricane Rita

The USS ORLECK was built in Orange, Texas, in 1945 by Consolidated Steel Corp. The 390-foot Gearing Class destroyer served in Korea, Vietnam and the Gulf War. She was transferred to the Turkish Navy in 1982 and renamed the TCG YUCETEPE. She remained in service for Turkey until 1998. The next year, the Turkish Navy donated the ship to the Southeast Texas War Memorial and Heritage Foundation for use as a museum.

The ORLECK was towed back from Turkey by the Ukranian tug AKHTIAR. The ships began their 7,000-mile journey on June 16, 2000, and reached Orange on Aug. 11, 2000. The destroyer is now in the process of restoration. At this time, visitors can tour her outside decks only. Admission fee.

Tour Information:

Tours are normally conducted on Saturdays and Sundays
between the hours of 10am - 5pm Saturday and 1 - 5pm Sunday.
Please call to insure a Tour Director for your group.
(409) 886-8868 or (409) 313-6123
Admission fee.

Frances Ann Lutcher Theater
for the Performing Arts

707 W. Main

Operated by Lutcher Theater, Inc., a non-profit organization, this magnificent 1,500 seat facility is a central part of the Orange Civic Plaza. Since its opening with Liberace in February, 1980, the theater has hosted only the finest in big name entertainment.

It serves as a showplace for all the performing arts, ranging from traveling Broadway plays to musical groups to one-man acts. The theater is also the location for the annual season of the Orange Community Concert Association's productions. Other community groups rent the theater for cultural and entertainment activities.

The Stark Museum of Art

700 W. Green

[ www.starkmuseum.org ]

Built by the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation, this two-story building houses a most valuable and extensive collection of American Western art and artifacts. The original "Birds of America" by John J. Audubon, sketches done by Paul Kane as he traveled the West during the 1840s, bronze sculptures by Remington and Russell and paintings by Twentieth century artists of Taos, New Mexico, are only a small sample of treasures awaiting your visit. Other major exhibits include "The America Birds of Dorothy Doughty," and the only complete set of The United States in Crystal, a series of Steuben glass bowls.

Free admission - Bus parking

Guided tours for groups available by appointment.

409-883-6661

10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday

Closed Sunday and Monday, New Year's Day, Easter, July 4th, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The W. H. Stark House

610 W. Main

[ www.whstarkhouse.org ]

Designated as a Texas Historic Landmark, this 1894 Victorian home, complete with original furnishings, is entered in the National Register of Historic Places. The 15-room, three-story structure with its many gables, galleries and distinctive windowed turret, shows the influence of several architectural styles. While most of the lumber was of local manufacture, the beautiful leaded glass, most fixtures and hardware were imported. The period furniture and other interior furnishings are original, characteristic of the era of this fine estate.

Admission Fee - Reservations are required
Adults - $5.00, Students ages 10 and older $2.00 and Seniors 65+ - $2.00
Admission is limited to adults and children age 10 and older accompanied by an adult.

Guided Tours - Bus Parking

409-883-0871

10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday

Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center

P.O. Box 1044
Orange, Texas

(409) 670-9113

[ www.shangilagardens.org ]

Shangri La Botanical Gardens will display the great diversity of plants found throughout the world. Nine garden rooms along with 4 sculpture rooms will allow visitors the opportunity to see more than 300 species of plants.

Opening has been delayed until 2008,
call 409-670-9113 for details.

The Brown Center at Lamar University

4205 Park Avenue

Built in 1956, this replica of a late 1700s antebellum Mississippi plantation is located on 62 beautifully landscaped acres. In 1976, a portion of the estate of the late Edgar W. Brown, Jr. was donated to the Lamar University Foundation. The home now serves as an educational and cultural center, providing a suitable environment for public service programs, conferences and seminars which benefit the people of Southeast Texas.

For a true tour through the Old South, call

409-883-2939 for a group reservation.

Orange County Mardi Gras Festival

February

[ www.goacc.org ]

(409) 883-3536

The Heritage House Museum

905 W. Division

[ www.heritagehouseoforange.org ]

Listed in the National Register of Historic Places and designated as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, this authentic turn-of-the-century middle class home presents unique rotation exhibits of early Texas history. Numerous furnishing and artifacts from that era are displayed.

The Heritage History Museum of Orange County

Adjacent to the Heritage House, the new museum tells the story of Orange County history through pictures and artifacts. It will preserve and exhibit the past with tales of filibusters and financiers, pioneers and power brokers, and the ordinary citizens who made Orange County what it is. It has been designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark.

Admission Fee charged for each museum

Museum and Gift Shop: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday

Weekends by appointment

Closed Monday, Saturday and major holidays

409-886-5385

First Presbyterian Church

902 W. Green

This impressive structure, recently added to the National Register of Historic Places, is an outstanding example of classic Greek Revival architecture. Completed in 1912, the First Presbyterian Church was the first air-conditioned public building west of the Mississippi River and its dome is the only opalescent glass dome in the United States.

Made of granite quarried in central Texas, the building also has structures of Italian marble and a richly ornamented interior. Its leaded art-glass windows, made by hand techniques that are no longer available, are unique and rare.

Read more of the church's history.

Heritage Veterans Memorial Plaza

3810 M. L. King Parkway

Dedicated on Memorial Day weekend 2004, the Heritage Veterans Memorial Plaza honors the veterans and active duty members of Orange County. Inscribed are the names of scores of defenders of America's freedom who served their nation in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard and Merchant Marines at home and abroad. The plaza is home to a life-size bronze sculpture, "Tears from a Grateful Heart" by Colorado artist Scott Stearman depicting a soldier kneeling before the grave of a fallen comrade. The plaza is the site of an annual tribute to Orange County veterans held on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. The plaza is open to the public at all times. The Heritage Veterans Memorial Plaza was recently voted the number one attraction for 2005 by the readers of the Orange Leader.

For more information, call (409) 883-4674. and visit the Heritage Memorial Plaza web site.

Piney Woods Country Wines

3408 Willow

A "Taste of Orange" in locally produced fruit and muscadine wines. The little country winery is nestled in the woods and vineyards. Owner-winemaker Alfred J. Flies will welcome you and offer you a taste of the delightful wines that include blackberry, strawberry, plum, pear, peach, baked peach, orange and muscadine.

Traveling East: take exit 876, off IH-10, turn back west at the bayou, and take the first right to the winery.

Traveling West: simply take exit 875 and turn right at the winery sign.

Tour information

409-883-5408

We're open for tastings and sales year-round from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Winery and Vineyard tours by appointment every day for groups of four or more - $2/person.

Sunset Grove Country Club

2900 West Sunset

Play one of only two Donald J. Ross golf courses in Texas. USGA membership required. (membership required)

Farmers' Mercantile

702 W. Division

This turn-of-the-century general store, opened in 1928, preserves an atmosphere western shoppers are sure to enjoy. One can still buy garden supplies, corn shuckers, sausage stuffers, hand churns, kerosene lamps, well buckets, livestock feed and hay. Also available are horse collars, saddles, bridles, blankets and other riding and draft horse tack and accessories.

8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday through Friday

8 a.m. - 3 p.m. Saturday

Browse at your leisure

409-883-2941

Adventures 2000plus
Swamp and River Tours

813 Lutcher Drive
(exit 878 IH 10 S. feeder road)

[ www.swampandrivertours.com ]

Fast & Quiet - See the Wildlife!
Jumping Gators · Soaring Eagles
Cannibalistic Indians · Pirates & Fighting Ships
Old Drydock Graveyard

Ellis Tate, biologist, is your guide to various boating excursions out of Blue Elbow Swamp in Orange. All trips begin through the moss draped cypress swamp. The sabine wilderness areas will entertain and amaze all age groups with its incredible scenery and the wonderment of its natural inhabitants. Our boats are comfortable and quiet to get you close up to the wildlife!

Share 90 minutes of unforgetable good times together!

Gators - Birding - Fishing - Field Trips - Safari Birthdays - Singles Outings
U.S.S. Orleck River History - Night-Time Critter Watches.

Churches - Organizations - Busses - Bikers All Welcome
Group and Senior Discounts
Covered cabanas with tables and pitts available for cookouts or picnics
(convertible top for all weather trips)
409-988-9342 (se habla Español)
409-883-0856 Fax

etate@swampandrivertours.com Email

tours@swampandrivertours.com Email

Area and regional artists gather in Stark Park to display, demonstrate and sell their artwork. Listen to light Jazz and Blues music as you stroll through the park. Kid's Alley will have hands-on activities for all the children. A fun day in Downtown Orange for everyone.

Southern Professional Outboard Racing Tour

September 22 & 23, 2007

Speedboat racing at its best.
Championship boat racing ending 2007 series. Three boat classes.
Contact for info: 409-883-1011 or 800-528-4906

"The Sweetest Taste of Texas Any Way You Slice It!"

For Information Call, Write or Email:

USS Orleck
Gearing Class Destroyer

NOT ACCESSIBLE due to damage from Hurricane Rita