Built where the Port Arthur Townsite and Land Company erected the Sabine Hotel, the Jefferson County Sub-Courthouse is a compact, modernistic, three-story block flanked by two-story wings. Set in a small park studded with live oak and palm trees, the courthouse's copper roof transposes the green of surrounding vegetation skyward. The courthouse is such a serene building that it makes visitors aware of how beautiful downtown Port Arthur might be. Next door to the sub-courthouse at 400 Lakeshore Drive is the Port Arthur Municipal Building of 1970 by Moore, Stansbury and Vaught.