The first chamber board of directors met on February 6, 1959 in the Bridge City High School cafeteria. Dues were set at $36.00 per year for the first 33 members and board meetings were set on the third Monday of each month. Eshbach served as president and Bryan Forney, vice president; M.Q. (Nick) Nichols was elected 2nd vice president, Marjorie Fields, secretary and Kelly Littlepage, Nolton Brown and Joe Schumacher were directors. One of the first items of business for the newly formed chamber was to formulate a countywide road and drainage district. Other early issues were dealing with the threat of annexation and whether or not the city should incorporate.
By the fourth Chamber meeting in 1959 the membership had grown to 78. The chamber had adopted a slogan "Bridge City is the Hub of the Golden Triangle." The Bridge City Chamber of Commerce incorporated July 16, 1972.
Businesses listed in the first business directory printed by the Chamber of Commerce in 1960 were:
East Texas Neon & Gulf Termite Co.
A.P. DeRoche Air Conditioning
Little Refrigeration Service
L.J. Riley Sale & Service
Lawson’s Automotive Supply
Earl’s Body Shop
Bridge City Barber Shop
LeBlanc Barber Shop
Maund Barber Shop
Modern Barber Shop
Agnes Cayten Beauty Shop #2
Bernice’s Beauty Shop
Clara’s Beauty Shop
Kay’s Beauty Shop
Moreau’s Beauty Shop
Sunny Side Beauty Shop
Valerie’s Beauty Shop
J.P. LeBlanc Bookkeeping & Tax Service
Jess R. Thames Bookkeeping & Tax Service
Adair’s Lumber Supply
Austin Floyd Building Supplies
Caldwell Lumber Co.
Edgerly’s Building Supply
Field’s Lumber Co.
Hopper’s Lumber & Supply Co.
Hillcrest Memorial Gardens
Kiddie Kottage & Gift Shop
Assembly of God Church
Bible Missionary Church
BMA Church
Bridge City Baptist Church
Bridge City Christian Church
Calvary Baptist Church
Church of Christ
Full Gospel Church
Harmony Baptist Church
Lutheran Church
Nazarene Church
St. Henry Catholic Church
St. Paul’s Methodist Church
Winfree Baptist Church
Bridge City Cleaners
B.O. Sparkle’s Club
W.L. Cayten Building Contractor
H.K. Clark Building Contractor
Forney Construction Co.
H.R. Bean Cement Contractor
J.H. Meehan Cement Contractor
Rodd R. Roberts Electric Contractor
Keown Construction & Supply Co.
Vincent Contracting Co.
Justice of the Peace Pct. #3 J.H. Toups
Retail Merchants Association Credit Bureau
Oak Farms Dairies
Benny Fontana, Dentist
Joe Majors, Dentist
Allen’s Department Store, Inc.
Old Colonial Donuts
King’s Pharmacy
Nick’s Pharmacy
Stevenson’s Home Supply Electrical Supplies
Bee Bee’s Fabric Shop
Jackson Feed Store
Tweedel Feed & Supply
Gulf Coast Fence Co.
T & T Fence Co.
Fred Bailey’s Fish Camp
Joe Bailey’s Fish Camp
Rob Bailey’s Fish Camp
LeBlanc Fish Camp
Wayside Florist
White’s Florist
Castellaw’s Garage
Ross’ Garage
Whiteside Garage
Winton Automatic Gas Co.
Cardinal Drive Inn Grocery
Carter Food Store
Howard’s Food Store
Orangefield Grocery & Market
Pic-em Pac-um
Reddin’s Grocery
Sak-N-Pack
S&W Grocery
Texas Avenue Grocery & Market
Robert’s Hardware & Sporting Goods
Bridge City Insurance Agency
Lieby Insurance Agency
Schumacher Insurance Agency
Jackson’s Junk & Wrecking
Town & Country Dress Shop
Midway Package Store
Prince Package Liquors
Hudson’s Machine Shop & Auto Repair
Crumpler’s Machine Shop & Welding Service
Ace Trailer Sale
Martin’s Trailer Court
Rainbow Trailer Courts
Rose’s Park & Apartments
Shady Drive Trailer Courts
Town & Country Trailer Courts
Midway Motel
Bi City Banner Newspaper
Gifford’s Nursery
Plunk’s Studio
J.E. Barnett, D.O.
Victor D. Watson, MD
David Campbell Piano Repairs
Roy Crim Plowing and Disking
Roy Hatton Plowing and Disking
G. A. (Ham) Laughlin Plumber
Rapasky’s Plumbing
Better Homes Realty
N.A. Dugas Realty
D.C. (Kelly) Littlepage Real Estate
C.G. Parker Realty
Pulliam & Forse Real Estate
Buccaneer Cafe
Dip-O Drive Inn
French view Cafe
Hardy’s Cafe
Orangefield Skating Rink & Cafe
Ranch House Cafe
Tenney’s Drive Inn
Tiny Diny Drive Inn
Wayside Inn
Bridge City High School
Orangefield High School
Brown’s Gulf Service Station
Dupuis Gulf Service Station
Elam’s Service Station
G&W Service Station
Guidry’s Texaco Station
Head’s Sinclair Station
Linder’s Texaco Station
Webb’s Texaco Station
Well’s Service Station
Harms Shell Co., Inc.
Keown Supply Shell Co.
Ada’s Shoe Store
Southwestern Bell Telephone Exchange
Harvey Brothers TV Repair
McCroskey’s TV Repair
McKenzie’s TV Repair
M&M TV Shop
Land’s Upholstery Shop
Wallace Upholstery Shop
Gulf States Utilities Co.
United Gas Company
E-Z Washateria
Laundromat
W.M. Bell Welding Service
E.C. Reynolds Welding
Underwood’s Welding Shop
Past presidents of the Bridge City Chamber of Commerce include:
Jay Eshbach 1959
M.Q. (Nick) Nichols 1960
Bob Edgerly 1961
B. J. Fields 1962
John Saint 1963
J. B. Scales 1964
Howard Morse 1965
Nolton Brown 1966
A. A. (Jimmy) Segura 1967
Fred Gregory 1968
C.W.(Bubba)Hubbard 1969
H. D. Pate 1970
Don Cole 1971
Mrs. B. J.Fields 1972
Jerry Meeks 1973
Jimmie D. Hanson 1974
Dr. David Olson 1975
Tim Lieby 1976
Dr. Mark Messer 1977
J.R. Wilson 1978
Bill Nickum 1979
Dr. Albert Pugh 1980
Cecil R. Brown, Sr. 1981
Jerry Davidson 1982
Tom B. Perry, Sr. 1983
C.R. Nash 1984
C.R. Nash 1985
Pat Lancaster 1986
Neil Bond 1987
Jimmy Smith 1988
John Scales 1989
Choc Lemmond 1990
Jeff Anderson 1991
Christy Scales
Gonzales 1992
Marti Eveleigh 1993
Charlie Waldron 1994
Christy Scales
Gonzales 1995
Dr. Fred Zoch 1996
Thad Angelle 1997
Kirk Ellender 1998
Marialeice Saucier 1999
Harold Trantham 2000
Beverly Perry 2001
Don Fields 2002
Lou Raburn 2003
Jim Larkin 2004
In the late 1940s Bonnie Jean Bland of Bridge City was crowned Miss Texas. She was the daughter of Henry Bland who lived on FM 408.
The chamber and city jointly adopted a new slogan "The Home of Friendly People on the Grow" in 1970. By 1995 both the chamber and city adopted another updated slogan "Bridge City... Building Bridges Together" after a suggestion by Ralph McBride, a chamber director, was made and agreed upon at a chamber of commerce board meeting.
Beginning in 1970 the Chamber of Commerce began selecting a citizen of the year. They are:
C. W. (Bubba) Hubbard 1970
Albert Gore 1971
Glenn Pearson 1972
Gus Garza 1973
Preston (Red)Wood 1974
George Besse 1975
Bobby Smitherman 1976
Don Burgess & HD Pate 1977
Judy Wyatt 1978
C.R. Nash 1979
Don Cole 1980
Annette Barber 1981
B.C. Volunteer Fire Dept. 1982
Shannon Messer 1983
Randy Arnaud 1984
Tom B. Perry, Sr. 1985
Neil Bond 1986
BCISD Trustees 1987
Jimmy Smith 1988
City of Bridge City
Beautification Committee 1989
Johnny Scales 1990
Constable John Ford 1991
Dr. Albert Pugh 1992
Jeanne Blacksher 1993
Rev. Terry Wright 1994
Beverly Perry 1995
William Smith 1996
Terry Stuebing 1997
Charlie Waldron 1998
Dr. & Marla Zoch 1999
Bill Nickum 2000
Lou Raburn 2001
Marialeice Saucier 2002
Shirley Cullum and Elaine Stone
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