Decker Drive by: Sean Dow

            Decker Dr. has been a significant part of Baytown ever since its humble beginning. It is one of the main arteries of Baytown's road system. The road begins coming right off of Interstate- 10 running adjacent to Spur-330. If you take the highway to Lee College, you most likely exit on to Decker Dr. The first thing you will probably notice is that there is a vast majority of fast food restaurants all along Decker Dr. Many people think this is because of the working force that resides in Baytown, the restaurants make it a quick and easy pit stop for the working blue collar people in the area to stop and grub. Although there was not always the fast food restaurants, grocery stores, and booming businesses around the area that there are now.

             It all started when the demand for oil and rubber boomed during the beginning of world war two. Before that point it was just a little small town with mom and pa stores here and there. It was probably what most towns looked like in Texas pre-world war two. One of the largest oil refineries in the nation was built in Baytown at the time. Following the completion of the refinery, Decker Dr. saw a mass influx of population and business start flowing in to Baytown. Over the next 50 years after World War Two, the population of Baytown boomed from 20,000 to 70,000. That is an amazing 1,000 people moving to Baytown  every year.

            I am not exactly sure of the exact age of Decker Dr. It seems that not many people in the area or online care all too much about the road. But considering its location I think it is one of the most important roads in Baytown. Also, considering its location, I assume it has been there for quite some time. It has to have been for the mass amount of construction, populating, and growing the area has gone through in the past 50 to 60 years.  
If you drive to Lee College from the Highlands, Crosby, Huffman, or any other town in that direction you most likely take the highway and exit on to Decker Dr. Though it is not just any exit, it is a doorway that leads to higher education, job opportunities, and an ever expanding town that is always inviting new visitors.  At first when I would drive to school I did not really think much of Decker Dr., but now I think of it more than just an exit I get off of to go to school. I think of it as a road that people take advantage of to commute to work, expand their education at Lee College, or just so happen travel to get somewhere out of Baytown or the Lee College area.

            Before you exit on to Decker Dr. you will notice one of the biggest Exxon Mobil plants in the world on your right. This plant has so many employees that when the majority of them are getting off, there has to be a traffic guard to direct the mass of traffic all trying to leave at the same time. I always day dream about my career I will most likely have in about two years or so  at a plant just like the one I pass before exiting on to Decker Dr. There are numerous other large manufacturing plants and buildings in the area that make Decker Dr. a main artery in the cardiovascular system of Baytown.

            Once entering Baytown or the Lee College area off of Decker Dr there is an almost uncountable number of fast food restaurants. From speaking to a few fellow Baytown citizens, I learned that some people like to call it the fresh fried freeway. Although the area is not too nice and fast food is not all too good for you, I still think it is a good representation of the fast pace working class that dwells in this manufacturing valley. I will forever remember exiting on Decker Dr on my way to Lee College.