Bee County Historical Commission - 195 Matching Results

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Section House in Pettus

Description: Postcard of the 1886 Railroad Section House in Pettus. On May 17, 1886, the first passenger train backed into Pettus. A depot and a section house had been built; a well was dug, and a cedar tank had been erected just north of the depot, where the train got water. A section house was where the crew foreman and his family normally lived. Most meals and other get together would take place for all the railroad workers at the section house. There was usually a bunk house where the crews slept ne… more
Date: unknown
Item Type: Refine your search to only Postcard

Telephone Operator

Description: Photograph of the first telephone operator of Pettus. In the early 1900's a switchboard was installed in the Roberts Hotel in Pettus with Miss Lula Roberts as operator. Gradually nearly every home in the area had a telephone. The local switchboard was discontinued in January 1969.
Date: unknown
Item Type: Refine your search to only Photograph

Oil Tanker at the Maggie Ray McKinney Oil Well

Description: Postcard of the first Humble Oil Tanker taking out the first load of oil from the Maggie Ray McKinney oil well. On December 29, 1929 as the Houston Oil Company drilled for gas, the first oil well in Bee County was brought in on the JJ McKinney land east of Pettus. Humble Oil and Refining Company completed McKinney No. 1 Oil Well, Bee County, January 31, 1930. The discovery brought a rush of people to the community of Pettus. The discovery of oil relieved the pressure of depression. By 1937… more
Date: unknown
Item Type: Refine your search to only Postcard

Public School in Pettus

Description: Photograph of public school in Pettus. In 1892 this one-room schoolhouse, 18’ by 24’, was built in Pettus. It had two windows on the north side and two windows on the south. The boards on the inside of the east end were painted black to be used for a blackboard. The only door was to the west. The benches were home-made and the children brought their own lunches and water to drink. Miss Evelyn Hardeman was the first teacher and she had 13 students in grades first through fourth. As the com… more
Date: unknown
Item Type: Refine your search to only Photograph

Public School In Pettus

Description: Postcard of school children standing in front Pettus school. In 1892 this one-room schoolhouse, 18’ by 24’, was built in Pettus. It had two windows on the north side and two windows on the south. The boards on the inside of the east end were painted black to be used for a blackboard. The only door was to the west. The benches were home-made and the children brought their own lunches and water to drink. Miss Evelyn Hardeman was the first teacher and she had 13 students in grades first throu… more
Date: unknown
Item Type: Refine your search to only Postcard

Map of Pettus

Description: Document of a hand-drawn map showing where the first four schools in Pettus were located. The first school appears to be behind John Pettus' home, the namesake for Pettus. Aside from the Pettus homestead, the map is a bird's eye view of a grid consisting of thirty-six different blocks. The third school is in block thirty-one, the second school is in block seventeen, and the fourth school is outside of the grid, close to block fifteen. There are two thin lines that are drawn halfway down and ac… more
Date: unknown
Item Type: Refine your search to only Photograph

Jesse Jarper McKinney with Mountain Lion

Description: Photograph of Jesse Jasper McKinney standing next to a mountain lion. The back of the photo says that the mountain lion was killed out Oakville way late 1920's. On August 30, 1923, the Beeville newspaper, Bee Picayune, carried news of a panther, measuring seven feet and one inch from tip to tip. Scott Looney shot the treed cat four miles from the city limits. Looney, an experienced hunter and trapper, had killed several other cats in LaSalle County. He admitted that this cat was an unusual… more
Date: unknown
Item Type: Refine your search to only Photograph

The First Christian Church, Pettus

Description: Photograph of the First Christian Church in Pettus. On August 20, 1906, the First Christian Church was organized in Pettus with a membership of 25. The first building was completed in the summer of 1905. Before any church was built in Pettus the early settlers of the Pettus City community used the school building for religious services. In the summer time a brush arbor was erected in front of and joining the schoolhouse. Lanterns were used for light; they were hung on the arbor posts. Pall… more
Date: unknown
Item Type: Refine your search to only Photograph

Skidmore School 1916

Description: The first school in Skidmore was a three-room wooden structure and Professor L.W. Bell was the superintendent. In about 1909 the old school building was abandoned and this large two-story red brick schoolhouse was built closer to the street. The building had four wings, built in the form of a cross. This red-brick building was condemned in the late 1920’s and razed in 1929. It was replaced with a seven-classroom that had a large auditorium and library. In the 1950’s space became a problem, … more
Date: unknown
Item Type: Refine your search to only Photograph

Photographs of Skidmore

Description: Two photographs of Skidmore, Texas. The top photograph of the Skidmore Garage shows John F. Petrus standing on the right and James Galloway on the left (1922). In 1929 John F. Petrus built a large garage adjacent to the bank building and became “Mr. Fix-It”. Any job that couldn’t be done satisfactorily any place else, ended at Mr. John’s. The garage was still open in the 1970’s as the oldest business building still in use. John Ferdinand Petrus (November 30, 1893 to March 18, 1979) married … more
Date: unknown
Item Type: Refine your search to only Photograph

Skidmore Mercantile

Description: Photograph of the inside of Skidmore Mercantile. Some of the early mercantile stores in Skidmore were the Farmers Mercantile Company in Skidmore in 1912 owned by John Galloway Jr. His store included Ford cars, seeds, hardware, dry goods, ready-to-wear and a complete funeral service and could care for the needs for anyone “from the cradle to the grave”; W. R. Miller’s Dry Goods Store, where the first telephone switchboard was set up; and M.J. White Store. The devastating fires in the early 1900… more
Date: unknown
Item Type: Refine your search to only Photograph

Buying Sewing Supplies in an Early Skidmore Mercantile

Description: Photograph of women and one man in an early Skidmore Mercantile store. Some of the early mercantile stores in Skidmore were the Farmers Mercantile Company in Skidmore in 1912 owned by John Galloway Jr. His store included Ford cars, seeds, hardware, dry goods, ready-to-wear and a complete funeral service and could care for the needs for anyone “from the cradle to the grave”; W. R. Miller’s Dry Goods Store, where the first telephone switchboard was set up; and M.J. White Store. The devastating f… more
Date: unknown
Item Type: Refine your search to only Photograph

Sullivan and 4th Street in Skidmore Early 1900s

Description: Photograph of the corner of Sullivan and Fourth Street. There are stores and shops along the street, such as "Skidmore Drug Co.," "Restaurant & Baggage Room," and "W. R. Miller Co. General Merchandise." Dr. I.N. Thompson's office was located in the Elite Hotel. A devastating fire in 1919 took its toll of Skidmore. A large block of business houses burned to the ground at the time, and it is thought to have started in an empty saloon. Businesses burned in this fire were the Elite Hotel, W.R. M… more
Date: unknown
Item Type: Refine your search to only Photograph

Early Skidmore Hotel

Description: In 1890 Thomas R. Atkins started a hotel in Skidmore and for eleven months published the first newspaper, the Skidmore Pioneer. In 1894, Atkins traded his Skidmore hotel to J.K. Street for the Beeville newspaper, the Picayune. Other Skidmore hotels were the Commercial Hotel, owned by Mr. and Mrs. R.S. Summerville; the Elite, where Dr. I.N. Thompson had his office; and the Benham Hotel. As with most of the early businesses in Skidmore, they were all destroyed in one of the several fires of the … more
Date: unknown
Item Type: Refine your search to only Photograph

Downtown Skidmore 1904

Description: Photograph of early Skidmore in 1904. The Elite Hotel on the corner was where Dr. I.N. Thompson had his office. A devastating fire in 1919 took its toll of Skidmore. A large block of business houses burned to the ground at the time, and it is thought to have started in an empty saloon. Businesses burned in this fire were the Elite Hotel, W.R. Miller’s Dry Goods Store, Andy Tedford’s Saloon, Gus Staples’ Garage, Howard Faupel’s Barber Shop, M.M. White’s Store, Mrs. Murray’s Café, Midway Saloo… more
Date: unknown
Item Type: Refine your search to only Photograph

SA&AP Railroad Depot, Skidmore, Texas

Description: The building of the San Antonio & Aransas Pass Railroad through Bee County in 1886 was one of the greatest history-making events that occurred in this little pioneer section. Driving cattle to various markets was a tiring trip; cattle could now travel by rail. Frank O. Skidmore, a rancher on the Aransas Creek, gave SA&AP the right of way across his land and also donated land to develop the town site of Skidmore. To provide a rail connection with the Texas Mexican Railway, Uriah Lott, the man… more
Date: unknown
Item Type: Refine your search to only Postcard

First State Bank, Opera House and Tuell Drug Store Skidmore, Texas

Description: Photograph of First State Bank in Skidmore. In 1907 this two-story red brick building was built which housed the bank, a drug store and the Opera House. The top story featured a large stage and was used as a movie house for theatrical plays and dances. On the ground floor adjacent to the bank was a drug store which was operated for many years by Rupert Tuell. In 1929 the bank closed its doors after the Wall Street crash. The Opera house continued to be the scene of home talent plays and oth… more
Date: unknown
Item Type: Refine your search to only Photograph

Commercial Hotel in Skidmore 1912

Description: Postcard showing people sitting on the porch of the "Commercial Hotel" in Skidmore. The picture was taken on December 4, 1912. The names of the individuals sitting on the porch are on the back of the postcard going from left to right. The Commercial Hotel was destroyed by fire.
Date: unknown
Item Type: Refine your search to only Postcard

Skidmore High School in 1929

Description: Postcard showing the Skidmore High School in 1929. This modern seven-classroom school was built with a large auditorium and library after the old high school was condemmed in the late 1920's. Professor R.J. Gladney was superintnedent then. This high school was used until the present one was built in 1953, when a larger high school became necessary.
Date: unknown
Item Type: Refine your search to only Postcard

Main Street Skidmore 1910

Description: Photograph of Main Street in Skidmore in 1910. The "Elite Hotel" can be seen on the corner of the street next to "W. R. Miller & Co. General Merchandise." Dr. I.N. Thompson had his office in the Elite Hotel, and the first telephone switchboard was located in the W.R. Miller store. Most of the businesses seen along main street burned in a fire in 1919.
Date: unknown
Item Type: Refine your search to only Photograph
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