Photograph of the Chambliss home located on 403 South Tyler. The house was built by F.G. and Louanna Chambliss in the 1890’s, on property once owned by the first medical physician in Beeville, Dr. Leander Hayden. Dr Hayden came to Beeville from San Antonio in the 1850’s. The house was later occupied by Miss Sara Chambliss. Fred G. Chambliss was judge of the Thirty-sixth Judicial District from 1912-1919. Judge Chambliss was active in the formation of the Citizen’s Party, a political party formed in Bee County in the 1920’s by Protestants and Catholics to break the the KKK's hold on the county’s politics. Mrs. F.G. Chambliss (Louanna W.) was the daughter of Joseph Wilson, who settled on the Aransas in 1852 where he engaged in the cattle business. Mrs. F.G. Chambliss was a charter member and past president of the Rosetta Club. She was an early member of St. Philips Episcopal Church (1888). Chambliss Hall, a large room with kitchen facilities connected to the west side of the church, is named for Mrs. F.G. Chambliss and her daughters, Mrs. J.T. (Dorothy) Hall, and Miss Sara Chambliss.
Located off the Refugio Highway 202, the Campo Santo burial ground is not accessible to the public. The old cemetery is located on the head right of 1829 settler Jeremiah Toole of New York. Toole’s isolated oak-log home stood on the San Patricio-La Bahia Road. His family was in constant danger of attacks from Indians and invading armies.
Photograph of the historical marker dedicated to the West Side School for Mexican Americans. The West Side School for Mexican Americans, also known as Jackson School, was built in the early 1900’s. A two-room frame building served students until 1932, when it was replaced with a brick schoolhouse that stands today. In the 1940’s, the American GI Forum and League of United Latin American Citizens fought against inequality in schools. Their cases in Texas courts and the U.S. Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education ended the legal segregation of schoolchildren. However, by 1938, high school students from the West Side School had already been integrated with A.C. Jones High School. Integration of all Mexican American students was peacefully completed by the mid 1950’s. Long after this second school’s ipso facto case of segregation was remedied in the 1970’s, the building continues as the Adult Education Center and as a reminder of the teachers and students who worked to improve the lives of the Mexican-American population.
Photograph of the Praeger Building located on the corner of Washington and W.Corpus Christi Street. San Antonio businessman, Albert Praeger (1864-1930) moved to Beeville in the 1890’s to open a hardware store and tin shop. In 1906, Praeger built this Romanesque Revival structure on the northwest corner of the courthouse square to house his hardware business. In 1925, Central Power and Light began providing the city with water. With a reliable source of water, Mr. Albert Praeger made plans to turn the second story of the Praeger hardware store into apartments; they would be the first downtown apartments in Beeville. W.C. Stephenson was the architect for the apartments. In 2002, the new state-of-the-art Joe Barnhart Bee County Library was opened in the newly restored Praeger Building.
Photograph of four different photographs from the Evergreen Cemetery. The Evergreen Cemetery is on Block one of the original town site map of Beeville. It is the town’s oldest cemetery and is bounded by Polk, Bowie, Filmore, and Hefferman Streets. First owned by G.W. McClanahan, the land was bought in 1862 by the county for “public burying ground”. In 1872, H.W. Wilson donated the northeast strip, land was added on the northwest, and the court gave consent for a fence. The cemetery was restored in 1970. Thanks to the efforts of the Evergreen Cemetery Association’s efforts in 1998, the cemetery is lighted at night and blanketed with wildflowers in the spring.
On June 1, 1943, Chase Field was commissioned as a Naval Air Auxiliary Station to train naval aviators during World War II. The base was named for Lt. Cmdr. Nathan Brown Chase, who went down in the Pacific on a training flight in 1925. After the war, Chase Field was closed until 1953, when it was reopened during the Korean War to help with the over-crowding at NAS Corpus Christi. In July 1968, Chase Field was elevated in status to a full naval air station. With the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the number of armed forces was greatly reduced and on July 1, 1991, Chase Field was put on the list for closure. VT-26 was decommissioned May 22, 1992, with VT-24 and VT-25 de-commissioned on September 18, 1992. Finally, on February 1, 1993, Chase Field was officially disestablished, bringing an end to fifty years of service in naval training.
The marker for the railroad in Bee County is on the site of the old depot on West Bowie and North Madison Streets. On June 14, 1886, the first San Antonio and Aransas Pass train arrived in Beeville to a cheering crowd. The arrival of the railroad to Bee County came after Uriah Lott, the man responsible for building the S.A.&A.P. railroad, made a formal railroad proposition to Frank O. Skidmore, a wealthy stockman on the Aransas River, asking for a $100,000 bonus to bring the railroad to Bee County. Mr. Lott appealed to stockmen interested in hauling their cattle to market. The committee in charge of raising the bonus was made up of A.C. Jones and John W. Flournoy. In January 1886 Sheriff D.A.T. Walton showed Mr. Lott around Bee County by buggy, and the committee informed him that they had already raised $55,000. Uriah Lott then headed his railroad through Bee County. After the takeover of SA&AP by Southern Pacific in 1925, the depot became a Southern Pacific station. In 1958, the depot was razed, and the last train left Bee County in 1994. Before the railroad all freighting was done by wagon, and most of it came from Saint Marys on the coast.
Photograph of the Commercial National Bank in Beeville Texas. Beeville’s second oldest bank, Commercial National Bank was organized on January 11, 1893. It was during this meeting that officers and directors were elected and the capital stock was set at $50,000, or 500 shares at $100 each. The bank opened for business on May 15, 1893. Dr. L.B. Creath, a retired doctor who had moved to Beeville from the Austin area some years before; and D.C. Stone were listed as the Commercial’s organizers. Dr. Creath served as the bank’s first president and Stone served as its cashier. Following the organizational meeting, the bank’s first building was erected on the northwest corner of the courthouse square, at the intersection of Washington and West Corpus Christi Streets. The original building was razed when a new one was erected in 1965, but when it was built it was considered to be “one of the most substantial and modern bank buildings in the county.” The trimmings were made of Pecos red sandstone and Burnet granite and the interior had furniture of antique oak and brass mountings and openings. The vaults were made by the Hall & Marvin Safe and Lock Co., and being encased in solid masonry were considered to be absolutely burglar-and fire-proof. Because of droughts and the "panic' of the 1890's, the bank experienced many difficulties from its beginnings until 1900 when the county finally had a banner crop year. Under the leadership of John W. Flournoy, who served as president from 1898 until his death in July, 1916, and new supporters, the bank flourished from then on. On October 1, 1999, Commercial National Bank was sold and became First Prosperity.
View of Washington Street in 1914 looking north. The red brick three stories building on the left was the first “skyscraper” for Beeville. It was the Grand Opera House, built by A.F. Rees and E.J. Kinkler at the corner of Washington and Bowie Streets in 1907, and opened in 1908. Many Broadway stage plays, musical comedies, and light operas were presented in the opera house. The building was destroyed by fire in 1919. The building to the left of the Grand Opera House was Beeville’s first bank, the First National Bank of Beeville, which opened in 1890, and moved to this location by 1894. This postcard shows the modes of transportation available in the early 1900’s, a buggy, automobile, wagon and horse. By 1908 automobiles were owned by several individuals in Beeville.
Postcard showing Washington Street in Beeville Texas. The ornate building on the left, at the intersection of Bowie and Washington, was the First National Bank of Beeville's location from 1894 to 1960. The First National Bank of Beeville was organized on December 30, 1889, and opened on the courthouse square in 1890. Prior to the opening of First National Bank, people left their money either in sacks under loose floor boards behind the counter of Captain A.C. Jones’ store on the east side of the Public Square, or in kegs under that same counter. The increase in population and trade volume brought on by the arrival of SA&AP, and the Gulf, Western & Pacific Railroads in the late 1880’s made the establishment of a bank necessary. Note the electrical lines along Washington Street. Electrical lights went on in Beeville on November 30, 1896.
Drawing of the Rialto Theater. The Rialto Theater was built in 1922, as the flagship for the 22-theater chain owned by H.W. Hall and family. After a fire in 1935 destroyed the interior, the theater was remodeled in an Art Moderne style by the original architect, W.C. Stephenson and the theatre architect John Eberson, famous for the Majestic Theater in San Antonio.
Photograph of the "Front of Rialto Theater, Beeville" as stated at the bottom of the photograph. The Rialto Theater was built in 1922, as the flagship for the 22-theater chain owned by H.W. Hall and family. After a fire in 1935 destroyed the interior, the theater was remodeled in an Art Moderne style by the original architect, W.C. Stephenson and the theatre architect John Eberson, famous for the Majestic Theater in San Antonio. The first radio station in Beeville was located in the threatre's second story. KFRB took to the airways in December, 1924. Local and neighboring town's talent entertained listeners as far away as Oklahoma City. Months later, interest died, and the station ended its broadcasting.
Photograph of the interior of the Rialto Theater. The Rialto Theater was built in 1922, as the flagship for the 22-theater chain owned by H.W. Hall and family. After a fire in 1935 destroyed the interior, the theater was remodeled in an Art Moderne style by the original architect, W.C. Stephenson and the theatre architect John Eberson, famous for the Majestic Theater in San Antonio. John Eberson (1875-1964) was a Romanian born American architect best known for movie palace designs in the atmospheric theatre fashion. Eberson attained national and even international acclaim for his atmospheric theatres, many of them executed in exotic revival styles, including Italian Renaissance, Morrish Revival, and others. He specialized in depicting outdoor settings with no formal walls, and made the whole auditorium a gigantic stage set that enveloped the whole audience. He became renown in 1923, when he designed the Holblitzelle’s Majestic Theatre in Houston, the world’s first “atmospheric theatre”.
A 1909 postcard of Washington Street facing north in downtown Beeville. On the left of the card a corner of the Grand Opera House is visible. The First National Bank of Beeville can also be seen at the corner of Bowie and Washington on the same side of the street as the Grand Opera House. Washington Street is not paved in this picture. It will be 1921 before Beeville paved her principal streets.
Photograph of William Charles Stephenson. In 1908 W.C. (Bill) Stephenson settled in Beeville, and moved his family here from Buffalo, New York. In 1912 Stephenson and fellow architect, F.W. Heldenfels designed the present courthouse. Stephenson also sculpted Lady Justice, who stands atop the clock dome of the courthouse. Unlike most representations of Justice, this lady reigns from her top-of-the-dome perch, not with a blindfold, but with her eyes open. Stevenson called his Lady Justice an “enlightened justice” a representation of what Justice should be. He thought the lady should have both eyes open to see who might be trying the tip the scales of justice one way or other. She has the mandate of the law (“scroll of records”) hanging on a staff in her left hand and the torch of knowledge in her right. She is made of zinc and covered with a coating that resembles copper. Since Stephenson gave permission to make copies of his work, there may be other “Stephenson Justices” scattered throughout the country. In 1925, Mr. Albert Praeger made plans to turn the second story of the Praeger hardware store into apartments; they would be the first downtown apartments in Beeville. William Charles Stephenson was the architect for the apartments and several Beeville homes.
Photograph of three cast members in costume from the play "Kentucky Mountaineers" which was given in C.P. Eidson's Opera House. In the late 1800's the opera house was located on Washington St. across from the courthouse, and had a store, Eidson and Miles Gent's Clothiers, located on the first floor.
Photograph of a portrait of A. C. Jones. A veteran of the last battle of the Civil War, Captain Allen Carter Jones was born in Nacogdoches County in 1830 to early Texas settlers. He served as sheriff in Goliad County from 1858-1860. Jones joined the Confederacy Army as a private when the Civil War began. Within eighteen months, his leadership abilities resulted in his promotion to Captain. In 1874, the Captain settled in Beeville where he became a merchant, banker, land owner, philanthropist, and cattleman. Captain Jones contributed a large share of the funds necessary to bring the railroad to Bee County in 1886. He also served as Beeville’s first mayor, county treasurer, the general manager of the Beeville Oil Mill, and he was a promoter of public schools in the area. He is acknowledged by all as the “Father of Beeville”. Captain A.C. Jones died in 1904.
Barnard Elliot Bee attorney, soldier, and statesman, was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1787. He was the son of Thomas B.Bee who was a member of the Continental Congress, and was Justice of the U.S. Circuit Court of South Carolina under President George Washington. In 1836 Barnard E. Bee and his family moved to Texas and settled near Houston. He served as Secretary of State under David G. Burnet’s ad interim government, and escorted Santa Anna to Washington DC after the Battle of San Jacinto. During the Republic of Texas he served as Secretary of State under Sam Houston and Mirabeau B. Lamar. He also served as the Republic’s minister to Mexico and the United States. In 1846 he returned to South Carolina where he died in 1854. He was the father to Confederate Generals Hamilton P. Bee and Barnard E. Bee, Jr. Bee County was named for him in 1857 at the request of his son Hamilton, who served in the Texas Legislative from 1849 t0 1859. A THC marker is located in front of the Bee County Courthouse in his honor.
Photograph of the Thompson Building located on 108 West Corpus Christi Street across from the courthouse. The Thompson Building built in 1892 in the Victorian style, was the first brick building in Beeville. The building was built by grocer, J.C. Thompson (1836-1905) of brick from the Calavaros kiln near Elmendorf. Upstairs in 1892 was the law office of Lon C. Hill, who later founded Harlingen. The “Beeville Light Guard” was later housed on the second floor. Acquired in 1910 by Eureka Telephone Company, the building was Beeville’s communications headquarters from 1912 to 1920 for Southwestern Telegraph and Telephone Company, and then for Southwestern Bell until 1957. In 1957 it was restored for the law offices of John N. Barnhart. Facing the courthouse, the proud old building displays a historical marker, and at the top of the facade, the date “1892”
In 1857, Michael Seeligson was the first postmaster at Beeville-on the Medio (originally Medio Hill in Goliad County), five miles northeast of the present town of Beeville. In the new county seat after 1889, the Beeville Post Office was moved several times. Opened on June 5, 1918, the present neoclassical building was built under Secretary of the Treasury William G. McAdoo, with Supervising Architect James A. Wetmore. During construction, on May 7, 1917, contractor Robert B. Brown shot and killed Drayman J.P. Hermes. Found guilty of homicide in federal court, Brown appealed. In 1921, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Homes ruled that Brown acted in self defense, thus establishing the right to stand one’s ground in federal law. With the WWII boom and Chase Naval Air Field, the Beeville Post Office was upgraded to a first-class post office in 1944. Other changes followed, such as the end of mail contracts for the railroads in December of 1952. In 1961, the size of the building was doubled by the matched addition of the north half of the present structure. Much needed parking space was provided on the south side of the building in 1989. One block from the courthouse, this historic building and its postal services continue to be vital to the life of the town.
Photograph of members of the Welder Family. Included in the picture are Louisa Welder, her daughter Mrs. Mary O’Connor along with Henry Welder, Jim O’Connor, and Chrys Wood. In 1874 Tom Welder, son of Thomas and Louisa Welder of Refugio Co., moved to Bee County and took up ranching. He drove horses, mules, and cattle to Louisiana and Kansas, and was a rancher his entire life. He served as Bee County Commissioner for twenty-two years and was Vice President of the Beeville Bank and Trust. Other Welder family members ranched in Bee County, and the Welder Family is known throughout South Texas as ranchers, businessmen, and community leaders.
Photograph of John Cook's Victorian style home. Built by John Cook, who was born in 1846 in a Texas-bound wagon train; at 17 he was in the Civil War; in 1866 he married Frances Miller. They first lived in rock house near this site. With his son, R.J., John Cook contributed much to area cattle industry, he raised fine registered Herefords. The house was erected 1897 of select long-leaf pine placed to catch Gulf breezes. Each room opens on a porch. It has 4 fireplaces, with mantels of mahogany, maple, oak. The architecture is Victorian. It was later owned by the Dugat and Warner Families. The house was recorded as a Texas Historic Landmark in 1966
Photograph of eight officers of the Lilly Owl Club Number 134 in 1893. The name of the officers and their office held in the organization is at the bottom of the photo.
A group of men enjoy a drink, the accordion music, and a game of cards. The wagon on the right, “JJ Meinrath Bakery”, belonged to John Meinrath. John Meinrath operated a bakery in Beeville in 1898. His bakery featured all kinds of cakes and bread. The "San Antonio Brewing Ass'n." wagon may have supplied the saloons in Beeville in the late 1890's.
Photograph of Fritz's Restaurant and Saloon. The restaurant building is two stories with a balcony and a porch. A sign can be seen at the front of the restaurant that reads "Fritz's Restaurant."
Postcard of the "Bee County Jail, Beeville Texas" 1893. The first Bee County jail was built in 1874 west of the courthouse on the courtyard, or public square. Prior to its completion, prisoners were guarded by private citizens who were paid by the county. Nineteen years later, in 1893, this new jail was built. The first jail, a wooden building whose jail cells were lined with cast-iron material, was moved and is now preserved on the grounds of the Sheriff’s Office at 1511 E. Toledo. This second Bee county jail was completed in January of 1893. It was a two-story brick structure that, for almost half of a century, stood as a symbol of Bee County law enforcement. It was torn down and a new facility was built in 1936. In 1989, it was replaced by the present modern jail on Toledo Street.
Postcard of First Methodist Church of Beeville, Texas. In 1861, three years after Bee County was organized, the Rev. Berry Merchant of Corpus Christi assisted Beeville Methodist in establishing the Methodist-Episcopal Church. Circuit-riding preachers served the congregation and held services in the courthouse until the early 1870’s, when they built their first church on the corner of Bowie and Monroe Streets. Relocated to 106 East Cleveland in 1904, and blessed with a new sanctuary in 1955, the church continues its role in the religious life of the community.
Postcard of the "First National Bank Building, Beeville, Texas". This first bank in Beeville opened its doors in 1890. In 1894 it moved to this location at Washington and Bowie Streets. Notice that there are no powerpoles in this picture. According to the message on the back, this postcard was part of a package of letters sent by family members to a soldier in WWI. The writer mentions a hope for peace. “The Express said last night that the Germans only had until 11 o’clock Mon Nov. 11 to give their answer whether they surrender or fight. Of course we are all praying anxiously as I know you boys are too.”
The railroad not only aided the economy of Bee County, it was also used for recreational purposes. In 1914, this group of Beeville ladies boarded the Southern Pacific train bound for a fun trip to Houston.
Photograph of women sitting on horses and in horse-drawn carts in Linke Grove, currently called Veterans Park. The horse and buggy was the chief means of travel at the turn of the century. In 1908 the first automobile appeared in Beeville. Gradually the horse and buggy were replaced with the automobile. In 1911, the first airplane, a Curtis, appeared in Beeville.
Photograph of Beeville's first high school which was dedicated in Oct. of 1912. The two story brick building was located at 601 East Hayes Street, and was named for Captain Allen Carter Jones. Captain Jones’ heirs, following the example of Captain Jones who had donated six acres of land for a school house in 1886, donated the land for this first high school. In 1957, a new A.C. Jones High School was built at 1900 N. Adams Street. This school house became Thomas Jefferson Junior High until it was razed in 1949 to make room for a modern structure that was named William E. Madderra Elementary school.
Shown in the picture are Mr. and Mrs. C.L. Kimbrough in front of the Kimbrough Jewelry Store and New south Land Co. Soon after 1900, Claude L. and Beatrice Menier Kimbrough left their home in Mississippi and came to Texas for relief of Mr. Kimbrough’s asthma and emphysema. They arrived in Beeville in 1905 and opened a jewelry store on the corner of Washington and Bowie streets. The Kimbrough’s and their children, “Bee” Kimbrough and Claude L., Jr., “Skeeter”, remained in Beeville for the rest of their lives. Bee’s husband was oil man, Marion Young.
A 1913 postcard with an image of a two-story, brick building labeled "First National Bank Building, Beeville, Texas." The postcard was sent from Beeville January 24, 1913 and addressed to Mr. & Mrs. W. M. Billingsly in Mineral, Texas. Part of the postcard is damaged, but the text reads "...certainly did...ourselves while w...all day think I will fo...my good time any ways...You must come and see us when you come...With Love from R[..]erta & Lonnie"
Postcard of Cleveland Street in Beeville. The large church on the right side of the street is the First Methodist Church which was erected in 1904-1905.
This postcard, sent in 1907, shows a horse drawn buggy crossing the St. Mary’s Street Bridge over Poesta Creek. In the 1870’s the county provided roads with plowed furrow on each side of a clearing in the direction of Refugio, Goliad, San Patricio, Oakville, Saint Mary’s, and Helena. In 1888, a bond issue called for four bridges. Eight wrought iron bridges were reported at the turn of the century.
This is an old photograph of a mott of trees near the courthouse square where people left their wagons pulled by either mules or horses in early Beeville, Texas. Picture courtesy Mrs. R. J. Welder."
The intersection of Washington and Corpus Christi Streets in Beeville on a Saturday in 1892. Located at this intersection is the three story Ellis Hotel. A small portion of the courthouse lawn is visible in the lower right corner of the picture. . Captain A.C. Jones, who owned property surrounding the Public Square, offered to donate a building site to anyone who would build a first-class hotel. Francis M. Ellis offered to move his hotel in St. Mary’s to Beeville. His hotel was dismantled with every board numbered, brought in large freight wagons, pulled by eight and ten-horse teams, and rebuilt at this intersection in Beeville. In the 1890’s a third story was added.
Photograph of Captain A. C. Jones sitting in the cart of a horse-drawn buggy. A veteran of the last battle of the Civil War, Captain Allen Carter Jones was born in Nacogdoches County in 1830 to early Texas settlers. He served as sheriff in Goliad County from 1858-1860. Jones joined the Confederacy Army as a private when the Civil War began. Within eighteen months, his leadership abilities resulted in his promotion to Captain. In 1874, the Captain settled in Beeville where he became a merchant, banker, land owner, philanthropist, and cattleman. Captain Jones contributed a large share of the funds necessary to bring the railroad to Bee County in 1886. He also served as Beeville’s first mayor, county treasurer, the general manager of the Beeville Oil Mill, and he was a promoter of public schools in the area. He is acknowledged by all as the “Father of Beeville”. Captain A.C. Jones died in 1904.
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