Beeville, Texas

Beeville is a city in Bee County, Texas, United States. Its population of 13,543 at the 2020 census makes it the 207th-largest city in Texas.[6] It is the county seat of Bee County[7] and home to the main campus of Coastal Bend College. The area around the city contains three prisons operated by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

"Beeville" redirects here. For the ghost town in Indiana, see Beeville, Indiana.

Beeville, Texas
City
Historic downtown Beeville showing the Rialto Theater
Historic downtown Beeville showing the Rialto Theater
Location of Beeville, Texas
Location of Beeville, Texas
Coordinates: 28°24′20″N 97°45′3″W
Country United States
State Texas
CountyBee
Settled1859
Incorporated1890
Government
 • MayorBrian Watson
 • Mayor Pro TemMichael Willow II
Area
[1]
 • Total6.38 sq mi (16.52 km2)
 • Land6.38 sq mi (16.52 km2)
 • Water0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)
Elevation
[2]
210 ft (60 m)
Population
 (2020)[3]
 • Total13,669
 • Estimate 
(2021)[4]
13,641
 • Density2,006.12/sq mi (774.58/km2)
 • Demonym
Beevillian
Time zoneUTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP codes
78102, 78104
Area code361
FIPS code48-07192[5]
GNIS feature ID1330346[2]
Websitehttp://www.beevilletx.org/

Many of the stately homes, commercial buildings, and schools in the area, including the Bee County Courthouse, were designed by architect William Charles Stephenson, who came to Beeville in 1908 from Buffalo, New York. Beeville is a national Main Street city. Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor of Mount Rushmore, and his son Lincoln, lived in the city during the time Rushmore was being sculpted.[8]

History and culture

The original and official site on the Poesta River was first settled by the Burke, Carroll, and Heffernan families in the 1830s. Present-day Beeville was established on 150 acres (61 ha) of land donated by Ann Burke in May 1859, after the Republic of Texas was annexed by the United States. It was first named "Maryville" for pioneer Mary Heffernan.[9]

It was renamed Beeville after Barnard E. Bee, Sr., who had served as secretary of state and secretary of war for the Republic of Texas. It was called Beeville-on-the-Poesta, with a nearby community called Beeville-on-the-Medio 7 mi (11 km) to the west. The first post office opened in 1859.

In 1886, the first railroad was constructed through Beeville, stimulating the growth of the economy and population. The Southern Pacific Transportation Company operated these railroads until the early 1970s.[10]

A contemporary newspaper article reporting on the Alfred Irving case (October 2nd, 1942 - The Brownsville Herald)

In September 1942, Alfred Irving, who is believed to be one of the final chattel slaves in the United States, was freed at a farm near Beeville. Alex L. Skrobarcek and his daughter, Susie, were arraigned and eventually convicted for their crimes.[11][12][13][14]

The United States Navy operated the Beeville Naval Air Station, which trained Navy airplane pilots during World War II from 1943 through 1946. The base was reopened in 1952 as Naval Air Station Chase Field, continuing in operation until 1992.


Beeville was served by Trans-Texas Airways during the 1950s; it operated scheduled passenger flights with Douglas DC-3 propeller airliners from Chase Field with service to Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Harlingen, Houston, San Antonio, and other destinations in Texas.[15]

In 1967, the town was inundated by 30 inches (760 mm) of rain during Hurricane Beulah.

  • Beeville calls itself "A Honey of a Town", referencing its name.
    Beeville calls itself "A Honey of a Town", referencing its name.
  • Cattle grazing on ranch lands between Beeville and Goliad, Texas
    Cattle grazing on ranch lands between Beeville and Goliad, Texas
  • Entrance sign at Beeville, Texas
    Entrance sign at Beeville, Texas

Geography

The city's terrain ranges from flat to gently rolling slopes, set in the South Texas Brush Country.

Beeville is located between San Antonio and Corpus Christi. Travel time to Corpus Christi is around an hour and to San Antonio is about 11⁄2 hours by car.[16]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.1 square miles (16 km2), all of it land.

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. The temperature is influenced by the warm waters of the nearby Gulf of Mexico. Prevailing southerly winds of 8 to 10 miles per hour (13 to 16 km/h) come off the gulf. Annual rainfall is about 30 inches (76 cm), fairly evenly distributed throughout the year.[17] According to the Köppen climate classification, Beeville has a humid subtropical climate, Cfa on climate maps.[18]

Demographics
Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
1880208—
18901,311530.3%
19103,269—
19203,063−6.3%
19304,80656.9%
19406,78941.3%
19509,34837.7%
196013,81147.7%
197013,506−2.2%
198014,5747.9%
199013,547−7.0%
200013,129−3.1%
201012,863−2.0%
202013,6696.3%
U.S. Decennial Census[19]

2020 census
Beeville racial composition[20]
(NH = Non-Hispanic)[lower-alpha 1]
Race Number Percentage
White (NH) 2,851 20.86%
Black or African American (NH) 420 3.07%
Native American or Alaska Native (NH) 16 0.12%
Asian (NH) 135 0.99%
Pacific Islander (NH) 2 0.01%
Some other race (NH) 30 0.22%
Mixed/multiracial (NH) 215 1.57%
Hispanic or Latino 10,000 73.16%
Total 13,669

As of the 2020 United States census, 13,669 people, 4,890 households, and 3,164 families were residing in the city.

Government and infrastructure

The Beeville City Council consists of Mayor Brian Watson, Mayor Pro-tempore Michael Willow Jr., Councilman Benny Puente, Councilman Alexis Bledsoe, and Councilman Darryl Martin.[22]

The city has nine parks scattered among the neighborhoods, with a swimming pool at Martin Luther King-City Pool Park.[23]

Prisons

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice operates the Correctional Institutions Division Region IV Office on the grounds of the Chase Field Industrial Complex, the former Naval Air Station Chase Field, in Beeville.[24] In addition, Garza East Unit and Garza West Unit transfer facilities are co-located on the grounds of the naval air station;[25][26] and the McConnell Unit lies about 1 mile (1.6 km) outside the city limits.[27] The Beeville Distribution Center is on the grounds of the air station.[28]

Joseph T. Hallinan, the author of the 2001 book Going Up the River: Travels in a Prison Nation, described Beeville as a prison town. At the time, Beeville was trying to attract more prison business since the employment is stable. Hallinan wrote that Beeville was attempting to be "a prison hub, becoming roughly what Pittsburgh is to steel or Detroit is to cars".[16]

Education

Beeville is served by the Beeville Independent School District, which has about 3,500 students in six schools.

A. C. Jones High School contains a turfed football stadium and a softball and baseball complex. Sports include golf, basketball, baseball, softball, powerlifting, soccer, tennis, track, wrestling, and cheerleading. The teams are the Trojans and Lady Trojans, and their colors are orange and white. Other extracurricular programs include the Dazzlers Dance Team, band, choir, and theater arts.

The main campus of Coastal Bend College in Beeville opened in 1967 with 790 students.[29] Today it has over 3,700 students, more than 1,200 of them full-time. Dormitories and apartments on campus provide affordable housing. The community college offers an associate's degree in 26 different fields.[30] (Other campuses are in Alice, Kingsville and Pleasanton.)

Library

The Joe Barnhart Bee County Library is located in downtown Beeville, directly across the street from the Bee County Courthouse.[31]

Art museum

The Beeville Art Museum is a teaching museum, relying on traveling exhibitions. It is housed in the Esther Barnhart House. The house was built in 1910 by the R.L. Hodges family and occupied by their descendants until 1975. In 1981, the Hodges House and adjacent acreage were purchased by Dr. Joe Barnhart of Houston. He named the house the Esther Barnhart House in honor of his mother. He then developed the land into a park for the community. He named the park the Joe Barnhart Park in honor of his father.[32]

Notable people

References
  1. "2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  2. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Beeville, Texas
  3. "Quick Fackts: Beeville city, Texas". United States Census Bureau. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  4. "Population and Housing Unit Estimates". United States Census Bureau. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  5. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
  6. "Beeville, Texas Population 2023".
  7. "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on July 4, 2012. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  8. "About". City of Beeville Mainstreet.
  9. Tarpley, Fred (July 5, 2010). 1001 Texas Place Names. University of Texas Press. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-292-78693-6.
  10. "The Railroad in Beeville and Skidmore". Txtransportationmuseum.org.
  11. "The Untold History of Post-Civil War 'Neoslavery'". NPR.org.
  12. "Skrobarczyks Plead Not Guilty to Violation of Anti-Peonage Laws". The New York Age. December 5, 1942. p. 9 – via newspapers.com.
  13. "Alfred Irving held in slavery". The Brownsville Herald. October 2, 1942. p. 9 – via newspapers.com.
  14. Blackmon, Douglas A. (March 29, 2008). "The World War II Effect". Wall Street Journal.
  15. "Trans-Texas Airways Jan. 1, 1952 system timetable" (JPG). Timetableimages.com.
  16. Hallinan, Joseph T. "Chapter One" (Archive). Going Up the River: Travels in a Prison Nation. 2001. Retrieved on September 27, 2015.
  17. "About CBC". Coastalbend.edu.
  18. "Beeville, Texas Köppen Climate Classification (Weatherbase)". Weatherbase.com.
  19. "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  20. "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
  21. "About the Hispanic Population and its Origin". www.census.gov. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
  22. "Welcome to City of Beeville, Texas". Beevilletx.org.
  23. "City Parks". Beevilletx.org.
  24. Correctional Institutions Division Region IV Director's Office Archived 2008-01-21 at the Wayback Machine Texas Department of Criminal Justice, retrieved on May 21, 2010.
  25. Garza East Unit Archived 2008-01-18 at the Wayback Machine, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, retrieved on May 21, 2010.
  26. Garza West Unit Archived 2010-07-25 at the Wayback Machine, Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on May 21, 2010.
  27. "Unit Directory". Tdcj.state.tx.us.
  28. "Beeville Distribution Center Archived 2010-07-12 at the Wayback Machine, Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on May 22, 2010.
  29. "About CBC". Coastalbend.edu.
  30. "Coastal Bend College". Usnews.com. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
  31. Cook, Charles Weldon. "Joe Barnhart Bee County Library". Bclib.org. Archived from the original on January 18, 2015. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
  32. "Beeville Art Museum". Archived from the original on January 27, 2015. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
  33. "Oral History Interviews". American Institute of Physics. September 24, 2021.
  34. "Marianne Rafferty Biography". FoxNews.com. January 13, 2011. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
  1. Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.[21]

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