Beeville, Texas

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 {{cvt|150|acre|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.{{cite book|last=Tarpley|first=Fred|title=1001 Texas Place Names|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R4B7n7pJyZIC&pg=PA22|date=July 5, 2010|publisher=University of Texas Press|isbn=978-0-292-78693-6|page=22}}

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.txtransportationmuseum.org/history-beeville.php|title=The Railroad in Beeville and Skidmore|website=Txtransportationmuseum.org}}

File:Beeville couple arraigned on charge of holding Negro in slavery on farm (1942) The Brownsville Herald.jpg)]]

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 indicted by a federal grand jury in Laredo, Texas on November 9, 1942.{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89051115|title=The Untold History of Post-Civil War 'Neoslavery'|website=NPR.org}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5342196/skrobarczyks-plead-not-guilty-to/|title=Skrobarczyks Plead Not Guilty to Violation of Anti-Peonage Laws|newspaper=The New York Age |date=December 5, 1942|page=9 |via=newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2387477/alfred-irving-held-in-slavery/|title=Alfred Irving held in slavery.|newspaper=The Brownsville Herald |date=October 2, 1942|pages=9|via=newspapers.com}}{{cite news | url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB120674498432473091 | title=The World War II Effect | newspaper=Wall Street Journal | date=29 March 2008 | last1=Blackmon | first1=Douglas A. }} The pair were found guilty in Federal court in Corpus Christi, Texas on Thursday, March 18, 1943. Alex L. Skrobarcek was sentenced to only four years in prison, while his daughter, Susie Skrobarcek, received two years.{{Cite news |date=1943-03-25 |title=Prison Terms For Couple In Slavery Case: Aged Farmer May Serve Four Years, His Daughter Two. |pages=1 |work=The Bee-Picayune |url=https://beeville.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?k=march&t=37969&i=t&by=1943&bdd=1940&bm=3&bd=25&d=03251943-03251943&m=between&ord=k1&fn=bee_picayune_usa_texas_beeville_19430325_english_1&df=1&dt=10&cid=2860}}

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.{{cite web|url=http://timetableimages.com/ttimages/complete/tt52/tt52-1.jpg|format= JPG| title= Trans-Texas Airways Jan. 1, 1952 system timetable|website=Timetableimages.com}}

In 1967, the town was inundated by {{convert|30|in|mm}} of rain during Hurricane Beulah.

File:A second Beeville, Texas, sign IMG 0980.JPG|Beeville calls itself "A Honey of a Town", referencing its name.

File:Cattle near Beeville, TX IMG 0987.JPG|Cattle grazing on ranch lands between Beeville and Goliad, Texas

File:Beeville, TX, sign IMG 0979.JPG|Entrance sign at Beeville, Texas

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 approximately one hour, and to San Antonio is about 1{{frac|1|2}} hours by car.Hallinan, Joseph T. "[https://www.nytimes.com/books/first/h/hallinan-river.html Chapter One]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20150928132608/https://www.nytimes.com/books/first/h/hallinan-river.html Archive]). Going Up the River: Travels in a Prison Nation. 2001. Retrieved on September 27, 2015. US 59 and 181 intersects at Beeville.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of {{convert|6.1|sqmi|km2}}, all land.

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.coastalbend.edu/About_Beeville/|title=About CBC|website=Coastalbend.edu}} According to the Köppen climate classification, Beeville has a humid subtropical climate, Cfa on climate maps.{{cite web|url=http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather-summary.php3?s=655227&cityname=Beeville,+Texas,+United+States+of+America&units=|title=Beeville, Texas Köppen Climate Classification (Weatherbase)|website=Weatherbase.com}}

{{Weather box

| width = auto

| collapsed = yes

| single line = yes

| location = Beeville, Texas (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1897–present)

| Jan record high F = 91

| Feb record high F = 98

| Mar record high F = 102

| Apr record high F = 105

| May record high F = 107

| Jun record high F = 110

| Jul record high F = 111

| Aug record high F = 109

| Sep record high F = 110

| Oct record high F = 102

| Nov record high F = 95

| Dec record high F = 90

| year record high F =

| Jan high F = 65.5

| Feb high F = 69.0

| Mar high F = 74.6

| Apr high F = 80.7

| May high F = 86.8

| Jun high F = 91.9

| Jul high F = 93.8

| Aug high F = 95.7

| Sep high F = 90.4

| Oct high F = 84.1

| Nov high F = 74.9

| Dec high F = 67.2

| year high F = 81.2

| Jan mean F = 54.6

| Feb mean F = 58.2

| Mar mean F = 64.2

| Apr mean F = 70.2

| May mean F = 77.1

| Jun mean F = 82.1

| Jul mean F = 83.6

| Aug mean F = 84.5

| Sep mean F = 80.0

| Oct mean F = 72.7

| Nov mean F = 63.7

| Dec mean F = 56.3

| year mean F = 70.6

| Jan low F = 43.6

| Feb low F = 47.4

| Mar low F = 53.8

| Apr low F = 59.7

| May low F = 67.4

| Jun low F = 72.2

| Jul low F = 73.3

| Aug low F = 73.4

| Sep low F = 69.5

| Oct low F = 61.3

| Nov low F = 52.5

| Dec low F = 45.4

| year low F = 60.0

| Jan record low F = 12

| Feb record low F = 11

| Mar record low F = 17

| Apr record low F = 29

| May record low F = 42

| Jun record low F = 51

| Jul record low F = 61

| Aug record low F = 60

| Sep record low F = 44

| Oct record low F = 27

| Nov record low F = 19

| Dec record low F = 8

| year record low F =

| precipitation colour = green

| Jan precipitation inch = 1.77

| Feb precipitation inch = 1.56

| Mar precipitation inch = 2.47

| Apr precipitation inch = 2.34

| May precipitation inch = 3.08

| Jun precipitation inch = 3.49

| Jul precipitation inch = 3.16

| Aug precipitation inch = 2.82

| Sep precipitation inch = 4.10

| Oct precipitation inch = 2.89

| Nov precipitation inch = 2.47

| Dec precipitation inch = 1.80

| year precipitation inch = 31.95

| unit precipitation days = 0.01 in

| Jan precipitation days = 8.2

| Feb precipitation days = 7.4

| Mar precipitation days = 7.1

| Apr precipitation days = 5.6

| May precipitation days = 5.9

| Jun precipitation days = 7.4

| Jul precipitation days = 6.1

| Aug precipitation days = 5.1

| Sep precipitation days = 7.7

| Oct precipitation days = 5.7

| Nov precipitation days = 6.3

| Dec precipitation days = 7.5

| year precipitation days = 80.0

| Jan snow inch = 0.0

| Feb snow inch = 0.0

| Mar snow inch = 0.0

| Apr snow inch = 0.0

| May snow inch = 0.0

| Jun snow inch = 0.0

| Jul snow inch = 0.0

| Aug snow inch = 0.0

| Sep snow inch = 0.0

| Oct snow inch = 0.0

| Nov snow inch = 0.0

| Dec snow inch = 0.0

| year snow inch = 0.0

| unit snow days = 0.1 in

| Jan snow days = 0.0

| Feb snow days = 0.0

| Mar snow days = 0.0

| Apr snow days = 0.0

| May snow days = 0.0

| Jun snow days = 0.0

| Jul snow days = 0.0

| Aug snow days = 0.0

| Sep snow days = 0.0

| Oct snow days = 0.0

| Nov snow days = 0.0

| Dec snow days = 0.0

| year snow days = 0.0

| source = NOAA{{cite web

|url = https://www.weather.gov/wrh/climate?wfo=crp

|title = NOWData - NOAA Online Weather Data

|publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

|access-date = February 16, 2024}}{{cite web

|url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&stations=USC00410639&format=pdf&dataTypes=MLY-TMAX-NORMAL,MLY-TMIN-NORMAL,MLY-TAVG-NORMAL,MLY-PRCP-NORMAL,MLY-SNOW-NORMAL

|title = Summary of Monthly Normals 1991-2020

|publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

|access-date = February 16, 2024}}

}}

{{US Census population

|1880= 208

|1890= 1311

|1910= 3269

|1920= 3063

|1930= 4806

|1940= 6789

|1950= 9348

|1960= 13811

|1970= 13506

|1980= 14574

|1990= 13547

|2000= 13129

|2010= 12863

|2020= 13669

|estyear=

|estimate=

|estref={{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/data/tables.2019.html|date=May 24, 2020|title=Population and Housing Unit Estimates|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=May 27, 2020}}

|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|access-date=June 4, 2015}}

}}

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

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.beevilletx.org|title=Welcome to City of Beeville, Texas|website=Beevilletx.org}}

The city has nine parks scattered among the neighborhoods, with a swimming pool at Martin Luther King-City Pool Park.{{cite web|url=http://www.beevilletx.org/parks.php#.VLtIx0uwjoE|title=City Parks|website=Beevilletx.org}}

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, near Beeville.[http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/unitdirectory/reg4.htm Correctional Institutions Division Region IV Director's Office] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080121162804/http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/unitdirectory/reg4.htm |date=2008-01-21 }} Texas Department of Criminal Justice, retrieved on May 21, 2010.{{cite web|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/DC20BLK/st48_tx/county/c48025_bee/DC20BLK_C48025.pdf|title=2020 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Bee County, TX|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|accessdate=2022-08-13|page=25 (PDF p. 26/39)|quote=Chase Field Criminal Justice Ctr}} - The map shows that the Chase Field facilities are outside of the Beeville city limits, despite having Beeville addresses. In addition, Garza East Unit and Garza West Unit transfer facilities are co-located on the grounds of the naval air station;[http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/unitdirectory/ni.htm Garza East Unit] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080118183316/http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/unitdirectory/ni.htm |date=2008-01-18 }}, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, retrieved on May 21, 2010.[http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/unitdirectory/nh.htm Garza West Unit] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100725201141/http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/unitdirectory/nh.htm |date=2010-07-25 }}, Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on May 21, 2010. and the McConnell Unit lies about {{convert|1|mi|km}} outside the city limits.{{cite web|url=http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/unit_directory/ml.html|title=Unit Directory|website=Tdcj.state.tx.us}} The Beeville Distribution Center is on the grounds of the air station."[http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/manufacturing-logistics/transport/transport-beeville-warehs.htm Beeville Distribution Center] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100712211442/http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/manufacturing-logistics/transport/transport-beeville-warehs.htm |date=2010-07-12 }}, Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on May 22, 2010.

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".

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.

All of Bee County is in the Bee County College District (doing business as Coastal Bend College), according to the Texas Education Code.[https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/ED/htm/ED.130.htm Texas Education Code, Sec. 130.167. BEE COUNTY COLLEGE DISTRICT SERVICE AREA.] The main campus of Coastal Bend College in Beeville opened in 1967 with 790 students.{{cite web|url=http://www.coastalbend.edu/about_cbc/|title=About CBC|website=Coastalbend.edu}} 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 degree in 26 different fields.{{cite web|url=https://www.usnews.com/education/community-colleges/coastal-bend-college-CC01617|title=Coastal Bend College|website=Usnews.com|access-date=2022-01-31}} (Other campuses are in Alice, Kingsville and Pleasanton.)

The Joe Barnhart Bee County Library is located in downtown Beeville, directly across the street from the Bee County Courthouse.{{cite web|url=http://www.bclib.org/index.html|title=Joe Barnhart Bee County Library|first=Charles Weldon|last=Cook|website=Bclib.org|access-date=2015-01-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150118104335/http://www.bclib.org/index.html|archive-date=2015-01-18|url-status=dead}}

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.{{Cite web |url=http://www.bamtexas.org/aboutbam.html |title=Beeville Art Museum |access-date=2015-01-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150127044156/http://bamtexas.org/aboutbam.html |archive-date=2015-01-27 |url-status=dead }}

• Byron Bradfute, National Football League player
• James Gunn, Princeton astronomer, 2008 National Medal of Science{{cite web|title=Oral History Interviews|date=24 September 2021 |publisher=American Institute of Physics|url=https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/33904}}
• Rudy Jaramillo, Major League Baseball player and coach
• Cyndi Taylor Krier, San Antonio politician, born in Beeville in 1950
• Edmundo Mireles Jr., FBI agent involved in the 1986 FBI Miami shootout
• Marianne Rafferty, Fox News presenter and reporter{{cite news |url= http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/personalities/marianne-rafferty/bio/#s=r-z |title=Marianne Rafferty Biography |work=FoxNews.com |access-date=October 17, 2011 |date=January 13, 2011}}
• Eddie Taubensee, Major League Baseball player
• Curt Walker, was a professional baseball player who played outfield for the Philadelphia Phillies

{{portal|Texas}}

• List of municipalities in Texas

{{notelist}}

{{reflist|22em}}

{{Commons category|Beeville, Texas}}

• [http://www.beevilletx.org/ City of Beeville official website]
• [http://www.mysoutex.com/ Beeville Bee-Picayune]—the local newspaper
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110519105941/http://picasaweb.google.com/winemaker9/BeevilleTrip Photos of Beeville and NAS Chase Field, April 2007]

{{Bee County, Texas}}

{{Texas county seats}}

{{authority control}}

Category:Cities in Texas

Category:County seats in Texas

Category:Micropolitan areas of Texas

Category:Cities in Bee County, Texas

Category:Populated places established in 1859

Category:1859 establishments in Texas