Beeville, Texas

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 acre of land donated by Ann Burke in May 1859, after the United States annexed the Republic of Texas. It was first named "Maryville" for pioneer Mary Heffernan. 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 another community, 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.

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. The pair were found guilty in federal court in Corpus Christi on March 18, 1943. Alex Skrobarcek was sentenced to four years in prison, and Susie Skrobarcek two years.

The United States Navy operated the Beeville Naval Air Station, which trained Navy airplane pilots during World War II from 1943 to 1946. The base 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 to Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Harlingen, Houston, San Antonio, and other destinations in Texas.

In 1967, the town was inundated by 30 in 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

Geography

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

Beeville is between San Antonio and Corpus Christi. Travel time to Corpus Christi is approximately one hour, and to San Antonio is about 1 hours by car. US 59 and 181 intersects at Beeville.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 6.1 sqmi, all land.

Climate

Beeville's climate is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. The temperature is influenced by the warm waters of the 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. According to the Köppen climate classification, Beeville has a humid subtropical climate, Cfa on climate maps.

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

Demographics

| align-fn = center

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Beeville had a population of 13,669 living in 5,067 households and 3,164 families; the median age was 33.5 years, 27.6% of residents were under the age of 18, and 13.8% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 94.0 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 92.0 males age 18 and over.

98.8% of residents lived in urban areas, while 1.2% lived in rural areas.

Among the 5,067 households, 37.1% had children under the age of 18 living in them, 37.0% were married-couple households, 20.0% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 34.3% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 27.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 5,902 housing units, of which 14.1% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 49.7% were owner-occupied and 50.3% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 3.0% and the rental vacancy rate was 14.1%.

Government and infrastructure

The Beeville City Council consists of five council members, each elected from one of the city's five wards. Every year, the council members determine who among them will be mayor and mayor pro-tempore. The current council members are Mayor Mike Willow, Mayor Pro-tempore Benny Puente Jr., Councilwoman Crystal Franco, Councilman Ray Garcia Jr., and Councilwoman Cyndi Carrasco representing wards 1 through 5 respectively.

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

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, near Beeville. In addition, Garza East Unit and Garza West Unit transfer facilities are co-located on the grounds of the naval air station; and the McConnell Unit lies about 1 mi outside the city limits. The Beeville Distribution Center is on the grounds of the air station.

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".

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.

All of Bee County is in the Bee County College District (doing business as Coastal Bend College), according to the Texas Education Code. The main campus of Coastal Bend College in Beeville opened in 1967 with 790 students. 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. Other campuses are in Alice, Kingsville, and Pleasanton.

Library

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

Art museum

The Beeville Art Museum is a teaching museum, relying on traveling exhibitions. It is 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 Joe Barnhart of Houston. He named the house the Esther Barnhart House, after his mother, and developed the land into a community park, named the Joe Barnhart Park after his father.

Notable people

• Byron Bradfute, National Football League player
• James Gunn, Princeton astronomer, 2008 National Medal of Science
• Rudy Jaramillo, Major League Baseball player and coach
• Cyndi Taylor Krier, San Antonio politician, born in Beeville
• Edmundo Mireles Jr., FBI agent involved in the 1986 FBI Miami shootout
• Marianne Rafferty, Fox News presenter and reporter
• Eddie Taubensee, Major League Baseball player
• Curt Walker, outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies

Notes

References

References

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7. "Find a County". National Association of Counties.
8. "About".
9. Tarpley, Fred. (July 5, 2010). "1001 Texas Place Names". University of Texas Press.
10. "The Railroad in Beeville and Skidmore".
11. "The Untold History of Post-Civil War 'Neoslavery'".
12. (December 5, 1942). "Skrobarczyks Plead Not Guilty to Violation of Anti-Peonage Laws". The New York Age.
13. (October 2, 1942). "Alfred Irving held in slavery.". The Brownsville Herald.
14. (29 March 2008). "The World War II Effect". Wall Street Journal.
15. (1943-03-25). "Prison Terms For Couple In Slavery Case: Aged Farmer May Serve Four Years, His Daughter Two.". The Bee-Picayune.
16. "Trans-Texas Airways Jan. 1, 1952 system timetable".
17. 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.
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19. "Beeville, Texas Köppen Climate Classification (Weatherbase)".
20. (May 24, 2020). "Population and Housing Unit Estimates". [[United States Census Bureau]].
21. "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov.
22. (2021). "2020 Decennial Census Demographic Profile (DP1)".
23. (2023). "2020 Decennial Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics (DHC)".
24. (2021). "2020 Decennial Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171)".
25. "Welcome to City of Beeville, Texas".
26. "City Parks".
27. [http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/unitdirectory/reg4.htm Correctional Institutions Division Region IV Director's Office] {{webarchive. link. (2008-01-21 [[Texas Department of Criminal Justice]], retrieved on May 21, 2010.)
28. "2020 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Bee County, TX". [[U.S. Census Bureau]].
29. [http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/unitdirectory/ni.htm Garza East Unit] {{webarchive. link. (2008-01-18 , Texas Department of Criminal Justice, retrieved on May 21, 2010.)
30. [http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/unitdirectory/nh.htm Garza West Unit] {{webarchive. link. (2010-07-25 , Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on May 21, 2010.)
31. "Unit Directory".
32. "[http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/manufacturing-logistics/transport/transport-beeville-warehs.htm Beeville Distribution Center] {{webarchive. link. (2010-07-12 , Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on May 22, 2010.)
33. [https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/ED/htm/ED.130.htm Texas Education Code, Sec. 130.167. BEE COUNTY COLLEGE DISTRICT SERVICE AREA.]
34. "About CBC".
35. "Coastal Bend College".
36. Cook, Charles Weldon. "Joe Barnhart Bee County Library".
37. "Beeville Art Museum".
38. (24 September 2021). "Oral History Interviews". American Institute of Physics.
39. (January 13, 2011). "Marianne Rafferty Biography". FoxNews.com.