Bee County Historical Commission - 132 Matching Results

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First National Bank of Beeville

Description: 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"
Date: January 24, 1913

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

Fowler Saloon in Skidmore

Description: Postcard showing men standing in the Fowler Saloon in Skidmore. Skidmore In the early 1900’s the population of Skidmore was close to 3,000. Skidmore had eight stores, three saloons, two drug stores, three garages, three churches, a lumber yard, bakery shop, two gins, a newspaper, and the First State Bank of Skidmore (1907-1937). Most of these businesses were burned in the fires that almost destroyed Skidmore through the early years of the 1900’s.
Date: unknown

General Barnard E. Bee, Jr.

Description: This portrait of Barnard E. Bee, Jr. in his military uniform hangs in the McClanahan House in Beeville. Barnard E. Bee, Jr. was the son of Anne and Barnard E. Bee, Sr. (for whom Bee County is named) and was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1824. He moved to Texas with his family in 1836, but later returned to the east and graduated from West Point. He served with honors in the Mexican War. In 1861 he resigned from the US Army and joined the First South Carolina Regulars, a Confederate… more
Date: unknown

Hatch/Long Store in Papalote

Description: Photograph of M. Long's grocery and general store in Papalote, Texas. The store's first owner,William B. Hatch, originally from Tennessee and a veteran of the Confederacy, was one of the earlier merchants in Papalote. In 1873, he moved his family to the present townstite of Papolate to take over the management of a branch of the mercantile store he, and a partner, S. G. Borden, owned in Sharpsburg. Later he sold his interest in the Sharpsburg store for full ownership in the Papalote business. … more
Date: 1900~

Inside of an Early Skidmore Mercantile

Description: Photograph of a group of men inside of a mercantile store in Skidmore. One of boys behind the counter is J. J. Jenkins. 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… more
Date: unknown

Inside of Rialto Theater

Description: 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 atm… more
Date: unknown

Interior of the McClanahan House

Description: Photograph of one of the bedrooms inside the McClanahan house, 206 E. Corpus Christi St. Oldest business structure in Beeville, erected about 1867 on east side of courthouse square, near Poesta Creek. General store, lodging house, post office. Pioneer western style, with southern porches. Built by G.W. McClanahan, Beeville's first merchant, school teacher, postmaster, county clerk, inn keeper, Sunday school superintendent. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1964
Date: unknown

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

Jim Ballard and his Horse Charlie

Description: Photograph of Jim Ballard standing in front of his horse, Charlie. Hallettsville native, James Tiberius “Jim” Ballard took advantage of government loans after President Woodrow Wilson’s election in 1912, and purchased a drugstore in Beeville. This was the beginning of Ballard Drug, the town’s oldest drugstore. Jim Bullard was given the title of “Champion Yarn Teller” by his friends. He served as a City Councilman, Mayor of Beeville, and Vice President of First National Bank. In 1972 his dau… more
Date: unknown

John F. Pettus Homestead

Description: Postcard of the John Pettus Homestead, the name sake of Pettus, Texas. Virginian, John Freeman Pettus, was one of Stephen Austin’s original “Old Three Hundred” settlers. Mr. Pettus’ land grant was in Goliad, but he bought thousands of acres near what is now Pettus in north Bee County because he needed more grazing land. He paid 25 cents to $1.25 per acre. In order to watch his stock Mr. Pettus built an adobe one-room cabin with a chimney. Here he lived for approximately twenty years, but we… more
Date: unknown

Jones Chapel Methodist Church Historical Marker

Description: Jones Chapel Methodist met in an old school house until they built a sanctuary in 1889, on land donated by Captain A. C. Jones to three former slaves, who served as trustees of the new church. Charter members included Classie Douglas, Ann Felix, Felix Garner, Lawson Glenn, Serena Hodge, Ellen Jones, Ben Lott, Leanna Lott, Mose Lott, J. J. McCloud, Carrie McCampbell, P.M. McCarty, Kimmie Nancy, Elvira Newton, Rebecca Simms, Wesley Simms, I.E. Starnes, George Steward, Katy Ware, Sam Ware, Harrie… more
Date: unknown

Kimbrough's Jewelry Store Early 1900's

Description: 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 res… more
Date: unknown

Lady Justice

Description: Photograph of the Lady Justice who stands atop the Bee County 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. W.C. 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”) hangi… more
Date: unknown

Last Members of the Texas Veterans Association

Description: 1906 photograph of veterans of the Texas Revolution. Pictured are W. P. Zuber of Austin, J. W. Darlington of Taylor, Aca C. Hill of Oakville, S. F. Sparks of Rockport, L. T. Lawlor of Florence, and Alfonso Steel of Mexia. "We'll rally 'round the flag boys, we'll rally once more". The Texas Veterans Association, an organization of those who had served prior to, during, and immediately after the Texas Revolution, held its first convention in Houston on May 13–15, 1873, with about seventy-five vet… more
Date: 1906
Creator: C.A. Major

Lott-Canada School

Description: The original school for Black Americans was founded in 1876 in the Stephen Canada store seven miles above Beeville. In 1886, when the Methodist Church was moved to make room for the railroad depot, lumber from what is known as the “old Methodist Church” was given to build the second school for the Black American children. Mose Lott and Allen Canada were the carpenters who built the school at 107 Burke Street. The school operated at this location until it burned around 1929. Built in 1931, t… more
Date: unknown

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

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

McClanahan House

Description: Photograph of the two story McClanahan house located on 206 East Corpus Christi Street. The McClanahan House is the oldest business structure in Beeville. The building, the second store built in Beeville by George W. McClanahan, was erected around 1867 on the east side of the courthouse square, near Poesta Creek. The house served as general store, lodging house, and post office. It was built in the pioneer western style, with southern porches. McClanahan was Beeville’s first merchant; he was… more
Date: unknown
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