Beeville, Texas facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Beeville, Texas
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Historic downtown Beeville showing the Rialto Theater
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| Country |  United States |
| State |  Texas |
| County | Bee |
| Settled | 1859 |
| Incorporated | 1890 |
| Area | |
| • Total | 6.38 sq mi (16.52 km2) |
| • Land | 6.38 sq mi (16.52 km2) |
| • Water | 0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2) |
| Elevation | 210 ft (60 m) |
| Population
(2020)
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| • Total | 13,669 |
| • Estimate
(2021)
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13,641 |
| • Density | 2,006.12/sq mi (774.58/km2) |
| • Demonym | Beevillian |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| ZIP codes |
78102, 78104
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| Area code(s) | 361 |
| FIPS code | 48-07192 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1330346 |
| Website | http://www.beevilletx.org/ |
Beeville is a city in Bee County, Texas, United States. About 13,669 people lived here in 2020. This makes it one of the larger cities in Texas. Beeville is the main city of Bee County. It is also home to Coastal Bend College. The area around Beeville has three prisons. These are run by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Many important buildings in Beeville were designed by architect William Charles Stephenson. He moved to Beeville in 1908. These buildings include the Bee County Courthouse. Beeville is also known as a "Main Street city." This means it works to keep its downtown area lively. Gutzon Borglum, who sculpted Mount Rushmore, lived in Beeville with his son Lincoln. They were here while Mount Rushmore was being created.
Contents
History of Beeville
Early Settlement and Naming
The first people to settle near the Poesta River were the Burke, Carroll, and Heffernan families. This was in the 1830s. The city we know today as Beeville started in May 1859. Ann Burke gave 150 acres of land for it. This happened after Texas joined the United States. The town was first called "Maryville." It was named after a pioneer woman, Mary Heffernan.
Later, the town was renamed Beeville. This was to honor Barnard E. Bee, Sr.. He was an important leader for the Republic of Texas. The town was sometimes called Beeville-on-the-Poesta. Another small community nearby was called Beeville-on-the-Medio. The first post office in Beeville opened in 1859.
Growth and Important Events
In 1886, the first railroad was built through Beeville. This helped the town grow a lot. The Southern Pacific Transportation Company ran these railroads. They operated until the early 1970s.
In 1942, a man named Alfred Irving gained his freedom near Beeville. He is thought to be one of the last people held in slavery in the United States.
The United States Navy had a base here called Beeville Naval Air Station. It trained Navy pilots during World War II. This base operated from 1943 to 1946. It reopened in 1952 as Naval Air Station Chase Field. It continued training pilots until 1992.
In the 1950s, Trans-Texas Airways offered flights from Chase Field. They used Douglas DC-3 planes. You could fly to cities like Corpus Christi and San Antonio.
In 1967, Beeville had a lot of rain from Hurricane Beulah. About 30 inches of rain fell.
Geography and Climate
Where is Beeville?
Beeville is in the South Texas Brush Country. The land here is mostly flat or gently rolling.
The city is located between two larger cities. These are San Antonio and Corpus Christi. It takes about one hour to drive to Corpus Christi. San Antonio is about 1.5 hours away by car.
The city covers about 6.1 square miles of land. There is no water area within the city limits.
Beeville's Weather
The weather in Beeville has hot, humid summers. Winters are usually mild or cool. The nearby Gulf of Mexico makes the weather warmer. Winds from the south blow off the gulf. They usually blow at 8 to 10 miles per hour. Beeville gets about 30 inches of rain each year. The rain is spread out fairly evenly. Beeville has a humid subtropical climate. This means it has warm, wet summers.
| Climate data for Beeville, Texas (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1897–present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 91 (33) |
98 (37) |
102 (39) |
105 (41) |
107 (42) |
110 (43) |
111 (44) |
109 (43) |
110 (43) |
102 (39) |
95 (35) |
90 (32) |
111 (44) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 65.5 (18.6) |
69.0 (20.6) |
74.6 (23.7) |
80.7 (27.1) |
86.8 (30.4) |
91.9 (33.3) |
93.8 (34.3) |
95.7 (35.4) |
90.4 (32.4) |
84.1 (28.9) |
74.9 (23.8) |
67.2 (19.6) |
81.2 (27.3) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 54.6 (12.6) |
58.2 (14.6) |
64.2 (17.9) |
70.2 (21.2) |
77.1 (25.1) |
82.1 (27.8) |
83.6 (28.7) |
84.5 (29.2) |
80.0 (26.7) |
72.7 (22.6) |
63.7 (17.6) |
56.3 (13.5) |
70.6 (21.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 43.6 (6.4) |
47.4 (8.6) |
53.8 (12.1) |
59.7 (15.4) |
67.4 (19.7) |
72.2 (22.3) |
73.3 (22.9) |
73.4 (23.0) |
69.5 (20.8) |
61.3 (16.3) |
52.5 (11.4) |
45.4 (7.4) |
60.0 (15.6) |
| Record low °F (°C) | 12 (−11) |
11 (−12) |
17 (−8) |
29 (−2) |
42 (6) |
51 (11) |
61 (16) |
60 (16) |
44 (7) |
27 (−3) |
19 (−7) |
8 (−13) |
8 (−13) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 1.77 (45) |
1.56 (40) |
2.47 (63) |
2.34 (59) |
3.08 (78) |
3.49 (89) |
3.16 (80) |
2.82 (72) |
4.10 (104) |
2.89 (73) |
2.47 (63) |
1.80 (46) |
31.95 (812) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 8.2 | 7.4 | 7.1 | 5.6 | 5.9 | 7.4 | 6.1 | 5.1 | 7.7 | 5.7 | 6.3 | 7.5 | 80.0 |
| Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Source: NOAA | |||||||||||||
People of Beeville
Population Changes Over Time
| Historical population | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1880 | 208 | — | |
| 1890 | 1,311 | 530.3% | |
| 1910 | 3,269 | — | |
| 1920 | 3,063 | −6.3% | |
| 1930 | 4,806 | 56.9% | |
| 1940 | 6,789 | 41.3% | |
| 1950 | 9,348 | 37.7% | |
| 1960 | 13,811 | 47.7% | |
| 1970 | 13,506 | −2.2% | |
| 1980 | 14,574 | 7.9% | |
| 1990 | 13,547 | −7.0% | |
| 2000 | 13,129 | −3.1% | |
| 2010 | 12,863 | −2.0% | |
| 2020 | 13,669 | 6.3% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census | |||
Who Lives in Beeville?
| 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 |
In 2020, about 13,669 people lived in Beeville. There were 4,890 households. Also, 3,164 families lived in the city.
Education in Beeville
Beeville Independent School District
Beeville is served by the Beeville Independent School District. About 3,500 students attend its six schools.
A. C. Jones High School has a football stadium with artificial turf. It also has fields for softball and baseball. Students can play many sports. These include golf, basketball, and soccer. Other activities are dance, band, choir, and theater. The school teams are called the Trojans and Lady Trojans. Their colors are orange and white.
Coastal Bend College
All of Bee County is part of the Bee County College District. This district runs Coastal Bend College. The main campus of Coastal Bend College is in Beeville. It opened in 1967 with 790 students. Today, over 3,700 students attend the college. More than 1,200 of them are full-time students. The college has dorms and apartments for students. It offers associate degrees in 26 different subjects. There are also Coastal Bend College campuses in Alice, Kingsville, and Pleasanton.
Local Attractions
Joe Barnhart Bee County Library
The Joe Barnhart Bee County Library is in downtown Beeville. It is right across from the Bee County Courthouse.
Beeville Art Museum
The Beeville Art Museum is a teaching museum. It often shows different traveling art exhibits. The museum is located in the Esther Barnhart House. This house was built in 1910 by the R.L. Hodges family. They lived there until 1975. In 1981, Dr. Joe Barnhart bought the house and land. He named the house after his mother, Esther Barnhart. He also created a park on the land for the community. He named the park Joe Barnhart Park, after his father.
Famous People from Beeville
- Byron Bradfute – a player in the National Football League
- James Gunn – a famous astronomer from Princeton University
- Rudy Jaramillo – a player and coach in Major League Baseball
- Cyndi Taylor Krier – a politician from San Antonio, born in Beeville in 1950
- Edmundo Mireles Jr. – an FBI agent involved in a famous shootout
- Marianne Rafferty – a TV presenter and reporter for Fox News
- Eddie Taubensee – a player in Major League Baseball
- Curt Walker – a professional baseball player for the Philadelphia Phillies
Images for kids
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A newspaper article from 1942 about the Alfred Irving case.
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Beeville calls itself "A Honey of a Town," playing on its name.
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An entrance sign for Beeville, Texas.
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See also
In Spanish: Beeville para niños
