Bee County Historical Commission - 195 Matching Results

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Portrait of Berkley Klipstein: Photograph two women standing on either side of a portrait of Berkley Klipstein. B. W. Klipstein was a Beeville banker who served on the committee to expand the railroad to Eagle Pass and the Valley. In 1893, he boarded the train in Beeville to visit the world's fair, the Columbian Exposition in chicago.
McKinney Brothers Store: Photograph of the inside of the McKinney Brothers Store located in downtown Beeville. According to local legend, a KKK boycott forced Frank McKinney to close the store after he refused to boycott their Catholic customers.
McKinney Brothers Store: Photograph of the inside of the McKinney Brothers Store.
Chase Field Swimming Pool: Postcard of the "Swimming Pool, Chase Field, Beeville, Texas" as printed at the bottom of the card. On June 1, 1943, Chase Field was commissioned as a Naval Air Auxiliary Station to train naval aviators during World War II. The base was named for Lt. Cmdr. Nathan Brown Chase, who went down in the Pacific on a training flight in 1925. After the war, Chase Field was closed until 1953, when it was reopened during the Korean War to help with the over-crowding at NAS Corpus Christi. In July 1968, Chase Field was elevated in status to a full naval air station. With the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the number of armed forces was greatly reduced and on July 1, 1991, Chase Field was put on the list for closure. VT-26 was decommissioned May 22, 1992, with VT-24 and VT-25 de-commissioned on September 18, 1992. Finally, on February 1, 1993, Chase Field was officially disestablished, bringing an end to fifty years of service in naval training.
Along the Road in Bee County: Postcard of a scene showing the area "Along the Highway Near Beeville, Texas" as printed at the bottom of the postcard. Note the electrical lines along the road. Beeville first connected with the outside world by telegraph on July 20, 1885, when the first telegraph office opened on the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railroad, even before the tracks were completed. Later, in 1891, Wright Van Meter set telephone poles along the Beeville-Refugio Road to Quincy’s Land and Colonization Company. Before 1900, Beeville had two telephone companies, the Southwestern Telephone and Telegraph Company and Eureka Telephone Company. Electrical lights went on in Beeville on November 30, 1896. L.D. Rhodes set up a plant near the Sims gin. Before 1900, lights were turned on and off because too many preferred the oil lamp. Central Power and Light came to Beeville in 1925 and the R.E.A. served all other rural areas.
American Legion Orchestra: Photograph of seven members of Beeville's American Legion Post 274 Orchestra. R. Frank O'Reilly was the director of the orchestra. The Bee County American Legion Post was organized in 1921.
General Barnard E. Bee, Jr.: 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 regiment of artillery. While assigned to the Army of Virginia at Manassas Junction, Bee is given credit for ordering his men to “Rally behind the Virginians! There stands Jackson like a stonewall!”. He fell mortally wounded at this First Battle of Manassas, or Bull Run, and died on July 22, 1861. His body is buried at Pendleton, South Carolina. He was the brother of Texas Statesman, Hamilton Bee.
Lott Canada Teacher Mrs. Garner: Photograph of Mrs. Felix Garner, a teacher in the first Lott-Canada School in Beeville. Her husband, Felix, was a charter member of Jones Chapel Methodist Church, which was organized in 1888. She and her husband ran the first Black cafe in Beeville. The cafe was located across from the train depot. Her father, Henry Shaw, lived to be 112 years old.
A. V. Schvab: Portrait of A. V. Schvab, a jeweler and operator of the Kohler Hotel. Hotel Kohler, built in 1932 was a three-story structure located at the corner of Washington and Cleveland Streets.
First Airplane in Beeville: Photograph of C. A. Pressey sitting in his airplane, which is the first airplane for Bee County. In 1911 Charley A. Pressey arrived from Georgia in a Curtiss flying machine. Charley Pressey is also known for establishing the first moving picture theater in Beeville in 1906. The name of the business was Superba Family Theatre and the admission price was five cents.
First Airplane in Bee County 1911: Photograph of C. A. Pressey flying the first plane in Bee County. In 1911, Charley A. Pressey arrived from Georgia in a Curtiss Flying machine to the thrill of the people of Bee County. Mr. Pressey returned to live in Beeville after his retirement. Trans-Texas Airways made the first air passenger and air-mail flight into Beeville in July, 1949, but it contiued for just a little more than a year. Oscar Travland opened Travland Airport north of the city during the 1940's, and operated it for a number of years. In February, 1967, the city of Beeville opened a municipal airport about three miles west of town.
First Airplane Crash in Bee County: Photograph of a man and C. A. Pressey standing behind his plane that has crashed. This is the first plane crash that occurred in Bee County. In 1911 Charley A. Pressey arrived from Georgia in a Curtiss flying machine. It was the first airplane most of the residents of Beeville had ever seen.
Confederate Veterans Reunion: Photograph of Confederate Veterans at a reunion in Beeville in the late 1890's. Texas furnished about 75,000 soldiers to the Confederate cause. Even though Bee County was only three years old in 1861, many men from the county served the Confederacy. Some died for it. When the war started there were seventy slaves in Bee County. There were many hardships for the citizens of Bee County during the War. A severe drought in 1863 and 1864 made it hard for the people of the county. There was not enough corn to supply local needs. Coffee was not available. Some made a substitute coffee out of parched corn, rye, okra, beans, and even potatoes. There was no sugar available. Calico was worth $50 a yard in Confederate money. Corn cobs were burned and the ashes was used for soda. For medicine, those who were ill used herbs, roots, and bark of certain trees. Women carded cotton into fluffy wads, spun it on spinning wheels into thread, and wove the thread into corse cloth. In 1865 the war ended and the men came home.
Anniversary Club Annual Banquet in 1905: In 1905, the Anniversary Club held their annual banquet, which was attended by prominent Beeville business men and their wives. Their names are listed at the bottom of the picture, along with a copy of the membership of the club, and the menu for the banquet. In the 1890’s and early 1900’s the Anniversary Club, a men’s club, met once a month and held birthday dinners which were served at the Nations Hotel. From its beginning clubs and organizations played an important part in the progress of the citizens of Bee County, both culturally and civically.
Cotton Hauled by Mules in Oakville: Photograph of James and Lee Crawford Brother's Freight Co. located in Oakville, Texas. In the foreground, loads of cotton are piled onto mule-drawn wagons. F. H. Church stands in front of the mules in the foreground. Three wagons are visible in front of wooden building. The driver of the first wagon is James Crawford. The photograph was taken at or near where Monroe Fink's office is now. If cotton was hauled to the coast for shipment, it came through Beeville.
Cotton in Front of Wimmer Store in Oakville, Texas 1907: Photograph of loads of cotton piled onto mule-drawn wagons outside of Wimmer Store in Oakville,located in Live Oak County, Texas. The wagon driver is Lee Crawford. Similiar scenes took place across Bee County in the early 1900's.
Last Members of the Texas Veterans Association: 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 veterans present. After 1876 the annual meetings, held in some seventeen different Texas cities, always took place in the week including April 21, San Jacinto Day. At the Goliad meeting in 1906 only six of the last ten known survivors of the Army of the Republic of Texas were present: William P. Zuber, Alfonso Steele, John W. Darlington, Asa C. Hill, S. F. Sparks, and L. T. Lawlor. The association dissolved in Austin on April 19, 1907, during its thirty-fifth annual convention. With its dissolution its work was taken over by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. The stories of some of these men can be found in the Handbook of Texas.
Aerial View of Bee County College: Photograph of an aerial view of Bee County College. In 1965 the voters of Bee County named the entire county as a college district and issued bonds in the amount of $1,500,000 for a junior college. One hundred acres of land was donated for the college campus by the widow of A.C. Jones II, and her three living children, Mrs. W.M. Thompson, W.W. Jones II, and Mrs. H.B. Hause. In the fall of 1967 the first classes of Bee County College were held. Today the college is named Coastal Bend College and includes campuses in Beeville, Alice, Kingsville, and Pleasanton.
Leanna Ivory Lott, Wife of Mose Jackson Lott: Photograph of Leanna Ivory Lott, wife of Mose Lott holding their daughter Nealie Lott. Leanna Lott was a charter member of Jones Chapel Methodist Church. In 1886, her husband, Mose Lott, and Allen Canada build the first school in Beeville for Black children.
Allen Canada: In 1876, Stephen Canada conducted a school for Black Americans in his store seven miles above Beeville. After lumber from the old Methodist Church was donated for a school for Black American children, Stephen Canada and Mose Lott were the carpenters who built the school at 107 Burke Street. In 1931, a new school was built for Black American children. This new school was named the Lott-Canada School in honor of these two men. In this picture Stephen Canada is standing with three children from the Cox family.
Mrs. Mary Canada: Mary Lee Pettus Canada’s obituary. Mary Lee Canada was a respected resident of Beeville for more than sixty years. Born in Goliad on September 26, 1884, Mary Lee Pettus married Elvy Canada in 1909 and moved to Beeville. She was a member of Bethlehem Baptist Church and was the first Worthy Matron of the Golden Leaf Chapter # 593, Order of the Eastern Star which had been organized in Beeville in 1928. She and Elvy had one daughter, Alma Hampton, who worked the summers in the fields to earn money for her first tuition at Guadalupe, a school for blacks in Seguin, and taught school for forty-two years. Mary Lee Pettus Canada died on June 20, 1964.
Mrs. Alma Lee Urps Hampton: Photograph of the front page of a funeral pamphlet for Mrs. Alma Lee Urps Hampton. Alma Lee Hampton was born on June 16,1902 to Mary (Pettus) and Dave Urps. She was reared by her mother and stepfather, Elvy Canada, a member of a pioneer Bee County family. As a child she attended Lott Canada School when it was a school with no name and only two teachers for about forty students. She was often taken out of school to chop cotton. She worked in the fields during the summer to earn money for her first year’s tuition at Guadalupe, a school for blacks in Seguin. With the support of her husband, Mitchell Hampton, a railroad man in Skidmore, and her mother, Mary Lee Pettus Canada, she earned her teaching certificate and bachelor’s degree from Texas Southern University in Houston. She began her teaching career in a one-room schoolhouse in 1926, and continued teaching for forty-two years. She went to Del Mar in Corpus Christi to fulfill her dream of learning piano, and later utilized this talent as pianist for the old Anderson chapel in Skidmore. Mrs. Hampton passed away March 7, 1998. The services were held at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Beeville.
American Legion Post 818 and Lymas Langley, Jr.: Photograph of commander Lymas Langley Jr. burning the note for Legion Hall Post 818. American Legion Post 818 was named for an African-American man, Charles Major Lytle, who was killed while in defense of his country in World War II. The late Judge James R. Dougherty, prominent Beeville attorney, oil producer and philanthropist, donated several lots on which to build a Legion Post Hall. He also donated some money to help pay for the construction work. The post was completed in 1952 on West Hefferman St. The members sold barbecue dinners and paid out the indebtedness. The post was organized in 1946 with sixteen charter members. Lymas Langley Jr. as the first commander. Son of noted cowboy, Lymas Langley, Sr., Lymas Langley, Jr. was also a charter member of the Board of Community Council in 1965. He, along with George Hodges and Willie Walker, were in charge of the 1925 "Juneteenth" celebration, and he operated a restaurant on West Corpus Christi St. After Langley died in 1971, Camp Ezell, in his book The Historical Story of Beeville, Texas noted that Lymas Langley, Jr. was the most effective peacemaker of Bee County and the seeds of wisdom, understanding and kindness he instilled in whites, blacks, and people with Spanish surnames will live indefinitely.
Mrs. Lymas (Johnnie) Langley, Jr.: Photograph of Mrs. Lymas Langley, Jr. standing beside the dedication marker of her husband Lymas Langley Jr. The marker says "Beeville Volunteer Ambulance Service Building Erected 1971 Dedicated in Memory of Lymas Langley, Jr."
Bee County College Drawing: Print of a Bee County College in Beeville, Texas. The print depicts a quadrangle on the college campus surrounded by buildings and lined with trees. The original watercolor was created by Richard Lewis. In 1965 the voters of Bee County named the entire county as a college district and issued bonds in the amount of $1,500,000 for a junior college. One hundred acres of land was donated for the college campus by the widow of A.C. Jones, Mrs. W.M. Thompson, W.W. Jones II, and Mrs. H.B. Hause. In the fall of 1967 the first classes of Bee County College were held. Today the college is named Coastal Bend College and includes campuses in Beeville, Alice, Kingsville, and Pleasanton.
McClanahan/L.F. Roberts Dry Goods: McClanahan/L.F. Roberts Dry Goods. Now located at 206 E 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 among the first to buy auctioned lots in the newly formed town of Beeville in 1859. McClanahan also served as schoolteacher, postmaster, county clerk, innkeeper, and Sunday school superintendent. After McClanahan’s death, L.F. Roberts purchased and operated the store for many years. In 1962, the building was purchased by the Historical Society for $600, and moved to its present site. The building is still the “home” of the society, and meetings are held there.
Snowfall at the Leverman House: Photograph of the Leverman House after a snowfall. In the 1920’s, Fritz Leverman, owner of the Ideal Meat Market, and Jim Ballard were natural comedians who lifted their customer’s spirits with their stories. Mr. Leverman also served as Fire Chief.
The Rees Home: Photograph of the Rees Home,500 East Corpus Christi Street. Later owned and occupied by the family of Richard McCord.
Paul Bauer and Son Saddle Shop, Beeville: Photograph of three men standing inside of the Bauer Saddle Shop located at 328 N Washington St. The founder of the Bauer Saddle Shop, Frederick Bauer, a renowned saddler in Germany arrived in Galveston in 1855 and opened his first saddler in Yorktown. The Bauer’s made their famous Bauer saddles for over one hundred years, and worked in several Texas towns before settling permanently in Beeville. Paul Bauer was listed as a saddler in the 1910 City Directory, and his son, Fred, was listed in later directories through 1948. The last Bauer saddle was made by Fred in 1950, the year he died.
Saint Mary's Academy 1916: Photograph of the students that attend Saint Mary's Academy in 1916. Saint Mary’s Academy was opened in the fall of 1896 by the Sisters of Divine Providence as Beeville's first parochial school. Within a year a large two-story day and boarding school were added. Fire destroyed the academy building in December of 1930. St. Joseph’s School was built on the same location (400 N Tyler St). In 1996, Our Lady of Victory Catholic School and St. Joseph’s combined to form the new St. Mary’s Academy on the same location as the early founding school.
Jim Ballard and his Horse Charlie: 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 daughter, Mrs. Alice Ballard Broocks of Beeville, published a collection of Mr. Ballard’s favorite stories. Jim Ballard died in 1962 at the age of 89.
The McKinney Home: Photograph of the McKinney home located on 211 East Cleveland Street. Built by Robert and Phoebe Porter McKinney on their ranch in northern Bee County in the 1890’s. It was torn down, the boards were numbered, and it was rebuilt again at its present location. The house was occupied by Frank McKinney, former Tax Collector of Bee County
Sheriff D. A. T. Walton's Home: Photograph of Sheriff D. A. T. Walton's home. A native of Alabama, D.A. Dalton came to Bee County in 1860. He had served with a ranger company for a while before coming to Bee County. After locating here he became engaged in cattle raising. The town of Walton, later named Normanna, was named in his honor. In 1876 he was elected sheriff and served as sheriff for sixteen years. After his defeat in 1894, he moved to Brewster County, where he again served as sheriff.
Santos Jaramillo in a Cotton Field 1940s: Photograph of Santos Jaramillo standing in a cotton field in the 1940's.. In 1937, Santos Jaramillo started his Jaramillo Cattle hauling with a bob-tailed truck. He soon had a fleet of big cattle trailers, taking cattle to market from ranches all over South Texas, and even by ferry from St. Joseph Island. After WWII, the railroad’s agricultural customers began to see the advantages of shipping by truck. While shipping by rail was less expensive, trucking was faster. Without the regulations of having to stop to feed and water the cattle, the truckers took cattle from the ranch to market in half the
Santos Jaramillo at Viva Downs, Beeville, Texas 1974: Two photographs of Viva downs in Beeville, Texas. The top photograph is of two horses on the race track. In the bottom photograph, the winning horse, Zipolo Honey, and his jockey stand beside the horse's owner Santos Jaramillo along with the horse trainers, Pancho Garza and Pete de Luna. In 1937, Santos Jaramillo started Jaramillo Cattle hauling with a bob-tailed truck. He soon had a fleet of big cattle trailers, taking cattle to market from ranches all over South Texas, and even by ferry from St. Joseph Island. After WWII, the railroad’s agricultural customers began to see the advantages of shipping by truck. While shipping by rail was less expensive, trucking was faster. Without the regulations of having to stop to feed and water the cattle, the truckers took cattle from the ranch to market in half the time.
Mineral Mercantile Store: Photograph of a man and a woman embracing in front of the Mineral Mercantile Store. Mineral The first Anglo settlers to the Mineral area date back to 1845 when President Anson Jones granted a large track of land to the heirs of Henry Coley. After the Civil War, Refugio resident Thomas Howard and son-in-law, Lyman Blackman, begin a freight route from Saint Marys hauling lumbar and other supplies into the Mineral area. They then returned with hides and other products for export. While digging water wells a vein of hot mineral water with 16 different minerals was struck by William and Susan Sanford. Overnight Mineral became a tent city in 1877 as people came because of the healing powers they thought the mineral water contained. The Sanford Hotel, several stores, churches, a grist mill, a school in the drug store, and a post office sprang up at Mineral City. As the medicinal power of the water withered, along with the by-passing by the railroad, floods, and fires, Mineral also withered. In 1952 the South Texas Children’s Home was established near the old “city”, one store, two Baptist churches, and less than 100 residents were all that remained.
Mercantile in Mineral: Photograph of the Mercantile Store in Mineral, Texas. The first Anglo settlers to the Mineral area date back to 1845 when President Anson Jones granted a large track of land to the heirs of Henry Coley. After the Civil War, Refugio resident Thomas Howard and son-in-law, Lyman Blackman, begin a freight route from Saint Marys hauling lumbar and other supplies into the Mineral area. They then returned with hides and other products for export. While digging water wells a vein of hot mineral water with 16 different minerals was struck by William and Susan Sanford. Overnight Mineral became a tent city in 1877 as people came because of the healing powers they thought the mineral water contained. The Sanford Hotel, several stores, churches, a grist mill, a school in the drug store, and a post office sprang up at Mineral City. As the medicinal power of the water withered, along with the by-passing by the railroad, floods, and fires, Mineral also withered. In 1952 the South Texas Children’s Home was established near the old “city”. By 1958 one store, two Baptist churches, and less than 100 residents were all that remained.
San Domingo Schoolhouse: Photograph of the small, wooden San Domingo school. This schoolhouse was built by Mrs. John (Sallie) Pettus in 1859 on the west side of the Dry Medio, and moved in 1867 to between the Medio and Dry Medio Creeks. The schoolhouse was moved again in 1870 to the banks of Toro Creek. Miss Gussie Hitchens, who later married John W. Flournoy, was the first teacher. In the late 1870’s the schoolhouse was moved to the San Domingo community about two miles west of the present Normanna town site.
Normanna School: Photograph of an angled view of the Normanna school which is the first school in Normanna. This first school for Normanna was constructed in 1889 at the site of the present school, on the corner of Main and Live Oak Streets. Along with its function as a school, it was also used as a church, community center, and for other purposes. In the 1900's a two-story schoolhouse was erected, and in 1926 a new schoolhouse was built. In the late 1930's, the Normanna school was consolidated with the Pettus and Tuleta schools.
R.J. Bradford Store in Nomanna: Photograph of a store built by R. J. Bradford in Normanna. The words "R. J. Bradford Dealer in General Merchandise" can be seen above the awning.
Normanna Gin 1910: Postcard of the cotton gin in Normanna in 1910. Santa Domingo was the community’s first name. It was located nine miles north of Beeville where the Santa Domingo Creek joined the Medio Creek, and was settled about 1848. Jose Maria Uranga’s eleven leagues, the largest single Mexican grant in Bee County (1831), covered much of the community. In 1874 it was known as Walton Station after the sheriff of Bee County, D.A.T. Walton. In 1893 a Norwegian colony moved into the area and settled two miles east of Walton. That settlement is still called the Colony. A Walton post office was established in 1894, but another Texas town already had the name of Walton, so the town became Normanna. (Norwegian for “far north or one from the far north”.) In the early days Normanna had three churches, two doctors, two schools, a hotel, a weekly newspaper, five general stores, a drugstore, a gin, barbershop, a tin shop, a saloon, dance hall, the post office and a general store.
Swan Store in Normanna: Photograph of a group of men of the Swan Store in Normanna. Mr. and Mrs. C.I. Swan and family moved from Illinois to Normanna in 1889. For many years they were leaders in the community, and he is known as the “father of Normanna”. Mr. Swan served as county commissioner of Precinct Two for several years. Mrs. Swan taught in the Normanna Public School. She also organized the Normanna Country Woman’s Club, the first country club to federated in Texas. He died in 1918, and she in 1935. The store in the picture was owned by John Swan. Pictured from left to right are Dayton Roberts, James W. Robinson, Jim Sheive, Jim Moore, Sam Bridge, Dolph Garner, Henry Nutt, John Swan, Kay Smith, Mr. Lawrence, and Llywelyn Roberts (barefoot boy).
Sheive's Meat Market in Normanna: Photograph of Sheive's Market in Normanna owned by Jim Sheive. The Sheive family were in Normanna by 1867.
Hatch/Long Store in Papalote: 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. For many years his story served as post office and voting place. W. B Hatch operated the store until 1898 when he sold it to L.N. Scofield of Sinton. Mr. Schofield then sold the store to W.M. Long in 1901. Mr. and Mrs. Long operated the store until his death in 1929. Mrs. Long, and her son, W. C. Long, continued to operate the store and service station, which has been added to the business after the advent of the automobile. In 1946 Mr. Long closed the business for about six months after her son went into the cattle business. At the insistence of friends, Mrs. Long reopened the store and operated it until 1951 when it was closed for good.
J. F. Ray House in Pettus: Photograph of J. F. Ray's home in Pettus, Texas. James F. Ray built his home long before the townsite was subdivided.
Oil Well: Photograph of the Maggie Ray McKinney Oil Well, the first oil well in Bee County. On December 29, 1929 as the Houston Oil Company drilled for gas, the first oil well in Bee County was brought in on the JJ McKinney land east of Pettus. Humble Oil and Refining Company completed McKinney No. 1 Oil Well, Bee County, January 31, 1930. The discovery brought a rush of people to the community of Pettus. The discovery of oil relieved the pressure of depression. By 1937, the county boasted of 53 gas fields, with 212 wells, and 62 oil fields, with 456 wells, producing 1,863,806 barrels of oil. Oil and gas are still important industries in Bee County.
First Oil Well in Bee County: Maggie Ray McKinney 1929: Photograph of the Maggie Ray McKinney Oil Well in Pettus, Texas in 1929. There are cars parked around the well as people came to the well to see it "brought in." On December 29, 1929 as the Houston Oil Company drilled for gas, the first oil well in Bee County was brought in on the JJ McKinney land east of Pettus. Humble Oil and Refining Company completed McKinney No. 1 Oil Well, Bee County, January 31, 1930. The discovery brought a rush of people to the community of Pettus, and relieved the pressure of the Great Depression. By 1937, the county boasted of 53 gas fields, with 212 wells, and 62 oil fields, with 456 wells, producing 1,863,806 barrels of oil. Oil and gas are still important industries in Bee County.
Celebrating the First Oil Well in Bee County - Maggie Ray McKinney #1 Celebration Barbecue: Photograph of people that attended a barbecue held by the McKinney Family in celebration of the new oil well Bee County. More than 500 people attended the event. On December 29, 1929 as the Houston Oil Company drilled for gas, the first oil well in Bee County was brought in on the JJ McKinney land east of Pettus. Humble Oil and Refining Company completed McKinney No. 1 Oil Well, Bee County, January 31, 1930.
Pettus Hotel and W.T. Roberts Store: Photograph of Robert's Store on the left and the Pettus Hotel on the right. In 1888 W.T. Roberts moved his family from San Domingo to Pettus where he bought a hotel, and on April 6, 1891 opened a store. This store burned down in 1901. He rebuilt in 1903, and the first telephone in the area was located in the store. Several years later a switchboard was installed in the Roberts Hotel with Miss Lula Roberts as operator. In 1929 or 1930, a disastrous fire burned the hotel and some seven business houses. Mr. Roberts’ store did not burn. In 1932 W.T. Roberts Company built the first brick business house in Pettus. It continue to operate until 1965,
John F. Pettus Homestead: 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 went home on weekends to stay with his family. Over time more people moved to the area and established a community, which was named Pettus in honor or John Pettus, the first land owner. John Pettus daughter Sarah married John Sutherland Hodges, and the young couple came to live near her father. They built a five or six-room cottage. The lumber for the cottage was brought by wagon train from Saint Mary's. The wagons were pulled by oxen. The Hodges family lived here until the land was purchased by the late G.A. Ray St. in 1895. Mr. Ray built a two-story house on the same spot as the Hodge/Pettus house and used some portions of the cottage in his house.

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