Photograph of a picnic, eight little ones, two adults.

Photograph of a little girl sitting on a table behind a cake.

Photograph of the Bee County Courthouse while it was still under construction. The three-story courthouse was built by W.C.Stephenson and Fritz W. Heldenfels, and still in use today. Note the barbed wire fence seen in the foreground. Before this courthouse was built, barbed-wire (called bob-wire by cow punchers) proved to be a great benefaction to the ranchmen. It put an end to the cattle drives up the Chisholm Trail to Kansas, and brought an urgent need for a railroad through Bee County. This need was met by the SA&AP railroad through Beeville in 1886.

Photograph of a survey map for the United States Secret Service. The map shows the areas of Elm and Houston St.

Photograph of a survey map for the United States Secret Service. The map shows the areas of Elm and Houston St.

Photograph of the first Port Arthur Water Plant, located at Houston Avenue and Lakeshore. The building is two stories high, and there are two smoke stacks protruding from it. In the background, there are other buildings and a water tower. Text below the photograph says "Water Plant."

Photograph of Port Arthur Ice Company on 101 Houston Avenue. A sign on the building says "Port Arthur Ice Co." Three business trucks and two cars are parked in front of the building. The trucks say "Crystal Ice Co." and "Port Arthur Ice Co."

Photograph of a view of early Port Arthur. In the foreground, there is a wooden building on the left side of the photograph identified as Terminal Hotel on Houston Avenue. There are several other wooden buildings.

Photograph of a man identified as Gerald Glidden, District Representative of Gulf States Utilities Company, standing by a car and pointing to it in front of the Gulf States office on 101 Houston Avenue. The car is decorated with advertisements for the utility company. The back of the car says "Use Electrical Appliances;" the side of the car says "Water Pumps Ranges' Washers" and "General Electric Refrigerators." Text at the bottom of the photograph says "Gerald Glidden."

Photograph of a building identified as Port Arthur Ice Company on Houston Avenue. A sign attached to the building says "Port Arthur Ice Company." Several trucks and horse-drawn vehicles are parked in a row outside the building. In the background, there are other buildings.

Letter from H. E. Keller, the Supervisor of the Identification Bureau in Houston, Texas to D. E. Walsh, Superintendent of the Identification Bureau in Dallas, Texas thanking him for the photographs he sent from the Urschel Kidnapping case.

Photograph of an interior view of the Notary Public Office in Mobeetie, Texas. Three men are sitting at desks, and one girl is sitting on a box in the background. The people are identified as Houston Parks, Horace Parks, F. P. Reid, and Shirley Parks. The men on the left and in the center of the image have typewriters on their desks. The man on the right is writing. Several bookshelves, a map of Texas, a calendar, and a telephone are hanging on the walls. In the foreground, there is a stove and a wooden chair. In the background, there is a sign on the wall that says "Notary."

Photograph of seven men and one dog posing on fire trucks outside of the Number Two Fire Station on the corner of Thomas Boulevard and Houston Avenue. The trucks are a 1923 American LaFrance Pumper and a 1923 Model T Ford. The men are identified as Bill Woods, Ed Sykora, Eugene Ray, Shorty Robins, Jim Salyer, O'Neil Borel, and Pat Etheridge.

Photograph of a print of the Butler's Shoe Store located at 801 Main Street in Houston, Texas.

Photograph of a man with a long mustache and wearing a jacket, waistcoat, shirt and tie.

Barnard Elliot Bee attorney, soldier, and statesman, was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1787. He was the son of Thomas B.Bee who was a member of the Continental Congress, and was Justice of the U.S. Circuit Court of South Carolina under President George Washington. In 1836 Barnard E. Bee and his family moved to Texas and settled near Houston. He served as Secretary of State under David G. Burnet’s ad interim government, and escorted Santa Anna to Washington DC after the Battle of San Jacinto. During the Republic of Texas he served as Secretary of State under Sam Houston and Mirabeau B. Lamar. He also served as the Republic’s minister to Mexico and the United States. In 1846 he returned to South Carolina where he died in 1854. He was the father to Confederate Generals Hamilton P. Bee and Barnard E. Bee, Jr. Bee County was named for him in 1857 at the request of his son Hamilton, who served in the Texas Legislative from 1849 t0 1859. A THC marker is located in front of the Bee County Courthouse in his honor.

Photograph of a rooster in a yard.

Photograph of the larvae of the Mallodon (beetle).

Photograph of a herd of cattle on an open plain.

Photograph of a field that is covered in snow. A house is in the background behind a fence.

Photograph of two baby turkey vulture birds on the ground in a field.

Photograph of figs arranged in two glass bowls.

Photograph of snails on prickly pear cactus.

Photograph of a rattlesnake, coiled.