Postcard of the "First National Bank Building, Beeville, Texas". This first bank in Beeville opened its doors in 1890. In 1894 it moved to this location at Washington and Bowie Streets. Notice that there are no powerpoles in this picture. According to the message on the back, this postcard was part of a package of letters sent by family members to a soldier in WWI. The writer mentions a hope for peace. “The Express said last night that the Germans only had until 11 o’clock Mon Nov. 11 to give their answer whether they surrender or fight. Of course we are all praying anxiously as I know you boys are too.”

Postcard showing Washington Street in Beeville Texas. The ornate building on the left, at the intersection of Bowie and Washington, was the First National Bank of Beeville's location from 1894 to 1960. The First National Bank of Beeville was organized on December 30, 1889, and opened on the courthouse square in 1890. Prior to the opening of First National Bank, people left their money either in sacks under loose floor boards behind the counter of Captain A.C. Jones’ store on the east side of the Public Square, or in kegs under that same counter. The increase in population and trade volume brought on by the arrival of SA&AP, and the Gulf, Western & Pacific Railroads in the late 1880’s made the establishment of a bank necessary. Note the electrical lines along Washington Street. Electrical lights went on in Beeville on November 30, 1896.

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 other entertainment including movies. As the building became old and frail it was condemned for usage, and finally vacated.

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.

Photograph of Fritz's Restaurant and Saloon. The restaurant building is two stories with a balcony and a porch. A sign can be seen at the front of the restaurant that reads "Fritz's Restaurant."

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.

Photograph of life on the Rendleman Farm. The farm is an example of a typical South Texas farm with a windmill, cistern, a shop, and barns or sheds.

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 set up; and M.J. White Store. The devastating fires in the early 1900’s destroyed most of these mercantile stores.

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 atmospheric theatre fashion. Eberson attained national and even international acclaim for his atmospheric theatres, many of them executed in exotic revival styles, including Italian Renaissance, Morrish Revival, and others. He specialized in depicting outdoor settings with no formal walls, and made the whole auditorium a gigantic stage set that enveloped the whole audience. He became renown in 1923, when he designed the Holblitzelle’s Majestic Theatre in Houston, the world’s first “atmospheric theatre”.

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

Photograph of J. F. Ray's home in Pettus, Texas. James F. Ray built his home long before the townsite was subdivided.

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 kill for Bee County. The carcass attracted quite a crowd when shown in town. Mr. Looney skinned the cat and gave the skin to Frank McKinney for a rug.

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.

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 …

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, Harriet Williams and Mary Williams. Many of the early members were former slaves. In 1926, the present frame church was built on the original site, where the congregation fervently serves the African American community of Beeville. It is locate at 115 North Leverman Street.

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 rest of their lives. Bee’s husband was oil man, Marion Young.

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”) hanging on a staff in her left hand and the torch of knowledge in her right. She is made of zinc and covered with a coating that resembles copper. Since Stephenson gave permission to make copies of his work, there may be other “Stephenson Justices” scattered throughout the country.

Photograph of the inside of Herbert Levermann's Confectionary. Herbert Levermann is pictured third from the left in the photo.

Photograph of eight officers of the Lilly Owl Club Number 134 in 1893. The name of the officers and their office held in the organization is at the bottom of the photo.

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, this third school was named “Lott-Canada” in honor of the builders of the former school. The Lott-Canada School was partially funded by the Rosenwald Foundation and the building was named for the CEO of Sears at the time. In the fall of 1955, students were transferred to BISD, where integration was peacefully concluded. In 1960, the school was closed; however, it continued to serve the community as the Special Education Building for the school district until it was leased to Coastal Bend Community College in 2008. Today is it used by the college for Customized and Continuing Education, Adult Basic Education/GED, and English as a Second Language classes. Of the 450 Rosenwald schools built …

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.

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 across the page that represent a railway.

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 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 periodically.

Photograph of the two-story McClanahan House. This home is the oldest business structure in Beeville. It was constructed in approximately 1867. It has served as a general store, lodging house, and post office.