The two-story building was built on the site of the present courthouse by Viggo Kohler in 1878 for a bid of $3,425. The lumber used to build it was hauled from St. Marys in Refugio Co. It had a 40X50 ft. rock foundation with a portico 8 X 18 ft. The portico had four octagon columns made from eight-inch square solid timbers. The county officials moved in on May 12, 1879. It was destroyed by fire on January 15, 1911. While a new courthouse was being built the auditorium of the Grand Opera House served as a temporary courthouse.

The two-story building was built on the site of the present courthouse by Viggo Kohler in 1878 for a bid of $3,425. The lumber used to build it was hauled from St. Marys in Refugio Co. It had a 40X50 ft. rock foundation with a portico 8 X 18 ft. The portico had four octagon columns made from eight-inch square solid timbers. The county officials moved in on May 12, 1879. It was destroyed by fire on January 15, 1911. While a new courthouse was being built the auditorium of the Grand Opera House served as a temporary courthouse. Note the windmill on the courthouse grounds. The public well, powered by the windmill, furnished water for the building and for the public water troughs provided for the farmers and ranchmen so they could water their horses. Many remembered dipping their fire buckets in the horses' drinking trough in the heart of town.

Photograph of the Thompson Building located on 108 West Corpus Christi Street across from the courthouse. The Thompson Building built in 1892 in the Victorian style, was the first brick building in Beeville. The building was built by grocer, J.C. Thompson (1836-1905) of brick from the Calavaros kiln near Elmendorf. Upstairs in 1892 was the law office of Lon C. Hill, who later founded Harlingen. The “Beeville Light Guard” was later housed on the second floor. Acquired in 1910 by Eureka Telephone Company, the building was Beeville’s communications headquarters from 1912 to 1920 for Southwestern Telegraph and Telephone Company, and then for Southwestern Bell until 1957. In 1957 it was restored for the law offices of John N. Barnhart. Facing the courthouse, the proud old building displays a historical marker, and at the top of the facade, the date “1892”

Photograph of Jessie McKinney, Buck McKinney, Virginia Rensler, and another individual sitting at the edge of the Twin Mills swimming hole.

A 1930's era photograph of a group of young women at the Twin Mills Swimming Hole.

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.

Photograph of the Washington Saloon. An early saloon in Beeville.

A 1934 postcard of a Washington Street in downtown Beeville.

Postcard showing the business section of Washington Street in Beeville in the 1930 or 1940's.

Photograph of members of the Welder Family. Included in the picture are Louisa Welder, her daughter Mrs. Mary O’Connor along with Henry Welder, Jim O’Connor, and Chrys Wood. In 1874 Tom Welder, son of Thomas and Louisa Welder of Refugio Co., moved to Bee County and took up ranching. He drove horses, mules, and cattle to Louisiana and Kansas, and was a rancher his entire life. He served as Bee County Commissioner for twenty-two years and was Vice President of the Beeville Bank and Trust. Other Welder family members ranched in Bee County, and the Welder Family is known throughout South Texas as ranchers, businessmen, and community leaders.

Photograph of the historical marker dedicated to the West Side School for Mexican Americans. The West Side School for Mexican Americans, also known as Jackson School, was built in the early 1900’s. A two-room frame building served students until 1932, when it was replaced with a brick schoolhouse that stands today. In the 1940’s, the American GI Forum and League of United Latin American Citizens fought against inequality in schools. Their cases in Texas courts and the U.S. Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education ended the legal segregation of schoolchildren. However, by 1938, high school students from the West Side School had already been integrated with A.C. Jones High School. Integration of all Mexican American students was peacefully completed by the mid 1950’s. Long after this second school’s ipso facto case of segregation was remedied in the 1970’s, the building continues as the Adult Education Center and as a reminder of the teachers and students who worked to improve the lives of the Mexican-American population.

Photograph of Glen Clare on horseback working cattle on the Wood Ranch Southeats of Beeville. Across the bottom of the picture are the words "The Wood Ranch, with Glen Clare, southeast of Beeville."