Beeville, Texas
HISTORY
Welcome to Beeville, Texas
The City and County are named in honor of Barnard E. Bee, Sr., for his service to the Republic of Texas.
In 1858, Bee County, Texas officially organized, and there were two places in Bee County called Beeville.
The county seat first was located at Beeville-on-the-Medio some seven miles east of Beeville-on-the-Poesta, known as Beeville today. Then, two years later, in 1860, the county seat moved to Beeville.
The railroad arrived in 1866, and a larger courthouse was built in 1878 but burned down in 1911. Finally, the current brick courthouse, which seems to have all the desirable courthouse design features, opened in 1912.
Much of the fascinating architecture in Beeville was the work of architect W. C. Stephenson, responsible for the 1912 courthouse and the original design of the Rialto Theater.
PHOTOS
Sights Around Beeville, Texas
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Rialto Theater
Built in 1922, the Rialto Theater in Beeville, Texas was the flagship for a 22-theater chain operated by the Hall Brothers. Opening day featured Douglas Fairbanks' "The Three Musketeers" with the theater's pipe organ playing the soundtrack.
In 1935 a fire brought on an art deco remodel headed by John Eberson, known for his work on the Majestic Theaters in Dallas and San Antonio. The remodel would turn out to be Eberson's only art deco work. When the Rialto Theater reopened in 1936, it was the only air-conditioned building in Beeville.
The theater closed in 1986, and work has been underway to restore it over the past couple of decades.
Can you imagine listening to a pipe organ play throughout an entire feature film?
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Gone Gulf-ing
This old Beeville, Texas gas station was originally a Gulf Station built around 1925 in a Pre-War Bungalow/Craftsman style. Stations like this were popular in Texas's large and small cities during the 1920s.
It's easy to identify these stations because they all featured a flat roof, dark red brick with tan brick inlays, square columns at the corners of the canopy, single-door entrances, and exposed rafter ends.
Are you good at identifying old gas stations?
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Ford-Merc Body Shop
The old Dave Moore Ford-Mercury Body Shop in Beeville, Texas, is now a parking lot full of used cars. Dave Moore sold his dealership to Blake Fulenwider in 2017, and the body shop was closed soon after that. However, before the building's ultimate demolition, I was able to get this picture of the old Body Shop sign.
Do you ever take pictures of abandoned buildings and go back years later to see if they still exist?
