Bee County is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

located in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. It is in South Texas and its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

is Beeville. As of the 2020 census, the population was 31,047. The Beeville, TX Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Bee County. The county was founded December 8, 1857, and organized the next year. It is named for Barnard E. Bee, Sr., a secretary of state of the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas ( es, República de Tejas) was a sovereign state in North America that existed from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846, that bordered Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande in 1840 (another breakaway republic from Mex ...

History

On December 8, 1857, the

Texas Legislature The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the US state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a powerful ...

formed Bee County from sections of Refugio, Live Oak, San Patricio, Goliad and Karnes counties, naming it for Colonel Barnard Elliot Bee who served the

Sam Houston Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played an important role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two i ...

's Secretary of War and

Mirabeau B. Lamar Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar (August 16, 1798 – December 25, 1859) was an Lawyer, attorney born in Georgia, who became a Texas politician, poet, diplomat, and soldier. He was a leading Texas political figure during the Republic of Texas, Texas ...

's Secretary of State. During the Anglo-American land speculation of the 1830s, the area's earliest settlers were mainly Irish immigrants, but by the late 1840s and early 1850s the rise of Jacksonian expansionism inspired Southern whites from the North and South Carolina, Louisiana and Mississippi to occupy and build settlements in the area. As the constitution of the

no longer recognized the Catholic Church (or any church) as the state religion and slave-holding settlers came to dominate the area in the 1840s, small Methodist, Presbyterian and Baptist congregations began forming with sustained missionary support from these denominations. While research suggests that Baptists and Methodists comprised 65 percent of all Texas congregations by 1870, the reader would be well advised to consider the following contextual factors to avoid falsely minimizing Catholic influence across Texas in general and Bee County in particular: * A basic familiarity with the unique realities of Catholic-church operations (e.g., holding the Mass as many as six or seven times each Sabbath) suggests that the proliferation of Protestant sanctuaries might not indicate numerical domination or evangelical success. * Unique global ecclesial priorities and the socio-economic class of local congregants, given the decades of murder and dispossession targeting Spanish-speaking landowners and professionals in South Texas, likely limited the capital available for church construction. * The repeated official desecration of prominent Catholic churches (e.g., Texas Ranger and militia use of saints' statues for target practice at venerable San Antonio missions) likely dampened the interest among Catholic pastors and congregants to invest in physical infrastructure.

Courthouse

The Bee County Courthouse was designed by the

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

William Charles Stephenson, originally from

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

. The original courthouse, completed in 1912, cost $72,000. He also sculpted the "Justice Is Blind" monument (In his own words, an "Enlightened Justice") that tops the courthouse; he intentionally chose the "unblindfolded" concept. The structure uses the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

window style of a glass pane flanked by two narrow ones. It is classical with the grand

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

having

Corinthian column The Corinthian order (Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order ...

s at the entry.Historical Marker, Bee County Courthouse, Beeville, Texas Stephenson also designed the Rialto Theater in Beeville, now used for special occasion, not the running of

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

s, which is located close to the Joe Barnhart Library. He helped construct the

death mask A death mask is a likeness (typically in wax or plaster cast) of a person's face after their death, usually made by taking a cast or impression from the corpse. Death masks may be mementos of the dead, or be used for creation of portraits. It ...

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...

, who was

assassinated Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have a ...

in Buffalo in 1901. Stephenson also designed the courthouse in

McMullen County McMullen County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 600, making it the fourth-least populous county in Texas. Its county seat is Tilden. The county was established from parts of Bexar Count ...

, Texas and many other buildings, grand homes, schools, churches, and commercial buildings in and around Beeville.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the county has a total area of , of which are land and (0.01%) is covered by water. The

Aransas River The Aransas River is a short river in south Texas in the United States. It drains an area of the south Texas coastal plains into the Gulf of Mexico. It rises in Bee County southwest of Beeville and north of Skidmore, from the confluence of thr ...

forms in Bee County, southwest of Beeville and north of

Skidmore Skidmore may refer to: Places United States * Skidmore, Kansas * Skidmore, Maryland * Skidmore, Michigan * Skidmore, Missouri * Skidmore, Texas * Skidmore, West Virginia * Skidmore Fountain, a public fountain in Portland, Oregon Other uses * Sk ...

Major highways

U.S. Highway 59 U.S. Route 59 (US 59) is a north–south United States highway (though it was signed east–west in parts of Texas). A latecomer to the U.S. numbered route system, US 59 is now a border-to-border route, part of the NAFTA superhighway, NAFTA ...

Interstate 69W is currently under construction and will follow the current route of U.S. 59 in most places. * US 181

U.S. Highway 181 * Texas 72

State Highway 72 * Texas 202

State Highway 202 * Texas 359

State Highway 359 * Texas FM 673

Farm to Market Road 673 * Texas FM 799

Farm to Market Road 799 A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

Farm to Market Road 833 A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used ...

Adjacent counties

* Karnes County (north) * Goliad County (northeast) * Refugio County (east) * San Patricio County (southeast) * Live Oak County (west)

Demographics

As of the

2020 United States census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

, there were 31,047 people, 8,499 households, and 5,693 families residing in the county. As of the

2010 United States census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...

, 31,861 people were living in the county; 78.8% were

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 8.1% Black or African American, 0.6%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.5% Native American, 0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

, 9.7% of some other race, and 2.3% of two or more races. About 56.2% were

Hispanic or Latino ''Hispanic'' and '' Latino'' are ethnonyms used to refer collectively to the inhabitants of the United States who are of Spanish or Latin American ancestry (). While the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, for example, by the United States ...

(of any race). As of the census of 2000, there were 32,359 people, 9,061 households, and 6,578 families living in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was 37 people per square mile (14/km²). There were 10,939 housing units at an average density of 12 per square mile (5/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 67.85%

, 9.90%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.42% Native American, 0.51%

, 0.03%

, 19.15% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 2.13% from two or more races. 53.93% of the population were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race. Of the 9,061 households, 37.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.90% were married couples living together, 14.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.40% were not families. About 23.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.74 and the average family size was 3.25. In the county, the population was distributed as 23.40% under the age of 18, 13.30% from 18 to 24, 35.40% from 25 to 44, 17.80% from 45 to 64, and 10.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 148.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 164.90 males. The median income for a household in the county was $28,392, and for a family was $32,967. Males had a median income of $26,473 versus $20,666 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the county was $10,625. About 19.70% of families and 24.00% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 33.80% of those under age 18 and 18.30% of those age 65 or over.

Government and infrastructure

The

Texas Department of Criminal Justice The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) is a department of the government of the U.S. state of Texas. The TDCJ is responsible for statewide criminal justice for adult offenders, including managing offenders in state prisons, state jails, ...

operates the Correctional Institutions Division Region IV Office on the grounds of Chase Field Naval Air Station in

unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

Bee County. In addition,

Garza East Unit Garza East Unit was a correctional transfer unit on the grounds of Chase Field Industrial Complex in unincorporated area, unincorporated Bee County, Texas, near Beeville, Texas, Beeville. It was co-located with the Garza West Unit. The facility clos ...

and

Garza West Unit Garza West Unit is a correctional transfer unit on the grounds of Chase Field Industrial Complex in unincorporated Bee County, Texas, near the city of Beeville. It is co-located with the Garza East Unit. The facility is operated by the Correction ...

, transfer facilities, are co-located on the grounds of the naval air station, and the

McConnell Unit William G. McConnell Unit (ML) is a Texas state prison located in unincorporated Bee County, Texas, along Texas State Highway 181, east of the city limits of Beeville. It is a part of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). The unit, in ...

is also in an unincorporated area in Bee County. The Beeville Distribution Center is on the grounds of the air station.Beeville Distribution Center
."

. Retrieved on May 22, 2010.

Politics

Bee County is somewhat moderate in comparison to surrounding counties in its support of Republicans in presidential elections. In 2016, Donald Trump won less than 56% of the vote. As recently as 1996 it gave a majority of its votes to the Democratic candidate.

Education

Bee County Library in Beeville, TX IMG 0982

These school districts serve Bee County: *

Beeville Independent School District Beeville Independent School District is a public school district based in Beeville, Texas (USA). Beeville serves central Bee County, including the city of Beeville and the unincorporated community of Blue Berry Hill. Finances As of the 2018� ...

Mathis Independent School District Mathis Independent School District is a public school district based in Mathis, Texas (USA). Located in San Patricio County, small portions of the district extend into Live Oak and Bee counties. Other communities served by the district include ...

(partial) * Pawnee Independent School District (partial, K-8) *

Pettus Independent School District Pettus Independent School District is a public school district based in the community of Pettus, Texas, Pettus, Texas (United States, USA). In addition to Pettus, the district serves the communities of Tuleta, Texas, Tuleta, Tulsita, Texas, Tuls ...

(partial) * Refugio Independent School District (partial) * Skidmore-Tynan Independent School District (partial) * Three Rivers Independent School District (partial)

Coastal Bend College Coastal Bend College (CBC), formerly known as Bee County College (BCC), is a community college that has its main campus in Beeville, Texas, and which operates branch campuses in Alice, Kingsville, and Pleasanton, Texas. As defined by the Texas ...

(formerly Bee County College), a postsecondary institution, serves Bee County among other counties and areas.Texas Education Code Sec. 130.167. BEE COUNTY COLLEGE DISTRICT SERVICE AREA.
The legislation calls it "Bee County College".

Communities

Bee County Courthouse in Beeville, TX IMG 0981

City

* Beeville (county seat)

Census-designated places

* Blue Berry Hill * Normanna *

Pawnee Pawnee initially refers to a Native American people and its language: * Pawnee people * Pawnee language Pawnee is also the name of several places in the United States: * Pawnee, Illinois * Pawnee, Kansas * Pawnee, Missouri * Pawnee City, Nebraska * ...

* Pettus *

* Tuleta * Tulsita *

Tynan Tynan (PlaceNamesNI - Tynan
) is a

Unincorporated communities

* Blanconia * Cadiz *

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caes ...

* Clareville *

Mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. ( ...

* Monteola * Oaks * Olmos * Orangedale * Papalote * Yougeen

References

External links

Bee County government
official website *
Historic Bee County materials
hosted by th
Portal to Texas History

{{coord, 28.42, -97.74, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-TX_source:UScensus1990 1858 establishments in Texas Populated places established in 1858