A city of southeast Texas north-northeast of Houston. A ship canal links the city with the Gulf of Mexico. Population: 110,000.
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A city of southeast Texas north-northeast of Houston. A ship canal links the city with the Gulf of Mexico. Population: 110,000.
For more information on Beaumont, visit Britannica.com.
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The country code is: 236
The city code is: 409
| City of Beaumont | |||
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| Coordinates: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Country | United States | ||
| State | Texas | ||
| County | Jefferson | ||
| Settled | 1835 | ||
| Incorporation | 1838 | ||
| Gentilic | Beaumonter | ||
| Government | |||
| - Type | Council-Manager | ||
| - Mayor | Becky Ames | ||
| - City Manager | Kyle Hayes | ||
| - Mayor Pro - Tem | Nancy Beaulieu | ||
| Area | |||
| - City | sq mi ( |
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| - Land | sq mi ( km²) | ||
| - Water | sq mi ( km²) | ||
| Elevation | ft ( m) | ||
| Population (2000) | |||
| - City | |||
| - Density | /sq mi (/km²) | ||
| Time zone | CST (UTC-6) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) | ||
| Area code(s) | 409 | ||
| FIPS code | 48-070002 | ||
| GNIS feature ID | 13302683 | ||
| Website: www.cityofbeaumont.com | |||
Beaumont is a city and county seat of Jefferson County, Texas and is within the Beaumont-Port Arthur metropolitan area. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 113,866. With Port Arthur and Orange, it forms the Golden Triangle, a major industrial area on the Gulf Coast.
Lamar University is based in Beaumont. The city's daily newspaper is The Beaumont Enterprise, while The Examiner is published weekly.
Gulf States Utilities had its headquarters in Beaumont until its absorption by Entergy Corporation in 1993. GSU's Edison Plaza headquarters is still the tallest building in Beaumont (as of 2007). Since 1907, Beaumont has been home of the South Texas State Fair. In 2004, the venue for the Fair changed to Ford Park, a new, larger facility on the west end of Beaumont.
The city of Beaumont was named by Henry Millard for the family of his deceased wife, Natchez, Mississippi, belle Mary Dewburleigh Barlace Warren Beaumont. [1] Millard came to Texas in 1835 and, along with his business partners, purchased some land between the settlements of Tevis Bluff and Santa Anna. On this property, they founded the city of Beaumont.
Beaumont became a town on December 16, 1838. Beaumont's first mayor was Alexander Calder.[2]
Beaumont was a small center for cattle raisers and farmers in its early years, and with an active riverport by the late 1800s, it became an important lumber and rice-milling town. The Beaumont Rice Mill, founded in 1892 by Joseph Eloi Broussard, was the first commercial rice mill in Texas. Beaumont's lumber boom, which reached its peak in the late 1800s, was due in large part to the rebuilding and expansion of the railroads after the Civil War. By the early 1900s, the city was served by the Southern Pacific, Kansas City Southern, Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe, and Missouri Pacific railroad systems.
Oil was discovered at nearby Spindletop on January 10, 1901. Spindletop became the first major oil field and one of the largest in American history. With the discovery of oil at Spindletop, Beaumont's population grew from 3,296 in 1890 to 9,427 in 1900.
A race riot took place in Beaumont in June 1943 after a white woman said she had been raped by a black man.[1]
In 1996, the Jefferson County courts, located in Beaumont, became the first court in the nation to implement electronic filing and service of court documents, eliminating the need for law firms to print and mail reams of documents.
In 2005, Beaumont and surrounding areas suffered extensive damage from Hurricane Rita. A mandatory evacuation was imposed upon its residents for about two weeks.
Beaumont is a council-manager form of government. Elections are held annually, with the Mayor and Council members each serving two-year terms. All powers of the City are vested in the Council, which enacts local legislation, adopts budgets, and determines policies. Council is also responsible for appointing the City Attorney, the City Clerk and Magistrates, and the City Manager. The city council is comprised of two councilmembers-at-large, and four councilmembers representing four Wards of the city.[3]
| Position | Name | Elected to Current Position | Areas Represented
Council Districts |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mayor | Becky Ames | 2007 - present | Citywide | |
| At Large Position 1 | W.L. Pate Jr. | 2007 - present | Citywide | |
| At Large Position 2 | Gethrel "Get" Williams-Wright | 2007 - present | Citywide | |
| Ward 1 | Dr. Alan Coleman | 2007 - present | North Beaumont | |
| Ward 2 | Nancy Beaulieu | 2003 - present | West Beaumont | |
| Ward 3 | Audwin M. Samuel | 1984-1992, 1999-Present | Central Beaumont | |
| Ward 4 | Jamie D. Smith | 2007 - present | South Beaumont | |
Beaumont is on Texas' coastal plain, about 30 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico, and just south of the dense pine forests of East Texas. The city is bordered on the east by the Neches River and to the north by Pine Island Bayou. Before being settled, the area was crisscrossed by numerous small streams. Most of these streams have since been filled in or converted for drainage purposes.
Beaumont is located at (30.079912, -94.126653).1
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 222.6 km² (85.9 mi²). 220.2 km² (85.0 mi²) of it is land and 2.4 km² (0.9 mi²) of it (1.07%) is water.
Beaumont has a subtropical climate with mild winters and warm, humid summers. The most recent snow event was December 24, 2004, the first such occurrence since 1989. The area suffered a severe ice storm in 1997. The climate type is humid sub-tropical.
Several hurricanes have left their mark on Beaumont.
In 1957, Hurricane Audrey, a strong category 4 hurricane (borderline category 5 at times), came onshore straight up the Texas/Louisiana border, causing massive flooding and wind damage. 390 people lost their lives (other estimates show over 500), mostly in Louisiana due to drowning.
In 1961, Hurricane Carla, the largest storm in terms of size, affected the entire Texas coastline from Jefferson County to Brownsville. Carla caused millions of dollars in damage and still remains the strongest storm to strike the Texas coast. Beaumont suffered tornadoes and massive flooding due to poor drainage.
Beaumont lived without a hurricane landfall until June 26 1986. On that day, Hurricane Bonnie roared through the region with maximum winds at 90 miles per hour[4] (gusts to 125 mph) creating a havoc on local roadways because of the massive amounts of rain dumped on the area. Some regions received upwards of 10-15 inches of rain, flooding homes and businesses. Many mobile home parks were destroyed, people were displaced, and some area businesses never recovered. Three people lost their lives in Bonnie.
The region had some hits and misses but none more so than in 1992 when
More recently, Beaumonters dealt with Tropical Storm Allison in 2001. Beaumont and the vicinity did not experience the damage and destruction that Houston got. Homes are still abandoned due to massive flooding that took place because of the non stop five-day rainfall.[citation needed] Total rainfall amounts associated with Allison reached the 20 inch mark in most towns and cities in Southeast Texas.
Hurricane Lili threatened the area in 2002 as a category 4 hurricane and prompted another "Andrew-style" evacuation. Though large, the evacuation went relatively smoothly and didn't mirror the 1992 evacuation. Lili veered north into central Louisiana and did not significantly affect the Beaumont region.
Hurricane Rita hit the city on September 24, 2005, leveling many buildings and leaving remaining residents without power. Virtually every building in the town was damaged, some even destroyed. Thousands of tall pine trees were toppled and hundreds of Beaumont's grand old oak trees were uprooted. Hurricane Rita hit Southeast Texas and veered into Eastern Louisiana as a strong Category 3 storm. Many residents of Jefferson County evacuated to northern counties only to find themselves swarmed by dozens of tornadoes that had been spawned by the storm. It was two weeks before residents were allowed to reenter the city. A curfew from dusk to dawn was imposed for a little more than one month.
Hurricane Rita is the largest and most damaging hurricane to hit Beaumont to date. Causing more than $7 billion in insured damage, Rita was among the top ten costliest storms in United States history.
On May 29, 2006, a more typical rain event in Beaumont and surrounding areas received 10 to 15 inches of rain during the morning hours. Numerous homes were flooded, but no major flooding occurred. Several vehicles also became trapped in high water on some low-lying roads and highway underpasses.
On the early morning of September 13, 2007, Hurricane Humberto passed over the city. Hurricane Humberto landed at High Island, Texas as a category 1 storm, and downgraded to a tropical storm as it crossed over the Texas-Louisiana state line. In Beaumont, it caused flooding, wind damage, wide-spread power outages, spawned several tornadoes, and caused at least 1 death.
As of the census
There were 44,361 households out of which 31.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.5% were married couples living together, 18.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.4% were non-families. 29.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.12.
In the city the population was spread out with 27.1% under the age of 18, 10.4% from 18 to 24, 28.0% from 25 to 44, 21.2% from 45 to 64, and 13.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 90.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.4 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $32,559, and the median income for a family was $40,825. Males had a median income of $35,861 versus $24,255 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,632. About 16.4% of families and 19.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.6% of those under age 18 and 12.7% of those age 65 or over.
Top Ten Employers:
Beaumont is served by the Beaumont Independent School District, one state university Lamar University and one two-year college Lamar Institute of Technology.
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Beaumont is served by Interstate 10, an east-west freeway linking the city to Houston, New Orleans, Lake Charles and other points in between. In addition, it is also served by U.S. 90 (College Avenue), U.S. 69, U.S. 96 and U.S. Route 287 (Cardinal Drive and Eastex Freeway - not to be confused with Eastex Freeway in Houston), State Hwy. 124 and State Hwy. 105. Spur 380, locally known as MLK Expressway, runs into the eastern part of the city to downtown.
Beaumont is served by a bus transit agency called Beaumont Municipal Transit, or BMT. It runs nine bus routes from Dannenbaum Station to various parts of the city Monday through Saturday every week from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Southeast Texas Regional Airport west of the city of Nederland provides limited commercial aviation services for Beaumont and Port Arthur residents.
Beaumont Municipal Airport is within the city of Beaumont and only has general aviation facilities.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
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