Beauxart Gardens

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Beauxart Gardens, out in Jefferson County. Now settle in, because this is a story about what happens when hard times force a government to get creative, and when regular working folks decide to make something out of almost nothing. The name itself tells you something.

Beauxart Gardens sits between Beaumont and Port Arthur, and the name was drawn from both of those cities. Now, keep that in mind as we go, because everything about this place was built on that same kind of practical thinking. Take what you've got.

Work with it. Beauxart Gardens was developed during the Great Depression by the U.S. Government as a federal subsistence homestead colony under the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933.

That act had a straightforward enough idea behind it: let urban and rural workers supplement their incomes through agriculture. Grow something. Raise something.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket, which, as it turns out, was not just a figure of speech around here. Beauxart Gardens was one of five such colonies in the entire state of Texas. Five.

And this one was planted on fertile rice land, which was no accident. The U.S. Government came in and in 1934 bought two hundred and five acres from Frank D. and Lillian Mabry and Ed and Mary Mittie.

That land became the foundation for fifty families, each one getting a house and acreage to call their own. Now picture what was planned for that stretch of Jefferson County ground. Homesteads ranging from approximately two and a half to four and a half acres.

Two dedicated parks. Two shelled public roads. A community center.

And the whole thing wrapped up in fence and cattle guards. That is not a temporary camp. That is a community with intention.

Each family purchased their homestead for an average of three thousand dollars, payable over a period of forty years. On that homestead they got a modest frame home, a combination garage and cow barn, and a chicken house. So yes, the eggs were quite literal.

Residents worked part-time at area refineries and came home to tend their gardens and their livestock. Half the industrial world, half the pastoral one, all of it stitched together by necessity and something that started to look a lot like pride. In 1936, the federal government transferred title to the Beauxart Homestead Association, though the government kept on providing agricultural and related instruction through the rest of the Depression years.

The Association took over the oversight of the community's development, and that community center became the beating heart of the place. Civic gatherings, social activities, neighbors finding reasons to come together even when times were lean. Then in 1942, that same community center became the polling place for a new voting precinct right there at Beauxart Gardens.

That detail is worth sitting with for a second. A colony built out of economic desperation had grown into a place with its own precinct, its own vote, its own voice. Today, Beauxart Gardens retains its identity as a successful New Deal program.

Not a relic. Not a footnote. An identity.

Fifty families got a fighting chance on two hundred and five acres of rice land, and what they built out there between Beaumont and Port Arthur turned out to be something worth remembering.

What the marker says

Named for its location between Beaumont and Port Arthur, Beauxart Gardens was developed during the Great Depression by the U.S. Government as a federal subsistence homestead colony under the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933. The act encouraged urban and rural workers to supplement their incomes through agriculture. Residents worked part-time at area refineries and kept gardens and livestock. One of five such colonies in Texas, Beauxart Gardens was located on fertile rice land and provided a total of 50 families with a house and acreage. In 1934, the U.S. Government bought 205 acres of land from Frank D. and Lillian Mabry and Ed and Mary Mittie for the creation of Beauxart Gardens. Plans included homesteads of approximately 2.5 to 4.5 acres, two dedicated parks, two shelled public roads and a community center, all protected by fence and cattle guards. Residents purchased homesteads for an average of $3000, payable over a period of forty years. In addition to a modest frame home, each homestead included a combination garage and cow barn and a chicken house. The federal government transferred title to the Beauxart Homestead Association in 1936 but continued to provide agricultural and related instruction during the Depression. The Beauxart Homestead Association maintained its oversight of the community's development, and the community center was the location of frequent civic and social activities. In 1942 it became the polling place for a new voting precinct at Beauxart Gardens. Today, Beauxart Gardens retains its identity as a successful New Deal program.