DUANE
Duane's take
The way the marker on this site tells it, here's what Duane's got for you. Long before any deed was signed or a town had a name, Comanche Indians roamed the valley of Poesta Creek at will. That's the ground floor of this story, and it's worth holding onto as we go.
In 1834, Mexico granted land on that same Poesta Creek to the first settlers here — Anne Burke and James Heffernan. Their colony got off to a promising enough start, but promising starts in early Texas had a way of not finishing the way you'd hope. By 1836, trouble had found them.
James Heffernan, his brother John, and a man named John Ryan — all three of them had planned to join Texas patriots at Goliad — were out planting a crop in a field at this very site when Comanches massacred them. And the tragedy didn't stop there in that field. James' family was also killed, in his picket house upcreek.
The colony was done. Anne Burke, the other original grantee, survived what was lost here, and that fact matters more as the story moves forward. Bee County was organized in 1858 and named for Colonel Barnard E.
Bee, a Republic of Texas statesman. Now, a new county needs a county seat, and that's where things got contentious in a very Texas kind of way. A site seven miles east, on Medio Creek, was chosen and given the name Beeville.
Settled. Decided. Except — ten months later, the voters had other ideas.
They turned around and made Anne Burke O'Carroll's one-hundred-and-fifty-acre donation on the banks of the Poesta the permanent county seat instead. That first site on Medio Creek quietly faded into the brush. The new town at the Poesta site was first called Maryville, named for Mary Heffernan — a relative of those killed back in 1836.
It didn't keep that name long. It was soon renamed Beeville, carrying forward the county's identity to the town that had wrestled the seat away from its rival. In its first decade, Beeville could claim two stores, one saloon, and a blacksmith shop — modest inventory for a county seat, but it was a start.
The first courthouse went up in 1860, built on the west side of the present square for seven hundred and fifty dollars. The first railroad came through in 1866, and a larger courthouse followed not long after. That one burned.
The courthouse standing today was erected in 1913. From a massacred colony on a creek nobody had named a town after yet, to a county seat that had to win its own right to exist — that's the Poesta doing what Texas rivers tend to do: outlasting everything built beside them.
What the marker says
Long before Mexico granted land (1834) on Poesta Creek to the first settlers, Anne Burke and James Heffernan, savage Indians roamed this valley at will. Their colony, although successful at first, soon met disaster. In 1836 James Heffernan, his brother John, and John Ryan, who had planned to join Texas patriots at Goliad, were planting a crop in a field at this site when they were massacred by Comanches. Also killed was James' family, in his picket house upcreek. Bee County was organized in 1858 and named for Col. Barnard E. Bee, a Republic of Texas statesman. Soon after, choice of a county seat came into hot dispute. A site seven miles east, on Medio Creek, was chosen for "Beeville". But ten months later, voters made the 150-acre donation of Anne Burke "O'Carroll permanent county seat, on the banks on the Poesta. The new town, first called "Maryville" for Mary Heffernan (relative of those killed in 1836) was soon renamed Beeville. In its first decade, it had two stores, one saloon, and a blacksmith shop. First courthouse was built for $750 on west side of present square, 1860. First railroad came through, 1866, and a larger courthouse was soon built. After it burned, the present one was erected in 1913. (1967)