DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker at the Beeville Post Office tells it. Now, most post offices don't show up in the pages of American legal history, but Beeville's has a story that went all the way to the top — so settle in. The first post office in Beeville was established in 1859, one year after the town itself was founded.
For decades after that, the post office moved around, sitting on county-owned or privately-owned property. Then, in 1918, Beeville finally got a post office built on Federal ground — the first time that had ever happened here. It was a handsome building: one story of brick and limestone, a raised basement, Classical Revival style with symmetrical facades.
Out front, four Doric columns hold up a pedimented portico, and the recessed doorway is crowned by a semicircular fanlight. Cast stone stringcourse, brick parapet, wooden balustrades spaced out neat and even along the roofline. A fine, serious building.
The kind that says the Federal government means business. Now here's where the story takes a turn. Before that fine building was even finished, before the mortar was cured and the columns were standing, something happened at the worksite that would eventually land in the highest court in the land.
Two men were contracted to remove excavated dirt from the foundation: J.P. Hermes and Robert B. Brown.
The marker doesn't pretty it up — these two men were hostile towards each other. Brown, feeling the need for protection, began carrying a gun to the worksite. On May 7, 1917, before a crowd of witnesses, Hermes threatened Brown with a knife.
Brown pulled out his pistol and shot and killed Hermes. Then he walked to the courthouse and turned himself in. Brown was found guilty of homicide.
But the case was appealed, and it climbed and climbed until it reached the United States Supreme Court. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes delivered the opinion. The court ruled that Brown had acted in self defense, establishing the right to use lethal force when facing a lethal attack.
A building that was barely started when a man died, and still standing when that death changed American law. In 1961, a compatible wing was added to the north and west sides of the original floor plan, but the 1918 structure is still there — brick, limestone, four Doric columns, and a story heavier than it looks.
What the marker says
The first post office was established in Beeville in 1859, the year after the town's founding. The 1918 building was the first Beeville post office constructed on Federal property - previous locations were county- or privately-owned. The building is a significant example of small town post office designs produced by the U.S. Treasury Department in the early twentieth century. Soon after construction began, a tragic incident occurred with great legal implications. J.P. Hermes and Robert B. Brown, both contracted to remove excavated dirt from the foundation, were hostile towards each other, and Brown began carrying a gun to the worksite for protection. On May 7, 1917, before a crowd of witnesses, Hermes threatened Brown with a knife, and Brown pulled out his pistol and shot and killed Hermes then walked to the courthouse and turned himself in. Brown was found guilty of homicide, but the case was later appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. In an opinion delivered by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, the court ruled that Brown had acted in self defense, thus establishing the right to use lethal force when facing a lethal attack. The 1918 post office is a one-story brick and limestone building with a raised basement. The design features Classical Revival style architecture and symmetrical facades. The primary entrance includes a pedimented portico on four Doric columns and a recessed doorway topped by a semicircular fanlight. The flat roof includes a cast stone stringcourse and brick parapet with regularly-spaced wooden balustrades. In 1961 a compatible wing was added to the north and west sides of the original floor plan. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2009