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Texas: Central, South, and Gulf Coast » Gulf Coast » Goliad to Beeville » Beeville (Bee County) » Bee County Courthouse

Bee County Courthouse

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1912, Stephenson and Heldenfels. 105 W. Corpus Christi St.
  • (Photograph by Gerald Moorhead )

Faced with buff brick, cast-stone moldings, and a red tile roof and dome, the courthouse is the dominant presence in downtown Beeville. Colossal Corinthian columns supporting a low-raked pediment, colossal brick pilasters, and a channeled brick ground floor are its primary classical attributes. William C. Stephenson, a native of Buffalo, New York, came to Texas in 1908 in search of a warm climate and professional opportunity, both of which he found in Beeville. Fritz W. Heldenfels, born in Beeville, was a 1909 graduate of Texas A&M's architecture department and son of Hugo Heldenfels, a German-born architect and builder who came to South Texas in the 1870s. Fritz Heldenfels moved on to Corpus Christi; Stephenson stayed in Beeville to establish himself as the town architect. The Bee County Courthouse was restored in 2006 by Bailey Architects under the auspices of the Texas Historical Commission's Historic Courthouse Preservation Program.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Gerald Moorhead et al.
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Data

What's Nearby

Commercial Building (J. C. Thompson Building)
Joe Barnhart Bee County Library (Praeger Building)
Rialto Theater
R. H. Berry House
Building (Beeville Coca-Cola Bottling Co.)

Citation

Gerald Moorhead et al., "Bee County Courthouse", [Beeville, Texas], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/TX-01-GB18.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of Texas

Buildings of Texas: Central, South, and Gulf Coast, Gerald Moorhead and contributors. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2013, 505-505.

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