Beaumont dates from 1824 when it was known as Tevis Bluff after Noah and Nancy Tevis- the first settlers. In 1835, Henry Millard and partners bought the Tevis' property for a planed town. Millard's wife's maiden name was Beaumont.
The First Congress of the Republic of Texas granted it a charter in 1838 and Beaumont was designated the county seat for Jefferson County.
By the early 1900s the city had four railroads and a population of 9,427.
The city's history- as well as the State's- is divided by the discovery of oil at nearby Spindletop.
They were only a few days into 1901 when Spindletop blew in- reportedly on the last length of pipe sunk before the well was abandoned.
Three major oil companies- The Texas Company, Gulf Oil and Humble- were formed within a year of one another in 1901-02.
1908: The Neches River was joined to Port Arthur by dredged canal.
1910: Population 20,000
1925: A second oil discovery was made at Spindletop
1930: Population 58,000
1941: Wartime prosperity comes with shipbuilding and increased oil
1943: Martial law is declared after the Beaumont race riot erupts
1950: Population 94,000
In the early 1960s the police department was reorganized after an investigation by the Texas House of Representatives looking into prositution and gambling- unsavory residue from the oil boom.
1980: Population 118,000