Beeville Post Office
Why it's listed
Downtown Beeville's post office, completed in 1918, is a one-story red brick building with limestone and cast stone trim on a raised basement, just north of the Bee County Courthouse. It was built from standardized Treasury Department plans issued under Supervising Architect James A. Wetmore, with a pedimented portico on four Doric columns, a fanlight over the recessed doorway, and a wooden balustrade along the parapet. Construction began in 1917 on a site the federal government bought in 1911. It was the county's first federal building. A 1961 addition to the north and west doubled the space and copied the original brick, stringcourse and keystones, so the original design remains easy to read. Inside, the lobby has been modernized. The post office is listed for its role in local government and for its architecture, which reflects the classical, Colonial-inspired style the Treasury used for modest post offices in the 1910s. It still serves its original purpose.
Significance in brief: It was Bee County's first federal building and is a significant example of the standardized small-town post office designs produced by the U.S. Treasury in the 1910s. Its Classical Revival forms based on Colonial precedents represent federal building trends of the period. It is significant locally under Criterion A (Government) and Criterion C (Architecture).
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 07000272, listed April 4, 2007. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 111 N. St. Mary's St., Beeville |
|---|---|
| County | Bee County |
| Listed | April 4, 2007 |
| Reference number | 07000272 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1917-1956 |
| Architect / builder | Wetmore, James A (Supervising Architect); Blair, Algenon (contractor) |
| Architectural style | Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals: Neoclassical |
| Criteria |
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| Areas of significance | Politics/Government, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Continues to serve as a post office; the original building and 1961 addition are in good condition, though the basement is vacant. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 28.40452, -97.74916 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For a publicly owned building or structure, listing mainly matters when federal funds, permits or licences are involved: projects then go through Section 106 review so effects on the property are considered. Listing also strengthens applications for preservation grants and, for leased income-producing uses, can enable the federal rehabilitation tax credit.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 07000272.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikidata Q110002640
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.