"The Home of Black Gold" Top 5 Page for this destination Beaumont by DSwede

Today, Beaumont is a rather nondescript stopping point for most traveling on I-10 through the southeast of Texas. Honestly speaking, there's not much here to interest most people and therefore does not have many outsiders stopping by.

Beaumont was first placed on the map in the late 1820's, but did not even get the interest of the outside world for another decade. The area around Beaumont was a large ranching and agricultural area.

The area saw turmoil and lots of activity during the Texas Revolution and the Civil War, but still remained a relatively small dot on the map until railroads started coming in the 1870's. After that it survived as a ranching, lumber and rice growing area, as well as railroad stopover.

City Hall

That is until oil was found just outside of town in Spindletop. In 1899, the first attempts were made, but bankrupt investors had to wait until more resources were available.

In 1901, the Lucas Gusher was erupting for 9 days before being capped. By the end of the year, this little hamlet was producing more oil than the rest of the world combined. At this time, the city of Port Arthur, a few miles to the south, popped up out of nowhere to lead the industry in oil production.

The oil boom brought money, growth and prosperity. Over the decades, economies have risen and fallen, but Beaumont is still forever indebted to the wealth underfoot.

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• Pros:Nothing is very far away in this town, it only takes a few minutes from one side to the other.
• Cons:Public transit is not that great, but improving.
• In a nutshell:Built on oil money, the town is now rather sleepy, but worth a stop to explore its streets.