National Register Listing

Hinchee House

1814 Park St., Beaumont, TX

The Hinchee House at 1814 Park Street in Beaumont was built in 1901 by Martin Luther Hinchee and his bride. The Hinchees commissioned a local architect, H. C. Mauer, to build their home soon after their wedding. Mauer was a native Texan who received his training at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. He moved to Beaumont during the Spindletop oil boom at the turn of the century. The elaborate house he designed for the Hinchees is an excellent example of the new opulence in Beaumont homes during the first Spindletop boom days. The Queen Anne-style house is reflective of the movement toward more classical elements that occurred in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with its classical portico and classical columns used on galleries, fireplace mantels, and a screen of Ionic columns inside the house.

Martin Luther Hinchee moved to Beaumont from the East. He met Caroline Gilbert, a member of the choir, at the Methodist Episcopalian Church South in Beaumont where he was organist. She was the heiress of an oil fortune and had studied art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, and at various Chautauqua assemblies in the East. Most of her paintings were copies of famous works. Mr. Hinchee was in the lumber business, and the grain business, and was a director in the Gilbert Co., operators in the Sour Lake Oil Field. Mr. and Mrs. Hinchee lived in their home on Park St. until Mrs. Hinchee's untimely death in 1912. The house was vacated soon after, and Mr. Hinchee moved to California. The furnishings from the house were destroyed in a warehouse fire sometime after 920.

The house is now being purchased by Bryan Hendrix for use as his residence and personal office.

Bibliography
SPARE Beaumont

BEAUMONT ENTERPRISE

BEAUMONT JOURNAL

SOUVENIR, Beaumont, Texas, 1903 Seale, Wm., THE TASTEFUL INTERLUDE
Local significance of the building:
Architecture

Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.

architecture houses residential buildings
The world's first rodeo was held in Pecos, Texas in 1883. The event included bronco riding, calf roping, and bull riding.
Texas random facts
Jefferson County, Texas, has a rich history that spans back several centuries. It is home to the indigenous tribes who had lived in the area for thousands of years before the arrival of European settlers. In the early 16th century, Spanish explorers reached the area and claimed it as part of New Spain. However, it was not until the early 19th century that the region began to see significant settlement.

In the early 1820s, Empresario Joseph Vehlein obtained a contract to settle 300 families in the region. The land, once inhabited by the Atakapa people, soon attracted settlers of various origins, including Americans, Europeans, and enslaved Africans. The area became known for its fertile soil, offering ideal conditions for agriculture and ranching.

The city of Beaumont was established in the mid-19th century and quickly developed into a major trading and shipping center due to its access to the Neches River and the Gulf of Mexico. The discovery of oil at Spindletop in 1901 marked a turning point in the county's history, as the region experienced a significant oil boom. This brought great prosperity and transformed the area's economy, leading to the development of the petrochemical industry in the following decades.

Throughout the 20th century, Jefferson County witnessed various social and economic changes. It played a key role in World War II, serving as the location for significant military activity, including the establishment of one of the largest military shipbuilding centers in the country. The county also experienced desegregation struggles during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s, which eventually led to greater equality.

Today, Jefferson County continues to be an important industrial center for petrochemicals and petroleum-related industries. It is also home to a diverse population and offers a mix of urban and rural landscapes, with a variety of cultural and recreational opportunities for residents and visitors.

This timeline provides a concise overview of the key events in the history of Jefferson County, Texas.

  • 1836: Jefferson County is established as a municipality of the Republic of Texas.
  • 1838: The town of Beaumont is founded.
  • 1840: Jefferson County becomes part of the newly-formed State of Texas.
  • 1845: Texas is admitted to the United States, and Jefferson County becomes a county within the state.
  • 1858: A railroad is completed, connecting Beaumont to surrounding areas.
  • 1865: The Civil War ends, and Jefferson County begins to recover from the war's impact.
  • 1881: The Spindletop oil field, the first major oil discovery in Texas, is found in Jefferson County.
  • 1901: The Lucas Gusher at Spindletop oil field erupts, launching the Texas oil boom.
  • 1925: The Neches River is first navigable by deep-draft vessels, boosting the county's shipping industry.
  • 1943: The Port of Beaumont is established as a major center for the shipping and petrochemical industries.
  • 1989: Hurricane Gilbert strikes Jefferson County, causing significant damage to the area.
  • 2005: Hurricane Rita makes landfall in Jefferson County, leading to widespread devastation.
  • 2017: Hurricane Harvey causes widespread flooding in Jefferson County.