"Beach City - West Bay; an Oral History"

The City of Beach City is sponsoring “Beach City - West Bay; an Oral History” to record some of the history of the Beach City (BC) area as presented by local historians and members of the community. Former BC Mayor A. Rusty Senac is Chairman of the event along with BC Council Members Rita Standridge and Doug Walker.

The BC Council believed that recording the oral history, as much as possible from those that have lived in and around the Beach City during the past 40 years, would be a meaningful way to celebrate the 40 th Anniversary of the incorporation of Beach City.

“Beach City-West Bay; an Oral History” will be held on Saturday June 10th at the Beach City Community Building, 12723 FM 2354 from 1:00 PM to 4:30 PM. The Community Building is located approximately one mile south of the intersection of Fisher Road and FM 2354.

Light refreshments will be served and provided by the City of Beach City.  Old maps, news paper articles, photos, old property deeds, scrap books and other Beach City memorabilia will be on display through out the day.

The City of Beach City is located on the western shoreline of Trinity Bay in an area that was historically called West Bay. J. D. Nicholson, George Armer, Ruth Hoover-Secretary, Eloice Jordan-President, and Bill White were the incorporation committee formed by the Tri-City Beach Civic Association. They met with County Judge Oscar Nelson and the City of Baytown. Chambers County Commissioners Court authorized an open election for April 5, 1966 and the voters approved the creation of the City of Beach City, Texas, The vote was 103 For, 4 Against. On May 21, 1966, Eloice Jordan was elected as the first Mayor of Beach City. The first Alderman included W.D. Bush, William Daniels, J.D. Nicholson, J.R. Holland, and A. J. Crawley.

Senac said “We are encouraging members of the community to attend and tell their stories and provide their personal insights of Beach City. Everyone is encouraged to dig out memorabilia including old photos, newspaper clippings, land documents, maps and other items. We will have some planned presentations but we also want community members to tell their favorite stories. The proceedings will be video taped to preserve our past for our future generations. We may be able to record, edit and make copies of recorded discs available for a nominal fee at a later date. Since the City was founded 40 years ago, many of the individuals worked to get the area incorporated are in their 70s and 80s. We wanted to do something to preserve their stories.”

Some of the planned presentations include Kevin Ladd, of Wallisville Heritage Park on the History of Beach City including the early residents of the area like Solomon Barrow and Sam Houston's Ravenmoor Summer home (1860-1862). Another presentation will be made by Doug Crawley on the history and other remembrances of Crawley's Fish Camp. Crawley's Fishing Camp has been a well known landmark for more than 50 years. Madge Labit and Pat McDonald will present a history of the Beach City Emergency Medical Services, Jim Josey and Rusty Senac will provide the history of the Beach City Volunteer Fire Department. Reverends Sam Hughes, M. E. Smith and Wilbur Snyder will discuss the history of Fisher Road Baptist Church. Gus Dauzat, the BC's Marshall for many years will be recalled by his grandson, Steve Dauzat.

The history of the Beazley/Beasley Family of Beazley's Reef Fame will be presented by Jay Hammes. Calvin Copeland will discuss “The Pond” NRG's (formerly HL&P's) cooling pond which is as close to a nature preserve as you can find. Tri City Beach Grocery originally owned by the Barr family and now the Fite Family has been the Wal-Mart of Beach City for many years. Other small stores included Esthers Grocery, owned by Esther and Tom Bayliss and Stratman's Grocery, owned by Larry Stratman, McLellan's Grocery owned by former Mayor Jimmy McLellan. “Early Residents: the Fisher and the Lawrence Clans” and “Brick Manufacturing on Bayucco de Cedras (Cedar Bayou)” will be covered by Tommy Clayton. There will be other presentations and time for questions and answers.

Senac said “We hope to spend time recording the characters of Beach City relating stories in a segment called “White Lies and Tall Tales” that will be individual stories about some of the characters that have lived in the area.

Additional information can be obtained from the Beach City office (281) 383-3108 or from Rusty Senac (281) 383-3308.

The City of Beach City urges current and former residents and elected officials to plan on attending this fun filled afternoon, to tell their friends and to bring their memorabilia to share with their neighbors.