Beaumont, Kansas

Beaumont is an unincorporated community in Butler County, Kansas, United States.

Beaumont, Kansas
Unincorporated community
Historic Beaumont water tower and Santa Fe caboose (2015)
Beaumont
Location within the state of Kansas
Beaumont
Beaumont (the United States)
Coordinates: 37°39′29″N 96°31′58″W[1]
CountryUnited States
StateKansas
CountyButler
Elevation1,608 ft (490 m)
Time zoneUTC-6 (CST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
Area code620
FIPS code20-04925 [1]
GNIS ID474851 [1]

History
Beaumont Water Tower (2012)

The surrounding area is farm land, settled by ranchers and farmers after the Civil War. Homesteaders from Missouri, Iowa, Tennessee, and other eastern states came because of an abundance of cheap land.

The town site was first a stop on the stagecoach route between Fredonia and Wichita. In 1879 Edwin and Emma Russell built the Summit Hotel, later renamed as the Beaumont Hotel. In 1885 the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad, better known as the Frisco, established Beaumont as a railroad town. One line of tracks ran east and west, connecting St. Louis with Wichita. A spur was added later going south from Beaumont though Latham and on to the Oklahoma border.[2] A roundhouse was built in 1890 across from the Summit Hotel, and employed 90 people. The water tower, built in 1885, stands across from the hotel and is on the National Register of Historic Places.[3] Because of the rich bluestem grass, the area was used as staging area to ship cattle back east.

The railroad supported several businesses in Beaumont. These included a hardware store and lumber yard, as well as a pharmacy owned by the town's only physician and surgeon, Dr. William James Phillips.[4] The population of Beaumont has never been large. In 1910 the population was 200. Today, fewer than 50 people live there.[5]

A post office was opened in Beaumont on June 3, 1880, and remained in operation until it was discontinued on August 16, 1997.[6]

The Beaumont St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad Water Tank in Beaumont is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Beaumont maintains a private airfield directly next to the town. The Beaumont Cafe and Hotel is a popular place to eat and stay for locals as well as pilots on their way through. There is a taxiway and parking area for small planes directly next to the restaurant itself.

The community is featured in the storyline of the 1998 film "The Long Way Home" starring Jack Lemmon. However, the actual locations filmed were in British Columbia, Canada and not in Kansas.[7]

Geography

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Beaumont has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.[8]

Education

The community is served by Bluestem USD 205 public school district.

See also

References
  1. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) details for Beaumont, Kansas; United States Geological Survey (USGS); October 13, 1978.
  2. http://thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org/lochist/frisco/history/1962history.cfm.
  3. http://www.kshs.org/resource/national_register/nominationsNRDB/Butler_BeaumontHotelNR.pdf
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2010-11-06.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. http://www.kansastravel.org/beaumonthotel.htm
  6. "Kansas Post Offices, 1828-1961 (archived)". Kansas Historical Society. Archived from the original on October 9, 2013. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  7. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0143436/
  8. Climate Summary for Beaumont, Kansas

Further reading
See also: List of books about Butler County, Kansas
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