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Beaumont ( ) is a city in and county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, United States,〔(【引用サイトリンク】accessdate=2011-06-07 )〕 within the Beaumont–Port Arthur Metropolitan Statistical Area. Located on the Neches River and about 90 miles from Houston, the city had a population of 118,296 at the 2010 census making it the twenty-fourth most populous city in the state of Texas. Beaumont's early history was centered around the development of lumber, farming, and port industries. In 1892 Joseph Eloi Broussard opened the first rice mill in the state, stimulating development of rice farming in the area; he also organized an irrigation authority to support rice culture. A big change occurred in 1901 with the Spindletop gusher, which demonstrated the potential of the huge oil field. The area transformed into one of the major petro-chemical refining areas in the country. Along with Port Arthur and Orange, Beaumont forms the Golden Triangle, a major industrial area on the Gulf Coast. Beaumont is home of Lamar University, a national Carnegie Doctoral Research university with 15,000 students. Over the years, several corporations have called Beaumont home. For example, Gulf States Utilities had its headquarters in Beaumont until its absorption by Entergy Corporation in 1993. GSU's Edison Plaza headquarters is still the tallest building in Beaumont (as of 2011). With Spindletop, several energy companies developed in Beaumont, and some continue. == History == In 1824 Noah and Nancy Tevis settled on the west bank of the Neches River and organized a farm. Soon after that, a small community grew up around the farm, which was named ''Tevis Bluff'' or ''Neches River Settlement''. In 1835 the land of Tevis together with nearby community of ''Santa Anna'' (in total, ) was purchased by Northerners Henry Millard (1796?–1844) of New York, Joseph Pulsifer (1805–1861) of Massachusetts, and Thomas Byers Huling (1804–1865) of Pennsylvania . They began planning a town to be laid out on this land.〔 Their partnership, J.P. Pulsifer and Company, controlled the first upon which the town was founded.〔 This town was named Beaumont, after Jefferson Beaumont, the brother-in-law of Henry Millard. They added more property for a total of 200 acres. Beaumont became a town on 16 December 1838. Beaumont's first mayor was Alexander Calder. From the town's founding in 1835, business activities included real estate, transportation, and retail sales. Later, other businesses were formed, especially in railroad construction and operation, new building construction, lumber sales, and communications. Beaumont became a successful regional shipping center, as it was a port. Beaumont was a small center for cattle raisers and farmers in its early years. With an active riverport by the 1880s, it became an important lumber and rice-milling town. The Beaumont Rice Mill, founded in 1892 by Joseph Eloi Broussard, was the first commercial rice mill in Texas. In addition, Broussard established an authority for an irrigation system to support rice culture. This helped stimulate the expansion of rice cultivation from 1500 acres in 1892 to 400,000 acres in 23 counties by his death in 1956.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 work = The Handbook of Texas Online )〕 Beaumont's lumber boom, which reached its peak in the late 19th century, was stimulated by the rebuilding and expansion of the railroads in the state and region after the Civil War. The rise of Beaumont's mill economy drew many new residents to the city, many of them immigrants. The first Jewish man in the city was from Louisiana, others migrated from the South, and were joined by immigrants. They worked as merchants and in a variety of jobs in the growing city and ranching area. In 1895 Jews formed their first congregation.〔("Beaumont, Texas" ), ''Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities''〕 By the early 20th century, the city was served by the Southern Pacific; Kansas City Southern, Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe; and Missouri Pacific railroad systems.〔Robert L. Schaadt, "The Business of Beaumont Prior to 1880," ''Texas Gulf Historical and Biographical Record'' 2006 42: 34–53〕 Oil was discovered at nearby Spindletop on 10 January 1901. Spindletop became the first major oil field and one of the largest in American history. With the discovery of oil at Spindletop, Beaumont's population more than tripled in two months from 9,000 in January 1901 to 30,000 in March 1901. Oil is, and has always been, a major export of the city, and a major contributor to the national GDP. William Casper Tyrrell, nicknamed "Captain W.C.", was a leading businessman and oil tycoon in the city in the early 20th century, developing businesses during the Texas Oil Boom. An entrepreneur from Pennsylvania and Iowa, he arrived after the gusher at Spindletop, and invested in development of a commercial port in the city, and an irrigation system to support the local rice industry, as well as residential and retail development of suburban property. He was also a philanthropist. He purchased and donated First Baptist Church, whose congregation had moved to a new facility, to use as the city's first public library, now known as the Tyrrell Historical Library.〔Carolyn Davis Smith, "Captain William Casper Tyrrell: Philanthropist Extraordinaire and the Legacy of Philanthropy in Beaumont," ''Texas Gulf Historical and Biographical Record'' 2002 38: 5–18〕 When the city became a major center for defense shipbuilding during World War II, tens of thousands of rural Texans migrated there for the new high-paying jobs. The Roosevelt administration ordered the defense industry to be integrated, and many Southern whites were working closely with blacks for the first time. Housing was scarce in the crowded city, and racial tensions increased. In June 1943 after workers at the Pennsylvania shipyard in Beaumont learned that a white woman had accused a black man of raping her, nearly 2,000 went to the jail where a suspect was being held, attracting more men along the way and reaching a total of 4,000. Ultimately the white mob rioted for three days, destroying major black neighborhoods and killing five persons. No one was prosecuted for the deaths. The riot in Beaumont was one of several in 1943 which centered in the defense industry, including Los Angeles,〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.laalmanac.com/history/hi07t.htm )〕 Detroit,〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://life.time.com/history/detroit-race-riots-1943-photos-from-a-city-in-turmoil-during-wwii/#1 )〕 Chicago〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/1032.html )〕 and Mobile, Alabama as well as other cities across the country. The wartime social disruption was similar to war time riots which had occurred in other parts of the country during and following World War I. In the postwar years, Beaumont's port continued in importance. Although located 90 miles from Houston, the city is now considered part of the widespread Houston metropolitan area. As was typical with other cities, postwar highway construction led to the development of new suburbs and dispersal of population in search of new housing. There has been some renewal in Beaumont downtown and people have rediscovered the river. In 1996, the Jefferson County courts, located in Beaumont, became the first court in the nation to implement electronic filing and service of court documents, eliminating the need for law firms to print and mail reams of documents. In 2005 and 2008, Beaumont and surrounding areas suffered extensive damage from Hurricane Rita and Hurricane Ike. A mandatory evacuation was ordered for residents, lasting about two weeks. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Beaumont, Texas」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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