Young Men's Christian Association of Beaumont
Beaumont, Jefferson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The 1901 Spindletop oil boom brought vice, corruption and inadequate housing problems to Beaumont. H. G. Behrman, a young man who was sleeping in a tent in his friend's backyard, met W. M. Lewis, state secretary of the YMCA. Through their efforts, a community meeting was held Nov. 3, 1901, and the Beaumont YMCA was organized. A board was elected, George W. Carroll was named president, and all 35 present enrolled in the association. The board authorized the purchase of a lot and erection of a structure. In 1903 a building at Pearl and Forsythe streets was completed. Among its features were 30 dormitory rooms, an 800-seat auditorium, bowling alley, and indoor swimming pool. In 1928, General Secretary Dr. Hastings Harrison, Charles Berly, B. A. Steinhagen, J. L. C. McFaddin, Marrs McLean, W. Emmett Sampson, and other civic and religious leaders raised $316,000 to construct a modern building. Dr. Harrison was responsible for securing the first YMCA board member of the Jewish faith in the United States and for beginning the Garth Friendship Club for 200 underprivileged boys. Steinhagen in 1936 provided a building for blacks. Since 1970, to insure service to a growing and changing community, suburban branches have been established.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The 1901 Spindletop gusher turned Beaumont into a boomtown flooded with newcomers, vice, and a housing shortage. That November a young man living in a backyard tent and a visiting state YMCA secretary rallied a community meeting, and 35 founding members organized the Beaumont YMCA under president George W. Carroll. By 1903 it opened a building with dormitories, an 800-seat auditorium, bowling alley, and pool, and later leaders raised funds for a modern facility, seated the nation's first Jewish YMCA board member, and—in the segregated era—provided a separate building for Black residents.
Why it matters
The Beaumont Y shows how civic institutions scrambled to meet the social strains of an oil boomtown, offering shelter and community amid explosive, chaotic growth.
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Related people
- · George W. Carroll
- · Hastings Harrison
- · B. A. Steinhagen
Related events
- · Spindletop oil boom
Themes & tags
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