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| Photoby Teatra Media Group |
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"Here's the Beulaville tourist information.
I'm not sure it's such a good idea to put it on here, it might make people flock to our town and we might loose our charm... look what happened to Urpa once they opened a Super Smart. The Wiggly went out of business!"
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| Downtown Beulaville, with the old bank building visible on the left |
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Beulaville, Texas, pop. 1,234 was established in 1878 by Marshall May Beuford. He settled in the area to establish trade in armadillo pelts. His first two wives left him when they moved from the east to this remote outpost. He named the town after his third wife Beulah May Beuford who was also his second cousin. Beulah May moved to the area with two pet goats. By 1880 Marshall had gone bust in the armadillo pelt trade. Beulah's goats had reproduced successfully in the ensuing two years and she now had 24 goats. She began selling goat milk products to wandering travelers who stumbled onto the outpost. Her business was so successful she eventually hired in Mexicans from Mexico to help in goat herding. In the year 1898 she'd made enough money to be able to return back east with her husband and her goats and vowed to never return to Beulaville. By that point the town had established itself with a population of 75.
The boom years came in the 1930's when a small deposit of uranium was found in the soil. The country was gearing up for war and uranium research was all the craze. Some of the uranium went into producing the bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, thus killing thousands upon thousands of Japanese and thus ending the great war. To this day Beulaville is proud in its contribution to the war effort and because of it celebrates "Uranium Day" every April 1st.
Other interesting and fascinating facts:
Beulaville is in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the highest birth defect rate in the United States.
Beulaville's only Baptist church was originally a Catholic church, but when the Mexicans moved out of town after Beulah had left, the church re-Christianed itself and became Baptist.
Beulaville holds the state record for the biggest temperature swing in one day: On February 27, 1983, the thermometer went from 94 degrees down to 16 degrees.
Beulaville's official flower is the Dandelion and the official bird is the Grackle.
Marshall May was semi-illiterate, and didn't know the proper spelling of his wife's name, hence why there is no "H" in Beulaville.
Below are some of our scenic sites:
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Devers Pre-K through 8th and Nursing home.
The school is named after Roger Devers, the scientist who found Uranium in our town. In later years after the 1978 government financial settlement with the townsfolk of Beulaville, a nursing home was constructed adjacent to the school. Frequently the children entertain the old people with recitations, dances, and indoor picnics. The nursing home is the only one in the area and serves not only the community of Beulaville, but also the communites of Urpa, Ceylon, Lorileeland, and Black Gatsby.
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Winter Scene at Ramona's Bed & Snack
Beulaville is blessed with the full four seasons of the year. This being Texas our winters tend to be short but we are guaranteed at least one good ice storm a year that immobilizes everything. If you look real close you can see that Ramona's chickens climbed up on the icy tree. Ramona's Bed & Snack is one of the two places people can stay when they visit our friendly town.
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Ocotillo Motel with the Neptune Mountains in the background
Ocotillo Motel is located off of state road 1488 en route to Urpa. It was built in the late 1950's when an eccentric developer named Mitchell Moronski came into town and fell in love with the scenery and charm of our town and the distant mountains. His ambition was to create a resort and water park to rival that of San Marcos. Unfortunately the nearest water supply that could handle his needs was in Clackwell, 85 miles away. Shortly after construction his money dried up and he was never able to complete his vision. None of the pools ever had plumbing installed. Except during the rainy season when they have to be fumigated for mosquitos, they sit empty most of the year making them an ideal playground for skateboarders. Only 12 of the rooms were ever completed, but these 12 rooms along with Ramona's two room Bed & Snack serve our visitor's well; only during the Uranium Festival, a wedding, or a funeral, is the town's room capacity at 100%. The Neptune Mountains rise up like an brown island amidst the flat terrain. Deer, diamondback rattlers and javelina thrive in their cool shade.
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Bandera Church
The cornerstone of this church was erected by the Mexicans that had come to work for Beulah. It was completed in 1901. Father Bandera was it's first priest. Even though the church was officially named the Church of Saint Felipe, after the Catholic saint, it was always referred to as Bandera Church. After the Mexicans left the church sat abandoned for eight years until the Baptists who had been holding their church services at the old bank building acquired enough money to purchase the church and strip it of its statuary, wood carvings, and frescoes depicting Catholic imagery.
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Sunset over Webb Ranch
Those lucky enough to stay the night in Beulaville get to see what is our most spectacular sight: Our sunsets! Our uninterrupted and open skies, be it sunny or rainy, are a sky watchers dry or wet dream come true. Whether it's watching the Grackles swarm in mass in the late afternoon, or the turbulent spinning clouds of our seasonal tornadoes, or the fiery sunsets that God blesses us with on an almost daily basis, our big sky is a constant source of entertainment, amusement, and joy, and more importantly a reason to come back and visit us again and again...and again.
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