Tiny Beaumont trying to secure its future by looking to its past

While many towns in rural Kansas struggle with declining populations and shuttered businesses, the 37 residents in this tiny Butler County town are betting on their future.

Next month, the Beaumont Depot Community Center will open. The new $150,000 building has been built to look similar to the town’s original late 19th-century depot. It will serve as a community center not just for Beaumont’s Glencoe Township, but Hickory, Union Center and Otter Townships, as well.

Plans are also in the works to build an RV park and expand the grass landing strip that pilots have used for decades to land and taxi up to the Beaumont Hotel.

And, there is talk of applying to put the Beaumont Christian Church building, built in 1905, on a historic register.

“We have discovered that we can embrace our future by honoring our past,” said Marce Brewer, one of the town’s movers and shakers. “Beaumont is a place where people can exchange their fast-paced lifestyles for the slower pace of yesteryear. The residents are committed in preserving the community’s historic features.”

The Beaumont Hotel, built in 1879, has for more than half a century been a popular destination for pilots and others.

Small planes can take off from Wichita and be at the tiny town deep in the Flint Hills within 30 minutes. They can land at the grass air strip, taxi down a paved road, stop at the stop sign on Main Street and park near the front door of the Beaumont Hotel, which serves legendary omelets at breakfast and succulent prime rib and steaks for dinner.

Aviation history buff and hotelier Steve Craig of Lawrence bought the hotel, which had closed, in 2001 and gave it an extensive renovation.

Flint Hills legacy

Beginning in the late 1870s, Beaumont was settled by farm and ranching families. Brewer proudly notes that the town was the first stagecoach stop on a route between Fredonia and Wichita.

In 1885, the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad, known as the Frisco, established the town of Beaumont as a major railhead. Steam powered trains stopped in Beaumont to refill with water from the wooden water tower across from the hotel.

The Frisco Water Tower in Beaumont, built in 1885, is considered one of the last wooden water towers in the nation. The tower was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.

Building for the future

Brewer, who ran a beauty shop across the street from the hotel, remembers when she and two other women started talking about the town.

“We had lost so much history,” she said. “We decided we needed to do something and organized the Friends of the Beaumont Water Tower organization.”

That was back in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The group learned to be persistent.

“We had to get the property from the railroad,” she said. “Back then, it was the Santa Fe. We worked for several years trying to get all the paperwork.

“And then, the Santa Fe railroad merged with Burlington Northern. All our paperwork was lost, and we had to start all over again.”

The group was successful and was able to acquire the property and the water tower and restore the tower.

Next, it put up historic marker signs along the highway to draw visitors in.

Then, the town residents discussed their needs for a community center.

“We didn’t have any place to have potluck suppers after funerals or weddings,” Brewer said. “We decided it needed to keep the new building within our history. So, we recreated the depot.”

On Aug. 26, the town will host a ribbon cutting and have a street dance. The next day, it will host the town’s seventh annual Pasture Golf Tournament.

“This has brought in people from all over — some who have either been from here, had relatives or just want to help out,” Brewer said.

This story was originally published July 25, 2016 at 10:57 PM with the headline "Tiny Beaumont trying to secure its future by looking to its past."