About Beaumont

After the Indians came the settlers.

All early newspapers kept accounts of the early Kansas settlement. Some of these newspapers are available at the Kansas Historical Society in Topeka, Kansas.The 1884 Daily Eagle from Wichita is one of the newspapers available. View one edition online. You can view the 1873 Daily Eagle online.Get link.


Beaumont, Kansas was first a stop on the stagecoach route between Fredonia and Wichita. In 1879 Edwin and Emma Russell built the Summit Hotel, later renamed the Beaumont Hotel. History of Butler County.

In 1880, a line started in 1871 by the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad, popularly known as the Frisco, connected St. Louis and Wichita.Beaumont became a railroad town used for refueling and repairs on the route from St. Louis to Wichita. In 1884 a spur was added going south from Beaumont though Latham to the Oklahoma border. History of the Frisco.

For a time, Beaumont served as a staging area for transporting cattle to the east and the agricultural products of the farmers who homesteaded in the area. These homesteaders included several families who are relations of Bob VanHuss - VanHuss, Brewer, and Phillips.

Today Beaumont is famous for its historic Water Tower and as a landing zone for small aircraft who visit the Beaumont Hotel.