Beaumont Texas

Beaumont ( ) is a city in and county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, United States, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city’s population was 118,296 at the 2010 census making it the twenty-fourth most populous city in the state of Texas and the state’s largest city east of Houston. Beaumont’s early history was centered around the lumber, farming, and port industries. A big change occurred in 1901 with the Spindletop gusher. 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 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 current energy companies were spawned in Beaumont.