Police Chief Reid Tevis

Tevis ran a department that was modernizing fast. Beaumont's police history notes the first police car, a 1916 Dodge, and an Identification Bureau formed in 1917 that it calls one of the oldest in the country. In 1919 the city charter was amended so that the council appointed the chief. The same history credits Tevis with three eight-hour shifts, two bicycle squads for night patrol and a six-man traffic unit, and calls him the first chief given the title Head of Police and Head of the Detective Department. It says the department became known nationally for crime-fighting efficiency.

What the plaque says

Police Chief Reid Tevis (April 1, 1878 - April 15, 1925) Began lifetime career as a police officer at age 19. Was chief of detectives for Beaumont Police Department many years; chief of police, 1923 to 1925. Started police benefit fund, increased staff from 20 to 50, and reorganized department. Famed among lawmen for his uncanny ability to detect thieves and pickpockets. Often engaged to work at Texas State Fair (Dallas), St. Louis Fair, and Madison Square Garden in New York. (1967)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• McFaddin-Ward House — 1.4 mi
  A Beaux-Arts Colonial Revival mansion finished in 1906 and lived in by one family for 75 years, with free guided tours of three furnished floors, the carriage house and gardens.
• Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum — 5.1 mi
  A re-created oil boomtown on the Lamar University campus, with a derrick, period shops, a 1941 granite monument and an optional re-enactment of the January 1901 Lucas gusher.
• Village Creek State Park — 11 mi
  A 2,466-acre state park on one of the few free-flowing creeks in Texas, with a launch for the Village Creek Paddling Trail, boat rentals and sandy-upland trails in the Big Thicket.
• Museum of the Gulf Coast — 19 mi
  Port Arthur's regional museum in a former bank building: fossils, Native Americans, the petroleum story, a 125-foot history mural and Halls of Fame for musicians, athletes and artists.

More markers nearby

• Aubrey Wilson "Moon" Mullican — steps away
• William McFaddin — steps away
• Andrew F. Smyth — steps away
• Magnolia Cemetery — steps away