October 22, 2026
KNOW BEAUMONT
Hello, Beaumont
Pearl Street, 1949. A young man spots a woman, asks a friend her name, and gets the wrong one.
That mix-up ends up at the Beaumont Botanical Gardens, and it's today's story. So are the neighbors who built that garden for all of us, and a free reason to go see it this Saturday.
Take a five-minute break. It's a sweet one.
The Feature
The Beaumont Botanical Gardens in Tyrrell Park. Photo: Larry D. Moore, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The Names on the Building
If you've been to the Beaumont Botanical Gardens, you may have passed a building named for two people you've probably never heard of.
It's the Bert and Jack Binks Horticultural Center.
Their story started with a mix-up on Pearl Street in 1949. Jack spotted a woman, asked a friend who she was, and called her. But his friend gave him the wrong name.
He ended up asking Bertha "Bert" Barlow on a date instead.
Six months later, they eloped on Valentine's Day 1950.
In 1999, Jack and Bert gave $105,000 to build a visitor and education center at the gardens. It opened February 14, 2000. It was their 50th anniversary, to the day.
They weren't famous. They were neighbors who loved this place. And that's a big part of the Beaumont Botanical Gardens story.
How Beaumont built a garden
In 1951, local garden clubs formed the Beaumont Council of Garden Clubs. One of their main goals was to create a public garden. In 1968, the City set aside 10 acres in Tyrrell Park, and the volunteers got to work.
The first Garden Center opened in 1971. Volunteers built it with bricks from Beaumont's old Southern Pacific passenger station.
In 1997, the Warren Loose Conservatory opened, named for a volunteer horticulturist who loved bromeliads. It holds 10,000 square feet of tropical plants, koi ponds, and a waterfall. It's the second-largest conservatory in a public garden in Texas. In Beaumont. For free.
Today the gardens cover 23.5 acres, with more than 20 themed gardens connected by a paved path called the Friendship Walk.
Rita and Ike did damage. The 2022 freeze and 2023 drought killed many plants. Each time, people showed up and replanted. This time they're using hardier natives built for our weather.
That's the Beaumont part.
Inside the Warren Loose Conservatory. Photo: Beaumont Botanical Gardens
Go this Saturday
The sixth annual Ghosts, Goblins & Gardens is Saturday, October 24, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It's free.
Bring the kids in costume, and bring a bucket. Candy will be throughout the gardens, plus a scavenger hunt in the conservatory, pony rides, a petting zoo, face painting, and fall crafts. The costume contest is at 1 p.m. on the patio. Pumpkins will be everywhere, so charge your phone.
When you walk into the conservatory, look for their names on the building. A friend once gave Jack the wrong name. Fifty years later, Beaumont put theirs on the building.
If you go another day: The grounds are open daily, dawn to dusk. The conservatory is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m. Admission and parking are free. 6088 Babe Zaharias Drive, inside Tyrrell Park.
The Beaumont Enterprise first reported Jack and Bert's story in 2013.
Reply All
Notes from neighbors who hit reply.
You've been hitting reply, and I love it. I read every email, and I'm working my way through answering each one.
Thank you for writing in. It makes this feel like a conversation, not a broadcast.
Your turn: Have you been inside the conservatory? Hit reply and tell me your favorite spot at the gardens.
Have a story idea, a favorite spot, or a neighbor I should meet? Hit reply. Your note might end up right here, first name only.
Before You Go
Know a neighbor who'd love this? Every friend who signs up with your link puts your name in the hat for a $25 gift card to a local spot, plus a picture shoutout right here.
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That's the week. Go see something good.
See you around town,
Jenny
Jenny Lee · Locally written. Community trusted.