Beason marks 150 years
Part 3: Organizational structures – church, school, government

 

[September 19, 2022] 

Churches

Beason’s Centennial Book says the Beason Presbyterian Church was “organized in 1868 as the New Bethel Presbyterian Church” where the “North Bethel School” later stood. In 1876, the church building was moved to Beason.

Beason Christian Society Church was organized in 1874. The Centennial Book says they “had pastors when any were available.” In 1875, Stringer said the Christian Society built a house of worship. By 1886, the church had become inactive.

In 1877, the Methodists moved into their church building, which had previously been erected a mile east of the present site of Beason. The Methodist Church is still part of the community today.

Other churches in or near Beason over the years included the Harmony Church, Central Point Church and Blue Grass Church.

Community organizations

Beason’s 125th Celebration Historical Book shares information about some of the community organizations

Beason Busy Bees 4-H club was organized in 1928. Their first meeting was May 23, 1928. By 1972, there was also Beason Ag 4-H Club, led by Ron and Katie Fink. Once the Finks moved, Nancy Drake took over. Soon, the Beason Busy Bees and Beason Ag Club merged into Beason Ag. The Beason Ag 4-H Club was 4-H Club of the year six times between the late 1980s and early 1990s, and several members had projects that were state delegates.

Since 1953, Beason has been a part of the Lincoln Rural Fire Department. A building for their newly purchased fire truck was built on land next to Beason Town Hall. In 1966, an addition to the firehouse was built with room for a kitchen and bathroom. In 1997, a new firehouse was built with room for two fire trucks and a rescue vehicle and additional space for more trucks if needed. As of 2022, Beason still has a fire station.
 

The Beason Community Committee established in 2015 helped plan the upcoming celebration and other programs. These include an annual Easter Egg Hunt, Trunk or Treat and Christmas Tree Lighting.

Schools

Final graduating class at Beason Grade School

The Beason School was built in 1893. The high school closed in 1975 and students from Beason have attended Lincoln Community High School ever since.

Mount Zion School District was in Beason from around 1906 to 1947, when it merged with the Beason Community Grade School. The Mount Zion School has since been torn down.

The grade school closed at the end of the 1993-1994 school year. Since then, children from Beason have been attending Chester-East Lincoln School.

Sports

Beason High School sports included boys’ basketball, baseball, cross country and track. A site about the Beason High School Yellowjackets shows their basketball team was the Logan County Tournament champion the 1923-1924 school year. They were also district champions a few times over the years and qualified for the regional tournament in 1960.
 

During the 1960s, basketball player Bobby Guy led the state in scoring his senior year.

In 1974-1975, the high school’s final year, Brad Reinhart and Jeff Clements competed in the state track meet finals.

Government

Before Beason was established, Logan County had divided into townships in 1867. Beason is part of Oran Township, whose township board became a governing entity in 1867 that provides road maintenance, tax assessment and general assistance. In recent years, the board has helped take care of the park in the center of town and planned and installed streetlights throughout the village.

The Oran Township Board consists of a supervisor, clerk, road commissioner and four trustees. Many have served in these roles over the years.

Current township board members who started terms in 2021 that will end in 2025 include:

Supervisor Tina Rusk, Clerk Kim Wiggers de Otte, Road Commissioner Steve Hyde and Trustees Kyle Atteberry, Harold Drake, Amanda Gray and Dan Rusk.

[Angela Reiners]

LDN will wrap up this four part series on the 150th anniversary of Beason.  Tomorrow the last segment will talk about the people who have helped shape the community throughout its history.

Past articles

Beason marks 150 years
Part 1: Beason gets its start
Part 2: Businesses