Right Side of Texas (Beaumont slogan)

“Right Side of Texas” was a slogan for the city of Beaumont. In 2003, the city went with “Texas With a Little Something Extra,” to promote its Louisiana (“lagniappe”) influence. In 2006, Beaumont sought a different slogan again.
 
“Right Side of Texas” is sometimes used by other towns in East Texas. West Texas resented the slogan, prompting Beaumont’s change.
 
 
Wikipedia: Beaumont, Texas
Beaumont is a city and county seat of Jefferson County, Texas and is within the Beaumont-Port Arthur metropolitan area. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 113,866. With Port Arthur and Orange, it forms the Golden Triangle, a major industrial area on the Gulf Coast.
 
Lamar University is based in Beaumont. The city’s daily newspaper is The Beaumont Enterprise, while The Examiner is published weekly. 
     
Amazon.com
Beaumont: The Right Side of Texas (Hardcover)
by Rogayle Franklin, Lela Davis
Hardcover: 176 pages
Publisher: Community Communications Inc.; 1st ed edition (July 1997)
Language: English
ISBN: 1885352549  
 
Google Groups: austin.general
From:  Lonnie D. Durham
Date:  Wed, Jan 3 2001 10:44 am  
 
> >I was born and raised on “The Right Side of Texas” (East Texas, for any
> >yankees reading).
   
Google Groups: rec.equestrian
From:  Delphine Prier Williamson
Date:  Tues, May 27 2003 10:25 pm

>BTW, where the heck in Texas is Vidor?
We’re on the “right” side of Texas… or so they say around here (!!!) LOL… Vidor is 80 or so miles east of Houston on I-10, 15 miles from the Louisiana border.
 
Beaumont Enterprise
POLL: What do you think Beaumont’s new slogan should be?
By JENNIFER AVILLA, The Enterprise
11/10/2006
Updated 11/16/2006 11:06:31 PM CST
 
Beaumont is on its way to sporting a new slogan - only this time the city hopes it’ll be the starting point for a long-term branding campaign to draw people to the area.
 
The City Council earlier this week unanimously approved a contract with North Star Destination Strategies, launching an extensive research process to determine a slogan that will best characterize the area and accentuate Beaumont’s strengths.
 
The brand search is not a first for the city, which has seen its fair share of hit-and-miss slogans. The city has been dubbed the “museum capital of Texas” “the right side of Texas” and even a city that is “Texas with a little something extra.”
(...)
What’s in a name?
A few of Beaumont’s past slogans:
 
“Texas with a little something extra.” The Beaumont Convention and Visitors Bureau rolled out this logo in 2003 as part of a marketing campaign. The phrase plays off the area’s Cajun connection.
 
“The right side of Texas.” It was used to promote the community prior to the latest slogan. Research found that West Texans saw the phrase as being negative toward them.
 
“Museum Capital of Texas” In 1987, the city was given this title for having more museums (17) per capita than any other Texas city.

“Triplex” The short-lived campaign introduced in 1985 to unite Jefferson, Orange and Hardin counties and featured a Gen. Patton character who told us to “kick some attitude.” Many residents responded in quite the opposite fashion. The campaign ended after a few months.
 
“The Golden Triangle” Accounts differ on when and who coined this phrase for the Beaumont-Port Arthur-Orange area. Some date it to the 1940s or 1950s. Several people have been credited as the originator, including property owner Julius Gordon and radio station manager Marge Vickers.
 
“Beaumont, where East Texas meets the sea” A reader remembers this slogan from the 1940s and said it evolved from the abundant pine trees that even grew in city limits of Beaumont.
Source: The Beaumont Enterprise archives and Beaumont Convention and Visitors Bureau