Cinco Ranch, Texas

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Cinco Ranch is a census-designated place and master-planned, unincorporated community located in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Houston within Fort Bend County and Harris County, Texas. The population was 11,196 at the 2000 census. It lies about 25 miles (40 km) west of Houston and 10 miles (16 km) north of Richmond. Cinco Ranch is considered to be part of the Greater Katy area and is roughly 10 miles southeast of the city of Katy, Texas.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 Education
5 Community information
6 External links

[edit] History

The Cinco Ranch community goes back to before Texas became a republic. In the 1820's, pioneer Moses Austin was granted by the Spanish government the authority to settle 300 families in the valleys of the Brazos and Colorado rivers. He died before he was able to accomplish this, but his son Stephen F. Austin was able to complete his father's wishes, even under the newly established Mexican government. One of the men who moved into these 300 slots of land (each one over 4000 acres (16 km²) was Randolph Foster, whose land spread across Fort Bend and Waller counties and upon which wild horses, deer, Indians and buffalo lived.

Foster’s daughter married Thomas Blakeley, cattleman and future sheriff of Fort Bend County. Their son, Bassett Blakeley, took after his father and grandfather and soon grew into a cowboy and cattleman. Bassett Blakeley owned 15,000 acres (61 km²) of land and 14,000 head of Brahman cattle, along with his grandfather's land. The cowhands of his Blakeley Ranch annually drove 10,000 head of cattle to the railheads in Kansas.

In 1937, Blakeley sold the working ranch to William Wheless, who convinced four of his friends, J.S. Abercrombie, W.B. Pryon, H.G. Nelms and L.M. Josey-- all, like him, wealthy from oil-- to become his partners at the ranch. In a nod to its Spanish roots perhaps, they called it Cinco Ranch (cinco means "five" in Spanish). Only the Wheless family lived on the ranch, but all of the families visited on many holidays and weekends, making use of a huge clubhouse complete with two bedroom wings. The ranch was not merely involved in cattle-- it also had several acres of rice-- for years, the main output of Katy, Texas-- and peanut production.

In February 1984, the largest raw land transaction in the history of Houston took place when Cinco Ranch Venture, consisting of U. S. Home, the Mischer Corporation, and American General Corporation, purchased Cinco Ranch for a 5,000 acre (20 km²) master plan development. American General eventually bought out the other partners. Its current developer is Newland, and it now surpasses 7,200 acres (29 km²).

[edit] Geography

Cinco Ranch is located at 29°44′29″N, 95°45′30″W (29.741522, -95.758343)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 12.8 km² (4.9 mi²). None of the area is covered with water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 11,196 people, 3,375 households, and 3,064 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 876.8/km² (2,270.0/mi²). There were 3,594 housing units at an average density of 281.5/km² (728.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 87.92% White, 2.85% African American, 0.23% Native American, 6.63% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.06% from other races, and 1.30% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.84% of the population.

14% of Cinco Ranch residents report German ancestry, another 14% report English ancestry, and 10% report Irish. These are the three most common reported ancestries. Fourth is Asian, at 7%.

There were 3,375 households out of which 63.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 84.9% were married couples living together, 3.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 9.2% were non-families. 7.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 1.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.32 and the average family size was 3.52.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 38.3% under the age of 18, 3.8% from 18 to 24, 32.5% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 3.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 99.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.9 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $111,517, and the median income for a family was $114,550. Males had a median income of $90,117 versus $42,304 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $37,747. About 1.5% of families and 1.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.1% of those under age 18 and 2.6% of those age 65 or over.