Jacksonville, Texas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jacksonville is a city in Cherokee County, Texas, United States. The population was 13,868 at the 2000 census.

Jacksonville is located in an area of rolling hills in East Texas, north of the county seat, Rusk, and south of Tyler, in Smith County, on U. S. Highway 69. Area production and shipping of tomatoes gained the town the title "Tomato Capital of the World". The impressive red iron ore rock Tomato Bowl, built by WPA workers during the Great Depression, is home to the Jacksonville High School Fightin' Indians. Annual events include the "Tomato Fest" celebration in June, and the "Tops in Texas Rodeo", held in July. It is the hometown of country music singers Lee Ann Womack and Neal McCoy, and Jacksonville Jaguars' punter Toby Gowin.

Jacksonville began in 1847 as the town of Gum Creek. Jackson Smith built a home and blacksmith shop in the area, and became postmaster in 1848, when a post office was authorized. Shortly afterward, Dr. William Jackson established an office near Smith's shop. When the townsite was laid out in 1850, the name Jacksonville was chosen in honor of these two men. The name of the post office was changed from Gum Creek to Jacksonville in June of 1850.

The only two private junior colleges in Texas, Lon Morris College and Jacksonville College, are both located in Jacksonville. A seminary belonging to the Baptist Missionary Association of America is also located there.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 Education
4 External links

[edit] Geography

Jacksonville is located at 31°57′49″N, 95°16′7″W (31.963525, -95.268629)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 36.6 km² (14.1 mi²). 36.6 km² (14.1 mi²) of it is land and 0.07% is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 13,868 people, 4,882 households, and 3,358 families residing in the city. The population density was 378.7/km² (981.0/mi²). There were 5,397 housing units at an average density of 147.4/km² (381.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 62.60% White, 21.70% African American, 0.48% Native American, 0.68% Asian, 0.13% Pacific Islander, 12.72% from other races, and 1.69% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 23.04% of the population.

There were 4,882 households out of which 35.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.5% were married couples living together, 17.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.2% were non-families. 27.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.28.

In the city the population was spread out with 29.2% under the age of 18, 12.1% from 18 to 24, 25.2% from 25 to 44, 17.9% from 45 to 64, and 15.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 89.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $25,800, and the median income for a family was $31,176. Males had a median income of $23,650 versus $19,375 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,541. About 19.2% of families and 23.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.0% of those under age 18 and 17.7% of those age 65 or over.