Vidor, Texas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the Italian commune, see Vidor.

Vidor is a city in Southeast Texas at the intersection of Interstate 10 and Farm Market Road 105, six miles east of Beaumont in western Orange County. The town is mostly a bedroom community for the nearby refining complexes in Beaumont and Port Arthur. The population was 11,440 at the 2000 census.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 Education
5 Famous Residents
6 Controversy
7 Notes
8 External links

[edit] History

The area was heavily logged after the construction of the Texarkana and Fort Smith Railway that was later part of a line that ran from Kansas City to Port Arthur, Texas. The city was named after lumberman Charles Shelton Vidor, owner of the Miller-Vidor Lumber Company and grandfather of director King Vidor. By 1909 the Vidor community had a post office and four years later a company tram road was built. Almost all Vidor residents worked for the company. In 1924 the Miller-Vidor Lumber Company moved to Lakeview, just north of Vidor, in search of virgin timber. A small settlement remained and the Miller-Vidor subdivision was laid out in 1929.

[edit] Geography

Vidor is located at 30°7′53″N, 93°59′47″W (30.131492, -93.996292)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 27.4 km² (10.6 mi²). 27.4 km² (10.6 mi²) of it is land and 0.09% is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 11,440 people, 4,222 households, and 3,158 families residing in the city. The population density was 418.3/km² (1,083.6/mi²). There were 4,652 housing units at an average density of 170.1/km² (440.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.33% White, 0.07% African American, 0.52% Native American, 0.19% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.66% from other races, and 1.21% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.49% of the population.

There were 4,222 households out of which 34.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.3% were married couples living together, 13.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.2% were non-families. 22.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.09.

In the city the population was spread out with 26.7% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 27.4% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 14.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 91.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $31,982, and the median income for a family was $37,572. Males had a median income of $35,781 versus $21,054 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,381. About 10.7% of families and 14.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.5% of those under age 18 and 8.9% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Education

The City of Vidor is served by the Vidor Independent School District.

[edit] Famous Residents

David Ozio, professional bowler
David Adam Moore, opera singer
George Jones, Country musician
Tracy Byrd, Country musician (1985 Vidor High graduate)
Clay Walker, Country musician (1987 Vidor High graduate)

[edit] Controversy

Vidor was the subject of many national news stories throughout the 1990s concerning the attempts of the Department of Housing and Urban Development to desegregate the local housing project. It was met with overwhelmingly negative response; all the black residents that had been assigned to the projects in Vidor eventually left. Bill Simpson, the last black resident to leave, was murdered in Beaumont the day after he left . His killing remains a mystery. Despite African-Americans comprising one-fourth of the population of the Beaumont-Port Arthur metropolitan area, Vidor's African-American population is well under one percent. Vidor has been considered a sundown town for most of its history.^[1]