China, Texas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

China is a city in Jefferson County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,112 at the 2000 census.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 School System
5 External links

[edit] History

It is named for the "China Berry" trees that were native to the area but have all but gone extinct today. In fact, perhaps some of the only examples you may find of the trees in the area are in the front lawn of China Elementary. The two trees were transplanted in the mid 90's, and are steadily growing. China has an annual festival named after the trees, the China Berry Festival, to celebrate the city's people in a time of coming together.

[edit] Geography

China is located at 30°3′15″N, 94°19′55″W (30.054259, -94.331882)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.4 km² (1.3 mi²). 3.3 km² (1.3 mi²) of it is land and 0.77% is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 1,112 people, 426 households, and 314 families residing in the city. The population density was 332.8/km² (862.8/mi²). There were 458 housing units at an average density of 137.1/km² (355.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 71.04% White, 24.01% African American, 0.36% Native American, 0.90% Asian, 2.79% from other races, and 0.90% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.59% of the population.

There were 426 households out of which 31.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.9% were married couples living together, 12.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.1% were non-families. 23.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.08.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.4% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 28.6% from 25 to 44, 24.5% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 95.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $36,172, and the median income for a family was $41,500. Males had a median income of $36,094 versus $21,635 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,940. About 12.7% of families and 14.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.8% of those under age 18 and 17.7% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] School System

China is part of the Hardin-Jefferson Independent School District, a school system which spans over a large area including China and neighboring cities Nome and Sour Lake, as well as development communities such as Pinewood, Countrywood, Greyburg, and Blanch.

China is home to two of the school district's schools, China Elementary and Henderson Middle School.

China Elementary caters typically to China's families, and sometimes to some of those from Nome. Students attend China Elementary from kindergarten until the third grade (China Elementary offers pre-kindergarten services). From there, they move to the larger Sour Lake Elementary, which provides kindergarten through fifth grade. From there, all students move to Henderson Middle School in China for sixth through eighth grades. After that, all students move to Hardin-Jefferson High School, which lies on Highway 326 between Nome and Sour Lake and provides ninth through twelfth grades.

Both China Elementary and Henderson Middle School used to be part of China School District prior to the consolidation of the local school districts.