Killeen, Texas

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Killeen is a city in Bell County, Texas, United States. As of the 2005 census, the city had a total population of 100,233.

Killeen is directly adjacent to the main cantonment of Fort Hood, and as such its economy is heavily dependent on the post and the soldiers (and their families) deployed there.

Contents 1 History 2 Geography 3 Demographics 4 Transportation 5 Education 6 Media and entertainment 7 Sports 8 Sources 9 External links

[edit] History

In 1881, the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway extended its tracks through central Texas, buying 360 acres a few miles southwest of a small farming community known as Palo Alto, which had existed since about 1872. The railroad platted a seventy-block town on its land and named it after Frank P. Killeen, the assistant general manager of the railroad. By the next year the town included a railroad depot, a saloon, several stores, and a school. Many of the residents of the surrounding smaller communities in the area moved to Killeen and by 1884 the town had grown to include about 350 people, served by five general stores, two gristmills, two cotton gins, two saloons, a lumberyard, a blacksmith shop, and a hotel. Killeen expanded as it became an important shipping point for cotton, wool, and grain in western Bell and eastern Coryell counties. About 780 people lived in Killeen by 1900, most of them white Protestants, since the community discouraged black people and Catholics from living there. Around 1905 local politicians and businessmen convinced the Texas legislature to build bridges over Cowhouse Creek and other streams, doubling Killeen's trade area. A public water system began operation in 1914 and its population had increased to circa 1,300 residents.

Until the 1940s Killeen remained a relatively small and isolated farm trade center, but this changed drastically after 1942, when Camp Hood (re-commissioned as Fort Hood in 1950) was created as a military training post to meet the demands of the Second World War. Laborers, construction workers, contractors, soldiers, and their families moved into the area by the thousands, and Killeen became a military boomtown. The opening of Camp Hood also radically altered the nature of the local economy, since the sprawling new military post covered almost half of Killeen's farming trade area. The loss of more than three hundred farms and ranches led to the demise of Killeen's cotton gins and other farm related businesses. New businesses were started to provide services for the military camp. Killeen suffered a recession when Camp Hood was all but abandoned after the end of the Second World War, but when Fort Hood was established as a permanent army post in 1950, the city boomed again. Its population increased from about 1,300 in 1949 to 7,045 in 1950, and between 1950 and 1951 about a hundred new commercial buildings were constructed in Killeen.

By 1955, Killeen had an estimated 21,076 residents and 224 businesses. Troop cutbacks and transfers in the mid-fifties led to another recession in Killeen which lasted until 1959, when various divisions were returned to Fort Hood. (Elvis Presley even lived in Killeen for a time during his stint in the army). The town continued to grow through the 1960s, especially after the Vietnam War led to increased activity at Fort Hood. By 1970 Killeen had developed into a city of 35,507 inhabitants and had added a municipal airport, a new municipal library, and a junior college (Central Texas College). By 1980, when the census counted 49,307 people in Killeen, it was the largest city in Bell County. By 1990 its population had increased to 63,535, and 265,301 people lived in the Killeen metropolitan area. In addition to shaping local economic development after 1950, the military presence at Fort Hood also changed the city's racial, religious, and ethnic composition. No blacks lived in the city in 1950, for example, but by the early 1950s the town had added Marlboro Heights, an all-black subdivision, and in 1956 the city school board voted to integrate the local high school. The city's first resident Catholic priest was assigned to the St. Joseph's parish in 1954, and around the same time, new Presbyterian and Episcopal churches were built. By the 1980s the city had a heterogeneous population including whites, blacks, Mexican Americans, Koreans, and a number of other foreign nationals. On October 16, 1991, George Hennard murdered 24 people and then committed suicide in Luby's Cafeteria in Killeen (see Luby's massacre). That same year one of its high school football teams, the Killeen Kangaroos, won the 5-A state football championship. By 2000, the census listed Killeen's population as 86,911, although is now around 115,000, making the greater Killeen area one of the fastest growing areas in the nation.

[edit] Geography

Killeen is located at 31°6′20″ N 97°43′36″ W (31.105555555556, -97.726666666667) (31.105591, -97.726586)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 91.7 km² (35.4 mi²). 91.6 km² (35.3 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.14%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 86,911 people, 32,447 households, and 22,972 families residing in the city. The population density was 949.3/km² (2,458.9/mi²). There were 35,343 housing units at an average density of 386.0/km² (999.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 45.78% White, 33.49% African American, 0.78% Native American, 4.33% Asian, 0.91% Pacific Islander, 8.99% from other races, and 5.72% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 17.80% of the population.

There were 32,447 households out of which 42.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.9% were married couples living together, 13.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.2% were non-families. 22.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.12.

In the city the population was spread out with 29.9% under the age of 18, 16.0% from 18 to 24, 35.7% from 25 to 44, 13.6% from 45 to 64, and 4.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 27 years. For every 100 females there were 100.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $34,461, and the median income for a family was $36,674. Males had a median income of $26,502 versus $21,799 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,323. About 11.2% of families and 12.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.5% of those under age 18 and 8.6% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Transportation

Killeen is served by a small regional airfield known as Skylark Field (ILE), the larger Killeen-Fort Hood Regional Airport (GRK), and the HOP public bus transit system.

[edit] Education

The Killeen Independent School District (KISD) is the largest school district between Austin and Dallas, encompassing Killeen, Harker Heights, Fort Hood, Nolanville, and rural west Bell County. KISD has, as of 2005, thirty elementary schools (PK-5), eleven middle schools (6-8), four high schools (9-12), and six specialized campuses. KISD's four high schools and mascots are the Killeen High School Kangaroos (the original city-wide high school), the Ellison High School Eagles, Harker Heights High School Knights, and the Shoemaker High School Grey Wolves.

[edit] Media and entertainment

Killeen's main newspaper is the Killeen Daily Herald, which has been publishing under different formats since 1890. (The Herald also publishes the Fort Hood Sentinel, the local paper for Fort Hood).

[edit] Sports

Killeen will become home to a professional basketball team in 2008 when the United Basketball League's Central Texas Diplomats take to the court.

[edit] Sources

Bell County Historical Commission. Story of Bell County, Texas 2 vols. Austin: Eakin Press, 1988.

Duncan Gra'Delle, Killeen: Tale of Two Cities, 1882-1982 Killeen, Texas: 1984.

[edit] External links

• City of Killeen
• Killeen Daily Herald, Central Texas News
• Killeen.Com, Online Directory of Local Businesses
• Killeen Relocation Information
• Killeen Independent School District
• Killeen-Fort Hood Regional Airport
• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 31.105591° -97.726586°
  • Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
  • Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA