La Vernia, Texas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

La Vernia is a city in Wilson County, Texas, United States. The population was 931 at the 2000 census.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 Education
5 External links
6 Famous People from La Vernia

[edit] History

The town was first settled around 1850. W. R. Wiseman of Mississippi, who organized a Presbyterian church at the site around 1851, is said to have named the place Live Oak Grove for a grove nearby. In 1853 a post office was established under the name Post Oak, which was changed to La Vernia in 1859. The origin of the name is uncertain. The Brahan Masonic lodge was established at La Vernia in 1859. German and Polish immigration brought the population to 110 by 1885, when the community had three churches, a steam gristmill, and a cotton gin. H. Suhre, owner of the general store, was the first postmaster. In 1890 La Vernia had a population of 200. Construction of the San Antonio and Gulf Railroad across the area in 1893 brought the population to 343 by 1900. A two-teacher school was in operation by 1896, when the enrollment was sixty-six. In 1915 the town had two gins, a bank, four churches, a pottery plant, a brick works, and a population of 500. In 1947 it had seventeen businesses. In 1965 it had 700 residents and twenty-five businesses. The community incorporated around 1980 and in 1990 had a population of 639 and thirty-six businesses. In 2000 La Vernia had 136 businesses and a population of 931.

[edit] Geography

La Vernia is located at 29°21′19″N, 98°7′5″W (29.355187, -98.118122)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.0 km² (1.9 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 931 people, 317 households, and 239 families residing in the city. The population density was 186.2/km² (482.8/mi²). There were 344 housing units at an average density of 68.8/km² (178.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 92.48% White, 0.11% African American, 0.75% Native American, 0.64% Asian, 4.19% from other races, and 1.83% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 19.98% of the population.

There were 317 households out of which 40.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.4% were married couples living together, 15.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.6% were non-families. 21.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.08.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.1% under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 17.1% from 45 to 64, and 23.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 81.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 72.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $38,500, and the median income for a family was $46,912. Males had a median income of $35,625 versus $24,844 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,931. About 12.5% of families and 12.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.1% of those under age 18 and 12.6% of those age 65 or over.