Texas City, Texas

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Texas City is a city in Galveston County in the U.S. state of Texas within the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown metropolitan area. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the city population was 41,521 (though the 2005 census estimate placed the population at 44,274).

1 History
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 Education
5 External links

[edit] History

Founded in the late 19th century by Frank Davison, who became its first grocer and postmaster, this explosion-prone city (bordered on the east by numerous port facilities and petrochemical refineries) suffered from the Texas City disaster on April 16, 1947, generally regarded as the worst industrial accident in U.S. history, an ammonium nitrate explosion which killed over 500. It recovered quite well from the accident (several refineries are located in Texas City) and has at times referred to itself as "The Town that would not die".

On March 23, 2005, the city suffered an explosion in a local BP (formerly Amoco) oil refinery which killed 15 and injured over 100. The BP facility in Texas City is the United States's third largest oil refinery, employing over 2,000 people and processing 460,000 barrels (73,000 m³) of crude oil each day.

Founder Frank Davison's house, the Davison Home, is now the centerpiece of Texas City's Heritage Square and is maintained by the Texas City Historical Association.

In the 2000s, rising real estate costs in Galveston forced many families to move to other areas, including Texas City. This meant an influx of children out of Galveston ISD and into other school districts like Dickinson ISD [1].

[edit] Geography

Texas City is located at 29°23′60″N, 94°56′2″W (29.399983, -94.933851)^GR1. This is 10 miles (16 km) northwest of Galveston and 37 miles (60 km) southeast of Houston.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 433.1 km² (167.2 mi²). 161.5 km² (62.4 mi²) of it is land and 271.6 km² (104.9 mi²) of it (62.70%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 41,521 people, 15,479 households, and 10,974 families residing in the city. The population density was 257.0/km² (665.7/mi²). There were 16,715 housing units at an average density of 103.5/km² (268.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 60.75% White, 27.47% African American, 0.50% Native American, 0.88% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 8.23% from other races, and 2.12% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 20.52% of the population.

There were 15,479 households out of which 33.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.6% were married couples living together, 17.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.1% were non-families. 24.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.13.

In the city the population was spread out with 26.7% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 27.8% from 25 to 44, 22.4% from 45 to 64, and 13.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 89.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $35,963, and the median income for a family was $42,393. Males had a median income of $36,463 versus $24,754 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,057. About 12.0% of families and 14.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.5% of those under age 18 and 11.2% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Education

Most of Texas City is within the Texas City Independent School District. Texas City High School serves the TCISD portion of Texas City.

Other portions are a part of the Dickinson Independent School District and the La Marque Independent School District.

Dickinson High School serves the DISD portion of Texas City. La Marque High School serves the LMISD portion of Texas City.

All of Texas City is served by the College of the Mainland.

Our Lady of Fatima School, a Roman Catholic elementary school operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, is in Texas City [2].

The Moore Memorial Public Library is in Texas City [3].

[edit] External links

Texas City from the Handbook of Texas Online
The Texas City Disaster
Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 29.399983° -94.933851°
- 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

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