Whitewright, Texas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Whitewright is a town in Texas, United States. The population was 1,740 at the 2000 census. It is located primarily in Grayson County, with a portion in Fannin County. Whitewright is the best town on the face of the earth, yet it can be boring at times. That doesn't change the fact that it is a kick ace little hicktown in the great state of Texas.

1 Geography
2 Whitewright School District
3 History
4 Demographics
5 Notable Residents
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Geography

Whitewright is located at 33°30′40″N, 96°23′36″W (33.511136, -96.393400)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 5.5 km² (2.1 mi²). 5.4 km² (2.1 mi²) of it is land and 0.47% is water,

[edit] Whitewright School District

The town consists of three diff/ schools. Elementary, Middle, and High School. The district was a RECOGNIZED DISTRICT in 05-06. The district is 14-AA. The schools mascot is a Tiger.

HIGH SCHOOL

Wade Stanford, Principal

Margaret Phillips, Secretary

Judy Hathcock, Counselor

Chuck Lipsey, Athletic Director

The school consists of the following sports. Football, Tennis, Golf, Basketball, Track, Baseball.UIL is highly supported. The school also consist of Cheerleading, Drill team, Beta club, yearbook, etc.

MIDDLE SCHOOL

Bobby Worthy, Principal

Vickie Stanford, Secretary

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Brenda Allred, Principal

Adriane Stephens, Secretary

Sharon Vickers, Nurse

Amy Shaw, Counselor

[edit] History

The settlement was established in 1878, when New York investor William Whitewright, for whom the community was named, purchased a tract of land in the path of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, which was then extending its tracks across the county. Whitewright had the land surveyed as a townsite and left two of his agents, Jim Reeves and Jim Batsell, to sell lots in the new community. Likely due to the combination of its rail connection and its location in the center of perhaps the richest farmland in the county, Whitewright soon attracted settlers and businesses.

Within ten years of its founding the community had incorporated and supported a private school, Grayson College, a public school, a newspaper, and several businesses, including three hotels, two cotton gins, and two banks. In addition, a post office began operations there in 1888. By 1900 the population of Whitewright was 1,804. Although it declined slightly, to 1,563 in 1910 and 1,666 in 1920, the business community flourished. By the mid-1920s both the Missouri-Kansas-Texas and the Cotton Belt served the town, and sixty-eight businesses, including two banks and manufacturers of cottonseed oil and flour, operated locally. Whitewright served as a marketing, retail, and commercial center for the farmers of the surrounding area who produced such crops as cotton, wheat, and corn.

The population rose from 1,480 in 1936 to 1,537 by the late 1940s. The number of businesses, however, declined from sixty to forty-six. During the 1970s and 1980s seven factories, producing goods ranging from sausage to clothing to fertilizers, employed local workers. By 1989 Whitewright had twenty-six businesses, and in 1990 the population was 1,713. In 2000 the community had 1,740 inhabitants and 106 businesses.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 1,740 people, 650 households, and 456 families residing in the town. The population density was 319.9/km² (830.0/mi²). There were 732 housing units at an average density of 134.6/km² (349.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 87.36% White, 8.33% African American, 0.57% Native American, 0.92% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.86% from other races, and 1.90% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.64% of the population.

There were 650 households out of which 33.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.3% were married couples living together, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.8% were non-families. 26.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.04.

In the town the population was spread out with 26.2% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 26.3% from 25 to 44, 20.6% from 45 to 64, and 20.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 83.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.8 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $33,194, and the median income for a family was $42,292. Males had a median income of $31,852 versus $22,639 for females. The per capita income for the town was $16,137. About 7.9% of families and 12.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.1% of those under age 18 and 16.9% of those age 65 or over.