Castroville, Texas

Castroville, Texas
—  City  —
U.S. Post Office in Castroville

Seal
Nickname(s): The Little Alsace of Texas
Location of Castroville, Texas
Coordinates:
Country United States
State Texas
County Medina
Area
 • Total 2.6 sq mi (6.6 km2)
 • Land 2.5 sq mi (6.6 km2)
 • Water 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation 758 ft (231 m)
Population (2000)
 • Total 2,664
 • Density 1,045.4/sq mi (403.6/km2)
Time zone Central (CST) (UTC-6)
 • Summer (DST) CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP codes 78009, 78023
Area code(s) 830
FIPS code 48-13312[1]
GNIS feature ID 1353948[2]

Castroville is a city in Medina County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,664 at the 2000 census. Prior to 1893, Castroville was the first county seat of Medina County.

Castroville is part of the San Antonio Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Contents

History

Castroville was established in 1844 by Henri Castro, an empresario of the Republic of Texas, who brought several dozen European families to the area from Alsace and adjoining Baden to populate his land grant along the Medina River 20 miles west of San Antonio. The first colonists disembark at Galveston on January 9, 1843. They are taken by ship to Lavaca Bay and travel overland to San Antonio where they take shelter in abandoned buildings until the Texas Rangers are prepared to escort them to their land and protect them from hostile indians. On September 2, 1844, the first colonists arrive at the Castro's land grant on the Medina River[3]

After a few hard years, the town and surrounding farms flourished, although for generations, the residents remained insular. In Castroville's first century, a visitor would be more likely to hear Alsatian — a soft, French-flecked dialect of German — than English spoken in the town's homes, stores and taverns.

Today, though, native speakers of Alsatian are dying out, and fewer of town's residents can trace their ancestry back to the original Castro colonists. The suburbs of nearby San Antonio are encroaching, and much of the town has been made a national historic district to preserve the unique, sloped-roof architecture of dozens of original Alsatian homes and shops.

Castroville is a sister city of Ensisheim (Alsace) in France.

Geography

Castroville is located at (29.354954, -98.880656)[4].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.5 square miles (6.5 km2), of which, 2.5 square miles (6.5 km2) of it is land and 0.39% is water.

Demographics

As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 2,664 people, 941 households, and 719 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,045.4 people per square mile (403.4/km²). There were 1,025 housing units at an average density of 402.2 per square mile (155.2/km²).

The gov. census page is at http://censtats.census.gov/data/TX/1604813312.pdf, for verification.

There were 941 households out of which 37.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.5% were married couples living together, 10.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.5% were non-families. 20.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.74 and the average family size was 3.17.

In the city the population was spread out with 28.0% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 27.7% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 15.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 97.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $42,308, and the median income for a family was $51,007. Males had a median income of $35,625 versus $27,228 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,615. About 5.4% of families and 9.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.9% of those under age 18 and 5.9% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The City of Castroville is served by the Medina Valley Independent School District and by the Saint Louis Catholic School (grades Pre K through 5th).

References

  1. ^ a b "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
  2. ^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. http://geonames.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
  3. ^ Wolff, Linda (1999). Indianola and Matagorda Island 1837 - 1887. Austin, Texas: Eakin Press. pp. 9. ISBN 1571683402. 
  4. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2011-04-23. 

External links