Bay City (Texas)
Matagorda County
48-05984
Bay City is a city in Matagorda County in the U.S. state of Texas, United States and is the county seat ( county seat ).
Geography
The city lies at the intersection of Texas State Routes 35 and 60, in southeast Texas, about 30 km from the Gulf of Mexico and about 150 kilometers southwest of Houston. It has an area of 22.0 km ², of which 0.2 km ² water surface.
History
Bay City was founded in August 1894. It was named for its location in the Bay Prairie. On 18 September of the same year the town was chosen for the county seat. 1901 moved the Cane Belt Railroad as their first rails up to the city, which then developed into a commercial center for the area. As the newspapers Matagorda County Tribune and the Weekly Visitor published. In the same year a two-story school was built. Likewise, there were already three teachers, a dentist, a physician and six lawyers. 1902, the place had already 2000 inhabitants.
1902 was the city following the New York, Texas and Mexican Railway, and after 1904, the first oil discoveries were made in Orange County, also published the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway their rails far. Ten years later, the population had grown to 3156 residents and the area had become the largest national rice-growing area. Furthermore, there were four cotton -processing companies, three banks, two rice mills, a factory for ice cream and ice cream, a municipal water works and a Large cold storage for fruits and vegetables.
In subsequent years, the population grew slowly but steadily, except during the Great Depression. In the 50s, a new library was built in the 60s and an airfield. Since the 90s, Bay City is the port of embarkation for oil production in the near and far.
Culture
Bay City maintains a public library with around 72,200 books, 1800 audio and video 4085 documents. Furthermore, there are 8 primary schools and junior highs and one high school. Colleges and universities are in a radius of 100 km.
Religion
In Bay City, there are 43 different churches from 16 different denominations. Among the belonging to a denomination churches the Baptist church is strongest with 12 churches. Furthermore, there are 11 to no denomination belonging churches ( as of 2004).
Demography
The average income for a household in the city is $ 30,446, the median income for a family at $ 39,281. Males have a median income of $ 38,202 compared to women with an average of $ 23,058. The per capita income is $ 15,284. 21.4 % of the population and 18.3 % of families are below the poverty line. 30.9% of the population is under 18 years old and 100 females aged 18 and over, there are 91.1 men statistically. The average age is 32 years. (As of 2000).
Crime
The crime rate has an index of 411.3 points. (Compare U.S. national average: 330.6 points) (higher scores mean higher crime ) 2002, there were 0 murders, 0 rapes, 31 robberies, 76 assaults on persons, 256 burglaries, 777 thefts and 41 car thefts.
Sons and daughters of the town
- Charles Austin, athlete and Olympic champion
- Joe DeLoach, athlete and Olympic champion
- Time Whitfield, sprinter and middle-distance runner, Olympic champion in 1948 and 1952