Decatur (Texas)

Wise County

48-19528

Decatur is the county seat and the county seat ( county seat ) of Wise County in the U.S. state of Texas in the United States.

Geography

The city is located about 65 km northwest of Fort Worth, a little east of the center of the county, in northeast Texas, about 65 miles from Oklahoma to the north away and has a total area of 18 km ² without significant water surface.

History

The town was founded in 1856 under the name of Taylorsville, named after Zachary Taylor, a general and 12th President of the United States of America. 1858 the town was renamed in Decatur, in honor of Stephen Decatur, a Commodore and heroes of the Navy. In 1857 the first post office, and the first school was established in 1860 and created the first courthouse. 1862, during the Civil War were five residents, members of the Unionist Party Peace, convicted and hanged because of their membership in this party in Gainesville to death.

Demography

According to the census of 2000, there were 5,201 people in 1,845 households and 1,319 families. The population density was 288.5 inhabitants per km ². The racial the population was composed of 81.64 % White, 1.98 % African American, 0.58 % Native American, 0.73 % Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander residents from the and 12.44 % from other ethnic groups. Approximately 2.63% were of mixed descent, and 22.53 % of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Of the 1,845 households, 37.6 % had children under the age of 18 living with them. 56.1 % were married couples living together. 11.7% were single mothers and 28.5 % were non-families. 24.9 % of all households were single-person households, and 12.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.19 persons to.

27.2% of the population were under 18 years old, 10.5 % from 18 to 24, 28.1% 25-44, 18.7% from 45 to 64, and 15.5 % who were 65 years or older. The average age was 34 years. For every 100 females of all ages were 93.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, 86.7 males.

The median income for a household was $ 34,449, and the median income for a family $ 40,580. Males have a median income of $ 30,512 versus $ 21,213 for females. The per capita income was $ 15,402. 12.0 % of the population and 10.1 % of families are below the poverty line. Of which 12.0 % have children under the age of 18 and 21.1 % of those 65 or older.