Mexia (Texas)

Limestone County

48-47916

Mexia (pronounced [ mɘ̄hɘ̄ja ] ) is a city in Limestone County in the U.S. state of Texas in the United States.

Geography

The city is located at the junction of U.S. Highway 84 to Highway 14 and 171 in east-central Texas, about 65 kilometers east of Waco and has a total area of 13.3 km ² without significant water surface.

History

Was named the place after the family Mexia, who settled in 1833 on the site of the present city. 1871 moved the Houston and Texas Central Railway here their tracks and in 1872 the first post office was opened. The first newspaper, the Ledger was founded in 1869 in Fairfield and moved his seat in the same year here.

In Mexia, a prisoner of war camp was established during the Second World War, in which many members of the former Afrika Korps were spent by the German Wehrmacht.

Demographic data

According to the census of 2000, there were 6,563 people in 2,427 households and 1,660 families. The population density was 492.0 inhabitants per km ². The racial the population was composed of 55.90 % White, 31.68 % African American, 0.23 % Native American, 0.20 % Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander residents from the and 10.67 % from other ethnic groups. Approximately 1.33% were of mixed descent, and 17.90% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Of the 2,427 households, 36.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them. 44.7 % were married couples living together. 19.7% were single mothers and 31.6 % were non-families. 28.1 % of all households were single-person households, and 15.0 % had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size amounted to 3.21.

30.1% of the population were under 18 years old, 10.0 % from 18 to 24, 25.0 % 25-44, 18.5% from 45 to 64, and 16.4 % who were 65 years or older. The average age was 33 years. For every 100 females of all ages were 84.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, 77.5 males.

The median income for a household was $ 22,785, and the median income for a family $ 29,375. Males had a median income of $ 26,479 versus $ 18,138 for females. The per capita income was $ 12,235. 22.1 % of the population and 20.8 % of families are below the poverty line. Of which 28.5 % have children under the age of 18 and 15.2 % of those 65 or older.

Sons and daughters of the town

• Les Baxter (1922-1996), orchestra conductor and arranger
• Allen Stanford ( born 1950 ), entrepreneur, financier and convicted fraudster plant