Victoria, Texas

Victoria, Texas
Country	United States
State	Texas
County	Victoria County
Government
• Mayor	Will Armstrong
Population  (2005)
• City	69,979
• Metro	97,064
Time zone	UTC-6 (CST)
Website	[1]

Victoria is a city in Victoria County, Texas, United States. According to the 2005 mid-census report, the city had a 69,279 total population and a 97,064 metro population. It is the principal city of and is included in the Victoria, Texas Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is the county seat of Victoria CountyTemplate:GR. It is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Victoria in Texas. Victoria is home to Victoria College, the University of Houston–Victoria, MLB players Doug Drabek and Ron Gant and WWE wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin. Victoria is currently one of the state's fastest growing cities. Victoria has experienced a dynamic growth throughout the 21st century. The city is known as "The Crossroads" because of it's location centered between four major cities: Houston, Corpus Christi, San Antonio, and Austin, Texas.

Geography and Climate

Victoria is located at 28°49′1″N 96°59′36″W (28.816866, -96.993462)Template:GR. It is one of the state's old, historic cities. The original colony founded in 1824 was named for the first president of Mexico, Don Guadalupe Victoria.

Being a city not too far from the Gulf Coast of Texas, Victoria is no stranger to hurricanes. On July 16, 2003, Victoria was devestated by Hurricane Claudette that slammed into the city with full force. The city was placed under a voluntary evacuation only 36 hours before the hurricane made landfall. Claudette caused the city over four billion dollars in damage. Over 90% of the city was without power for 72 hours or more. One Victoria woman died when she walked outside of her house and a heavy tree branch fell and struck her on her head.

Victoria was placed under a mandatory evacuation in order to prepare for Hurricane Rita in September of 2005. The city dodged the hurricane when it made a sudden turn toward the Texas/Louisiana border.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 85.8 km² (33.1 mi²). 85.4 km² (33.0 mi²) of it is land and 0.4 km² (0.2 mi²) of it (0.45%) is water.

Monthly Normal and Record High and Low Temperatures
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Rec High °F	88	95	97	98	101	106	104	107	111	99	93	88
Norm High °F	62.8	66.6	73.4	79.2	85.1	90.3	93.4	93.7	89.9	83	73	65.2
Norm Low °F	43.6	46.7	53.9	60.1	68.1	73.3	75	74.6	70.3	61.6	52.3	45.2
Rec Low °F	14	19	21	33	45	59	62	62	48	31	24	9
Precip (in)	2.44	2.04	2.25	2.97	5.12	4.96	2.9	3.05	5	4.26	2.64	2.47
Source: USTravelWeather.com [2]

Demographics

Victoria's Population
Year	City	Metro
1900	4,010	13,678
1910	3,673	14,990
1920	5,957	18,271
1930	7,421	23,471
1940	11,566	23,777
1950	16,126	31,241
1960	33,047	46,467
1970	41,349	53,766
1980	50,695	68,807
1990	51,076	70,369
2000	60,603	84,912
2005	69,279	97,064

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 60,603 people, 22,129 households, and 15,755 families residing in the city. The population density was 709.7/km² (1,838.3/mi²). There were 24,192 housing units at an average density of 283.3/km² (733.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 71.18% White, 42.92% Hispanic or Latino of any race, 17.31% from other races, 7.59% African American, 2.35% from two or more races, 1.01% Asian, 0.51% Native American, and 0.04% Pacific Islander.

There were 22,129 households out of which 36.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.4% were married couples living together, 14.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.8% were non-families. 24.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.21.

In the city the population was spread out with 28.8% under the age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 28.0% from 25 to 44, 21.0% from 45 to 64, and 12.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 92.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $36,829, and the median income for a family was $42,866. Males had a median income of $34,184 versus $21,161 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,009. About 12.2% of families and 14.7% of the population were below the poverty line.

Location

Victoria, Texas, is located 30 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico and is within a two-hour drive of Corpus Christi, Houston, San Antonio and Austin. Victoria is a regional hub for a seven county area and serves a retail trade area of over 250,000 people.

Education

The school district for Victoria is Victoria Independent School District.

A career and technology center offers vocational training in 12 areas including electronics, building trades, computer networking, cosmetology, and Process Operation Technology for petrochemical plants.

More than 60 colleges and universities are located within a 125-mile radius of Victoria including the University of Texas, Texas A&M University, Rice University and the University of Houston. Within the city limits are Victoria College and University of Houston-Victoria.

Victoria is home to the University of Houston Victoria.

History

On April 8, 1824, Don Martin De León petitioned the provincial delegation at San Fernando de Béxar to settle forty-one Mexican families on the lower Guadalupe and founded the town of Nuestra Señora Guadalupe de Jesús Victoria. The colonization grant was approved on April 13. Patricia De León (wife of Martin De León) contributed $9,800 and cows, horses, and mules valued at $300, which she inherited from her father. De León's colony was the only predominantly Mexican colony in Texas, and as a Mexican citizen the empresario received legal preference in the numerous border disputes with American settlements encircling Guadalupe Victoria. In 1829 he obtained a second contract to settle one hundred and fifty families within an area of ten leagues from the coast, and complied with that contract, founding the town of Victoria.

Victoria was the site of Foster Air Force Base before its decommissioning in 1958.

Recreation

Victoria’s 562 acre Riverside Park is home to the Texas Zoo which houses more than 200 species of animals and plants that are indigenous to Texas, exhibiting them in their natural habitat.

There are three golf courses located in Victoria. The Victoria Country Club, Riverside Golf Course, and Colony Creek Country Club.

Riverside Park is home to over 15 baseball fields which are occupied during the Spring and Summer by baseball teams from all over the Victoria Metro region.

Media

Victoria is home to the state's second oldest existing newspaper company, The Victoria Advocate.

Libraries

The Victoria Public Library contains approximately 127,000 volumes at its downtown location. Victoria College and the University of Houston-Victoria share a library on their joint campus.

Tourism

Victoria has 1,260 hotel/motel rooms for visitors. The Victoria Community Center is the largest enclosed convention/exhibit facility in the Golden Crescent region, with over 68,000 square feet. The Victoria Chamber of Commerce, Victoria African-American Chamber of Commerce, and the Victoria Convention and Visitors Bureau can assist with tourism-related inquires.

Transportation

Known as the South Texas Crossroads, Victoria is located at the intersection of three major U. S. highways:

• US Highway 59 (future Interstate 69) is a four-lane divided interstate quality highway extending southwest to Laredo and northeast to Houston where it meets Interstate 10 and Interstate 45.

• US Highway 77 travels north from Victoria to the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex intersecting Interstate 10, Interstate 35, and Interstate 37. US 77 travels south via a four-lane divided highway to the Rio Grande Valley.

• US Highway 87 travels northwest connecting Victoria to San Antonio providing access to Interstate 35. US 87 also connects with Port Lavaca to the southeast.

Victoria is a regional transportation hub for the surrounding counties with local access to major large and small freight carriers, Victoria Regional Airport, railway terminals, the shallow draft Port of Victoria, and the deep water Port of Port Lavaca-Point Comfort.

External links

• City of Victoria, Texas
• VictoriaCrossroads information
• Victoria Economic Development Corporation economic development
• The Victoria Advocate newspaper
• Catholic Diocese of Victoria

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