Marathon (texas)
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Location in Texas
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| Basic data | |||
| Foundation : | 1882 | ||
| State : | United States | ||
| State : | Texas | ||
| County : | Brewster County | ||
| Coordinates : | 30 ° 12 ′ N , 103 ° 15 ′ W | ||
| Time zone : | Central ( UTC − 6 / −5 ) | ||
| Residents : | 430 (as of 2010) | ||
| Population density : | 31.6 inhabitants per km 2 | ||
| Area : | 13.6 km 2 (approx. 5 mi 2 ) of which 13.6 km 2 (approx. 5 mi 2 ) is land |
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| Height : | 1236 m | ||
| Postal code : | 79842 | ||
| Area code : | +1 432 | ||
| FIPS : | 48-46572 | ||
| GNIS ID : | 1340927 | ||
| Website : | www.marathontexas.com | ||
Marathon is a location in Brewster County in the US state of Texas .
geography
Marathon is located in west west Texas, in the northern portion of Brewster County. The place is on the route of the Southern Pacific Railroad, at the intersection of US Highways 90 and 385, 41 kilometers southeast of Alpine (Texas) , it is 1264 meters above sea level.
The climate is semi-arid , characterized by warm summers with average temperatures of 21 to 26 degrees Celsius from May to September and mild winters with an average of 0 degrees from December to February. The annual rainfall averages 375 mm.
Since 1978 there have been six earthquakes between 4.0 and 6.9 magnitude in Marathon, the strongest on February 28, 1995.
Demographics
In 2010, 430 people lived in Marathon, which means a population decrease of 5.5% compared to 2000. The average age of the residents was 52.5 years, well above the Texas average of 30.8 years. The urban area covers 5.25 square miles with a population density of 82 people per square mile. Marathon is mainly inhabited by Anglo-Americans (55.6% of the population) and Hispanic-Americans (43.3%), 2% are of African-American origin. 15% of the population are of English, 8% Irish and 6% German descent. While the cost of living index is significantly below the US average (100) at 81.3, the average household income in 2012 was $ 31,508, well below the Texan average of $ 50,740. The unemployment rate in June 2014 was 4.9% (Texan average 5.5%).
history
Marathon was created as part of the construction of the "Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio Railway", construction crews of the railway line reached the area of the later town in March 1882. Before the arrival of the railway line, there was only the "Circle Dot Ranch" of the Solomon brothers in the area of Marathon and Mayer Haff, whose ranch building was six kilometers southwest of what would later become the city.
On March 10, 1882, Albion E. Shepard, an overseer and surveyor who worked for the railway company, bought land and built his "Iron Mountain Ranch" just north of what would later become the town center. In his application for the construction of a post office, he named 120 people as the population of the railway camp. On February 13, 1883, the post office was opened, and Shepard named the emerging place Marathon. In 1884 the population of the place was 50 people, there were four ranchers, Shepard, who ran a sheep farm, and a saloon. Through the connection to the railway line, Marathon developed into a transshipment point and local supply center for the surrounding ranches. When the new counties Brewster County , Buchel County and Foley Counties were formed from Presidio County in 1887 , Marathon was to become the capital of Buchel Counties. In 1897 Buchel and Foley Counties were added to Brewster County.
In 1888, a one-room parish hall was built to serve as a school, church and meeting room, and a second room was added in 1898. A permanent school building was erected in 1909. In 1896 the number of inhabitants had risen to 110. Around and shortly after 1900 three parishes were formed: In 1898 the "Marathon Baptist Church" was founded, which moved into its own church building in 1910 (in 2012, 27% of the population belonged to it); In 1909 the “St. Mary Catholic Church "their church (2012 = 51% of the population), and" Marathon Methodist Church "was completed in 1910 (2012 = 9% of the population). By 1914 the population rose to 600. After a decrease in the population to 218 in 1925, the population rose rapidly to almost 1000 in the late 1920s. In the late 1940s the population fell to 600, and in the early 1950s it fell to 500, after an increase At the end of the 1960s to 996 inhabitants, the number of inhabitants fell to 800 from the early 1970s. Continuous further population emigration, especially of young adults, caused the number of inhabitants to shrink further. Population increases and decreases can be explained by the economic development of the place, so repeated attempts to settle industry in Marathon have mostly failed after a short time. Oil discoveries at the end of the 1920s also soon turned out to be unsustainable. Today, Marathon is the local supply center for the surrounding ranches and a frequent stopover for tourists traveling to Big Bend National Park .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Climate data from Marathon
- ↑ Kohout, Martin Donell: " Marathon, Tx ". In: Handbook of Texas. Published by the Texas State Historical Association
literature
- Anne Jo P. Wedin: The Magnificent Marathon Basin: A History of Marathon, Texas. Its people and events. Nortex. Austin, 1989. ISBN 978-0-890-15771-8