Port Isabel
| Port Isabel | |||
|---|---|---|---|
_(16656628891).jpg) Port Isabel harbor |
|||
| Location in Texas | |||
|
|||
| Basic data | |||
| Foundation : | 1848 | ||
| State : | United States | ||
| State : | Texas | ||
| County : | Cameron County | ||
| Coordinates : | 26 ° 4 ′ N , 97 ° 13 ′ W | ||
| Time zone : | Eastern ( UTC − 5 / −4 ) | ||
| Residents : | 5,006 (as of 2010) | ||
| Population density : | 287.7 inhabitants per km 2 | ||
| Area : | 35.4 km 2 (approx. 14 mi 2 ) of which 17.4 km 2 (approx. 7 mi 2 ) is land |
||
| Height : | 2 m | ||
| Postcodes : | 78578-78597 | ||
| Area code : | +1 956 | ||
| FIPS : | 48-58892 | ||
| GNIS ID : | 1375530 | ||
| Website : | portisabel-texas.com/cityhall/ | ||
| Mayor : | Juan Jose Zamora | ||
Port Isabel is a small port town in Cameron County, southern Texas . It is part of the Brownsville - Harlingen and Matamoros - Brownsville metropolitan areas . South of Corpus Christi , the city has the only car connection road to Padre Island off the Gulf coast . In 2016, Port Isabel had 5015 inhabitants.
geography
Geographically, Port Isabel is located in the southeast corner of Cameron County. The city lies on a headland west of Bahía Grande Bay - a side bay of the canal that connects the county metropolis Brownsville with the sea. The distance to Brownsville and the confluence of the Rio Grande in the Gulf of Mexico is around 15 kilometers, and that of the Mexican border around five. The landscape of Port Isabel lies in the coastal saline prairie fringe , which stretches along the Texas Gulf coast .
In front of the city is the island of South Padre Island. It runs as a narrow coastal precursor from Port Isabel to Corpus Christi and separates the Laguna Madre from the open sea. The Queen Isabelle Causeway highway extension leading from Port Isabel to the island is one of two land connections that lead to Padre Island. The urban area covers around 35 square kilometers, of which around half consists of water .
history
The forerunner of today's municipality was a small settlement called El Frontón de Santa Isabel, which was founded in the 1830s. The name was later changed to Punta de Santa Isabel - the Spanish spelling of the current name. A post office and church followed in the 1840s . In 1853 the Port Isabel Lighthouse was built - a lighthouse that still exists today. Economically, the city quickly made a name for itself as an export port for cotton . Due to its proximity to Mexico , she served in the first three years of the American Civil War as a Confederate port of export for bypassing the by the Union imposed naval blockade .
The first railroad in the region was the Rio Grande Valley Railway - a narrow-gauge line connecting Port Isabel with Brownsville and the lower Rio Grande Valley. The population, which in 1925 had not exceeded around 200, grew to 750 by the end of the decade. The port was expanded in the 1930s. The associated ship channel was dredged in 1933 to a depth of 3.6 meters and a width of around 38 meters. From 1935 Port Isabel was used as a regular sea port .
In 1952 the city had a population of 2,372 and an enterprise population of around 70 companies. Until 1956 Port Isabel was connected to the railway network of the Missouri Pacific Railroad . The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway - a waterway that to the western coast of Brownsville Florida leads - although increased volume of trade, but also proved to be burdensome environmental pollution factor.
In 1954 the Queen Isabella Causeway was completed. It contained a swing bridge over the ship canal between Port Isabel and South Padre Island and cost $ 2.2 million. In the decades after its construction, the causeway was hit twice by accidents: In 1996 a Cessna TR182 collided with the dam. In 2001 four loaded cranes crashed into one of the supporting pillars . Impact: Large sections of the bridge fell into the water, leaving a large gap in the roadway. Eight people were killed and five vehicles with three survivors were rescued from the water. The population , which was around 3,500 in the mid-1970s, is now a little over 5,000.
Demographics
| growth of population | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Residents | ± in% | |
| 1890 | 479 | - | |
| 1930 | 1177 | - | |
| 1940 | 1440 | 22.3% | |
| 1950 | 2372 | 64.7% | |
| 1960 | 3575 | 50.7% | |
| 1970 | 3067 | -14.2% | |
| 1980 | 3769 | 22.9% | |
| 1990 | 4467 | 18.5% | |
| 2000 | 4865 | 8.9% | |
| 2010 | 5006 | 2.9% | |
According to 2016 data from the United States Census Bureau , the population that year was 5,015 people. 2,269 of them were male , 2,746 female . 3,821 residents were 18 years of age or older, 1,194 children or adolescents , 1,050 older than 65 years. The median age was 37.9 years. 1,259 of the respondents described themselves as white (25.1%), 3,699 as Hispanic or Latino (73.8%). 57 (1.1%) stated that they belonged to more than one ethnic group. The median income per household was 33,000 US dollars (USD) according to the census . The determined median income is well below that of the US as a whole (USD 53,000) and that for the state of Texas (USD 51,900). The census showed 31.4% of people living in poverty and 47.4% of people without health insurance . Both values are marked with an exclamation mark in the census summary.
Economy and education
In the 1960s that was breeding and export of shrimp one of the most important economic factors of the city. In the meantime, a chemical refinery , branches of the petroleum industry and a frozen food company have been added. The city's port had a freight volume of 263,335 tons in 1989 . Another economic factor is tourism ; As attractions, this sector offers recreational opportunities such as fishing , boating and hunting .
The city's public schools are grouped together in the Point Isabel Independent School District . These include: Garriga Elementary School (Grade K-2), Derry Elementary School (3–5), Port Isabel Junior High School (6–8), and Port Isabel High School (9–12). All schools are located in Port Isabel.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Land Resource Areas . Overview map on the Texas State Historical Association website, accessed January 12, 2018 (PDF)
- ↑ Overview of Cameron County, Texas . Overview map on statisticalatlas.com, accessed January 12, 2018
- ↑ a b c d e Port Isabel, TX . Alicia A. Garca, Texas State Historical Association, June 15, 2010
- ^ Population of Port Isabel, TX . population.us, accessed January 12, 2018 (Engl.)
- ^ Port Isabel city, Texas . ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates, 2016, American FactFinder, accessed January 12, 2018.
- ^ Household Income in Port Isabel, Texas . Household income overview on statisticalatlas.com, accessed January 12, 2018
- ^ Port Isabel city, Texas . Information on the website of the United States Census Bureau, accessed January 12, 2018 (Engl.)
- ^ Point Isabel ISD . Overview on the website of the Port Isabel Independent School District, accessed on January 12, 2018 (Engl.)