Mexia, Texas "Mexia"
Mexia, Texas Location of Mexia, Texas Location of Mexia, Texas / m -hay- or /m h r/ m -hair) is a town/city in Limestone County, Texas, United States.
Named after General Jose Antonio Mexia, a Hispanic hero for the Republic of Texas Army amid the Texas Revolution, the town was established near his estate.
Nearby attractions include Fort Parker Historical recreation, the Confederate Reunion grounds, and Mexia State Supported Living Center (formerly Mexia State School), which began as a prisoner of war camp for members of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps amid World War II.
Mexia is also home to the Mexia Public Schools Museum, one of a several exhibitions dedicated to the historical and civil significance of a Texas enhance school system.
Mexia hosts a large Juneteenth celebration every year.
According to the United States Enumeration Bureau, the town/city has a total region of 5.2 square miles (13 km2), all land.
In the city, the populace was spread out with 30.1% under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 25.0% from 25 to 44, 18.5% from 45 to 64, and 16.4% who were 65 years of age or older.
Mexia was established as a town in the 19th century.
Many hunting artifacts from Native American citizens have been found in the creek beds and draws around Mexia.
Mexia is at the intersection of U.S.
It was titled for the Mexia family, who in 1833 received an eleven-league territory grant that encompassed what is now the townsite.
The town was laid out in 1870 by a trustee of the Houston and Texas Central Townsite Company, which offered lots for sale in 1871, as the Houston and Texas Central Railway was instead of between Hearne and Groesbeck.
The Mexia postal service began operation in 1872, and the improve was incorporated with a mayoral form of government in 1873 by an act of the legislature.
Yarbro was the first mayor. The city's first newspaper, the Ledger, was established in Fairfield in 1869 and moved to Mexia in 1872.
By 1880 Mexia also had four schools, three churches, and a range of businesses to serve its 1,800 residents; by 1885 the town had a gas works, an opera home, two banks, two sawmills, and 2,000 residents.
The Mexia Democrat was established in 1887 and the Weekly News in 1898.
Between 1904 and 1906 the Trinity and Brazos Valley Railway assembled track between Hillsboro and Houston, making Mexia a commercial crossroads for region farmers.
In 1912 the Mexia Gas and Oil Company drilled ten dry holes, but in the eleventh attempt identified a large natural gas deposit.
The Mexia oilfield was identified in 1920, and the populace of Mexia increased from 3,482 to nearly 35,000.
The rapid expansion was too great for small-town authorities to handle, and for a short time in 1922 Mexia was under martial law.
That year proved to be the peak manufacturing year for the Mexia field, with 35 million barrels produced.
In 1924 Mexia inhabitants passed a new town/city charter that changed the small-town government to a town/city manager system.
After the initial petroleum boom, the populace of Mexia declined to 10,000 by the mid-1920s.
In 1942 a camp for prisoners of war was established at Mexia; the facility was converted in 1947 for use as the Mexia State School, which became one of the community's principal employers.
Mexia made nationwide news in 1981, when three young black men drowned in Lake Mexia after being taken into custody by law enforcement officers for possession of marijuana amid the annual Juneteenth celebration. Carl Baker, 19; Anthony Freeman, 18; and Steven Booker, 19; drowned after a boat used to transport them athwart the lake, which was also occupied by three officers, capsized less than 100 feet from shore.
Mexia also made news when its former resident Anna Nicole Smith died, and when Allen Stanford was arrested on allegations of fraud in 2009. The town/city of Mexia, the confusion over its correct pronunciation and the town/city motto are all the subject of an Act 1 Aria in Mark-Anthony Turnage's Opera Anna Nicole staged by the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London.
Mexia is zoned to schools in the Mexia Independent School District. Mexia Junior High School Mexia High School According to the Koppen Climate Classification system, Mexia has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps. "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2015".
A Memorial and Biographical History of Navarro, Henderson, Anderson, Limestone, Freestone and Leon Counties, Texas.
"Mexia Independent School District".
Climate Summary for Mexia, Texas City of Mexia Lake Mexia Mexia Oil Boom Municipalities and communities of Limestone County, Texas, United States
Categories:
Cities in Texas - Cities in Limestone County, Texas
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