Castroville, Texas

Castroville, Texas
City

Castroville City Hall

Seal
Nickname(s): The Little Alsace of Texas

Location of Castroville, Texas
Coordinates: 29°21′N 98°53′W / 29.350°N 98.883°W / 29.350; -98.883Coordinates: 29°21′N 98°53′W / 29.350°N 98.883°W / 29.350; -98.883
Country United States
State Texas
County Medina
Area
 • Total 2.6 sq mi (6.6 km2)
 • Land 2.5 sq mi (6.6 km2)
 • Water 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation 758 ft (231 m)
Population (2000)
 • Total 2,664
 • Density 1,045.4/sq mi (403.6/km2)
Time zone Central (CST) (UTC-6)
 • Summer (DST) CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP codes 78009, 78023
Area code(s) 830
FIPS code 48-13312[1]
GNIS feature ID 1353948[2]

Castroville is a city in Medina County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,680 at the 2010 census. Prior to 1893, Castroville was the first county seat of Medina County.

Castroville is part of the San Antonio Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Castroville was established in 1844 by Henri Castro, an empresario of the Republic of Texas, who brought several dozen European families to the area from Alsace and adjoining Baden to populate his land grant along the Medina River 20 miles west of San Antonio. The first colonists disembarked at Galveston on January 9, 1843. They were taken by ship to Lavaca Bay and traveled overland to San Antonio, where they took shelter in abandoned buildings until the Texas Rangers were prepared to escort them to their land and protect them from hostile Indians. On September 2, 1844, the first colonists arrived at Castro's land grant on the Medina River.[3]

From 1849, Castroville, on the Medina River was a water stop on the San Antonio-El Paso Road and a stagecoach station on the San Antonio-El Paso Mail Line and San Antonio-San Diego Mail Line.

After a few hard years, the town and surrounding farms flourished; although for generations, the residents remained insular. In Castroville's first century, a visitor would be more likely to hear Alsatian — a dialect spoken in Europe before Standard German was prevalent — than English spoken in the town's homes, stores, and taverns. Modern Alsatian travelers noted that the dialect spoken in Castroville was more like that which was spoken in the 1840s. The descendants of the original settlers worked diligently to preserve their language, which has slowly been eradicated in Europe by political actions of France and Germany, especially since World War II.

Today, though, native speakers of Alsatian are dying out, and fewer of the town's residents can trace their ancestry back to the original Castro Colonists. The suburbs of nearby San Antonio are encroaching, and much of the town has been made a national historic district to preserve the unique, sloped-roof architecture of dozens of original Alsatian homes and shops.

The Steinbach Haus (originally built between 1618 and 1648 in Wahlbach, France) was dismantled and reconstructed in Castroville in 1998. It was opened to the public in 2002.

Castroville is a sister city of Ensisheim (Alsace) in France.

Geography

Castroville is located at 29°21′N 98°53′W / 29.350°N 98.883°W / 29.350; -98.883 (29.3550, -98.8807).[4] This is 20 miles west of Downtown San Antonio.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.5 square miles (6.5 km2), of which, 2.5 square miles (6.5 km2) of it is land and 0.39% is covered with water.

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop. %±
1850366—
186045825.1%
187051512.4%
188073141.9%
1890679−7.1%
1950985—
19601,50853.1%
19701,89325.5%
19801,821−3.8%
19902,15918.6%
20002,66423.4%
20102,6800.6%
Est. 20152,931[5]9.4%
U.S. Decennial Census[6]

As of the census[1] of 2010, 3,053 people resided in the city. The population density was 1,045.4 people per square mile (403.4/km²). There were 1,025 housing units at an average density of 402.2 per square mile (155.2/km²).[7]

Of the 941 households, 37.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.5% were married couples living together, 10.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.5% were not families. About 20.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.74 and the average family size was 3.17.

In the city, the population was distributed as 28.0% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 27.7% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 15.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $42,308, and for a family was $51,007. Males had a median income of $35,625 versus $27,228 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,615. About 5.4% of families and 9.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.9% of those under age 18 and 5.9% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The City of Castroville is served by the Medina Valley Independent School District and Saint Louis Catholic School (prekindergarten through fifth grade).

Gallery

Notable people

References

  1. 1 2 "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 2013-09-11. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  2. ↑ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  3. ↑ Wolff, Linda (1999). Indianola and Matagorda Island 1837 - 1887. Austin, Texas: Eakin Press. p. 9. ISBN 1-57168-340-2.
  4. ↑ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. Retrieved 2011-04-23.
  5. ↑ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2015". Retrieved July 2, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Archived from the original on April 22, 2013. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  7. ↑ http://censtats.census.gov/data/TX/1604813312.pdf
  8. ↑ Alexis Texas biography at the Internet Adult Film Database

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Castroville.
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