Hico, Texas
Encyclopedia
Hico is a small city
located in Hamilton County in Central Texas
. The population was 1,341 at the 2000 census
. The town motto is "Where Everybody Is Somebody!" The county seat
is Hamilton
some twenty miles to the south on United States Highway 281.
Hico was named by its founder for his unincorporated
hometown in Calloway County
in southwestern Kentucky
near Murray
, just north of the Tennessee
state boundary. The original site was on Honey Creek, but when the Texas Central Railroad was built nearby, the citizens moved two-and-a half miles to the rail line. Hico was incorporated in 1883 and became the Hamilton County shipping center. Over the years, it became a cattle
and cotton
market. Today ranching and tourism
dominate.
In 1903, Kentucky-based evangelist Mordecai Ham
held the first of his seventy-five Texas revival meetings in Hico. There were 150 professions of faith in Jesus Christ.
, usually known as Ollie L. Roberts, "Brushy Bill" Roberts, or William Henry Roberts, a resident of Hico during the late 1940s, claimed to have been the outlaw
Billy The Kid
. Although his assertion has been largely discredited by historian
s, the Hico Chamber of Commerce
has capitalized on his infamy by opening a small Billy The Kid Museum, where visitors can decide whether Brushy Bill was indeed William H. Bonney. Bonney was born in New York City
, but Brushy Bill claimed to have been born in Buffalo Gap
south of Abilene
, Texas. The museum
offers a taped video
presentation of Sam Donaldson
, a native Texan
, narrating an ABC
documentary
about Brushy Bill's claim. There is also a replica of a 19th century jail
in the museum and other artifact
s of the period.
In the downtown is a marker devoted to Brushy Bill: "Ollie L. 'Brushy Bill' Roberts, alias Billy the Kid, died in Hico, Texas, December 27, 1950. He spent the last days of his life trying to prove to the world his true identity and obtain the pardon promised him by the governor of the state of New Mexico
(Lew Wallace
). We believe his story and pray to God for the forgiveness he solemnly asked for [sic]." Robert Stack
did a segment on Roberts in the early 1990 on the NBC
television series Unsolved Mysteries
. That show also raised the possibility that history
could be wrong.
According to Jan Canup of the Hico Chamber of Commerce, several relatives, including a son and grandson, of former Sheriff
Patrick F. Garrett
claim that their kinsman never killed The Kid. There were no reliable witnesses to what body was actually placed in the Kid's grave, according to this line of argument. The Garrett family contends that Garrett and the Kid may have even plotted to collect the $500 reward offered for The Kid.
Next to the Brushy Bill marker on North Pecan Street, is a large statue by the sculptor James Rice of Billy the Kid firing his gun. Downtown Hico, focused upon the Billy the Kid Museum on South Pecan Street, is a restored Western
community with businesses appealing to tourists. There is an artist studio, antique stores, restaurants, and a leather
shop. On Saturday evenings, free musical entertainment is offered downtown, and the Jersey Lilly Restaurant provides free horse-drawn buggy rides. The Midland Hotel
(built 1896) on South Pecan Street has a gift shop on the lower floor, but the upper level is no longer used. North and South Pecan are divided by Highway 6.
Hico has a small diner with a regional reputation: the Koffee Kup Family Restaurant
, located at the main town intersection of Highway 281 (north-south) and Texas State Highway 6 (east-west). From the outside the restaurant appears small, but it can seat 116 and is open for all three meals. Owned by Lynn E. Allen (born 1947), a former Hico School Board member, the Koffee Kup is known throughout the region, having been featured on Bob Phillips
's Texas Country Reporter
syndicated television series. The restaurant is particularly known for its chicken-fried steak, strawberry pie
, and other custard pie
s.Adjacent to the Koffee Kup is the historical home of photographer Frank Rufus Wiseman (built 1903), which houses antiques
and a chocolate
company.
Each July Hico hosts Old Settlers Reunion at City Park. During the week the "Citizen of the Year" is recognized. Hico High School
, which maintains a popular football
team under Coach Keith Wood, holds its homecoming
observance at the same time as Old Settlers Day. Hico claims that its Old Settlers gathering, which dates to 1882, is the oldest of its kind in Texas. It has been held each year since 1882, except during World War II
.
Hico has maintained a post office
since 1861, and the first mail
was carried by horse
back. An early Hico business was Hico Ice and Cold Storage, which began in 1905. In time, it developed a major shipping market for eggs
, chicken
s, and turkey
s. The weekly newspaper
, released on Thursdays, is the Hico News Review, edited and published by Jerry E. McAdams (born 1951). The publication is a Texas Press Association Award winner.
Across Highway 281 from the Hico News Review is the First Baptist
Church, pastor
ed by Christopher Irvin (born ca. 1962), one of two major congregations in the community. The historic First United Methodist Church, also on Highway 281, was organized in 1881, with some twenty-five charter members. Six area churches later merged to become the Hico Methodist body. The current yellow brick sanctuary dates to 1903. The church is known for it support of both Boy Scouts
and Girls Scouts.
Hico establishments also sell Dublin Dr Pepper
, made from Imperial Sugar
, rather than high fructose corn syrup
. Dublin Dr. Pepper costs about twice as much for half as much drink as regular Dr Pepper. The "Dublin" refers to the bottling company in Dublin
. Dr Pepper was first developed east of Hico in Waco
.
Smooth Water Ranch is a 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) lake with an unusual name located six miles north of Hico on Texas State Highway 220
. It provides opportunities for water skiing
and camping
, including facilities for recreational vehicle
s. There are outdoor festivals during spring
, summer, and autumn with performances by Texas musician
s.
Ranch life, including horseback riding, hayride
s, and camping, can be experienced at Timber Creek Ranch some ten miles southeast of Hico on Texas Highway 6.
county, having voted for the statewide winner in Texas in all presidential elections since at least 1972. In 1964, Democratic
President Lyndon B. Johnson
, a native of the Hill Country, polled 2,048 votes (67 percent) in Hamilton County to Republican
Barry M. Goldwater's 1,006 (33 percent). In 1968, the Republican nominee Richard M. Nixon won the county though the state narrowly supported Democratic Vice President
Hubert H. Humphrey. Nixon polled 1,266 (44.7 percent) to Humphrey's 1,116 (39.4 percent), and 452 (15.9 percent) for the then American Independent Party
candidate, former Governor
George C. Wallace, Jr., of Alabama
.
Nixon overwhelmed George S. McGovern in 1972, but Democratic Jimmy Carter
, the last Democrat to have won the electoral votes of Texas, won in 1976, 1,981 (62.7 percent) to 1,176 (37.3 percent) for Nixon's presidential successor, Gerald R. Ford. Ronald Reagan barely defeated Carter in Hamilton County in 1980, 1,683 (52 percent) to 1,526 (47.1 percent), and 30 (less than 1 percent) votes for Independent John B. Anderson
, a liberal U.S. representative from Illinois
. Reagan overwhelmed Carter's former vice president, Walter F. Mondale of Minnesota
in 1984, 2,116 (65.2 percent) to 1,130 (34.8 percent).
George Herbert Walker Bush and Robert J. Dole won Hamilton County in 1988, 1992, and 1996, respectively, over the Democrats Michael S. Dukakis and Bill Clinton
. Bush defeated Dukakis by 363 votes and Clinton by 132 ballots. Dole bested Clinton by 293 votes in Hamilton County. In 1992, Dallas
industrialist H. Ross Perot
trailed Clinton by 179 votes. In 1996, Perot received 323 votes (10.7 percent). These totals do not distinguish Hico from Hamilton, the county seat.
Hico also hosts the Texas steak cookoff. It boasts thousands of guests every year.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the city has a total area of 1.5 square miles (3.9 km²), all of it land.
Approximately 1.8 miles north of Hico are what appear to be the remains of an impact crater
that was formed some time after the Cretaceous
Period.
of 2000, there were 1,341 people, 556 households, and 363 families residing in the city. The population density
was 911.4 people per square mile (352.2/km²). There were 640 housing units at an average density of 435.0 per square mile (168.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 90.23% White, 0.82% Native American, 0.15% Pacific Islander, 7.53% from other races
, and 1.27% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11.26% of the population.
There were 556 households out of which 30.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.4% were married couples
living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.7% were non-families. 31.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 22.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.99.
In the city the population was spread out with 26.2% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 23.8% from 25 to 44, 20.5% from 45 to 64, and 22.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 82.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $25,919, and the median income for a family was $34,688. Males had a median income of $27,404 versus $17,708 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $14,122. About 13.6% of families and 19.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.2% of those under age 18 and 22.4% of those age 65 or over.
, home of the Hico Tigers and Lady Tigers.
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
located in Hamilton County in Central Texas
Central Texas
Central Texas , is a region in the U.S. state of Texas. It is roughly bordered by San Marcos to Fredericksburg to Waco, and to Brenham, and includes the Austin–Round Rock, Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood, Bryan-College Station, and Waco metropolitan areas...
. The population was 1,341 at the 2000 census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
. The town motto is "Where Everybody Is Somebody!" The county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
is Hamilton
Hamilton, Texas
Hamilton is a city in Hamilton County in Central Texas. The population was 3,095 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Hamilton County.-Geography:Hamilton is located at ....
some twenty miles to the south on United States Highway 281.
Hico was named by its founder for his unincorporated
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
hometown in Calloway County
Calloway County, Kentucky
Calloway County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1823. As of 2010, the population was 37,191. Its county seat is Murray, Kentucky. The county is named for Colonel Richard Callaway, one of the founders of Boonesborough...
in southwestern Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
near Murray
Murray, Kentucky
Murray is a city in Calloway County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 17,741 at the 2010 census and has a micropolitan area population of 37,191. It is the 22nd largest city in Kentucky...
, just north of the Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
state boundary. The original site was on Honey Creek, but when the Texas Central Railroad was built nearby, the citizens moved two-and-a half miles to the rail line. Hico was incorporated in 1883 and became the Hamilton County shipping center. Over the years, it became a cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
and cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
market. Today ranching and tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
dominate.
In 1903, Kentucky-based evangelist Mordecai Ham
Mordecai Ham
Mordecai Fowler Ham, Jr. , was an American Independent Baptist evangelist and temperance movement leader. He entered the ministry in 1901 and in 1936 began a radio broadcast reaching into seven southern states...
held the first of his seventy-five Texas revival meetings in Hico. There were 150 professions of faith in Jesus Christ.
"Brushy Bill" Roberts and Billy the Kid
Ollie P. RobertsOllie P. Roberts
Brushy Bill Roberts , a.k.a. Ollie P. Roberts or Ollie L. Roberts, attracted attention by claiming to be the infamous western outlaw Billy the Kid...
, usually known as Ollie L. Roberts, "Brushy Bill" Roberts, or William Henry Roberts, a resident of Hico during the late 1940s, claimed to have been the outlaw
Outlaw
In historical legal systems, an outlaw is declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, this takes the burden of active prosecution of a criminal from the authorities. Instead, the criminal is withdrawn all legal protection, so that anyone is legally empowered to persecute...
Billy The Kid
Billy the Kid
William H. Bonney William H. Bonney William H. Bonney (born William Henry McCarty, Jr. est. November 23, 1859 – c. July 14, 1881, better known as Billy the Kid but also known as Henry Antrim, was a 19th-century American gunman who participated in the Lincoln County War and became a frontier...
. Although his assertion has been largely discredited by historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
s, the Hico Chamber of Commerce
Chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
has capitalized on his infamy by opening a small Billy The Kid Museum, where visitors can decide whether Brushy Bill was indeed William H. Bonney. Bonney was born in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, but Brushy Bill claimed to have been born in Buffalo Gap
Buffalo Gap, Texas
Buffalo Gap is an incorporated town in Taylor County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Abilene, Texas Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 463 at the 2000 census. It is the former county seat of Taylor County, having been supplanted in 1883 by the much larger Abilene to its north...
south of Abilene
Abilene, Texas
Abilene is a city in Taylor and Jones counties in west central Texas. The population was 117,063 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Abilene Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a 2006 estimated population of 158,063. It is the county seat of Taylor County...
, Texas. The museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
offers a taped video
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
presentation of Sam Donaldson
Sam Donaldson
Samuel Andrew "Sam" Donaldson, Jr. is a reporter and news anchor, serving with ABC News from 1967 to the present, best known as the network's White House Correspondent and as a panelist and later co-anchor of the network's Sunday Program "This Week."-Early life and career:Donaldson was born in El...
, a native Texan
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, narrating an ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
about Brushy Bill's claim. There is also a replica of a 19th century jail
Jail
A jail is a short-term detention facility in the United States and Canada.Jail may also refer to:In entertainment:*Jail , a 1966 Malayalam movie*Jail , a 2009 Bollywood movie...
in the museum and other artifact
Artifact (archaeology)
An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...
s of the period.
In the downtown is a marker devoted to Brushy Bill: "Ollie L. 'Brushy Bill' Roberts, alias Billy the Kid, died in Hico, Texas, December 27, 1950. He spent the last days of his life trying to prove to the world his true identity and obtain the pardon promised him by the governor of the state of New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
(Lew Wallace
Lew Wallace
Lewis "Lew" Wallace was an American lawyer, Union general in the American Civil War, territorial governor and statesman, politician and author...
). We believe his story and pray to God for the forgiveness he solemnly asked for [sic]." Robert Stack
Robert Stack
Robert Stack was an American actor. In addition to acting in more than 40 films, he was the star of the 1959-1963 ABC television series The Untouchables and later served as the host of Unsolved Mysteries.-Early life:...
did a segment on Roberts in the early 1990 on the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
television series Unsolved Mysteries
Unsolved Mysteries
Unsolved Mysteries is an American television program, hosted by Robert Stack, from 1987 until 2002, and later by Dennis Farina, starting in 2008...
. That show also raised the possibility that history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
could be wrong.
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
Patrick F. Garrett
Pat Garrett
Patrick Floyd "Pat" Garrett was an American Old West lawman, bartender, and customs agent who was best known for killing Billy the Kid...
claim that their kinsman never killed The Kid. There were no reliable witnesses to what body was actually placed in the Kid's grave, according to this line of argument. The Garrett family contends that Garrett and the Kid may have even plotted to collect the $500 reward offered for The Kid.
Next to the Brushy Bill marker on North Pecan Street, is a large statue by the sculptor James Rice of Billy the Kid firing his gun. Downtown Hico, focused upon the Billy the Kid Museum on South Pecan Street, is a restored Western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
community with businesses appealing to tourists. There is an artist studio, antique stores, restaurants, and a leather
Leather
Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...
shop. On Saturday evenings, free musical entertainment is offered downtown, and the Jersey Lilly Restaurant provides free horse-drawn buggy rides. The Midland Hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
(built 1896) on South Pecan Street has a gift shop on the lower floor, but the upper level is no longer used. North and South Pecan are divided by Highway 6.
The Hico community
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
, located at the main town intersection of Highway 281 (north-south) and Texas State Highway 6 (east-west). From the outside the restaurant appears small, but it can seat 116 and is open for all three meals. Owned by Lynn E. Allen (born 1947), a former Hico School Board member, the Koffee Kup is known throughout the region, having been featured on Bob Phillips
Bob Phillips
Robert Leon Phillips, known as Bob Phillips , is an American television journalist best known for his long-running program Texas Country Reporter...
's Texas Country Reporter
Texas Country Reporter
Texas Country Reporter is a weekly syndicated television program hosted and produced by Bob Phillips. It airs in all 22 Texas media markets, generally on weekends, and reruns are broadcast nationally on the satellite/cable channel RFD-TV...
syndicated television series. The restaurant is particularly known for its chicken-fried steak, strawberry pie
Strawberry pie
Strawberry pie is a dessert food consisting mainly of strawberries, sugar, a pie crust, and sometimes gelatin. About 70% of the pie by weight is strawberries. It is often served with whipped cream, or sometimes with ice cream....
, and other custard pie
Custard pie
A custard pie is any type of uncooked custard mixture added to an uncooked or partially cooked crust and baked together. In North America, custard pie commonly refers to a plain mixture of milk, eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla extract and sometimes nutmeg combined with a pie crust...
s.Adjacent to the Koffee Kup is the historical home of photographer Frank Rufus Wiseman (built 1903), which houses antiques
Antiques
An antique is an old collectible item. It is collected or desirable because of its age , beauty, rarity, condition, utility, personal emotional connection, and/or other unique features...
and a chocolate
Chocolate
Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...
company.
Each July Hico hosts Old Settlers Reunion at City Park. During the week the "Citizen of the Year" is recognized. Hico High School
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
, which maintains a popular football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
team under Coach Keith Wood, holds its homecoming
Homecoming
Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni of a school. It most commonly refers to a tradition in many universities, colleges and high schools in North America...
observance at the same time as Old Settlers Day. Hico claims that its Old Settlers gathering, which dates to 1882, is the oldest of its kind in Texas. It has been held each year since 1882, except during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Hico has maintained a post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
since 1861, and the first mail
Mail
Mail, or post, is a system for transporting letters and other tangible objects: written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal service...
was carried by horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
back. An early Hico business was Hico Ice and Cold Storage, which began in 1905. In time, it developed a major shipping market for eggs
Egg (food)
Eggs are laid by females of many different species, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, and have probably been eaten by mankind for millennia. Bird and reptile eggs consist of a protective eggshell, albumen , and vitellus , contained within various thin membranes...
, chicken
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
s, and turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
s. The weekly newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
, released on Thursdays, is the Hico News Review, edited and published by Jerry E. McAdams (born 1951). The publication is a Texas Press Association Award winner.
Across Highway 281 from the Hico News Review is the First Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
Church, pastor
Pastor
The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....
ed by Christopher Irvin (born ca. 1962), one of two major congregations in the community. The historic First United Methodist Church, also on Highway 281, was organized in 1881, with some twenty-five charter members. Six area churches later merged to become the Hico Methodist body. The current yellow brick sanctuary dates to 1903. The church is known for it support of both Boy Scouts
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
and Girls Scouts.
Hico establishments also sell Dublin Dr Pepper
Dublin Dr Pepper
Dublin Dr Pepper is the popular name for a style of Dr Pepper soft drink made by the Dublin Dr Pepper Bottling Co. in Dublin, Texas. Dublin Dr Pepper follows the original recipe, using cane sugar as the sweetener as opposed to newer high-fructose corn syrup...
, made from Imperial Sugar
Imperial Sugar
Imperial Sugar is a major U.S. sugar producer and marketer based in Sugar Land, Texas, with sugar refinery operations in California, Georgia, and Louisiana....
, rather than high fructose corn syrup
High fructose corn syrup
High-fructose corn syrup — also called glucose-fructose syrup in the UK, glucose/fructose in Canada, and high-fructose maize syrup in other countries — comprises any of a group of corn syrups that has undergone enzymatic processing to convert some of its glucose into fructose to produce...
. Dublin Dr. Pepper costs about twice as much for half as much drink as regular Dr Pepper. The "Dublin" refers to the bottling company in Dublin
Dublin, Texas
Dublin is a city located in southwestern Erath County in Central Texas. The population was 3,754 at the time of the 2000 census.The town is the home of the world's oldest Dr Pepper bottling plant...
. Dr Pepper was first developed east of Hico in Waco
Waco, Texas
Waco is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas. Situated along the Brazos River and on the I-35 corridor, halfway between Dallas and Austin, it is the economic, cultural, and academic center of the 'Heart of Texas' region....
.
Smooth Water Ranch is a 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) lake with an unusual name located six miles north of Hico on Texas State Highway 220
Texas State Highway 220
Texas State Highway 220 is a Texas state highway located in Hamilton and Erath Counties.-Route description:SH 220 begins at an intersection with SH 6 in Hico. The route travels generally to the northeast, and the only highway intersection between its termini is with , approximately four miles...
. It provides opportunities for water skiing
Water skiing
thumb|right|A slalom skier making a turn on a slalom waterski.Waterskiing is a sport where an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation on a body of water, skimming the surface.-History:...
and camping
Camping
Camping is an outdoor recreational activity. The participants leave urban areas, their home region, or civilization and enjoy nature while spending one or several nights outdoors, usually at a campsite. Camping may involve the use of a tent, caravan, motorhome, cabin, a primitive structure, or no...
, including facilities for recreational vehicle
Recreational vehicle
Recreational vehicle or RV is, in North America, the usual term for a Motor vehicle or trailer equipped with living space and amenities found in a home.-Features:...
s. There are outdoor festivals during spring
Spring (season)
Spring is one of the four temperate seasons, the transition period between winter and summer. Spring and "springtime" refer to the season, and broadly to ideas of rebirth, renewal and regrowth. The specific definition of the exact timing of "spring" varies according to local climate, cultures and...
, summer, and autumn with performances by Texas musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
s.
Ranch life, including horseback riding, hayride
Hayride
A hayride, also known as a hayrack ride, is a pleasure ride in an open truck, wagon or sleigh which has been decorated with hay or straw and similar farmlife paraphernalia...
s, and camping, can be experienced at Timber Creek Ranch some ten miles southeast of Hico on Texas Highway 6.
Voting behavior
Hamilton County is a bellwetherBellwether
A bellwether is any entity in a given arena that serves to create or influence trends or to presage future happenings.The term is derived from the Middle English bellewether and refers to the practice of placing a bell around the neck of a castrated ram leading his flock of sheep.The movements of...
county, having voted for the statewide winner in Texas in all presidential elections since at least 1972. In 1964, Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
President Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
, a native of the Hill Country, polled 2,048 votes (67 percent) in Hamilton County to Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Barry M. Goldwater's 1,006 (33 percent). In 1968, the Republican nominee Richard M. Nixon won the county though the state narrowly supported Democratic Vice President
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
Hubert H. Humphrey. Nixon polled 1,266 (44.7 percent) to Humphrey's 1,116 (39.4 percent), and 452 (15.9 percent) for the then American Independent Party
American Independent Party
The American Independent Party is a right-wing political party of the United States that was established in 1967 by Bill and Eileen Shearer. In 1968, the American Independent Party nominated George C. Wallace as its presidential candidate and retired Air Force General Curtis E. LeMay as the vice...
candidate, former Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
George C. Wallace, Jr., of Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
.
Nixon overwhelmed George S. McGovern in 1972, but Democratic Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
, the last Democrat to have won the electoral votes of Texas, won in 1976, 1,981 (62.7 percent) to 1,176 (37.3 percent) for Nixon's presidential successor, Gerald R. Ford. Ronald Reagan barely defeated Carter in Hamilton County in 1980, 1,683 (52 percent) to 1,526 (47.1 percent), and 30 (less than 1 percent) votes for Independent John B. Anderson
John B. Anderson
John Bayard Anderson is a former United States Congressman and Presidential candidate from Illinois. He was a U.S. Representative from the 16th Congressional District of Illinois for ten terms from 1961 through 1981 and an Independent candidate in the 1980 presidential election. He was previously...
, a liberal U.S. representative from Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. Reagan overwhelmed Carter's former vice president, Walter F. Mondale of Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
in 1984, 2,116 (65.2 percent) to 1,130 (34.8 percent).
George Herbert Walker Bush and Robert J. Dole won Hamilton County in 1988, 1992, and 1996, respectively, over the Democrats Michael S. Dukakis and Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
. Bush defeated Dukakis by 363 votes and Clinton by 132 ballots. Dole bested Clinton by 293 votes in Hamilton County. In 1992, Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
industrialist H. Ross Perot
Ross Perot
Henry Ross Perot is a U.S. businessman best known for running for President of the United States in 1992 and 1996. Perot founded Electronic Data Systems in 1962, sold the company to General Motors in 1984, and founded Perot Systems in 1988...
trailed Clinton by 179 votes. In 1996, Perot received 323 votes (10.7 percent). These totals do not distinguish Hico from Hamilton, the county seat.
Hico also hosts the Texas steak cookoff. It boasts thousands of guests every year.
Geography
Hico is located at 31°59′4"N 98°1′50"W (31.984410, -98.030508).According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 1.5 square miles (3.9 km²), all of it land.
Approximately 1.8 miles north of Hico are what appear to be the remains of an impact crater
Impact crater
In the broadest sense, the term impact crater can be applied to any depression, natural or manmade, resulting from the high velocity impact of a projectile with a larger body...
that was formed some time after the Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
Period.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 1,341 people, 556 households, and 363 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 911.4 people per square mile (352.2/km²). There were 640 housing units at an average density of 435.0 per square mile (168.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 90.23% White, 0.82% Native American, 0.15% Pacific Islander, 7.53% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 1.27% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11.26% of the population.
There were 556 households out of which 30.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.4% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.7% were non-families. 31.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 22.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.99.
In the city the population was spread out with 26.2% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 23.8% from 25 to 44, 20.5% from 45 to 64, and 22.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 82.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $25,919, and the median income for a family was $34,688. Males had a median income of $27,404 versus $17,708 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $14,122. About 13.6% of families and 19.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.2% of those under age 18 and 22.4% of those age 65 or over.
Education
The City of Hico is served by the Hico Independent School DistrictHico Independent School District
Hico Independent School District is a public school district based in Hico, Texas .Located in Hamilton County, portions of the district extend into Bosque, Comanche, and Erath counties....
, home of the Hico Tigers and Lady Tigers.
Hico gallery
External links
- Hico-TX.com, official web site