Granbury, Texas
Encyclopedia
Granbury is a city in Hood County, Texas
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...

, in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. As of the 2000 census
United States Census, 2000
The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...

, the city population was 5,718. It is 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....

 of Hood County and the principal city of the Micropolitan Statistical Area
Granbury micropolitan area
The Granbury Micropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of two counties in North Central Texas, anchored by the city of Granbury....

.

Granbury is the home of Texas State Senator Brian Birdwell
Brian Birdwell
Brian D. Birdwell is a Republican from Granbury, Texas, who represents District 22 in the Texas Senate. A retired lieutenant colonel in the United States Army, Birdwell is a decorated survivor of the terrorist attack on the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, on September 11, 2001.-Election to Texas...

, who assumed the position in a special election in June 2010. Birdwell is a survivor of the attack on The Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...

 in Arlington, Virginia, on September 11, 2001.

History

Founded in 1873, Granbury started as a square and log cabin court house. Many of the buildings on the square are now registered historic landmarks, including the Granbury Opera House, which still hosts Broadway productions. The city name originated from the Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

 General Hiram B. Granberry
Hiram B. Granbury
Hiram Bronson Granbury was a lawyer and county judge in Texas before the American Civil War . He organized a volunteer company for the Confederate States Army after the outbreak of the Civil War and became its captain. He rose to the grade of brigadier general in the Confederate army...

. Some scholars, to explain why the city name is spelled differently, believe the name Grandberry was misread y on a document, but recent findings have concluded that Granberry chose to spell his name Granbury. Recent expansion of the city was made possible by the damming of the Brazos River
Brazos River
The Brazos River, called the Rio de los Brazos de Dios by early Spanish explorers , is the longest river in Texas and the 11th longest river in the United States at from its source at the head of Blackwater Draw, Curry County, New Mexico to its mouth at the Gulf of Mexico with a drainage...

 in 1969, which formed Lake Granbury
Lake Granbury
Lake Granbury is a North Texas reservoir near Granbury, Texas. It was created in 1969 and is one of three lakes damming the Brazos River.Lake Granbury is contained by the De Cordova Bend Dam and is a long, narrow lake, encompassing by 103 miles of shoreline.The lake is controlled by the Brazos...

, a long, narrow lake which flows through the city.

Granbury and Hood County are rich in Texas history. David (Davy) Crockett
Davy Crockett
David "Davy" Crockett was a celebrated 19th century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician. He is commonly referred to in popular culture by the epithet "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S...

's wife, Elizabeth, settled in Hood County following the Texas Revolution against Mexico. Crockett, as well as other Alamo participants, received land grants. The Crockett family received land in what is now Hood County. Elizabeth Crockett is buried in Acton State Historic Site
Acton State Historic Site
Acton State Historic Site, located approximately east of Granbury in Hood County, Texas , is the grave site of Elizabeth Patton Crockett,second wife of Davy Crockett, who married him in Tennessee in 1815. She died January 31, 1860. The site also contains the graves of her son Robert and Robert's...

, the smallest state park in Texas. A large statue of Elizabeth Crockett marks her grave site. Several of Crockett's descendants still reside in Hood County.

John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. Booth was a member of the prominent 19th century Booth theatrical family from Maryland and, by the 1860s, was a well-known actor...

, according to Granbury legend, moved to Hood County and assumed the name of John St. Helen. There is a store on the historic town square that is still called St. Helen's.

English actor Peter Mayhew, who portrayed the wookie Chewbacca in four of the six Star Wars movies, resides in Granbury.

Education

The Granbury Independent School District
Granbury Independent School District
Granbury Independent School District is a public school district based in Granbury, Texas .In addition to Granbury, the district serves the eastern Hood County cities of DeCordova, Cresson, and Brazos Bend along with the unincorporated communities of Pecan Plantation and Oak Trail Shores...

 consists of 21 campuses. They include Granbury High School, STARS Academy,Transition Center (BTC), Granbury Middle School, Acton Middle School, Mambrino School, Brawner Intermediate, Oak Woods Intermediate, Crossland Ninth Grade Center, Acton Elementary, Nettie Baccus Elementary, and Emma Roberson Elementary. Granbury is a 4A District, since 2008. Also, there is Happy Hill Farm Academy Home
Happy Hill Farm Academy Home
Happy Hill Farm Academy is a 500-plus acre Christian private academy/boarding school located outside the city of Granbury, Texas. It was founded in 1975 by Pastor Ed Shipman and his wife, Gloria. It includes a fully accredited private school, designed to accommodate more than 200 students...

. Granbury ISD. In 1999, boys soccer won the 4A state championship in Texas.

Geography

Granbury is located at 32°26′31"N 97°46′53"W (32.441978, -97.781383).

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 6.1 square miles (15.8 km²), of which, 5.5 square miles (14.2 km²) of it is land and 0.6 square miles (1.6 km²) of it (9.64%) is water.

Transportation

Granbury is served by Granbury Airport (GRB). It operates flights to Fort Worth Airport as well as recreational flights. The neighborhood of Pecan Plantation has a municipal airport (PCP). It operates only recreational flights.

Demographics

As of the 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...

of 2000, there were 5,718 people, 2,391 households, and 1,458 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 1,033.0 people per square mile (398.5/km²). There were 2,727 housing units at an average density of 492.6 per square mile (190.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 94.54% White, 0.38% African American, 0.70% Native American, 0.52% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 2.62% 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 1.19% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.31% of the population.

There were 2,391 households out of which 27.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.4% 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, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.0% were non-families. 34.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.83.

In the city the population was spread out with 21.0% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 23.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 83.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $35,952, and the median income for a family was $45,451. Males had a median income of $34,625 versus $25,721 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 $19,801. About 5.0% of families and 9.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.6% of those under age 18 and 14.9% of those age 65 or over.

Local media

Granbury and Hood County are part of the 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...

/Fort Worth
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...

 Television media market in North Central Texas. Local News media outlets are: KDFW-TV, KXAS-TV
KXAS-TV
KXAS-TV, virtual channel 5 , is the NBC television station for the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The station was Texas' first television station when the station made its debut on September 28, 1948. Its transmitter is located in Cedar Hill...

, WFAA-TV
WFAA-TV
WFAA, channel 8, is an ABC-affiliated television station serving the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex, one of the top ten media markets in North America. The station is the flagship of Belo Corporation and the largest ABC affiliate not owned and operated by the network...

, KTVT-TV, KERA-TV
KERA-TV
KERA-TV, virtual channel 13 , is the PBS member station in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Licensed to Dallas, it broadcasts from a transmitter located in Cedar Hill. However, it also serves as the default PBS station for the Abilene, San Angelo and Tyler/Longview/Lufkin/Nacogdoches markets, as...

, KTXA-TV, KDFI-TV, KDAF-TV, KFWD-TV, and KDTX-TV
KDTX-TV
KDTX-TV is a religious television station in Dallas, Texas, broadcasting on digital channel 45 as a Trinity Broadcasting Network O&O. Its studios are located in TBN's International Production Center in Irving, Texas....

. Hood County is served in print media by the bi-weekly newspaper Hood County News.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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