Keller, Texas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Keller is a city located in Tarrant County, Texas (USA). It is a northern suburb of the city of Fort Worth and is part of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The population is 37,685 at the year of 2007, but 2010 estimates have been released and been reported as the population will be reaching 40,127.

History

Establishment of Keller

The Texas and Pacific Railroad between Fort Worth and Texarkana was completed in April 1881, and the first train ran on this track on 9 May 1881. With the advent of rail service, new villages were established all along the line. The Keller of today was one of them.

On 19 July 1881, H.W. Wood, a druggist of Tarrant County, set aside 40 acres (0.16 km˛) out of the north end of the 62 acres (0.25 km˛) deeded to him by A.C. Roberts (being a part of the Samuel Needham Survey) for a town site to be known as Athol, situated 14 miles (23 km) northeast of Fort Worth. The land was dedicated to the public for street and alleyways, but title to the remainder of the 62 acres was held by Mr. Wood.

Settlers migrated to the new village, and before a year had passed the name of the town was changed from Athol to Keller, honoring John C. Keller, a foreman on the railroad. Streets were named and those in the original 40-acre (0.16 km˛) site still carry the names given to them in 1881. Streets going north and south are Lamar, Main and Elm; those running east and west are Price, Taylor, Hill, Vine, Bates, Olive and Pecan.

Modern Keller

New residential development is expanding the city in all directions. The 1980 Census calculated Keller's population at 4,555; today, about 37,700 residents call Keller home. The city planned for its growth and has recently constructed a new town hall, municipal service center, recreation and aquatic center, and has expanded the police and municipal court facility.^{[citation needed]} Keller Independent School District has 25 campuses serving more than 20,000 students.^{[citation needed]} Enrollment in the school district has doubled during the past ten years and is expected to do the same during the next decade, making it the ninth-fastest growing school district in Texas.^{[citation needed]}

Money Magazine rated Keller as one of the top 100 "Best Places to Live" in the United States for 2007, ranked number 50.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 18.4 square miles (47.8 km˛), all of it land.

Keller is east of Interstate 35W.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 27,345 people, 8,827 households, and 7,856 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,483.0 people per square mile (572.6/km˛). There were 9,216 housing units at an average density of 499.8/sq mi (193.0/km˛). The racial makeup of the city was 93.74% White, 1.43% African American, 0.39% Native American, 1.77% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.18% from other races, and 1.45% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.51% of the population.

There were 8,827 households out of which 5.23% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 81.3% were married couples living together, 5.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 11.0% were non-families. 8.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 2.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.09 and the average family size was 3.30.

In the city the population was spread out with 33.7% under the age of 18, 4.7% from 18 to 24, 34.7% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to 64, and 4.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 98.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.3 males.

According to a 2006 estimate, the median family income in Keller is $103,889 . Males had a median income of $66,969 versus $34,661 for females. The per capita income for the city was $31,986. About 1.0% of families and 1.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.4% of those under age 18 and 1.4% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The City of Keller is served by the Keller Independent School District and small portions by the Northwest Independent School District.