Waller County, Texas

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 518 sqmi, of which 4.4 sqmi (0.8%) are covered by water.

Adjacent counties

• Grimes County (north)
• Montgomery County (northeast)
• Harris County (east)
• Fort Bend County (south)
• Austin County (west)
• Washington County (northwest)

Communities

Cities

• Brookshire
• Hempstead (county seat)
• Katy (partly in Harris and Fort Bend Counties)
• Pattison
• Prairie View
• Waller (partly in Harris County)

Town

• Pine Island

Unincorporated areas

• Fields Store
• Monaville
• Second Corinth
• Shiloh
• Sunny Side

Demographics

| align-fn = center 1850–2010 2010–2020

Racial and ethnic composition

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 56,794. The median age was 33.0 years. 23.9% of residents were under the age of 18 and 12.9% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 92.1 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 89.5 males age 18 and over.

The racial makeup of the county was 46.6% White, 21.6% Black or African American, 1.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.4% Asian,

22.6% of residents lived in urban areas, while 77.4% lived in rural areas.

There were 17,298 households in the county, of which 39.5% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 57.0% were married-couple households, 16.7% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 21.8% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 19.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 19,522 housing units, of which 11.4% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 75.1% were owner-occupied and 24.9% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.9% and the rental vacancy rate was 13.3%.

2000 census

As of the 2000 census, 32,663 people, 10,557 households, and 7,748 families resided in the county. The population density was 64 /mi2. The 11,955 housing units averaged 23 /mi2. The racial makeup of the county was 57.83% White, 29.25% Black or African American, 0.49% Native American, 0.38% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 10.28% from other races, and 1.76% from two or more races. About 19.42% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Of the 10,557 households, 35.1% had children under 18 living with them, 55.7% were married couples living together, 13.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.6% were not families. About 21.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.5% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.79, and the average family size was 3.25.

In the county, the population was distributed as 25.70% under 18, 18.10% from 18 to 24, 26.40% from 25 to 44, 20.50% from 45 to 64, and 9.40% who were 65 or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.70 males. For every 100 females 18, and over, there were 96.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $38,136, and for a family was $45,868. Males had a median income of $34,447 versus $25,583 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,338. About 11.50% of families and 16.00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.00% of those under age 18 and 12.30% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Igloo Corporation, a manufacturer of cooling and portable refrigeration products, is headquartered in unincorporated Waller County between Brookshire and Katy. In 2004, Igloo announced that it was consolidating its corporate, distribution, and manufacturing operations in Waller County.

Goya Foods has its Texas offices in an unincorporated area of the county near Brookshire.

Politics and government

United States Congress

Texas Legislature

Texas Senate

District 18: Lois Kolkhorst (R)- first elected in 2014.

Texas House of Representatives

District 3: Cecil Bell, Jr. (R)- first elected in 2013.

Voting controversies

A history of controversies exists regarding the reluctance of county officials to allow students attending historically black Prairie View A&M University to vote in Waller County.https://web.archive.org/web/20110717130309/http://www.usstudents.org/press-room/articles/february-2008/prairie-view-students-experiencing-voting-problems-in-waller-county-texas/?searchterm=voter

As reported by the US District Court (Southern District of Texas, Corpus Christi Division) in Veasey v Perry, October 2014 (CIVIL ACTION NO. 13-CV-00193), pp 6–7 verbatim:

• In 1971, after the 26th Amendment extended the vote to those 18 years old and older, Waller County, which was home to Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU), a historically Black university, became troubled with race issues. Waller County's tax assessor and voter registrar prohibited students from voting unless they or their families owned property in the county. This practice was ended by a three-judge court in 1979.
• In 1992, a county prosecutor indicted PVAMU students for illegally voting, but dropped the charges after receiving a protest from the DOJ.
• In 2003, a PVAMU student ran for the commissioner's court. The local district attorney and county attorney threatened to prosecute students for voter fraud—for not meeting the old domicile test. These threatened prosecutions were enjoined, but Waller County then reduced early voting hours, which was particularly harmful to students because the election day was during their spring break. After the NAACP filed suit, Waller County reversed the changes to early voting and the student narrowly won the election.
• In 2007–08, during then Senator Barack Obama's campaign for president, Waller County made a number of voting changes without seeking clearance. The county rejected "incomplete" voter registrations and required volunteer deputy registrars (VDRs) to personally find and notify the voters of the rejection. The county also limited the number of new registrations any VDR could submit, thus limiting the success of voter registration drives. These practices were eventually prohibited by a consent decree.

In 2018, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund filed a lawsuit in U.S. district court, alleging that the county's early-voting plan unduly limits early voting opportunities for students at Prairie View A&M. On October 10, Jacob Aronowitz, a field director for Democratic U.S. House candidate Mike Siegel, delivered a letter from Siegel, which indicated a solution to attempts to keep students at Prairie View A&M University from voting, to a clerk on the county executive's staff. As a result, Aronowitz was arrested for what he was told was "48 hour investigative detention."

Law enforcement

the current sheriff is Troy Guidry, who was elected in 2020. The previous sheriff was Glenn Smith, who had been sheriff since 2008. Smith was previously chief of the police department of Hempstead, where he had been fired by the town council after allegations that he and four white officers had exhibited racism and police brutality during the arrest of a 35-year-old black man.

In November 2021, a 16 year old was charged with six counts of aggravated assault for crashing into six people on bicycles while attempting to roll coal. All four of the riders were hospitalized for their injuries, two of them being airlifted. According to attorneys hired by the injured, the injuries included "broken vertebrae, cervical and lumbar spinal injuries, broken collar bones, hands, and wrists [requiring surgical intervention], multiple traumatic brain injuries, lacerations, soft tissue damage, road rash, and extensive bruising" The Waller county district attorney, Elton Mathis, released a statement about the handling of the case by the Waller Police Department in which he said "This case was not handled appropriately by the investigating agency. PERIOD." According to his statement, the Texas Department of Public Safety urged the local police to treat the scene as a crime scene, and to contact the district attorney's office. Despite this, the local police released the 16 year old without doing an investigation.

Education

School districts serving Waller County include:

• Hempstead Independent School District
• Royal Independent School District
• Katy Independent School District (portions of the district are in other counties)
• Waller Independent School District (portions of the district are in other counties)

Brazos Valley Sudbury School was previously in operation in Waller County.

Blinn College is the designated community college for all of the county. Additionally, areas within Katy ISD are designated as the zone for Houston Community College.

Prairie View A&M University is the only university located within the county.

Media

Main article: The Waller Times

The Waller Times publishes local community news, school news, and sports news weekly on Mondays. It was founded in 1991 and is still family owned and operated.

Transportation

Major highways

• [[Image:I-10 (TX).svg|20px]] Interstate 10
• [[Image:US 90.svg|20px]] U.S. Highway 90
• [[Image:US 290.svg|25px]] U.S. Highway 290
• [[Image:Texas 6.svg|20px]] State Highway 6
• [[Image:Texas 159.svg|20px]] State Highway 159

The TTC-69 component (recommended preferred) of the once-planned Trans-Texas Corridor went through Waller County.

Airports

Houston Executive Airport is located between Brookshire and Katy in an unincorporated area. Skydive Houston Airport (Skylake Airport) is located south of Waller in an unincorporated area.

The Houston Airport System stated that Waller County is within the primary service area of George Bush Intercontinental Airport, an international airport in Houston in Harris County. In addition William P. Hobby Airport in Houston and in Harris County has commercial airline service.

References

References

1. "Waller County, Texas".
2. "Find a County". National Association of Counties.
3. (August 22, 2012). "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau.
4. "County Population Totals and Components of Change: 2020-2024". United States Census Bureau.
5. "Decennial Census of Population and Housing by Decades". [[US Census Bureau]].
6. "Texas Almanac: Population History of Counties from 1850–2010". Texas Almanac.
7. "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau.
8. "P004: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2000: DEC Summary File 1 – Waller County, Texas".
9. "P2 Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2010: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Waller County, Texas".
10. "P2 Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Waller County, Texas".
11. (2021). "2020 Decennial Census Demographic Profile (DP1)".
12. (2021). "2020 Decennial Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171)".
13. (2023). "2020 Decennial Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics (DHC)".
14. "U.S. Census website". [[United States Census Bureau]].
15. "[http://www.igloocoolers.com/contact-us/world-hq/ Igloo Worldwide Headquarters] {{webarchive. link. (2010-04-21 ." ''[[Igloo Corporation]]''. Accessed September 5, 2008. "Igloo Products Corp. 777 Igloo Road Katy, Texas 77494")
16. "[http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2004/10/18/daily9.html Igloo consolidating operations in Katy facility]." ''[[Houston Business Journal]]''. Monday October 18, 2004. Retrieved on March 2, 2011. "1001 W. Sam Houston Parkway North" for the old Houston facility
17. "[http://www.goya.com/english/about/contact_us.html Contact Us]." [[Goya Foods]]. Retrieved on March 26, 2016. "Goya Foods of Texas 30602 McAllister Road Brookshire, TX 77423"
18. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections".
19. (November 5, 2024). "2024 Senate Election (Official Returns)".
20. [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/28/us/28texas.html "2 Voter Rights Cases, One Gripping a College Town, Stir Texas" by Ralph Blumenthal], ''New York Times'', May 28, 2008
21. [http://www.chron.com/neighborhood/katy-news/article/Judges-slap-Waller-voter-rules-give-hand-to-1779069.php "Judges slap Waller voter rules, give hand to Prairie View" by Cindy George], ''Houston Chronicle'' October 24, 2008
22. [https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/11/prairie-view-m-students-file-suit-over-voting-hours/574600/ "Fighting for the Right to Vote in a Tiny Texas County" by Vann R. Newkirk II and Adam Harris], ''The Atlantic'' magazine.
23. (October 11, 2018). "Campaign for congressional candidate Mike Siegel disputes account of worker's arrest".
24. "HOME".
25. Lewis, Brooke A.. (October 23, 2020). "Waller County voters to elect first new sheriff since 2008".
26. "Waller County sheriff seeks 3rd term after difficult year". Houston Chronicle.
27. "Teen who hit 6 bicyclists with truck while allegedly harassing them faces felony charges, authorities say". [[The Washington Post]].
28. (November 9, 2021). "16-Year-Old Texas Truck Driver Who Hit Six Cyclists Charged With Felonies".
29. (October 2, 2021). "Coal-rolling Texas truck driver plows into 6 cyclists".
30. "2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Waller County, TX". [[U.S. Census Bureau]].
31. [https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/ED/htm/ED.130.htm Texas Education Code Sec. 130.168. BLINN JUNIOR COLLEGE DISTRICT SERVICE AREA.]
32. [https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/ED/htm/ED.130.htm Sec. 130.182. HOUSTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM DISTRICT SERVICE AREA.].
33. McLemee, Scott (February 6, 2004). "Justice Department to Look Into Alleged Threat to Students' Voting Rights", ''[[The Chronicle of Higher Education]]'' '''50''' (22): A30.
34. [http://www.keeptexasmoving.com/index.php/ttc_i69_current_map TxDoT, TTC Section C & S, Detailed Map 1, 2007-12-17] {{webarchive. link. (February 7, 2009)
35. link. (July 11, 2011 ." ''George Bush Intercontinental Airport Master Plan''. [[Houston Airport System]]. December 2006. 2-1 (23/130). Retrieved on December 14, 2010.)