Lockhart, TX

Lockhart, Texas

Lockhart is a city in Caldwell County, Texas, United States. It is the county seat of Caldwell County. The city of Lockhart is named after Byrd Lockhart, an assistant surveyor and reportedly the first Anglo to set foot in Caldwell County. Byrd Lockhart is survived by James H. Lockhart and his family, who currently reside in Dallas. Lockhart was the site of a victory of the Texans over the Comanche, at the Battle of Plum Creek in 1840. The Texas Legislature proclaimed Lockhart as The Barbecue Capital of Texas. Lockhart has four major barbecue restaurants: Black's Barbecue, Smitty's Market, Kreuz Barbecue, and Chisholm Trail Barbecue. The local style of barbecue cooking does not use barbecue sauce. The 1996 Christopher Guest comedy film Waiting for Guffman was filmed partly in Lockhart, including the historic courthouse square. Lockhart's Dr. Eugene Clark Library is the oldest operating public library in Texas.

Geography

Lockhart is located at (29.881870, -97.676040). Located near central Texas, Lockhart is 25 miles southeast of Austin on Hwy 183.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 11.3 square miles (29.2 km²), of which, 11.2 square miles (29.1 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.18%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 11,615 people, 3,627 households, and 2,691 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,032.7 people per square mile (398.6/km²). There were 3,871 housing units at an average density of 344.2/sq mi (132.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 65.42% White, 12.68% African American, 0.67% Native American, 0.34% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 18.00% from other races, and 2.82% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 47.41% of the population.

There were 3,627 households out of which 38.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.0% were married couples living together, 16.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.8% were non-families. 21.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.81 and the average family size was 3.28.

In the city the population was spread out with 26.5% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 32.1% from 25 to 44, 18.9% from 45 to 64, and 13.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 93.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $35,763, and the median income for a family was $41,111. Males had a median income of $29,329 versus $20,923 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,621. About 12.2% of families and 14.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.8% of those under age 18 and 18.1% of those age 65 or over.