Archer City, Texas

Archer City is a city in Archer County, Texas, United States. The city lies at the junction of State Highway 79 and State Highway 25. It is the county seat of Archer County. It is located 25-miles south of Wichita Falls, Texas, and is part of the of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,848 at the 2000 census.

The city is named for Branch Tanner Archer, a commissioner for the Republic of Texas.

Its most famous native son is the author Larry McMurtry. Archer City and its Royal Theatre, are the basis for McMurty's fictional towns of "Thalia" and "Anarene" in his novels, including The Last Picture Show. Portions of the films The Last Picture Show (1971) and its sequel Texasville (1990) were filmed in Archer City.

12 miles west-southwest of the city lies a 1.5 mile antenna, the Lake Kickapoo Field Station, operated by the 20th Space Control Squadron, and part of the Air Force Space Surveillance System, used for observing objects passing over the United States. It is the primary anchor transmitter for the Space Command southern "fence" (or "Space Fence") network for monitoring the space defense system. It extends east-to-west across America at about the 33rd parallel. The antenna has no public access, restricted entry.

The current mayor of Archer City is David Levy.

Geography

Archer City is located at (33.594036, -98.626499).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.2 square miles (5.7 km²), of which, 2.2 square miles (5.7 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.90%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,848 people, 758 households, and 506 families residing in the city. The population density was 837.3 people per square mile (322.9/km²). There were 869 housing units at an average density of 393.7/sq mi (151.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.56% White, 0.70% Native American, 0.81% from other races, and 0.92% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.33% of the population.

There were 758 households out of which 33.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.2% were married couples living together, 8.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.2% were non-families. 30.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.99.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.6% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 25.9% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to 64, and 18.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 88.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $29,886, and the median income for a family was $36,563. Males had a median income of $29,524 versus $18,977 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,140. About 11.3% of families and 13.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.8% of those under age 18 and 17.9% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Archer City is served by the Archer City Independent School District.

There is one school campus at Archer City. It encompasses the High School, Junior High, and Elementary grades. Grades 7-12 are all in the same building.

References

External links

• Archer City
• Archer City Independent School District Official Website