Carthage, Texas

Carthage is a city in Panola County, Texas, United States. The population was 6,664 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Panola County, and is situated in East Texas near the Louisiana state line.

Geography

Carthage is located at (32.156401, -94.342345).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.5 square miles (27.3 km²), of which, 10.5 square miles (27.2 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (14.2%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 6,664 people, 2,598 households, and 1,771 families residing in the city. The population density was 633.8 people per square mile (244.8/km²). There were 2,931 housing units at an average density of 278.7/sq mi (107.7/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 74.65% White, 21.02% African American, 0.47% Native American, 0.59% Asian, 1.98% from other races, and 1.29% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.35% of the population.

There were 2,598 households out of which 32.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.9% were married couples living together, 15.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.8% were non-families. 29.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 3.00.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.3% under the age of 18, 10.9% from 18 to 24, 24.7% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 18.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 80.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 74.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $31,822, and the median income for a family was $37,031. Males had a median income of $33,080 versus $21,473 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,332. About 11.8% of families and 13.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.2% of those under age 18 and 12.9% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The City of Carthage is served by the Carthage Independent School District.

Points of Interest

The Texas Country Music Hall of Fame is located in Carthage, which also houses the Tex Ritter museum. The Jim Reeves Memorial is located just on the outskirts of Carthage, east on U.S. 79. Reeves and Ritter were from the near-by unincorporated communities of Galloway and Murvaul respectively.

The main campus of Panola College is in Carthage.

Notable residents

• Linda Davis, singer
• Philip Humber, MLB Pitcher with Minnesota Twins
• Drew Nixon, former Republican member of the Texas State Senate, whose career (1995-2001 was cut short by a sex scandal.
• Bill O'Neal, historian of the American West, Country music, and baseball
• Perfect Stranger, a 1990s country band
• Jim Reeves, singer
• Tex Ritter, singer

References

External links

• Carthage, Texas
• The Carthage_TX community on LiveJournal.com
• The 1997 Nugent's murder