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Lubbock, Texas

Lubbock is a city located in Lubbock County, in the north west of the state of Texas, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 199,564. The city population estimate for 2001 was 201,212 people. Lubbock is the home of Texas Tech University. The city is served by Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport.

Lubbock is named for Thomas Saltus Lubbock, a Confederate colonel and former Texas Ranger.

Contents

Economy

Lubbock, Texas is the economic hub (hence its nickname, the Hub City) of a multi-county agricultural region commonly called the South Plains . The area is one of the largest cotton-growing regions in the world and is heavily dependent on irrigation water drawn from the Ogallala Aquifer. Unfortunately, the water is being depleted at a rate which is not sustainable for the long term. Much progress has been made in the area of water conservation and new technologies such as Low Energy Precision Application or LEPA irrigation were originally developed in the Lubbock area.

Music and culture

Lubbock is the birthplace of Rock and Roll legend, Buddy Holly and has a cultural museum, the Buddy Holly Center. The city has also been the birthplace or home of several country musicians including Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Censored page, and Joe Ely (collectively known as the Flatlanders), Mac Davis , Terry Allen , Lloyd Maines and his daughter, Natalie Maines (singer for the Dixie Chicks).

Lubbock hosts the National Cowboy Symposium and Celebration, an annual event celebrating the prototypical Old West cowboy. The event is held in September and features art, music, cowboy poetry , stories, and the presentation of scholarly papers on cowboy culture and the history of the American West. A chuckwagon cookoff and horse parade also take place during the event.

The National Ranching Heritage Center , a museum of ranching history, is also located in Lubbock. It features a number of authentic early Texas ranch buildings as well as a railroad depot and other historic buildings.

Geography

Location of Lubbock, Texas

Lubbock is located at 33°33'53" North, 101°52'40" West (33.564735, -101.877793)1. It is located on a vast plateau called the Llano Estacado, or Staked Plain. The average elevation is 3,256 feet above sea level.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 297.6 km² (114.9 mi²). 297.4 km² (114.8 mi²) of it is land and 0.3 km² (0.1 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 0.09% water.

The county of Lubbock was founded in 1876, named after Thomas S. Lubbock, a Texas Ranger, but the town of Lubbock was not founded until 1890. The following year it became the county seat, and in 1909 was reincorporated as a city. Texas Technological College was founded here in 1925; it later became Texas Tech University.

On May 11, 1970 an unusually severe tornado struck Lubbock killing 26 people and doing about $530 million damage.

Demographics

As of the census2 of 2000, there are 199,564 people, 77,527 households, and 48,531 families residing in the city. The population density is 671.1/km² (1,738.2/mi²). There are 84,066 housing units at an average density of 282.7/km² (732.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 72.87% White, 8.66% African American, 0.56% Native American, 1.54% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 14.32% from other races, and 2.01% from two or more races. 27.45% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 77,527 households out of which 30.3% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.6% are married couples living together, 12.9% have a female householder with no husband present, and 37.4% are non-families. 28.3% of all households are made up of individuals and 8.0% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.47 and the average family size is 3.07.

In the city the population is spread out with 24.9% under the age of 18, 17.9% from 18 to 24, 27.6% from 25 to 44, 18.4% from 45 to 64, and 11.1% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 30 years. For every 100 females there are 94.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 91.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $31,844, and the median income for a family is $41,418. Males have a median income of $30,222 versus $21,708 for females. The per capita income for the city is $17,511. 18.4% of the population and 12.0% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 21.9% of those under the age of 18 and 10.1% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

External links

  • City of Lubbock Official Site http://www.ci.lubbock.tx.us/
  • Life in Lubbock http://www.lifeinlubbock.com - information provided by the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
  • National Ranching Heritage Center http://www.depts.ttu.edu/ranchhc/home.htm
  • Texas Tech University http://www.ttu.edu
Maps and aerial photos
Street map http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?latlongtype=decimal&latitude=NaodW29-item7f
f2b1c6236d6a42&longitude=-101.877793&zoom=6
| Topographic map http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=33.564735&lon=NaodW29-item
1c09e35e368fa2e6&s=200&size=m&layer=DRG100
| Aerial photograph http://terraserver.microsoft.com/map.aspx?t=1&s=14&lon=NaodW29-item7a9bee8d47670
899&lat=33.564735&w=750&h=500



 
Texas
Regions: Arklatex | Central Texas | Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex | East Texas | Edwards Plateau | Houston Metropolitan Area | North Texas | Northeast Texas | Piney Woods | Rio Grande Valley | Texas Hill Country | Texas Panhandle | Llano Estacado | Southeast Texas | South Texas | West Texas
Largest Metropolitan areas: Abilene | Amarillo | Austin- San Marcos | Beaumont- Port Arthur | Brownsville- Harlingen- San Benito | Bryan- College Station | Corpus Christi | Dallas-Fort Worth | El Paso | Houston-Galveston-Brazoria | Killeen- Temple | Laredo | Longview- Marshall | Lubbock | McAllen- Edinburg- Mission | Odessa-Midland | San Angelo | San Antonio | Sherman- Denison | Texarkana | Tyler | Victoria | Waco | Wichita Falls
See also: List of Texas counties


Last updated: 05-01-2005 16:30:51