Pecos, Texas

Image:Pecos texas.jpg

Image:Pecos texas watertower.jpg

Pecos is one of the numerous towns in West Texas organized around a train depot during the construction of the Texas and Pacific Railway. These towns were subsequently linked by the construction of U.S. Highway 80 and Interstate 20. Prior to the arrival of the railroad, a permanent camp existed nearby where cattle drives crossed the Pecos River. With the introduction of irrigation from underground aquifers, the city became a center of commerce for extensive local agricultural production of cotton, onions, and cantaloupes. The introduction of large-scale sulfur mining in adjacent Culberson County during the 1960s led to significant economic and population growth.{{Handbook of Texas|id=dks04|name=SULFUR INDUSTRY}} The growth was reversed after mining operations ceased in the 1990s.

In 1962, Pecos resident and tycoon Billie Sol Estes was indicted for fraud by a federal grand jury. Estes' extensive machinations caused a national-level scandal, resulting in a shakeup at the Department of Agriculture. Oscar Griffin, Jr., of the Pecos Independent and Enterprise newspaper won a Pulitzer Prize for breaking the story.

Pecos is the site of the largest private prison in the world, the Reeves County Detention Complex, operated by the GEO Group.{{cite web|url=http://www.fwweekly.com/2010/03/10/private-prisons-public-pain/|title=Private Prisons, Public Pain|date=10 March 2010|work=fwweekly.com|access-date=4 September 2016}}

On December 18th 2024, a Union Pacific Railroad freight train hit a semi-truck that was hauling an oversize load, resulting in the train derailing with all locomotives, and some freight cars.{{cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/union-pacific-train-derails-after-hitting-tractor-trailer-on-texas-railroad-tracks-killing-two-video|title=Texas train derails after hitting tractor-trailer, barreling into city building: video|date=December 19, 2024|access-date=December 21, 2024}} Both crew members were killed and three were injured. The former Texas & Pacific train depot, occupied by the town's Chamber of Commerce, was damaged during the derailment.{{cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/freight-train-west-texas-derailment-6fa91d994c56c4245ae73c90ef49950c|title=2 killed, 3 injured when freight train derails in small West Texas city after collision|date=December 19, 2024|access-date=December 21, 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://www.newswest9.com/article/news/local/as-seen-on-tv/two-men-dead-pecos-train-derailment-union-pacific/513-70e485b6-af46-4b0d-a683-3c59c54242b0|title=2 Union Pacific workers confirmed dead in train derailment in Pecos, Texas|date=December 19, 2024|access-date=December 21, 2024}}

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of {{convert|7.3|sqmi|km2}}, all land.

{{US Census population

|1890= 393

|1900= 639

|1910= 1856

|1920= 1445

|1930= 3304

|1940= 4855

|1950= 8054

|1960= 12728

|1970= 12682

|1980= 12855

|1990= 12069

|2000= 9501

|2010= 8780

|2020= 12916

|footnote=1890-2000,[http://www.texasalmanac.com/sites/default/files/images/CityPopHist%20web.pdf Texasalmanac] (PDF-Datei; 1,13 MB) 2010{{cite web|url=http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/48/4856516.html|title=Population estimates, July 1, 2015, (V2015)|work=census.gov|access-date=4 September 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130608075625/http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/48/4856516.html|archive-date=8 June 2013}}

}}

As of the 2020 United States census, 12,916 people, 2,729 households, and 1,857 families resided in the city.

As of the census of 2000, 9,501 people, 3,168 households, and 2,455 families were residing in the city. The population density was {{convert|1,300.1|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The 3,681 housing units averaged 503.7 per mi² (194.4/km{{sup|2}}). The racial makeup of the city was 76.322% White, 2.45% African American, 0.46% Native American, 0.47% Asian, 18.07% from other races, and 22% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 79.57% of the population.

Of the 3,168 households, 39.9% had children under 18 living with them, 59.0% were married couples living together, 14.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.5% were not families. About 20.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.6% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.97, and the average family size was 3.47.

In the city, the age distribution was 32.5% under 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 24.2% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 13.0% who were 65 or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $24,943, and for a family was $26,376. Males had a median income of $25,867 versus $13,874 for females. The per capita income for the city was $11,857. About 23.4% of families and 27.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 36.0% of those under 18 and 15.6% of those 65 or over.

The City of Pecos is served by the Pecos-Barstow-Toyah Independent School District, which currently has four schools:

Austin Elementary,(grades Pre K-1), Zavala Elementary, (grades 2-5), Crockett Middle School, (grades 6–8), and Pecos High School (grades 9–12).

Pecos experiences a semiarid (BSk) to desert climate (BWh) with hot summers and mild winters. The city's aridity results in a substantial diurnal temperature variation, resulting in cool nights even after hot summer days.

{{Weather box|width=auto

|location = Pecos, Texas

|single line = Y

|Jan record high F = 89

|Feb record high F = 94

|Mar record high F = 103

|Apr record high F = 106

|May record high F = 112

|Jun record high F = 118

|Jul record high F = 116

|Aug record high F = 113

|Sep record high F = 110

|Oct record high F = 106

|Nov record high F = 94

|Dec record high F = 89

|year record high F= 118

| Jan high F = 61

| Feb high F = 66

| Mar high F = 74

| Apr high F = 84

| May high F = 91

| Jun high F = 99

| Jul high F = 99

| Aug high F = 98

| Sep high F = 92

| Oct high F = 82

| Nov high F = 69

| Dec high F = 63

|year high F= 82

| Jan low F = 28

| Feb low F = 31

| Mar low F = 38

| Apr low F = 48

| May low F = 57

| Jun low F = 67

| Jul low F = 69

| Aug low F = 68

| Sep low F = 61

| Oct low F = 50

| Nov low F = 35

| Dec low F = 29

|year low F= 48

|Jan record low F = −9

|Feb record low F = −8

|Mar record low F = 12

|Apr record low F = 24

|May record low F = 30

|Jun record low F = 48

|Jul record low F = 55

|Aug record low F = 45

|Sep record low F = 37

|Oct record low F = 25

|Nov record low F = 8

|Dec record low F = 1

|year record low F= −9

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation inch = 0.42

|Feb precipitation inch = 0.38

|Mar precipitation inch = 0.33

|Apr precipitation inch = 0.57

|May precipitation inch = 1.14

|Jun precipitation inch = 1.11

|Jul precipitation inch = 1.33

|Aug precipitation inch = 1.24

|Sep precipitation inch = 1.85

|Oct precipitation inch = 1.16

|Nov precipitation inch = 0.47

|Dec precipitation inch = 0.49

|year precipitation inch= 10.48

|source 1 = Weatherbase {{cite web

| url =http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=013492&refer=&units=us |title =Weatherbase: Weather for Pecos, Texas | publisher=Weatherbase | year=2011 }} Retrieved on November 22, 2011.

|date=November 2011

}}

• Billie Sol Estes, financier convicted of fraud{{cite news |last=McFadden |first=Robert D. |title=Billie Sol Estes, Texas Con Man Whose Fall Shook Up Washington, Dies at 88 |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/15/us/billie-sol-estes-texas-con-man-dies-at-88.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 |access-date= 3 September 2016 |newspaper= The New York Times |date=May 14, 2013 |author-link=Robert D. McFadden |location=New York}}
• Paul Gonzales, boxer, gold medalist at the 1984 Summer Olympic Games
• Oscar Griffin, Jr., recipient of 1963 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting{{cite web|url=http://journalism100.utexas.edu/pulitzer/|title=Pulitzer Prize Awardees - The University of Texas at Austin|work=utexas.edu|access-date=15 September 2016}}
• Roger Mobley, later child actor, resided in Pecos in the 1950s
• Abel Talamantez, singer of Menudo and the Kumbia Kings

{{Reflist}}

{{notelist}}

{{commons category|Pecos, Texas}}

• [http://www.pecostx.gov Pecos, Texas – Official Site]
• {{Handbook of Texas|id=hep04|name=Pecos, Texas}}
• [http://visitpecos.com/pecos-chamber Pecos Area Chamber of Commerce]

{{Reeves County, Texas}}

{{Texas}}

{{Texas county seats}}

{{authority control}}

Category:Cities in Reeves County, Texas

Category:Cities in Texas

Category:County seats in Texas

Category:Micropolitan areas of Texas