Hockley is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

located in Harris County,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, United States, on

Texas State Highway 6 State Highway 6 (SH 6) runs from the Red River of the South, Red River, the Texas–Oklahoma state line, to northwest of Galveston, Texas, Galveston, where it is known as the Old Galveston Highway. In Sugar Land and Missouri City, it is k ...

and U.S. Route 290, approximately southeast of the city hall of Waller, and northwest of

downtown Houston Downtown is the largest central business district in the city of Houston and the largest in the state of Texas, located near the geographic center of the metropolitan area at the confluence of Interstate 10 in Texas, Interstate 10, Interstate 45 ...

Description

The community serves as the main hub for railway traffic serving

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

, and many parts of

Central Texas Central Texas is a region in the U.S. state of Texas roughly bordered on the west by San Saba, to the southeast by Bryan- College Station, the south by San Marcos and to the north by Hillsboro. Central Texas overlaps with and includes part ...

. The

Southern Pacific The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the names ...

(now known as

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad is a Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United States after BNSF, ...

) rail line is one of the community's major employers. The community is surrounded by grain farms and cattle ranches. The ZIP Code for Hockley is 77447.

History

George Washington Hockley established Hockley in 1835. In 1906, a

salt dome A salt dome is a type of structural dome formed when salt (or other evaporite minerals) intrudes into overlying rocks in a process known as diapirism. Salt domes can have unique surface and subsurface structures, and they can be discovered us ...

was discovered near Hockley and mined, especially for

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

Economy

In September 2008,

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company. It was founded by Bill Hewlett and David Packard in 1939 in a one-car garage in Palo Alto, California ...

acquired of land near Hockley in a proposed industrial park planned by John Beeson of Beeson Properties and Monzer Hourani of Medistar Corp. It paid an undisclosed sum to Beeson and Hourani, the land's previous owners. Hewlett Packard's proposed $250 million facility would be near the intersection of Betka Road and U.S. Highway 290, in close proximity to the Harris County-

Waller County Waller County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 56,794. Its county seat is Hempstead. The county was named for Edwin Waller, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence and first mayor ...

line, from HP's main

greater Houston Greater Houston, designated by the Office of Management and Budget, United States Office of Management and Budget as Houston–Pasadena–The Woodlands, is the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical ...

offices, and northwest of the city of Houston.

Infrastructure and government

Hockley is located in Harris County Precinct 4; as of 2023, Commissioner Lesley Briones serves as the head of the precinct.Community Centers : Hockley
" ''Harris County''. Accessed October 14, 2008. The

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

operates the Hockley Post Office at 17210 Warren Ranch Road.

Parks and recreation

The county operates th
Hockley Community Center
at 28515 Old Washington Road. In 1982, the county bought of land for a maintenance center and a community center. Bob Eckels, then the commissioner of Precinct 3, got a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Hermes Reed Hindman – Architects, Inc. developed the building and AIA Engineers and Contractors, Inc. served as the contractor. Construction ended in 1986. The county operates Hockley Park at 28515 Old Washington Road at the community center site.

Education

Hockley is within the Waller Independent School District. Schools serving Hockley include: * Waller High School (Unincorporated Harris County)
Waller Junior High School
( Waller) an
Wayne C. Schultz Junior High
(Unincorporated Harris County) are the two junior high schools of the district. They take sections of the surrounding area. * Elementary schools with Hockley addresses (unincorporated areas) includ

and Evelyn Turlington Elementary School, and which each take portions of the area. Portions of Harris County in Waller ISD are assigned to Blinn College. Blinn operates the Waller-Harris County Campus. Rosehill Christian School now located in the

Rose Hill Rose Hill may refer to: People * Rose Hill (actress) (1914–2003), British actress * Rose Hill (athlete) (born 1956), British wheelchair athlete Film * ''Rose Hill'' (film), a 1997 movie Places Australia * Rose Hill, New South Wales * Rose ...

area, was first founded in Hockley in 1989.

Notable people

* Hockley is home to eight-time world-champion calf roper Fred Whitfield. He is the first African-American to win the world championship and was also named the PRCA All Around Champion in 1999."." ''Fred Whitfield''. Accessed October 27, 2008. It is also the location of legendary racecar driver

A. J. Foyt Anthony Joseph Foyt Jr. (born January 16, 1935) is an American former racing driver who competed in numerous disciplines of motorsport. He is best known for his open wheel racing career, and for becoming the first four-time winner of the India ...

's ranch.

References

External links

* {{authority control Unincorporated communities in Texas Unincorporated communities in Harris County, Texas Populated coastal places in Texas Greater Houston