Rochester is a town in northwestern Haskell 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. The population was 248 at the 2020 census, down from 324 at the 2010 census.

History

Rochester was founded by A. B. Carothers in 1906 as the

Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway The Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway, started in 1900 by American railroad entrepreneur Arthur Edward Stilwell, was the predecessor of the Chihuahua al Pacífico railroad in Mexico. It was intended to reach the Pacific Ocean at Topolob ...

was built in the area. It takes its name from

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

Geography

Rochester is in northwestern Haskell County along

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 ...

, which leads north to Knox City and south to

Rule Rule or ruling may refer to: Human activity * The exercise of political or personal control by someone with authority or power * Business rule, a rule pertaining to the structure or behavior internal to a business * School rule, a rule th ...

Haskell Haskell () is a general-purpose, statically typed, purely functional programming language with type inference and lazy evaluation. Designed for teaching, research, and industrial applications, Haskell pioneered several programming language ...

, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

, is to the southeast. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, Rochester has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, 378 people, 155 households, and 106 families resided in the town. The population density was . The 191 housing units averaged 543.7 per square mile (210.7/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 65.34% White, 7.14% African American, 1.06% Native American, 24.07% from other races, and 2.38% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 38.62% of the population. Of the 155 households, 29.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.6% were married couples living together, 13.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.6% were not families. About 30.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.04. In the town, the population was distributed as 25.9% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 24.6% from 25 to 44, 19.8% from 45 to 64, and 21.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.8 males. The median income for a household in the town was $20,357, and for a family was $25,893. Males had a median income of $17,188 versus $16,250 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $12,912. About 24.2% of families and 29.4% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 46.8% of those under age 18 and 20.8% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The Haskell Consolidated Independent School District operates public schools serving the community. From the early 1900s to 2005, the single-campus Rochester Independent School District served the community. The high school was completed in 1938, and had served in that capacity until May 2005. Due to rapidly declining enrollment, the district, now named Rochester-County Line Independent School District, merged with Haskell CISD on June 1, 2005. During consolidation, some children transferred to Knox City and Rule schools.

Notable people

* Marcus Parks, host of The Last Podcast on the Left

References

{{authority control Towns in Haskell County, Texas Towns in Texas 1906 establishments in Texas Populated places established in 1906