Anson, Texas
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Anson is a city in and 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 ...
of Jones 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 2,294 at the 2020 census. It is part of the
Abilene, Texas metropolitan area The Abilene metropolitan statistical area is a metropolitan statistical area in West Texas, west-central Texas that covers three counties—Taylor County, Texas, Taylor, Jones County, Texas, Jones, and Callahan County, Texas, Callahan. As of the ...
. Originally named "Jones City", the town was renamed "Anson" in 1882 in honor of
Anson Jones Anson Jones (January 20, 1798 – January 9, 1858) was an American medical doctor, businessman, member of Congress, and the fourth and last president of the Republic of Texas. Early life Jones was born on January 20, 1798, in Great Barri ...
, the last president of the
Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas (), or simply Texas, was a country in North America that existed for close to 10 years, from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846. Texas shared borders with Centralist Republic of Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande, an ...
.


Geography

Anson is located in central Jones County. Three
U.S. highways The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these h ...
pass through the city. U.S. Routes 83 and 277 run north–south through the center as Commercial Avenue, while
U.S. Route 180 U.S. Route 180 is an east–west United States highway. Like many three-digit routes, US 180 no longer meets its "parent", US 80. US 80 was decommissioned west of Mesquite, Texas, and was replaced in Texas by Interstate 20 and Interstate 1 ...
crosses on 17th Street. US 83 leads northwest to Aspermont, while US 277 leads northeast to Stamford, and the highways together lead southeast to Abilene. US 180 leads east to Albany and west to Snyder. 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 ...
, Anson has a total area of , of which , or 0.12%, are water. The city is part of the
Brazos River The Brazos River ( , ), called the ''Río de los Brazos de Dios'' (translated as "The River of the Arms of God") by early Spanish explorers, is the 14th-longest river in the United States at from its headwater source at the head of Blackwater ...
watershed, with the southeastern corner of the city crossed by Carter Creek, and the northern part draining to Redmud Creek. Anson is the site of Bluebonnet Detention Center, a controversial, privately owned and operated facility that houses individuals awaiting deportation by
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE; ) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the Un ...
.


Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
system, Anson has a
humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...
, ''Cfa'' on climate maps.


Demographics


2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 2,294 people, 869 households, and 532 families residing in the city.


2000 census

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, 2,556 people, 950 households, and 681 families resided in the city. The population density was . The 1,089 housing units had an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 75.82% White, 2.78% African American, 0.47% Native American, 0.74% Asian, 18.62% from other races, and 1.56% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 32.63% of the population. Of the 950 households, 35.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.8% were married couples living together, 16.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.3% were not families. About 26.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57, and the average family size was 3.10. In the city, the population was distributed as 28.3% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 24.2% from 25 to 44, 19.0% from 45 to 64, and 20.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.0 males. The median income for a household in the city was $23,954, and for a family was $30,284. Males had a median income of $26,893 versus $19,038 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 city was $11,798. About 17.0% of families and 19.8% 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 25.0% of those under age 18 and 18.8% of those age 65 or over.


Traditions

Anson is home to the "Texas Cowboys' Christmas Ball", a three-night event held the weekend before Christmas. The first ball was held by M.G. Rhodes at his Star Hotel in Anson in 1885 and annually thereafter until 1890, when the hotel burned down. The event happened sporadically until it faded away during
Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...
. Teacher and folklorist Leonora Barrett revived the event in 1940. The dance was (and still is) held in Pioneer Hall, a
Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...
project from the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
. Music is usually provided by
Michael Martin Murphey Michael Martin Murphey (born March 14, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter. He was one of the founding artists of progressive country. A multiple Grammy nominee, Murphey has six gold albums, including ''Cowboy Songs (Michael Martin Murphey alb ...
and his band.Leanna Skarnulis. "Cowboys' Christmas Ball" ''AmericanProfile'' December 6–12, 2009. pp 14–16 Anson also may or may not have been the inspiration for the movie "
Footloose ''Footloose'' is a 1984 American musical drama film directed by Herbert Ross and written by Dean Pitchford. It tells the story of Ren McCormack (Kevin Bacon), a teenager from Chicago who moves to a small town, where he attempts to overturn a b ...
" and, as of 1987, still had an enforced "no dancing" law on the books that is/was only lifted for the annual Christmas danc

An effort was made in 1987 to change the ordinance to allow supervised dancing, which was successful. The conflict was the basis for the book, ''No Dancin' In Anson: An American Story of Race and Social Change'', by University of Texas professor Ricardo Ainslie.


Education

The city is served by the Anson Independent School District and is home to the Anson High School Tigers.


Notable people

* Omar Burleson, late
U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...
born in Anson * Greg Glazner, Walt Whitman Award-winning poet born in Anson * Jeannie C. Riley, Country singer born in Anson


Gallery

file:First United Methodist Church, Anson, TX IMG 6242.JPG, Historic First
United Methodist The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelical ...
Church in Anson, Texas file:Downtown Anson, TX, near sunset IMG 6248.JPG, Downtown Anson south of the courthouse at sunset file:U.S. Post Office, Anson, TX IMG 6253.JPG, U.S. Post Office in Anson file:Opera House Anson Wiki (1 of 1).jpg, Opera house


See also

* Bluebonnet Detention Center


References


External links


City of Anson official website
{{authority control Cities in Texas Cities in Jones County, Texas County seats in Texas Cities in the Abilene metropolitan area