Bowie ( ) is a town in Montague 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 5,448 at the 2020 census.

History

On July 22, 1881, Bowie was incorporated as a town in Montague County, United States. (A separate Bowie County includes Texarkana in northeastern Texas.) The town began to expand with the arrival of the

Fort Worth and Denver Railway The Fort Worth and Denver Railway , nicknamed "the Denver Road," was a Class I railroad, class I Rail transport in the United States, American railroad company that operated in the northern part of Texas from 1881 to 1982, and had a profound infl ...

in 1882. In 1884, four men robbed the First National Bank of Bowie and allegedly left with over $10,000 in gold coins. Townspeople gave chase and eventually captured the robbers, who were hanged for their crimes. By 1913, the town had a population of more than 5,000, and included the Bowie Commercial College. U.S. President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

visited the town on his train on July 11, 1938. He ceremonially purchased biscuits from businessman Amon G. Carter of

Fort Worth Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

, who had grown up in Bowie. On August 19, 1941, Rex Beard, Jr., robbed the First National Bank of Bowie and was captured in December of that same year. An EF1 tornado hit the town of Bowie on May 22, 2020. On March 21, 2022, two EF1 tornadoes hit the town.

Geography

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 ...

, Bowie has a total area of , of which is land and is water.

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 ...

, Bowie 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.

Roads

* U.S. Route 81 * U.S. Route 287 * Texas State Highway 59

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, 5,448 people, 1,911 households, and 1,333 families resided in the city.

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, 5,218 people and 2,090 households, with 2,489 housing units, were in the town. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was 945.6 people per square mile. The average household size was 2.32 persons and the average family size was 2.99. The racial makeup of the town was 91.9% White, 0.2% African American, 1.0% Native American, 0.7% Asian, and 2.0% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 11.6% of the population. The median income for a household in the town was $33,846. 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 $19,063.

Education

The town is served by the Bowie Independent School District and a branch campus of North Central Texas College.

Airport

Bowie Municipal Airport is a city-owned public

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

of the town, located approximately northeast of the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

. The airport has no

IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is an airline trade association founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff conferences tha ...

ICAO The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sch ...

designation.

Facilities

Bowie Municipal Airport covers at an elevation of above

mean sea level A mean is a quantity representing the "center" of a collection of numbers and is intermediate to the extreme values of the set of numbers. There are several kinds of means (or "measures of central tendency") in mathematics, especially in statist ...

(AMSL), and has one

runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...

: * Runway 17/35: 3,603 x 60 ft. (1,098 x 18 m), Surface: Asphalt For the 12-month period ending September 19, 2022, the airport had 7,350 aircraft operations, an average of 20 per day: 100%

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

and <1%

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

. At that time there were 29 aircraft based at this airport: 28 single-

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ge ...

, and 1

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

Accidents and incidents

* 15 August 2014: A Cessna 414, registration number ''N127BC'', was on approach to land when it suddenly went into a spin and impacted the ground in a nose-down attitude. The aircraft was consumed in an immediate post-impact fire and the pilot and single passenger were killed. An

autopsy An autopsy (also referred to as post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of deat ...

of the pilot revealed acute, premortem, nonocclusive

thrombosis Thrombosis () is the formation of a Thrombus, blood clot inside a blood vessel, obstructing the flow of blood through the circulatory system. When a blood vessel (a vein or an artery) is injured, the body uses platelets (thrombocytes) and fib ...

of the left anterior descending coronary artery, and the medical examiner concluded that " he pilotdied primarily to hypertensive and atherosclerotic

cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina, heart attack), heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, rheumati ...

and that his multiple blunt force injuries likely contributed to his death." The accident was attributed to ''"The pilot's incapacitation in flight as the result of an acute cardiac event, which resulted in a loss of control and collision with terrain."''

Notable people

* James V. Allred, 33rd Governor of Texas * Amon Carter, Businessman, Creator and publisher of the

Fort Worth Star-Telegram The ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'' is an American daily newspaper serving Fort Worth and Tarrant County, the western half of the North Texas area known as the Metroplex. It is owned by The McClatchy Company. History In May 1905, Amon G. Car ...

* Woodrow Chambliss, actor

Gallery

Image:Downtown Bowie, TX IMG_6821.JPG, A look at downtown Bowie (2013) Image:Bowie June 2018 01 (Bowie Public Library).jpg, Bowie Public Library Image:U.S. Post Office in downtown Bowie, TX IMG 6822.JPG, U.S. Post Office in Bowie Image:Bowie June 2018 11 (St. Peter Lutheran Church).jpg, St. Peter Lutheran Church at 906 Highway 59 North in Bowie; pastor Larry Knobloch (2013)

References

External links

The town of Bowie, Texas Chamber of Commerce

Bowie Independent School District Website

Bowie Municipal Airport
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowie, Texas Cities in Texas Cities in Montague County, Texas