Godley is a city in northwestern Johnson 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, in the

Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, officially designated Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Texas and the Southern United States, ...

. It is on Texas State Highway 171, Farm Roads 2331 and 917, and the tracks of the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996. The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport; at vario ...

northwest of Cleburne. The population was 1,450 in 2020, up from 1,009 in 2010.

History

Godley was established in 1886 and named for R. B. Godley, a Cleburne lumber merchant who donated an tract for a townsite and of land as a right-of-way to the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway. A station was constructed in 1886. By 1888, when the post office opened, Godley had a

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

, three

cotton gin A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); ...

s, and two dairy-processing plants. Four years later it had two general stores. By the mid-1920s, the population was 613. In 1930 it was 378, and twenty-two rated businesses operated locally. In the 1940s, the town had a population of 317 and twenty businesses. By 1956, it had a population of 424 and sixteen businesses, and by 1990 it had 569 people and twelve businesses.

Geography

Via Highway 171 it is northwest of Cleburne, the Johnson

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 ...

, and southeast of Cresson. It is southwest of downtown

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 ...

. 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 ...

, Godley has a total area of , of which , or 0.39%, are water. It lies near the headwaters of the

Nolan River Nolan River is a river in north central Texas, running through Johnson County and Hill County and is part of the Brazos River drainage basin. The Nolan's headwaters are in farm land in northwest Johnson County. The river runs generally paralle ...

watershed, a tributary 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 ...

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, there were 879 people, 296 households, and 235 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 313 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 94.43%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.46%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.80% Native American, 2.73% from other races, and 1.59% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 10.13% of the population. There were 296 households, out of which 45.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.1% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 13.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.3% were non-families. 17.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.95 and the average family size was 3.34. In the city, the population was spread out, with 32.5% under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 20.4% from 45 to 64, and 9.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females, there were 84.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.3 males. The median income for a household in the city was $40,667, and the median income for a family was $44,583. Males had a median income of $37,692 versus $23,571 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 $14,556. About 5.2% of families and 7.7% 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 6.9% of those under age 18 and 6.6% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Public education in the city is provided by the Godley Independent School District.

References

External links

City of Godley official website
{{authority control Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex Cities in Texas Cities in Johnson County, Texas Populated places established in 1886