Imperial is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) in

Pecos County Pecos County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 15,193. The county seat is Fort Stockton. The county was created in 1871 and organized in 1875.. By Glenn Justice and John Leffler. Re ...

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 294 at the 2020 census.

Geography

Imperial is located at (31.271968, -102.695799). It is situated at the intersection of Farm Roads 11 and

1053 Year 1053 ( MLIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * End of the Pecheneg Revolt: Emperor Constantine IX Monomachos makes peace with the Pechenegs. However, Pecheneg raid ...

, four miles south of the

Pecos River The Pecos River ( ; ) originates in north-central New Mexico and flows into Texas, emptying into the Rio Grande. Its headwaters are on the eastern slope of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range in Mora County north of Pecos, New Mexico, at an elev ...

and approximately 30 miles northeast of Fort Stockton in northern Pecos County. 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 ...

, the CDP has a total area of , all land.

History

The community was settled in the early 1900s. The site was originally known as Redlands from 1908 to around 1910, when it was renamed after

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Imperial Valley The Imperial Valley ( or ''Valle Imperial'') of Southern California lies in Imperial and Riverside counties, with an urban area centered on the city of El Centro. The Valley is bordered by the Colorado River to the east and, in part, the S ...

. A post office and school were opened in 1910 and a townsite was laid out on land owned by Benjamin E. Bush one year later. Water from the

was diverted and a small dam was built west of the community. An irrigation canal was constructed through Imperial in an attempt to attract new residents, but the area's water had a high salt content, which made farming unproductive. The population was approximately 25 in the mid-1920s, but had increased tenfold by 1949. Imperial's population approached 1,000 by the late 1960s with twenty-six businesses operating in the community. The number of inhabitants continued to decline during the latter half of the twentieth century.

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 428 people, 156 households, and 126 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 245 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 79.21%

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 ...

, 0.23%

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 ...

, 0.93% Native American, 1.40% Asian, 14.02% from other races, and 4.21% 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 36.92% of the population. There were 156 households, out of which 34.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.6% 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, 7.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.6% were non-families. 18.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.74 and the average family size was 3.09. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 28.7% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 22.0% from 25 to 44, 27.1% from 45 to 64, and 14.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 102.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 117.9 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $24,375, and the median income for a family was $28,333. Males had a median income of $35,938 versus $20,938 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 CDP was $16,464. About 18.5% of families and 24.4% 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 30.6% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Imperial is served by the

Buena Vista Independent School District Buena Vista Independent School District is a public school district based in the community of Imperial, Texas ( USA). The district has one school, Buena Vista School that serves students in grades pre-kindergarten through twelve. In 2009, th ...

and home to the Buena Vista High School Longhorns.

References

External links

"Imperial (Pecos County)" in the Handbook of Texas
{{authority control Census-designated places in Pecos County, Texas Census-designated places in Texas