Mount Enterprise is a city in Rusk 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 505 at the 2020 census.

History

The city of Mount Enterprise, located south of Henderson in rural Rusk County, was named for a small elevation near the town and for the business enterprise of the Vinzent brothers, who settled it in 1832. The town owes its existence to the presence of promising iron ore in the area. Charles Vinzent considered the "old mountain" nearby to be an "iron mountain," and he was not far off the mark; the brown, crumbly ore of the Weches formation that outcrops in the area has a better than 50 percent iron content. However, Vinzent's real enterprise came in the form of manufacturing and retailing. His factory made wagons, buggies, furniture, plows, caskets, and a patented churn. He launched a chain of stores to sell these products, and more, operating out of Mount Enterprise. At one time Vinzent had as many as four stores. Lumbering was also an early industry of Mount Enterprise; the furniture factory it supported is dated as early as 1850. There were also numerous plantations in the area before the Civil War. In 1846 the Mulberry Grove post office was established with Henry Henson as postmaster. Three years later the name was changed to Mount Enterprise. Mount Enterprise Male and Female College was begun in 1851, and it lasted until 1855. In 1853 Mount Enterprise Male and Female Academy was established. In 1880 the town had three sawmills, a hotel, two cotton gins, a school, three churches, and a population of 150. In 1894 the Caro Northern Railway was chartered to operate as a logging road between Mount Enterprise and Caro, in Nacogdoches County, a distance of little over 16 miles. The railroad, which connected Mount Enterprise with the Texas and New Orleans Railroad, came to within a mile of Mount Enterprise, and the town then moved to the railroad. It became the new Mount Enterprise, and the old location was called the old Mount Enterprise. The railroad was abandoned in 1934, but by 1939 the town had incorporated and still had a number of businesses, a bank, a post office, a newspaper, and a population of 920. After 1940 the population gradually declined to 485 in 1982, when the town had a bank, a post office, and fifteen businesses. In 1990 the population was 501. The population grew to 525 in 2000, but has since dropped to 447 according to the 2010 census.

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 ...

, the city has a total area of 1.5 square miles (3.8 km), 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, there were 525 people, 206 households, and 155 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 241 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 91.05%

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 ...

, 8.19%

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 ...

, and 0.76% 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 1.71% of the population. There were 206 households, out of which 30.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.6% 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, 7.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.3% were non-families. 21.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 2.97. In the city, the population was spread out, with 25.7% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 25.7% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to 64, and 18.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.4 males. The median income for a household in the city was $25,577, and the median income for a family was $31,719. Males had a median income of $27,083 versus $20,125 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 $13,165. About 18.1% of families and 22.0% 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 33.9% of those under age 18 and 9.7% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The City of Mount Enterprise is served by the Mount Enterprise Independent School District.

References

{{authority control Cities in Texas Cities in Rusk County, Texas Longview metropolitan area, Texas