Premont is a city in Jim Wells 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 2,455 at the 2020 census.

Geography

Premont is located at (27.358064, –98.125766). It is situated at along U.S. Highway 281 (Future

Interstate 69C Interstate 69C (I-69C) is a north–south Interstate Highway running through South Texas. Once complete, the freeway (with connections to both Federal Highway 40 and Federal Highway 97) will begin at I-2/ U.S. Highway 83 ...

) in south central Jim Wells County, south of

Alice Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...

and north of Falfurrias, two towns that Morgan Smith of the ''

The Texas Tribune ''The Texas Tribune'' is a nonprofit politics and public policy news website headquartered in Austin, Texas, United States. Its stated aim is to promote civic engagement through original, explanatory journalism and public events. ''The Texas T ...

'' refers to as "relative hubs". 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 ...

, Premont has a total area of , all land.

History

The site was part of the Los Olmos y Loma Blanca land grant issues to Ignacio de la Peña on December 9, 1831. Peña and his heirs occupied the land for the next thirty years. On November 1, 1907, banker and real estate developer R.P. Halderman purchased a plot of land from the heirs of Henry Seeligson for $540,939.50. He then subdivided the land into tracts to entice residents from the northern U.S. to invest in

South Texas South Texas is a geographic and cultural region of the U.S. state of Texas that lies roughly south of—and includes—San Antonio. The southern and western boundary is the Rio Grande, and to the east it is the Gulf of Mexico. The population of th ...

, citing the region's warm climate and ideal planting conditions. In 1908 or 1909, a town site was surveyed by C.F.H. Von Bulcher. Halderman named the new community "Premont", after Seeligson Ranch foreman Charles Premont. A section of the community, located east of the railroad, was set aside for Mexican and

Mexican-American Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...

families. A plaza called Hidalgo Park was designed and built to serve those families. R.P. Halderman sold hundreds of lots to Charles Premont, who in turn served as the real estate agent for the Mexican families, as he was fluent in Spanish. He also donated the funds to build Santa Theresa

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, an institution that now ministers to three missions. Several businesses, including a post office and a general store owned by Andrés Canales, opened in the community during its early years. Premont became part of the newly organized Jim Wells County on March 11, 1911. In an election held on May 6, 1911, Charles Premont was elected as the county's first commissioner. By 1912, Premont had ten businesses and an estimated population of 800. That figure had risen to approximately 1,000 by 1914, the same year that the

San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway The San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway first began operation in the U.S. state of Texas in 1886. It was developed by Uriah Lott and businessmen of San Antonio as a direct route from the city to Aransas Bay on the Texas Gulf coast. It was eventu ...

built a stop at Premont. The

Premont Independent School District The Premont Independent School District is a public school district based in the city of Premont, Texas, United States. The district is about south of Corpus Christi.Mellon, Ericka.North Forest appeals closure as another district gets save ...

was created in 1921. At the time of its creation, Premont ISD was the largest school district in Jim Wells County. Premont's population declined to roughly 600 by 1925. The discovery of oil in the area during the early 1930s caused the community to grow substantially. On May 12, 1933, Premont's first producing oil well was drilled. The community incorporated in 1939 and had a population of 1,080 in 1940. With its revitalized and oil-based economy, Premont continued to grow and prosper during the early post-war years. The town was home to 2,619 residents in 1950 and had a total of 55 businesses in 1952. In 1955,

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States, U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It comprises U.S. state, state, Territories of the United States, U.S. terr ...

Post No. 297 was dedicated in Premont. The population peaked at 3,282 in the 1970 census and has slowly declined since.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 2,455 people, 899 households, and 660 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, there were 2,772 people, 926 households, and 695 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 1,072 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 76.33%

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 ...

, 0.54%

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 ...

, 0.54% Native American, 0.04% Asian, 0.04%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 20.89% from other races, and 1.62% 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 84.05% of the population. There were 926 households, out of which 37.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.8% 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, 13.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.9% were non-families. 22.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.9% 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 3.49. In the city, the population was spread out, with 31.6% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 24.7% from 25 to 44, 20.0% from 45 to 64, and 15.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.5 males. The median income for a household in the city was $22,022, and the median income for a family was $27,917. Males had a median income of $22,569 versus $19,375 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 $9,198. About 27.2% of families and 33.8% 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 42.0% of those under age 18 and 28.0% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Public education in the city of Premont is provided by the

. The district has two campuses—Premont Ernest H. Singleton Early College Academy (grades Pre-K–5)and Premont Collegiate High School (grades 6–12).

Coastal Bend College Coastal Bend College (CBC), formerly Bee County College, is a public community college that has its main campus in Beeville, Texas, and branch campuses in Alice, Kingsville, and Pleasanton, Texas. As defined by the Texas Legislature, the offi ...

(formerly Bee County College) is the designated community college for Jim Wells County.

Notable person

* José Manuel Lozano, member of the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. There are no Term limits in the United States, term limits. The ...

, graduated from Premont High School

References

{{authority control Cities in Jim Wells County, Texas Cities in Texas