Wallis is a city in far southeastern Austin 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 city is located along State Highway 36 (SH 36) and the

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...

between Rosenberg and Sealy. The city's population was 1,292 at the 2020 census.

Geography

Wallis is located at (29.630649, –96.062751). SH 36 heads northwest from Wallis to Sealy in Austin County and east-southeast from Wallis to Rosenberg in Fort Bend County. The BNSF Railway runs parallel with SH 36 on the north side of the highway. State Highway 60 starts in the west part of Wallis and goes south to East Bernard. Farm to Market Road 1093 continues northeast to Simonton in Fort Bend County and west-southwest to Eagle Lake in Colorado County. Farm to Market Road 1952 begins in the east part of Wallis and goes south and east to Tavener in Fort Bend County. According to the

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, the city has a total area of , of which , or 0.92%, is water.

History

In 1830 the first Anglo-Americans made their homes in the area between the Brazos and San Bernard rivers. When the settlement got a post office in 1873, its name was Bovine Bend. Sometime after 1880, the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway was constructed through the community from

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...

to Brenham. At that time, the town was renamed Wallis Station after J. E. Wallis, the director of the railroad. In 1887 the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway, being built east toward

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, reached Wallis. Starting in about 1890,

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immigrants began moving into the area. By 1904 there were 631 souls living in Wallis. In 1911, the town dropped "Station" from its name to become Wallis. Seven years later its school had 100 students. Between 1925 and 1943 the population grew from 800 to 900. By the latter year the town boasted 39 businesses. After declining to 690 in 1949, the number of inhabitants increased to 1,075 by 1966. A decade later, the city claimed to have a bank, library, and a newspaper, as well as two schools and eight churches. In 1991 there were 1,411 people and 15 commercial establishments. The population declined to 1,311 in 2000 and to 1,252 in 2010. In 2013 the BNSF Railway still operated along the one-time Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway right-of-way, while the east–west railroad line no longer existed. File:Wallis TX Guardian Angel Church.JPG, Guardian Angel Catholic Church on Demel Street File:Wallis TX Guardian Angel Historic Marker.JPG, Historical marker at Guardian Angel Catholic Church File:Wallis TX Guardian Angel Cemetery.JPG, Guardian Angel Cemetery on FM 1952 south of Wallis

Government and infrastructure

File:Wallis TX Post Office.JPG, US Post Office on Railroad St near FM 1093 File:Wallis TX BNSF train.JPG, BNSF 6041 pulls an eastbound freight at 2nd Street File:Downtown Wallis Texas2 WS (1 of 1).jpg, Stores in Wallis, Texas

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 1,292 people, 729 households, and 447 families residing in the city. 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 1,172 people, 422 households, and 314 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 455 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 71.50%

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 ...

, 13.74%

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 ...

, 0.43% Native American, 0.09%

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, 10.92% from other races, and 3.33% from two or more races.

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or Latino of any race were 23.38% of the population. There were 422 households, out of which 35.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.8% 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, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.4% were non-families. 21.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.77 and the average family size was 3.23. In the city, the population was spread out, with 28.1% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 27.6% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 13.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.5 males. The

median income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of unde ...

for a household in the city was $36,328, and the median income for a family was $40,000. Males had a median income of $30,481 versus $20,664 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 $16,877. About 6.4% of families and 10.8% 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 13.3% of those under age 18 and 15.6% of those age 65 or over. The current mayor of Wallis is Jerry Delso, elected May 12, 2012, by a vote of 171–57 over incumbent Carolyn Kennedy.

Education

Wallis is served by the Brazos Independent School District (formerly Wallis-Orchard Independent School District) and home to the Brazos High School Cougars. The designated community college for Brazos ISD is

Wharton County Junior College Wharton County Junior College (WCJC) is a public community college with its main campus in Wharton, Texas. The college also has campuses in Richmond, Sugar Land, and Bay City. WCJC offers a range of postsecondary educational prog ...

(the legislation still states "Wallis-Orchard"). File:Wallis TX Brazos High School.JPG, Brazos High School on Hwy. 36 in Wallis File:Wallis_TX_Brazos_Middle_School.jpg, Brazos Middle School behind H.S. in Wallis File:Orchard TX Brazos Elem School.JPG, Brazos Elementary School in Orchard

Media

Wallis is one of the key towns featured in the 2009 documentary ''The Heart of Texas''.2009 Documentary about events in Wallis, TX. The Heart of Texas The opening scene of the movie Urban Cowboy was filmed at a farm just outside Wallis on FM 1952.

References

External links

City of Wallis official website
{{authority control Cities in Austin County, Texas Cities in Texas Greater Houston