Bronte, Texas

Bronte, Texas
Bronte, Texas
Town
	Looking down Main Street in Bronte
	Coordinates: 31°53′13″N 100°17′42″W / 31.88694°N 100.29500°W
Country	United States
State	Texas
County	Coke
Area
• Total	1.44 sq mi (3.72 km2)
• Land	1.44 sq mi (3.72 km2)
• Water	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)
Elevation	1,795 ft (547 m)
Population (2020)
• Total	933
• Density	650/sq mi (250/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code	76933
Area code	325
FIPS code	48-10528
GNIS feature ID	1372729

Bronte (/ˈbrɒnt/ BRONT) is a town in Coke County, Texas, United States. The population was 933 at the 2020 census.^[4]

Texas State Senator Grady Hazlewood, who served from the Amarillo-based District 31 from 1941 to 1971, was born in 1902 in Coke County, near Bronte.

Geography

Bronte is located at 31°53′13″N 100°17′42″W / 31.88694°N 100.29500°W / 31.88694; -100.29500 (31.887046, –100.294947).^[5]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.4 square miles (3.6 km²), all land.

Although named for English novelist Charlotte Brontë^[6] the town name is pronounced as one syllable: "brahnt".^[7]

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1910	635	—
1920	529	−16.7%
1930	671	26.8%
1940	754	12.4%
1950	1,020	35.3%
1960	999	−2.1%
1970	925	−7.4%
1980	983	6.3%
1990	962	−2.1%
2000	1,076	11.9%
2010	999	−7.2%
2020	933	−6.6%
U.S. Decennial Census^[8]

2020 census

**Bronte racial composition**^[4]
(*NH = Non-Hispanic*)^[a]
Race	Number	Percentage
White (NH)	666	71.38%
Native American or Alaska Native (NH)	1	0.11%
Asian (NH)	1	0.11%
Pacific Islander (NH)	1	0.11%
Some Other Race (NH)	2	0.21%
Mixed/Multi-Racial (NH)	17	1.82%
Hispanic or Latino	245	26.26%
Total	933

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 933 people, 457 households, and 327 families residing in the town.

2000 census

As of the census^[2] of 2000, 1,076 people, 426 households, and 293 families resided in the town. The population density was 748.0 inhabitants per square mile (288.8/km²). There were 502 housing units at an average density of 349.0 per square mile (134.7/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 90.06% White, 0.19% Native American, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 8.55% from other races, and 1.12% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 20.07% of the population.

Of 426 households, 31.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.3% were married couples living together, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.2% were not families. About 30.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 20.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 3.00.

In the town, the population was distributed as 26.9% under the age of 18, 5.6% from 18 to 24, 21.5% from 25 to 44, 21.6% from 45 to 64, and 24.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.1 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $28,150, and for a family was $37,625. Males had a median income of $30,769 versus $14,135 for females. The per capita income for the town was $18,869. About 10.4% of families and 15.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.4% of those under age 18 and 11.4% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

As of 2007, the largest employer in Bronte was the Coke County Juvenile Justice Center, followed by the Bronte Independent School District. During that year, Gerald Sandusky, the mayor of Bronte, estimated the juvenile facility employed 180 people, and 30–35% of the juvenile center's employees lived in Coke County.^[10]

Government and infrastructure

The Coke County Juvenile Justice Center, located in unincorporated Coke County, south of Bronte,^[11] was a 200-bed secure facility operated by the GEO Group (formerly Wackenhut Corrections Corp.) and contracted by the Texas Youth Commission (TYC). Originally designed for girls, it was changed into an all-boy facility in 1998.^[12] In 2007, after the TYC inspected the facility, it moved the roughly 200 youth it contracted to the center out of the Coke County facility and caused it to close.^[13] During the life of the Coke County facility, Wackenhut received criticism from the media for how it operated the center.^[14] Coke County officials criticized the closing, saying that the closing was politically motivated.^[10]

Education

The town is served by the Bronte Independent School District. The district provided educational services for the inmates at Coke County Juvenile Justice Center, and 21 district employees were based at the center. During that year, Alan Richey, the superintendent of Bronte ISD, estimated 40% of the enrollment in the school district consisted of children who were incarcerated in the center. The superintendent said the district lost $2 million in funding as a result of the closure of the juvenile facility.^[10]

References

^ "2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
^ ^a ^b "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. October 25, 2007. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
^ ^a ^b "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
^ "Bronte, Texas". Retrieved July 7, 2009.
^ "Texas Almanac Pronunciation Guide" (PDF). Retrieved July 3, 2018.
^ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
^ "About the Hispanic Population and its Origin". www.census.gov. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c Salazar, Maribel. "TYC center shutdown stuns Bronte officials Archived March 1, 2012, at the Wayback Machine." Abilene Reporter-News. October 2, 2007. Retrieved on July 5, 2010.
^ "Facility Address List." Texas Youth Commission. February 2, 2002. Retrieved on May 6, 2010.
^ "Coke County Juvenile Justice Center Audit Archived 2009-07-05 at the Wayback Machine." (PDF version Archived July 5, 2009, at the Wayback Machine) Texas Youth Commission. Retrieved on July 5, 2010.
^ Hughes, Polly Ross and Clay Robison. "Houston legislator launches probe of prison contractor." Houston Chronicle. October 5, 2007. Retrieved on July 5, 2010.
^ "Locked Inside A Nightmare." 60 Minutes. May 2000. Retrieved on July 5, 2010.

^ Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.^[9]