Cuero is a city in DeWitt County, Texas,
United States. The population was 6,571 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of DeWitt County6. It is also unofficially known as the "turkey
capital of the world" (this is reflected in the school mascot, the Gobblers).
Geography
Cuero is located at 29°5′37″N, 97°17′28″W (29.093638,
-97.291122)1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area
of 12.8 km² (4.9 mi²). 12.8 km² (4.9 mi²) of it is
land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi²) of it (0.40%) is water.
Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 6,571 people, 2,500 households, and 1,695 families residing
in the city. The population density was 513.6/km² (1,331.1/mi²). There were 2,867
housing units at an average density of 224.1/km² (580.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 67.25% White, 16.71% African American, 0.61% Native American, 0.52% Asian, 12.84% from other races, and 2.07% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 34.73% of the population.
There were 2,500 households out of which 33.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.2% were married couples living together, 16.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.2% were
non-families. 29.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or
older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.13.
In the city the population was spread out with 27.1% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 24.4% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from
45 to 64, and 19.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 86.1 males.
For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $24,931, and the median income for a family was $29,500. Males had a median
income of $26,154 versus $16,551 for females. The per capita income for the city was
$14,286. About 21.5% of families and 26.8% of the population were below the poverty
line, including 34.6% of those under age 18 and 20.1% of those age 65 or over.
History
The city of Cuero had its start in the mid 19th century as a stopping point on the Chisholm
Trail cattle route to Kansas. However, it wasn't recoginzed as a town until 1873 when it
was officially founded. The city was named for the Spanish word meaning "hide", referring to the leather made from animal hides.
The industry was extremely short-lived, however, and gave way to various forms of ranching. The city's population grew
considerably in the 1870s and 1880s as residents from the coastal town of Indianola,
Texas settled here after major hurricanes in this period destroyed sizeable portions of their city. The city thrived
through much of the late 19th and early 20th century by the introduction and practice of turkey ranching in the area. Today,
agriculture is still the primary industry in the Cuero region. Cuero is considered to be one of the top cattle producers and
shippers in Texas.
Cuero was the birthplace of Leo Frank and Brandon Sarlls.
Education
The City of Cuero is served by the Cuero Independent School
District.
Sighting of Chupacabra in 2007
Phylis Canion, resident of Cuero, Texas, and a former hunter with African experience, along
with some neighbors found roadkills near her farm in August 2007 that she believed was
mythical, bloodsucking chupacabra. She kept the head of the beast in her freezer. On
September 1 2007 she showed the head of the beast to
journalists and said that, "It is one ugly creature." The putative Texan chupacabrawhose head she had exhibited had big ears, large fanged teeth and
grayish-blue, mostly hairless skin. Earlier Canion said that she had lost some chickens to wild animals recently. Canion based
her premise that the animal that kiiled her chickens was not a coyote, but perhaps the vampire-like beast, because, according to
her, chickens weren't eaten or carried off, but, blood was sucked off from them. The alleged sighting had triggered off an
international and countrywide craze. Canion started selling $5 T-shirts that read: "2007, The Summer of the Chupacabra, Cuero,
Texas." both locally and to foreign countries.
External links
Coordinates:
29.093638° N 97.291122°
W
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