Belton

Belton, Texas
—  City  —
Downtown Belton near Bell County Courthouse
Nickname(s): Beltown
Location of Belton, Texas
Coordinates: 31°3′32″N 97°27′48″W / 31.05889°N 97.46333°W / 31.05889; -97.46333Coordinates: 31°3′32″N 97°27′48″W / 31.05889°N 97.46333°W / 31.05889; -97.46333
Country	United States
State	Texas
County	Bell
Area
• Total	13.2 sq mi (34.1 km2)
• Land	12.5 sq mi (32.3 km2)
• Water	0.7 sq mi (1.7 km2)
Elevation	509 ft (155 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	18,216
• Density	1,171.3/sq mi (452.2/km2)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code	76513
Area code(s)	254
FIPS code	48-07492[1]
GNIS feature ID	1351858[2]

The Bell County Courthouse

The U.S. Post Office in Belton

Map of the city in 1881

Belton is a city in Bell County, Texas, United States. The population was 14,623 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Bell County^[3].

Belton is part of the Killeen – Temple – Fort Hood metropolitan area.

Geography

Belton is located at 31°3′32″N 97°27′48″W / 31.05889°N 97.46333°W / 31.05889; -97.46333 (31.058904, -97.463382)^[4].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 13.2 square miles (34 km²), of which, 12.5 square miles (32 km²) of it is land and 0.7 square miles (1.8 km²) of it (5.09%) is water.

Belton is just south of Temple and north of Salado on Interstate 35.

History

Belton was platted in 1850 with the name of Nolandville. It was given its current name in 1851, named after Texas' Governor, Peter Hansborough Bell. As the county seat of the like named Bell County the town seemed destined for growth. The l880's marked the town's brightest age, with the building of the courthouse, Mary Hardin Baylor buildings, and a "railroad war" in which, by 1881, Belton was bypassed by the railroad which built Temple, Texas as the local junction and depot town. In 1913 the city experienced a major flood.^[5] leading to the naming of Yettie Polk Park, from one of those who died. The town struggled along until the l942 creation of Fort Hood for tank training, and the town thrived.

Demographics

As of the census^[1] of 2010, there were 18,216 people and 5,380 households within the city, a 24.6% population growth from the 2000 census. The population density was 926.3 people per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 74.50% White, 8.10% African American, 0.90% Native American, 1.60% Asian, 0.20% Pacific Islander, 14.70% from other races, and 3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 29.10% of the population.

Out of 6,612 households in the city, 25.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them. 10.9% households were occupied by someone of 65 years and older. Multi-unit housing made up 30.20% of the households, and the homeownership rate was at 53.60%, which is 11.20% behind the state-wide average. The average household size was 2.73.

In the city, children of under 10 years old made up 14.90% of the population. Persons from 10 to 19 made up 16.70%, 20 to 29 made up 19.60%, 30 to 39 made up 11.60%, 40 to 49 made up 11.2%, 50 to 59 made up 10.80%, 60 to 69 made up 7.50%, and those 70 and older made up 7.75. The median age was 29.9 years.

The median income for a household in the city was $47,814. The per capita income for the city was $20,847. 18.7% of the city's population was below the poverty line.

Education

The City of Belton is served by the following Belton Independent School District schools:.

• Belton High School, serves 9th through 12th grade
• Belton New Tech High School at Waskow, serves 9th through 12th grade
• Lake Belton Middle School, serves 6th through 8th grade
• South Belton Middle School, serves 6th through 8th grade
• Belton Middle School, serves 6th through 8th grade
• Southwest Elementary, serves kindergarten through 5th grade
• Leon Heights Elementary, serves kindergarten through 5th grade
• Joe M. Pirtle Elementary, serves kindergarten through 5th grade
• Miller Heights Elementary, serves kindergarten through 5th grade
• Tarver Elementary, serves kindergarten through 5th grade
• Lakewood Elementary, serves kindergarten through 5th grade
• Tyler Elementary, serves kindergarten through 5th grade
• Sparta Elementary, serves kindergarten through 5th grade

Belton is also home to the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, a private university affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.^[6][7] As of 2010, UMHB has an enrollment of 2,956.^[8]

Sites of interest

The Bell County Museum is a Carnegie-funded structure.

Chuckwagon exhibit at Bell County Museum; the chuckwagon was invented by Texas cattleman Charles Goodnight.

The Bell County Expo Center is located in Belton and is the home of the CenTex Barracudas Indoor football team.

First Baptist Church of Belton

First Christian Church-next to the Bell County Courthouse.

For recreation, Belton has two major lakes: Belton Lake and Stillhouse Hollow Lake. There is also a water park, Summer Fun Water Park. Another notable recreation point is BLORA which is part of Ft. Hood and is located on Lake Belton

Belton is also home to a number of historic churches including First United Methodist Church, founded in 1850 and First Baptist Church, founded in 1853.

Notable residents

Actor George Eads grew up in Belton. He graduated from Belton High School in 1985.

Bass player Pat Seals from the alternative rock band Flyleaf is from Belton.

Actor Rudy Youngblood of Mel Gibson's film, Apocalypto, graduated from Belton High School.

General Walton Walker, the 8th Army Commander killed in action in the Korean War was born in Belton on December 3, 1889.

Model Jaclyn Poole of America's Next Top Model Cycle 16 graduated from Belton High School in 2009.

Musician Chris Marion of classic rock's Little River Band was born in Belton in 1962.

Rapper/Producer Noki Swazay hails from Belton and has a tattoo of the iconic Belton Water Tower on his right arm.

Henry T. Waskow, the basis of a famous article by Ernie Pyle, was a Belton native.

Physician W. Roy Smythe, M.D., Chairman of Surgery for Scott & White Memorial Hospital, the Scott & White Healthcare system and the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, grew up in Belton, and graduated from Belton High School in 1978.

Historian and rancher J. Evetts Haley was born in Belton and is buried beside his first wife, Nita Stewart Haley, in the Moffat Cemetery. However, he spent most of his life in Midland and Canyon in West Texas.

Football player David Ash is the starting quarterback for The University of Texas' football team.

George Jo Hennard shouted "This is what Belton did to me!" immediately before commencing the Luby's massacre.^[9][10][11]

Culture

Belton Lake and Dam

Home of the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame housed in the Bell County Expo Center.

Footnotes

External links

Texas portal

• Official website
• The Belton Journal - Texas's oldest continuously published weekly newspaper (since 1866)
• University of Mary Hardin-Baylor
• SeeBelton - General info on Belton, including calendar of upcoming events

	Morgan's Point Resort, Texas	Temple, Texas
	Nolanville, Texas
		Belton
		Salado, Texas

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Belton, Texas

v t e Municipalities and communities of Bell County, Texas, United States County seat: Belton Cities Bartlett‡ Belton Copperas Cove‡ Harker Heights Killeen Little River-Academy Morgan's Point Resort Nolanville Temple Troy Towns Holland Rogers Village Salado CDPs Fort Hood‡ Unincorporated communities Cyclone Ding Dong Doubleheader Heidenheimer Moffat Pendleton Prairie Dell Seaton White Hall Zabcikville Ghost towns Aligator Donahoe Okay Old Troy Sefcikville Sparta Stringtown Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

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