Victoria

This article or section has multiple issues. Please help improve the article or discuss these issues on the talk page. It reads like a personal reflection or essay. Tagged since July 2009. It may require general cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Tagged since July 2009. Sections should be added to this article, to conform with Wikipedia's Manual of Style. Tagged since July 2009.

City of Victoria
—  City  —
Seal
Location in the state of Texas
Coordinates: 28°49′1″N 96°59′36″W / 28.81694°N 96.99333°W / 28.81694; -96.99333
Country	United States
State	Texas
County	Victoria
Government
- Mayor	Richard Deases
Area
- City	33.1 sq mi (85.8 km2)
- Land	33.0 sq mi (85.9 km2)
- Water	0.2 sq mi (0.2 km2)
Elevation	95 ft (29 m)
Population (2000)
- City	60,603
- Urban	89,992
- Metro	301,291
Time zone	CST (UTC-6)
- Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code	77901, 77902, 77903, 77904, 77905
Area code(s)	361
FIPS code	48-75428[1]
GNIS feature ID	1370631[2]
Website	[1]

Victoria is a city in and the county seat of Victoria County, Texas, United States.^[3] The population was 60,603 at the 2000 census. The three counties of the Victoria Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 111,163 at the 2000 census,^[4] a major part of the region known as the "Golden Crescent". Victoria is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Victoria in Texas.

Victoria is named for General Guadalupe Victoria, who became the first president of independent Mexico.^[5]

Location

Goodwin Street in downtown Victoria

Victoria is located thirty miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico and is within a two-hour drive of Corpus Christi, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin. The city is a regional hub for a seven-county area and serves a retail trade area of over 250,000 people^{[citation needed]}. The city is known as "The Crossroads"^{[citation needed]} because of its location centered among the four previously mentioned cities.

Victoria is home to the University of Houston–Victoria and Victoria College, a community college.

Geography and climate

The city is located at 28°49′1″N 96°59′36″W / 28.81694°N 96.99333°W / 28.81694; -96.99333 (28.816866, -96.993462)^[6]. It is one of the state's old, historic cities. The original colony founded in 1824 was named for the first president of Mexico, Don Guadalupe Victoria.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 33.1 square miles (85.8 km²), of which, 33.0 square miles (85.4 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.4 km²) of it (0.45%) is water.

Demographics

As of census^[1] of 2000, there were 60,603 people, 22,129 households, and 15,755 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,838.3 people per square mile (709.7/km²). There were 24,192 housing units at an average density of 733.8/sq mi (283.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 71.18% White, 7.59% African American, 0.51% Native American, 1.01% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 17.31% from other races, and 2.35% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 42.92% of the population.

There were 22,129 households out of which 36.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.4% were married couples living together, 14.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.8% were non-families. 24.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.21.

In the city the population was spread out with 28.8% under the age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 28.0% from 25 to 44, 21.0% from 45 to 64, and 12.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 92.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $36,829, and the median income for a family was $42,866. Males had a median income of $34,184 versus $21,161 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,009. About 12.2% of families and 14.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.4% of those under the age of 18 and 12.2% ages 65 or older.

Recreation

Victoria’s 562-acre (2.27 km²) Riverside Park is home to the Texas Zoo which houses more than 200 species of animals and plants that are indigenous to Texas, exhibiting them in their natural habitat.

There are three golf courses located in Victoria. The Victoria Country Club, Riverside Golf Course, and Colony Creek Country Club.

Riverside Park is home to more than fifteen baseball fields which are occupied during the spring and summer by teams from the Victoria Metro region.

Also in Riverside park on the Guadeloupe River there is the Victoria Paddling trail. This 4.2 mile stretch of the Guadalupe River is bordered by scenic soft banks rather than the limestone bluffs of the Hill Country. This quiet reach can be paddled in 1–3 hours depending on flow rates.

Libraries

The Victoria Public Librarycontains approximately 127,000 volumes at its downtown location. Victoria College and the University of Houston–Victoria share the VC/UHV Library on their joint campus.

Health care

Victoria has two major hospital systems: Citizens Medical Center and Detar Hospitals (Navarro and North. Citizens has been named one of the top 100^[8] hospitals in the nation for the past 3 consecutive years(2006-2008). It also has a specialty hospital by the name of Victoria Warm Springs Hospital.

Tourism

Rosebud Fountain and Grill has been highlighted on Bob Phillips' Texas Country Reporter.

Victoria has 4,450 hotels-motels rooms. The Victoria Community Center is the largest enclosed convention/exhibit facility in the Golden Crescent region, with over 68,000 square feet (6,300 m²). The Victoria Chamber of Commerce, Victoria African-American Chamber of Commerce, and the Victoria Convention and Visitors Bureau can assist with tourism-related inquires.

Fossati's Delicatessen is located in downtown Victoria, it was opened in 1882 by Italian immigrant Fraschio ("Frank") Napoleon Fossati. After 125 years, Fossati's is still owned and operated by the same family.

The Rosebud Fountain and Grill downtown is a restoration of the diner atmosphere popular in the 1950s. The restaurant, located in a bright red corner building at North Main and West Constitution streets, has been featured in Bob Phillips' Texas Country Reporter syndicated television series.

Victoria has a small but acclaimed art museum -- the Nave Museum—located adjacent to the First Baptist Church. The Nave is named for Royston Nave, a Texas artist who achieved distinction in New York City in the 1920s. First Baptist in Victoria dates to 1852, when it was formed by eight persons, one of whom was a slave. The current sanctuary adjacent to the Nave Museum on Commerce Street was completed in the 1960s. FBC sometimes houses refugees from Gulf Coast hurricanes.^[9]

Downtown, Victoria has the second-oldest Roman Catholic Church in Texas and first to be canonically established in the Republic of Texas, St. Mary's Church ^[10], as well as congregations of most other denominations.

Transportation

Known as the South Texas Crossroads, Victoria is located at the intersection of three major U. S. highways:

• US Highway 59 (future Interstate 69,) is a four-lane divided interstate quality highway extending southwest to Laredo and northeast to Houston where it meets Interstate 10 and Interstate 45. It is also known as the Lloyd M. Bentsen Highway.

• US Highway 77 travels north from Victoria to the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex intersecting Interstate 10, Interstate 35, and Interstate 37. US 77 travels south via a four-lane divided highway to the Rio Grande Valley.

• US Highway 87 travels northwest connecting Victoria to San Antonio providing access to Interstate 35. US 87 also connects with Port Lavaca to the southeast.

Victoria is a regional transportation hub for the surrounding counties with local access to major large and small freight carriers, Victoria Regional Airport, railway terminals, the shallow draft Port of Victoria, and the deep water Port of Port Lavaca-Point Comfort.

Location from Victoria

Destinations from Victoria

	Cuero via Highway 87	Schulenburg, La Grange via Highway 77	El Campo, Rosenberg via Highway 59
	Kenedy via Highway 239		Bay City via Highway 111
		Victoria
	Goliad, Laredo via Highway 59	Refugio, Corpus Christi via Highway 77	Port Lavaca, Rockport via Highway 87

Largest companies and organizations

• Victoria Television Group (KAVU)
• INVISTA
• Victoria Chamber of Commerce
• Victoria College
• Mario's Auto Body
• Citizens Medical Center
• University of Houston–Victoria
• DeTar Hospital
• StarTek
• Gene's Machine, Inc.
• The Ron Brown Company
• ERA Realty Group Inc
• Atzenhoffer Chevrolet-Mitsubishi-Mazda
• Clegg Industries Inc
• Victoria Independent School District
• First Victoria National Bank
• Victoria Advocate
• Wells Fargo
• Wendell Smith Insurance - Seguin
• CivilCorp, LLC

Victoria gallery

Wells Fargo tops the Victoria skyline	Downtown Victoria	A second look at downtown Victoria	Confederate Monument in downtown park in Victoria
The historic First Baptist Church of Victoria dates to 1852, though the sanctuary was completed during the 1960s.	St. Mary's Catholic Church in downtown Victoria	Nave Museum	Gazebo in downtown park across from Victoria County Courthouse

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Victoria, Texas

• City of Victoria, Texas
• Victoria Economic Development Corporation economic development
• The Victoria Advocate newspaper
• MarketplaceVictoria.com
• Aloe Army Air Field from the Handbook of Texas Online
• Port of Victoria and the Victoria Barge Canal
• Victoria Advocate

• Victoria, Texas is at coordinates 28°49′01″N 96°59′36″W / 28.816866°N 96.993462°W / 28.816866; -96.993462 (Victoria, Texas)Coordinates: 28°49′01″N 96°59′36″W / 28.816866°N 96.993462°W / 28.816866; -96.993462 (Victoria, Texas)

v • d • e Municipalities and communities of Victoria County, Texas County seat: Victoria City Victoria CDPs Bloomington | Inez Unincorporated communities McFaddin | Nursery | Placedo | Telferner

v • d • e   State of Texas Austin (capital) Topics Architecture | Climate | Culture | Demographics | Economy | Education | Geography | Government | History | Languages | Literature | Politics | Sports | Texans | Transportation | Symbols | Visitor Attractions Regions Ark‑La‑Tex | Big Bend | Blackland Prairies | Brazos Valley | Central Texas | Coastal Bend | Cross Timbers | Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex | Deep East Texas | East Texas | Edwards Plateau | Galveston Bay | Golden Triangle | Greater Houston | Hill Country | Llano Estacado | Longview–Marshall | Northeast Texas | North Texas | Osage Plains | Panhandle | Permian Basin | Piney Woods | Rio Grande Valley | Southeast Texas | South Plains | South Texas | West Texas Metropolitan areas Abilene | Amarillo | Austin–Round Rock | Beaumont–Port Arthur | Brownsville–Harlingen | College Station–Bryan | Corpus Christi | Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington | El Paso | Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown | Killeen–Temple–Fort Hood | Laredo | Longview | Lubbock | McAllen–Edinburg–Mission | Midland | Odessa | San Angelo | San Antonio | Sherman–Denison | Texarkana | Tyler | Victoria | Waco | Wichita Falls Counties See: Table of Texas counties  or List