Fulshear, Texas

History

The city incorporated in 1977.

Around 2003 the community only had 400 people. Growth in Fulshear exploded in the 2000s due to its proximity to Houston. Around 2008 the community had around 700 residents. In October 2013 the population went over 5,000. By that time, traffic was commonplace while historically it had not been.

Geography

Fulshear is located in northern Fort Bend County at 29°41′27″N 95°53′26″W (29.690824, -95.890531). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 8.15 square miles (21.12 km²), of which 8.09 square miles (20.95 km²) is land and 0.066 square miles (0.17 km²), or 0.79%, is water.

It is located at the intersection of Farm to Market Road 359 and Farm to Market Road 1093. Downtown Houston is 33 miles (53 km) to the east, and Wallis is 15 miles (24 km) to the west. Interstate 10 at Brookshire is 7 miles (11 km) to the north.

Fulshear has an extraterritorial jurisdiction of 37.11 square miles (96.1 km²). Of the general law cities in Texas, Fulshear has one of the largest ETJs.

Demographics

As of 2011 Fulshear has about 2,000 residents. As of December 2015, Fulshear had 3,741 registered voters.

As of the census of 2000, there were 716 people, 251 households, and 192 families residing in the city. The population density was 87.7 people per square mile (33.9/km²). There were 260 housing units at an average density of 31.8 per square mile (12.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 59.92% White, 24.02% African American, 0.42% Native American, 0.70% Asian, 13.41% from other races, and 1.54% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 22.49% of the population.

There were 251 households out of which 39.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.9% were married couples living together, 11.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.5% were non-families. 20.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.85 and the average family size was 3.33.

In the city, the population was spread out with 32.1% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 27.4% from 25 to 44, 25.3% from 45 to 64, and 8.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 98.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $44,375, and the median income for a family was $54,444. Males had a median income of $40,893 versus $36,563 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,489. About 15.6% of families and 22.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.8% of those under age 18 and 27.6% of those age 65 or over.

Government and infrastructure

Fulshear is incorporated as a general law city. As of 2015 the taxation rate is 0.161631% per $100 valuation. Of the taxation rates in Fort Bend County, Fulshear's is among the lowest.

The United States Postal Service operates the Fulshear Post Office at 8055 Farm to Market Road 359 South.

Mayor Jeff W. Roberts was elected Mayor in 2016. Prior to becoming Mayor he served for 6 years on City Council and as Mayor Pro Tem for a portion of time.

Primary and secondary schools

Fulshear is zoned to schools in the Lamar Consolidated Independent School District (LCISD) and the Katy Independent School District (KISD) in separate portions.

The LCISD portion is served by:

Prior to 2016:

More than 2000 homes are located in the masterplan community of Cross Creek Ranch within the Fulshear city limits. A large portion of those homes are zoned to Katy ISD. There is Katy ISD elementary school, James Randolph, within Cross Creek Ranch. It opened in 2014 and was the first new public elementary school to open in the Fulshear city limits in a span of over three decades. Students Zoned to Katy ISD attend:

Public libraries

Fulshear's Bob Lutts Fulshear/Simonton Branch Library is a part of the Fort Bend County Libraries system. The branch, which opened in May 1998, was the third branch built with 1989 bond funds. The land currently occupied by the library was previously the Fort Bend County Precinct 4 headquarters. Bob Lutts, the precinct commissioner, offered the land to the library system. The Fulshear City Council asked the county to name the library after Lutts. The library is now within Precinct 3.

Postal service

The United States Postal Service operates the Fulshear Post Office at 8055 Farm to Market Road 359 South.

Transportation

Airports near Fulshear, located in unincorporated Fort Bend County, include Westheimer Air Park, Cardiff Brothers Airport, and Dewberry Heliport.

Area airports with commercial airline service include George Bush Intercontinental Airport and William P. Hobby Airport, both of which are in Houston.

Arts and culture

In 2011, the Fulshear Art Council (FAC), a non-profit 501c3 organization, was created to encourage and support the arts and arts education in Fulshear and the surrounding areas. The council began showcasing local artists and their artwork at events hosted in downtown Fulshear. These showcases now occur the first Tuesday of the month and are referred to as Arts and Drafts events. FAC changed its name to Arts Fulshear in 2012, and the organization began providing art and theater classes to local youth. In 2013, Arts Fulshear added adult art classes, and it began hosting the annual Fulshear Art Walk.

Documentaries

The documentary The Heart of Texas was filmed partly in Fulshear.