Holland, Texas

History

Holland has a history that reaches back years beyond the actual founding of the town, to a time before the Civil War when a community known as Mountain Home began to grow up near Gotcher's Mountain, a hill south of town. A post office was established on August 22, 1870, under the name Mountain Home with James Shaw as postmaster. On November 6, 1871, the Mountain Home post office was officially closed.

In 1881, an extension of the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad was laid out from Denison to Taylor, and the tracks were constructed through Bell County in 1881 and 1882, from north to south, passing through the Holland community. This was to bring about the town of Holland as it is known today.

James Reuben Holland was born in 1847 in Claiborne County, Tennessee. Holland arrived in Belton, Texas, on October 26, 1874, with a wagon and horses, his wife and four children and six dollars cash.

A. Moss made an application for the Mountain Home community to have a new post office again, but by that time the name "Mountain Home" had already been claimed by another community. Without Holland's knowledge, Moss submitted the name "Holland". The Holland post office was officially approved April 10, 1879, with the appointment of Alfred Evans as postmaster.

Holland married a young widow in 1867. The widow, Mary Tabitha Hutchens Moore, had one daughter, Macie, from her first marriage. Together Holland and Mary had five children: Ellis, Alice, Claude, Mary and another child that did not live. In 1877, Holland bought 105 acres (42 ha) of land along Darr's Creek for $5.00 an acre. The following year, Holland bought an additional 145 acres (59 ha) and built a steam-powered cotton gin.

Geography

Holland is located in southeastern Bell County at 30°52′51″N 97°24′16″W (30.880710, -97.404408). Texas State Highway 95 passes through the town, leading north 17 miles (27 km) to Temple and south 22 miles (35 km) to Taylor.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.8 square miles (4.6 km²), of which 0.019 square miles (0.05 km²), or 1.12%, is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,102 people, 388 households, and 287 families residing in the town. The population density was 625.0 people per square mile (241.8/km²). There were 432 housing units at an average density of 245.0/sq mi (94.8/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 85.57% White, 5.35% African American, 0.09% Native American, 0.54% Asian, 0.82% Pacific Islander, 4.81% from other races, and 2.81% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 20.24% of the population.

There were 388 households out of which 43.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.1% were married couples living together, 15.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.0% were non-families. 23.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.84 and the average family size was 3.38.

In the town, the population was spread out with 35.6% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 27.8% from 25 to 44, 19.3% from 45 to 64, and 9.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females there were 91.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.9 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $26,500, and the median income for a family was $31,250. Males had a median income of $25,114 versus $19,167 for females. The per capita income for the town was $11,360. About 24.2% of families and 30.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 41.2% of those under age 18 and 29.6% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Holland is served by the Holland Independent School District.

Festivities

Holland is home to the Corn Festival. The "Corn Fest", as the locals call it, is held every third Saturday in June. It traditionally includes a parade on Saturday, carnival from that Wednesday until Saturday, and live music and street dances on Friday and Saturday nights.

Community outreach

The Holland High School Leadership class is working on a community center.