Texico, New Mexico

Name

The name is a portmanteau of "Texas" and "New Mexico". Texico is located on the Texas-New Mexico border. The town of Farwell borders Texico on the Texas side of the border.

Geography

Texico is located on the high plains of Eastern New Mexico in a region known as the Llano Estacado. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.8 square miles (2.1 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,065 people, 381 households, and 278 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,299.0 people per square mile (501.5/km²). There were 414 housing units at an average density of 504.9 per square mile (194.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 59.15% White, 4.60% African American, 1.22% Native American, 0.09% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 31.46% from other races, and 3.38% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 47.32% of the population.

There were 381 households out of which 37.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.4% were married couples living together, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.8% were non-families. 23.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.80 and the average family size was 3.34.

In the city, the population was spread out with 30.8% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 28.1% from 25 to 44, 19.7% from 45 to 64, and 12.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 97.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $24,519, and the median income for a family was $29,554. Males had a median income of $23,672 versus $15,250 for females. The per capita income for the city was $10,584. About 17.3% of families and 20.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.8% of those under age 18 and 19.4% of those age 65 or over.

Texico is not the biggest town. Some say if you blink, you might miss it. Texico has a population of 1,137 people. There is a total of 471 housing units throughout this town. Most are smaller houses with only a few rooms. According to the Census Bureau the median age of people living here are 30.4 years of age. 47 veterans call Texico home and Texico is very proud to have them here. The town does many things throughout the year to recognize these veterans. The local school does its best to try and be involved in this as well. The FFA organization at Texico High School does a Meet Me at the Pole to pray for the veterans and people who plan on going into the military. 70% of them graduate high school or get something higher than a high school diploma. The median income for a household is $32, 188. Texico has many hard-working people and that is visible when traveling through the town.

Climate

According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Texico has a semi-arid climate, abbreviated "BSk" on climate maps.

Popular culture

Texico is also featured in the Egyptian Film "Viva Zalata" starring Fouad Al-Mohandes, a parody of the classical film "Viva Zapata".

Texico is the name of the town in the 2008 movie Swing Vote starring Kevin Costner. Although the name of the city was used, the actual filming was done in Belen, New Mexico, south of Albuquerque.

The Broken Social Scene song "Texico Bitches," from their 2010 album, Forgiveness Rock Record, is inspired by women from the city of Texico.

The pride and joy of Texico, New Mexico is its school. The first school house was built in 1902, starting out with only a few students. The elementary, junior high, and high school are all on the same campus, so when you move from one to the other you are not moving far. Texico Schools is a 3A school with about 40 to 50 kids in each grade. There is a waiting list to get into the school for those who do not live in the district. Texico is known for its academic accomplishments, as well as its accomplishments in sports. This school was one of the only ones in that state that was awarded Blue Ribbon School for its outstanding academic qualities. Texico High School has more state championships in sports than about anyone else in the entire state. The high school also offers FCCLA and FFA. These are also very successful programs with each going to state and national’s multiple times. The whole town supports the school very well. Most of the kids that live in Texico go to the school in Texico.

There are many different things that make up Texico and all its history. One of the coolest things about Texico is it is the oldest town in Curry County. Now that may come as a surprise seeing as it is so small, but it is. The first known permanent settler in Texico was Ira W. Taylor. Taylor was reported to have a 160 acre claim there in Texico. In 1906 Methodist, Baptist, Congressionalist, and Christian churches were built. Texico still has many churches for being such a small town. As said on www.curry.nmgenweb.us, “After Texico was established, a box car was set on a switch as a train station house and train loads of material were unloaded.” After the railroad decided to make Texico the Belen cut-off, the town erupted with people. People moved in and set up shop. Saloons were established everywhere and it was a very busy. When the railroad decided to put the cut-off in Clovis, New Mexico just nine miles west of Texico, everyone closed shop and moved things to Clovis. Today Clovis is much bigger than Texico, but still only nine miles away. Many people enjoy Texico because it is not a big town like Clovis, but you are still close enough to a bigger town when you need things. Now little Texico has two gas station, a few eating places, a Dollar General, and Rebecca’s, a local clothing store. There is also a community center right across for the city park. There is not really a grocery store in Texico, but there is a Walmart just down the road in Clovis. Another nice thing about Texico is that we are only about an hour and a half from Lubbock, Texas and about an hour from Amarillo, Texas. When people need any really big items they cannot find in Clovis, we just drive down to Lubbock or Amarillo.