Fannett, Texas

Fannett is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Jefferson County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,363 at the 2020 census. It is about southwest of Beaumont and is part of the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area.

History

The community is named after B. J. Fannett, a local landowner who opened a general store there in the 1890s. When Japanese immigrants brought rice farming to the area, Fannett grew to meet the farmers' needs.
In 1993 and again in 2004, Fannett was the center of a controversy over the naming of Jap Road. The road had been named in the early 20th century in reference to the immigrant rice farmer Yoshio Mayumi. However, as social awareness increased over time, it became clear that the name was never meant to honor Mayumi and had always been an ethnic slur. Instead of naming the road after Mayumi, it was decided to change the name to Boondocks Road.
Fannett is home to the Clifton Steamboat Museum, which features a large exhibit on Lieutenant Commander Harry Brinkley Bass.

Race / Ethnicity	Pop 2010		% 2010
White alone	1,878	1,785	83.39%	75.54%
Black or African American alone	93	161	4.13%	6.81%
Native American or Alaska Native alone	4	1	0.18%	0.04%
Asian alone	44	68	1.95%	2.88%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone	0	3	0.00%	0.13%
Other race alone	0	2	0.00%	0.08%
Mixed race or Multiracial	15	83	0.67%	3.51%
Hispanic or Latino	218	260	9.68%	11.00%
Total	2,252	2,363	100.00%	100.00%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 2,363 people, 871 households, and 588 families residing in the CDP.