Wichita Falls, Texas
Wichita Falls is a city in and the county seat of Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay, and Wichita Counties. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 102,316, making it the 43rd-most populous city in Texas. Wichita Falls is home to Midwestern State University, enrolling more than 5,500 students.
History
From the early 18th century to the mid 19th century, the Wichita Falls area was inhabited by the Wichita and the Comanche people. The Spanish called the lands controlled by the Comanche as Comancheria. The Wichita were forced onto a reservation in Oklahoma after 1859. The last battle with the Comanche in this area occurred in 1872 and the Comanche were finally defeated in 1874.Anglo American presence in the area began in the 1860s. The future city was platted and named Wichita Falls on September 27, 1876, as the Wichita River runs through the area and a waterfall was in the river's course in 1876. The first permanent resident arrived in 1879. In 1886, a flood destroyed the original waterfall on the Wichita River for which the city was named. The city built an artificial waterfall in 1987 beside the river in Lucy Park. The recreated falls are high.
On the day the city was named in 1876, a sale of town lots was held at what is now the corner of Seventh and Ohio Streets – the birthplace of the city. The Fort Worth & Denver City Railway arrived in September 1882, the same year the city became the county seat of Wichita County. The city grew westwards from the original FW&DC train depot which was located at the northwest corner of Seventh Street and the FW&DC. This area is now referred to as the Depot Square Historic District, which has been declared a Texas Historic Landmark.
The early history of Wichita Falls well into the 20th century also rests on the work of two entrepreneurs, Joseph A. Kemp and his brother-in-law, Frank Kell. Kemp and Kell were pioneers in food processing and retailing, flour milling, railroads, cattle, banking, and oil.
The city is home to the Newby-McMahon Building, constructed downtown in 1919 and featured in Robert Ripley's Ripley's Believe It or Not!.
Downtown Wichita Falls was the city's main shopping area for many years. Those shops lost ground to the creation of new shopping centers throughout the city beginning with Parker Square in 1953 and other similar developments during the 1960s and 1970s, culminating with the opening of Sikes Senter Mall in 1974. The city has been seeking funding to rebuild and restore the downtown area since 2010.
Wichita Falls was once home to offices of several oil companies and related industries, along with oil refineries operated by the Continental Oil Company until 1952 and Panhandle Oil Company. Both firms continued to use a portion of their former refineries as gasoline/oil terminal facilities for many years.
1964 tornado
A powerful F5-rated tornado hit the northern and northwestern portions of Wichita Falls, along with Sheppard Air Force Base during the afternoon of April 3, 1964. As the first violent tornado on record to hit the Wichita Falls area, it left seven dead and more than 100 injured. Additionally, the tornado caused roughly $15 million in property damage with about 225 homes destroyed and another 250 damaged. It was rated F5, the highest rating on the Fujita scale, but it is overshadowed by the 1979 tornado.1979 tornado
An F4 tornado struck the heavily populated southern sections of Wichita Falls in the late afternoon on Tuesday, April 10, 1979. It was part of an outbreak that produced 30 tornadoes around the region. Despite having nearly an hour's advance warning that severe weather was imminent, 42 people were killed and 1,800 were injured because it arrived just as many people were driving home from work. It left 20,000 people homeless and caused $400 million in damage, a U.S. record not topped by an individual tornado until the F5 Moore–Oklahoma City tornado of May 3, 1999.Geography and climate
Wichita Falls is about south of the border with Oklahoma, northwest of Fort Worth, and southwest of Oklahoma City. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of, of which is covered by water.Wichita Falls experiences a humid subtropical climate, featuring long, very hot and humid summers, and cool winters. The city has some of the highest summer daily maximum temperatures in the entire U.S. outside of the Desert Southwest. Temperatures have hit as early as March 27 and as late as October 17, but more typically reach that level on 28 days annually, with 102 days of or higher annually; the average window for the latter mark is April 9–October 10. However, 59 to 60 nights of freezing lows occur, and an average of 4.8 days where the high does not rise above freezing. The monthly daily average temperature ranges from in January to in July. The record low temperature is on January 4, 1947. The highest recorded temperature is on June 28, 1980. Snowfall is sporadic and averages per season, while rainfall is typically greatest in early summer.
From 2010 through 2013, Wichita Falls, along with a large portion of the south-central US, experienced a persistent drought. In September 2011, Wichita Falls became the first Texas city to have 100 days of or higher within one year. On every day from June 22 to August 12, the temperature reached 100 °F or higher, and from May 27 to September 3, the temperature reached 90 °F or higher. In addition, the all-time warm daily minimum of was set on July 26, and June, July, and August of that year were all the hottest on record.
During the 2015 Texas–Oklahoma floods, Wichita Falls broke its all-time record for the wettest month, with 17.00 inches of rain recorded in May 2015.
Notes:
Demographics
2020 census
estimates, there were people and households. The population density was. There were housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the city was 52.1% White, 30.8% Black or African American, 3.6% some other race, 2.8% Asian, 1.0% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and 0.6% Native American or Alaskan Native, with 9.1% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 22.4% of the population.Of the households, 30.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 27.4% had seniors 65 years or older living with them, 40.1% were married couples living together, 6.9% were couples cohabitating, 24.0% had a male householder with no partner present, and 29.0% had a female householder with no partner present. The median household size was and the median family size was.
The age distribution was 22.9% under 18, 13.9% from 18 to 24, 27.0% from 25 to 44, 21.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.9% who were 65 or older. The median age was years. For every 100 females, there were males.
The median income for a household was $, with family households having a median income of $ and non-family households $. The per capita income was $. Out of the people with a determined poverty status, 15.2% were below the poverty line. Further, 21.4% of minors and 16.3% of seniors were below the poverty line.
In the survey, residents self-identified with various ethnic ancestries. People of German descent made up 9.6% of the population of the town, followed by Irish at 6.5%, English at 6.3%, American at 5.1%, Italian at 2.7%, Swedish at 1.9%, Scotch-Irish at 1.1%, Dutch at 1.1%, Sub-Saharan African at 1.0%, Scottish at 0.9%, French at 0.9%, and Norwegian at 0.8%.
Economy
Top employers
According to Wichita Falls Chamber of Commerce, the top employers in the city are:| # | Employer | # of Employees |
| 1 | Sheppard Air Force Base | 7,222 |
| 2 | Wichita Falls Independent School District | 2,378 |
| 3 | United Regional Health Care System | 2,100 |
| 4 | Midwestern State University | 1,276 |
| 5 | City of Wichita Falls | 1,217 |
| 6 | Arconic | 1,072 |
| 7 | Walmart | 1,009 |
| 8 | North Texas State Hospital -Wichita Falls campus | 1,000 |
| 9 | Vitro | 934 |
| 10 | Texas Department of Criminal Justice James V. Allred Unit | 921 |