Fabens, Texas

Fabens, Texas
Census-designated place
Motto:  GO WILDCATS
Location of Fabens, Texas
Coordinates: 31°30′18″N106°9′15″W / 31.50500°N 106.15417°W / 31.50500; -106.15417
Country	United States
State	Texas
County	El Paso
Area
• Total	4.35 sq mi (11.26 km2)
• Land	4.32 sq mi (11.20 km2)
• Water	0.02 sq mi (0.06 km2)
Elevation	3,615 ft (1,102 m)
Population  (2010)
• Total	8,257
• Density	1,900/sq mi (730/km2)
Time zone	UTC-7 (Mountain (MST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-6 (MDT)
ZIP codes	79836 & 79838
Area code	915
FIPS code	48-25032 [1]
GNIS feature ID	1357151 [2]

Fabens is a census-designated place (CDP) in El Paso County, Texas, United States. The population was 8,257 at the 2010 census. ^[3] It is part of the El Paso Metropolitan Statistical Area. The ZIP Codes encompassing the CDP area are 79836 and 79838. ^[4]

Fabens is the birthplace of jockey Bill Shoemaker.

Geography

Fabens is located at 31°30′18″N106°9′15″W / 31.50500°N 106.15417°W / 31.50500; -106.15417 (31.505072, -106.154129). ^[5] According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 4.35 square miles (11.26 km²), of which 4.32 square miles (11.20 km²) is land and 0.023 square miles (0.06 km²), or 0.52%, is water. ^[3]

Fabens is approximately 30 miles (48 km) southeast of El Paso along the Rio Grande and Interstate Highway 10. Most visitors only stop for short periods of time to eat at one of the several restaurants or stay overnight in the hotel.

History

The city name of Fabens comes from attorney George Wilson Fabens, who worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad. He was the assistant land commissioner for the Southern Pacific Lines in Texas and Louisiana. As the railroad was being built, new towns were named after railroad officers.

Mr. Fabens was born on October 29, 1857, in Marblehead, Massachusetts. He was one of seven siblings. Fabens died in Marblehead on November 17, 1939, at age 82. His parents were Captain Samuel Augustus Fabens and Mary Glover Wilson Fabens.

Film location

In April 1972, Fabens served as a location for the filming of the Sam Peckinpah film The Getaway. The crime drama, starring Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw, was replete with explosions, car chases and intense shootouts. The film would become Peckinpah's and McQueen's biggest financial success to date, earning more than $25 million at the box office.

Medical Services

Dr. Angus Treece owned Fabens Hospital and served the Fabens community for twenty three years before he died on September 9, 1963. He was fifty seven when he died. Dr. Treece also owned the Sunrise Medical Clinic in El Paso. ^[6]

One of the earliest medical doctors residing in Fabens was Dr. Donald Higdon. His family settled there in 1954 when the population of Fabens was about 2500. Dr. Higdon both lived in Fabens and served the community.

As a general practitioner, he was the primary physician in the relatively rural area. Dr. Higdon was well known for his reputation for birthing babies in the area, traveling to the houses of expectant mothers to provide his services to the many who could not afford delivery in a hospital. His numerical record of assisting at births set records for El Paso County and west Texas. In addition, Dr. Higdon was the on-call local physician and answered many emergency calls for assistance.

He served as the team doctor for the Fabens High School Wildcats during his time in Fabens.

In 1964, Dr. Francisco Vilorio became the owner of Fabens Hospital. He died on January 24, 2019. ^[7]

2005 border incident

On February 17, 2005, Fabens was the nearest location to a border incident that made national headlines, when Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean were convicted and sentenced to prison terms of eleven and ten years, respectively, for shooting Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila, an undocumented immigrant and alleged drug smuggler who was unarmed when he was shot. Aldrete-Davila was given immunity for his testimony and sued the Border Patrol for $5 million for violation of his civil rights. ^[8]

Ramos and Compean had their sentences commuted by President George W. Bush during his last full day in office on January 19, 2009, although they did not receive a pardon for their convictions. They were released from prison on March 20, 2009, and in December 2020 President Donald Trump pardoned them for their crimes. ^[9]

Demographics

2020 census

Fabens racial composition ^[10]
(NH = Non-Hispanic) ^{[lower-alpha 1]}

Race	Number	Percentage
White (NH)	149	1.99%
Black or African American (NH)	6	0.08%
Asian (NH)	1	0.01%
Some Other Race (NH)	10	0.13%
Mixed/Multi-Racial (NH)	17	0.23%
Hispanic or Latino	7,315	97.56%
Total	7,498

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 7,498 people, 1,511 households, and 1,045 families residing in the CDP.

2000 census

As of the census ^[1] of 2000, there were 8,043 people, 2,147 households, and 1,874 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 2,179.8 inhabitants per square mile (841.6/km²). There were 2,279 housing units at an average density of 617.7 per square mile (238.5/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 3.30% White, 0.57% African American, 0.80% Native American, 1.02% Asian, 21.73% from other races, and 2.86% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino were 96.16% of the population.^{[ citation needed ]}

There were 2,147 households, out of which 55.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.7% were married couples living together, 23.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 12.7% were non-families. 11.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.75 and the average family size was 4.07.^{[ citation needed ]}

In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 39.3% under the age of 18, 11.1% from 18 to 24, 26.7% from 25 to 44, 15.1% from 45 to 64, and 7.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 25 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.9 males.^{[ citation needed ]}

The median income for a household in the CDP was $18,486, and the median income for a family was $20,451. Males had a median income of $17,432 versus $16,354 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $6,647. About 41.2% of families and 43.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 49.4% of those under age 18 and 40.0% of those age 65 or over.^{[ citation needed ]}

Education

• Fabens is served by the Fabens Independent School District.

References

1. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau . Retrieved January 31, 2008.
2. "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. October 25, 2007. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
3. "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Fabens CDP, Texas". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
4. Zip Codes for Fabens, El Paso County, Texas. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
5. "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
6. "Veteran Fabens Doctor Dies". El Paso Herald-Post. September 10, 1963.
7. Obituary held by Martin Funeral Home, El Paso, Texas.
8. "Breaking the Silence. Convicted border agent tells his story, by Sara A. Carter, accessed 12-22-2006". Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved December 22, 2006.
9. Villagran, Lauren (December 23, 2020). "Trump pardons El Paso Border Patrol agents convicted of shooting Mexican drug smuggler". El Paso Times.
10. "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
11. https://www.census.gov/ ^{[ not specific enough to verify ]}
12. "About the Hispanic Population and its Origin". www.census.gov. Retrieved May 18, 2022.

1. Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race. ^{[11] [12]}