Point, Texas

Point, Texas
City
Location of Point, Texas
Coordinates: 32°55′46″N95°52′25″W / 32.92944°N 95.87361°W / 32.92944; -95.87361
Country	United States
State	Texas
County	Rains
Area [1]
• Total	2.78 sq mi (7.21 km2)
• Land	2.76 sq mi (7.14 km2)
• Water	0.03 sq mi (0.07 km2)
Elevation [2]	509 ft (155 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	745
• Density	270/sq mi (100/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code	75472
Area code	430, 903
FIPS code	48-58532 [3]
GNIS feature ID	2411448 [2]

Point is a city in Rains County, Texas, United States. The population was 745 at the 2020 census.

History

Settled circa 1880 as a flag station on a section of the Missouri–Kansas–Texas (MKT) Railroad being built from Mineola to Greenville, the name submitted for a post office was initially Rice's Point, in honor of early area settler William Rice. When that was rejected, the name Point was accepted. By 1890, the community had an estimated population of fifty, a public school, and four churches. Ten men, led by newspaperman Isaac Newton Gresham, met in Point on August 28, 1902, and signed a charter to establish the Farmers' Educational and Cooperative Union of America. ^[4] The organization went national in 1905 and had a million members by 1908. In 1913, Point established the first independent school district in Rains County. The number of residents had risen to around 600 in 1914. The Great Depression severely impacted the community, leading to a rapid decline in population and the number of businesses in Point. The paving of U.S. Route 69 in the early 1940s bolstered the population to approximately 420, but that figure had again declined to 350 by the end of that decade. The MKT line was abandoned in the mid-1950s. In 1957, the Iron Bridge Dam was constructed on the Sabine River to form Lake Tawakoni. When the lake reached its fullest extent in 1960, it was only four miles from Point. Point was incorporated as a city in 1966. Development along the shores of Lake Tawakoni eventually became a separate community, East Tawakoni, which incorporated in 1967. ^[5] Point's population was 419 in 1970 and slowly grew, due to a combination of tourism and its role as a local agricultural trade center. The 1990 census reported 645 residents living in the city and 792 in 2000. ^[4]

Geography

Point is situated at the junction of U.S. Route 69 and Farm Roads 47 and 514 in northwestern Rains County, approximately eight miles northwest of Emory and sixty miles east of Dallas. ^[5]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.78 square miles (7.2 km²), of which 2.76 square miles (7.1 km²) is land.

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Point has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps. ^[6]

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1970	419		—
1980	468		11.7%
1990	645		37.8%
2000	792		22.8%
2010	820		3.5%
2020	745		−9.1%
U.S. Decennial Census [7]

Point racial composition as of 2020 ^[8]
(NH = Non-Hispanic) ^{[lower-alpha 1]}

Race	Number	Percentage
White (NH)	632	84.83%
Black or African American (NH)	7	0.94%
Native American or Alaska Native (NH)	8	1.07%
Asian (NH)	3	0.4%
Some Other Race (NH)	3	0.4%
Mixed/Multi-Racial (NH)	25	3.36%
Hispanic or Latino	67	8.99%
Total	745

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 745 people, 342 households, and 260 families residing in the city.

Education

The City of Point is served by the Rains Independent School District.

References

1. "2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
2. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Point, Texas
3. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau . Retrieved January 31, 2008.
4. "Point, Texas". The Handbook of Texas online. Retrieved August 18, 2009.
5. "Point, Texas". Texas Escapes Online Magazine. Retrieved August 18, 2009.
6. Climate Summary for Point, Texas
7. "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
8. "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
9. https://www.census.gov/ ^{[ not specific enough to verify ]}
10. "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. ^{[9] [10]}