Albany, Texas

Albany, Texas
City
Shackelford County Courthouse Shackelford County Courthouse
Motto(s):  Home of the Hereford
Coordinates: 32°43′38″N 99°17′44″W
Country	United States
State	Texas
County	Shackelford
Area
• Total	Template:Infobox settlement/areadisp
• Land	Template:Infobox settlement/areadisp
• Water	Template:Infobox settlement/areadisp
Elevation	Template:Infobox settlement/lengthdisp
Population  (2020)
• Total	1,854
• Density	Template:Infobox settlement/densdisp
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code	76430
Area code(s)	325
FIPS code	48-01648
GNIS feature ID	2409676
Website	https://albany-texas.org/

Albany is a city in Shackelford County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,854 at the 2020 Census. It is the county seat of Shackelford County.

History

Established in 1873, Albany was named by county clerk William Cruger after his former home of Albany, Georgia.

Lieutenant Colonel William Dyess, survivor of the Bataan Death March in the Philippines and namesake of Dyess Air Force Base, was born in Albany on August 9, 1916.

Major General Robert B. Williams, who led the World War II aerial bombing raid on Schweinfurt, Germany, was born in Albany on November 9, 1901.

Geography

Albany is located northeast of Abilene, the seat of Taylor County.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.5 square miles (3.8 km²), all land.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 1,854 people, 760 households, and 405 families residing in the city. The median age was 41.9 years, 24.8% of residents were under the age of 18, and 22.0% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 86.3 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 84.0 males age 18 and over.

0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.

Of those households, 30.4% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 52.0% were married-couple households, 15.1% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 28.9% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 28.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 895 housing units, of which 15.1% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 77.1% were owner-occupied and 22.9% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.1% and the rental vacancy rate was 9.8%.

Racial composition as of the 2020 census

Race	Percent
White	86.6%
Black or African American	0.7%
American Indian and Alaska Native	0.4%
Asian	0.5%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander	0%
Some other race	5.7%
Two or more races	6.1%
Hispanic or Latino (of any race)	14.0%

2000 census

As of the census of 2000, 1,921 people, 746 households, and 531 families resided in the city. The population density was 1,305.9 inhabitants per square mile (504.2/km²). The 880 housing units averaged 598.2 per square mile (231.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 93.13% White, 0.68% African American, 0.47% Native American, 4.84% from other races, and 0.88% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 8.07% of the population.

Of the 746 households, 33.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.1% were married couples living together, 8.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.7% were not families. Of all households, 27.3% were made up of individuals, and 16.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.08.

In the city, the population was distributed as 27.0% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 25.4% from 25 to 44, 23.0% from 45 to 64, and 18.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $31,563, and for a family was $40,592. Males had a median income of $28,846 versus $17,411 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,470. About 8.1% of families and 9.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.1% of those under age 18 and 11.1% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Albany is served by the Albany Independent School District. Their mascot is the Lion and their school colors are red and white.

• Nancy Smith Elementary (Grades PK–6)
  • 2006 National Blue Ribbon School
• Albany Junior/Senior High School (Grades 7–12)

Transportation

Highways

• File:US 180.svg U.S. Route 180
• Error creating thumbnail: U.S. Route 283
• File:Texas 6.svg Texas State Highway 6
• File:Texas FM 601.svg Farm to Market 601
• File:Texas FM 1084.svg Farm to Market 1084

Air

Albany Municipal Airport is a city-owned public-use airport located two nautical miles (3.7 km) east of the central business district.

Fort Griffin Fandangle

Template:Promotional section Since 1938, Texas' oldest outdoor musical, the Fort Griffin Fandangle, has been presented during the last two weekends of June in the Prairie Theater about historic Fort Griffin, a military outpost established in 1867 near Albany and now a state park. The program, the content of which is different each year, attempts to recapture the theatrical charm of the American West.

The show offers covered wagons and buggies, a stagecoach, a replica of the first Texas Central Railroad train, an oil derrick, and cowboys whose ancestors pushed Longhorn herds up the nearby Great Western Cattle Trail. The Dallas Morning News describes Fandangle, accordingly: "as professional as a multimillion dollar Broadway musical, with sets and costumes to match, with a cast of three hundred". The Abilene Reporter-News calls the program "Frontier history served up with genuine earthiness, spiced by rare humor."

See also

• Albany News

External links

• www.albanytexas.org Albany's City Hall website
• Albany's Chamber of Commerce website
• The Albany News
• Fort Griffin Fandangle Association
• The Old Jail Art Center
• Albany Independent School District
• Fort Griffin State Park Archived August 20, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
• Handbook of Texas