Stafford, Texas

William Stafford established a plantation with a cane mill and a horse-powered cotton gin in 1830. On April 15, 1836, during the Texas Revolution, the forces of Antonio López de Santa Anna stopped at Stafford's plantation and ordered it to be burned. Stafford rebuilt his plantation and resided there until his 1840 death. A settlement called "Stafford's Point" established itself around the plantation; it became a townsite in August 1853, when the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado Railway began stopping there. Stafford's Point had a post office from 1854 to 1869. "Staffordville" had a post office from January 5, 1869 to February 26, 1869. The settlement, now known as "Stafford", operated a post office from 1869 to 1918; the post office reopened in 1929.[5]

In 1884, Stafford had 50 residents, two general stores, and a grocer. By 1896, the settlement had a population of 300. By 1914, the population fell to 100. In 1931, 320 people lived in Stafford. This increased to 400 residents in 1946. Stafford incorporated as a city in 1956.[5]

Map of Stafford

Stafford is located in eastern Fort Bend County at 29°37′27″N 95°33′48″W (29.624186, -95.563359).[6] A small portion of the city extends northeast into Harris County. It is bordered by the city of Houston to the north, Meadows Place to the northwest, Sugar Land to the west, and Missouri City to the south and east.

The Southwest Freeway (Interstate 69) passes through the northwest part of Stafford, leading northeast 16 miles (26 km) to the center of Houston and southwest 18 miles (29 km) to Rosenberg. U.S. 90 Alternate passes through Stafford as Main Street, leading west 5 miles (8 km) to Sugar Land and northeast 18 miles (29 km) to the Houston East End.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Stafford has a total area of 7.0 square miles (18.2 km²), of which 7.0 square miles (18.1 km²) are land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²), or 0.58%, is covered by water.[3]

As of the census[1] of 2010, 17,693 people, 6,750 households, and 4,483 families resided in the city. The population density was 2,527.6 people per square mile (867.4/km²). The 7,074 housing units averaged 1010.6 per square mile (353.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 36.6% White, 27.4% African American, 0.6% Native American, 22.8% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, 9.3% some other race, and 3.2% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 25.9% of the population.

Of the 6,750 households, 33.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.1% were married couples living together, 16.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.6% were not families. About 27.9% of all households were made up of individuals living alone, and 4.8% of individuals living alone were 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.25.

In the city, the population was distributed as 24.8% under the age of 18, 10.8% from 18 to 24, 32.7% from 25 to 44, 24.4% from 45 to 64, and 7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31.9 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.9 males.[10]

The median income for a household in the city was $61,084, and for a family was $63,244. Males had a median income of $46,023 versus $40,549 for females. The per capita income for the city was $27,082. About 6.3% of families and 9.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.4% of those under age 18 and 9.3% of those age 65 or over.

Stafford has not had a municipal property tax since 1995. Though it is known as a bedroom community of the greater Houston area, an estimated four times as many people work in Stafford on a week day, which is evidence of the large amount of commercial activity that helps the city financially. Many corporations both large and small, including the United Parcel Service and Tyco, maintain significant operations in Stafford.

Texas Instruments facility in Stafford: Texas Instruments was Stafford's largest employer.

Originally, Stafford was an agricultural community. As of 2009, it has operations from commercial, manufacturing, retail, service, and wholesale industries which pay sales and franchise taxes to the city. Stafford is known internationally for attracting valve manufacturing companies; 11 are located here. Stafford has 15 business parks, one shopping center, and 19 hotels and motels.[11]

Texas Instruments (TI) operates a production facility in Stafford, where it manufactures 6-inch (150 mm) wafers used in cell phones, high-definition televisions, and solar devices. The plant first opened in 1967.[12] In 2009, TI, which had around 1,500 employees in its Stafford office during that year, was the largest employer in the city.[11] In 2012, the company announced it is closing its Stafford plant because industry demand for larger, more efficient wafers increased and the company, in lieu of upgrading the Stafford plant to accommodate production of larger wafers, opted to shift production to newer plants.[12] Of the 1,000 employees at the plant during that year, TI laid off 500 and sent 500 to another facility. Leonard Scarcella, the mayor of Stafford, said that the closure would adversely affect Stafford.[13]

About 15 years ago, TI comprised about 25% of the city's economy and by 2012, it stood at about one-tenth of that, or 2.5%.[14] Some jobs at the plant were scheduled to end in July 2012. Other jobs were scheduled to remain until the factory's closure in late 2012. TI stated it plans opening another facility in greater Houston for the 500 remaining employees.[12] In 2012, TI announced that it was relocating its Fort Bend County operations to the Telfair area in Sugar Land.[15]

Stafford Civic Center

About 35.6 acres (144,000 m²) of greenspace in Stafford are designated as municipal parks. Stafford City Park, the largest, covers 16 acres (65,000 m²) of land. The park includes baseball and softball fields, basketball courts, a pavilion, playground equipment, picnic benches, and soccer (football)/open fields. Gordon Fountain Lake Park, covering 9 acres (36,000 m²), is the second-largest park in Stafford. It has a 1/2-mile, lighted, jogging trail, a lake, a pavilion, picnic benches, and playground equipment. The 4.5-acre (18,000 m²) Vaccaro Manor Park has a lighted, quarter-mile, jogging trail, a pavilion, playground equipment, sidewalks, and soccer/open fields. The 3.14-acre (12,700 m²) Rubin Park has playground equipment and picnic benches. First Street Park has 3 acres (12,000 m²) of land and includes baseball/softball fields, a jogging trail, lighting, and picnic benches. The Margaret Havens Historical Memorial Garden is located next to Stafford City Hall. Its rose garden, benches, and fountain have attracted many couples to be married there.[16] Stafford operates a Civic Center and a City Pool in the Municipal Complex. City residents pay $10 each year for pool access. The Stafford Centre Performing Arts Theatre and Convention Centre boasts a 1,100-seat performing arts theater; 25,000 square feet of meeting, banquet, and exposition space, including a 20,000-ft² ballroom; and over 28 acres of outdoor festival green space.[17]

Fort Bend County operates the 5-acre (20,000 m²) Stafford Community Center in Fifth Street, an unincorporated area near Stafford.[18]

In 2014 the Sugar Land Youth Cricket Club, a children's cricket club, was established. In 2016 it played its home games at Everest Academy in Stafford.[19]

The Fort Bend Star, a weekly newspaper, is headquartered in Stafford.[35] The Houston Chronicle is the area's newspaper of record.

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir is in unincorporated Fort Bend County, Texas, within the extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) of Stafford and with a Stafford mailing address.[36][37]

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  Stafford Municipal Court
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  Stafford Police Department, part of the J.C. "Buster" Public Safety Complex
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  Fire Station No. 1, part of the J.C. "Buster" Court Public Safety Complex
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  Northside Fire Station
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  Stafford Centre for the Performing Arts
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  Stafford Post Office

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stafford, Texas.

• City of Stafford official website
• Stafford Municipal School District
• Stafford, Texas from the Handbook of Texas Online
• Muck, Patti. "Stafford, railroad on divergent tracks/1st Texas town to see a train balks at Southern Pacific's "dual' plan." Houston Chronicle. Sunday July 31, 1994. C1.