Celeste, Texas Explained

Official Name:Celeste, Texas
Settlement Type:City
Mapsize:250px
Image Map1:Hunt County Celeste.svg
Mapsize1:250px
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:United States
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Name1:Texas
Subdivision Type2:County
Subdivision Name2:Hunt
Unit Pref:Imperial
Area Footnotes:[1]
Area Total Km2:3.48
Area Land Km2:3.48
Area Water Km2:0.00
Area Total Sq Mi:1.34
Area Land Sq Mi:1.34
Area Water Sq Mi:0.00
Population As Of:2020
Population Total:809
Population Density Km2:auto
Population Density Sq Mi:auto
Timezone:Central (CST)
Utc Offset:-6
Timezone Dst:CDT
Utc Offset Dst:-5
Elevation M:204
Elevation Ft:669
Coordinates:33.2936°N -96.1956°W
Postal Code Type:ZIP code
Postal Code:75423
Area Code:903, 430
Blank Name:FIPS code
Blank Info:48-13672[2]
Blank1 Name:GNIS feature ID
Blank1 Info:1354174[3]

Celeste (Light Blue, in Spanish) is a city in Hunt County, in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 809 at the 2020 census.

History

Like many towns in Hunt County, Celeste[4] was a product of railroad development. The townsite was platted in 1886 by the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway 3miles north of Kingston, on open prairie already crossed by the Missouri, Kansas and Texas line. This location was chosen in order to ensure that Kingston, whose elected officials had refused to offer incentives to attract the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe to build through their community, would be bypassed by the line as it put down tracks from Paris through Farmersville to Dallas.

Celeste was named for the wife of a Santa Fe official. The two rail lines stimulated rapid growth. A post office opened in Celeste in 1886, and a number of merchants moved their businesses from Kingston to Celeste. By 1888 three churches were holding services in the settlement. The population by the mid-1890s stood at 600, and the community maintained three gristmills and cotton gins, a bank, a weekly newspaper, and a graded public school. Celeste was incorporated in 1900, and its population increased from 671 that year to 850 on the eve of World War I.

By 1914 the community had two banks, three cotton gins, a water works, an ice factory, and a weekly newspaper, as well as some thirty-five other businesses. It reported a population of 1,022 by 1926. Its high school and two elementary schools registered 500 students. Some fifty business establishments, including two banks and a newspaper, were in operation. After the 1920s, however, the population of Celeste fell from 803 in 1933 to 518 in the mid-1960s; businesses correspondingly declined, from thirty to sixteen. After the 1960s the town revived; in 1976 its population was 745. In 1982 the community, where World War II hero Audie Murphy once lived, had a bank, four churches, ten stores, and a school that enrolled 300 students. The population was 733 in 1990 and 817 in 2010.

Geography

Celeste is in northwestern Hunt County along U.S. Route 69, which leads northwest to Denison and southeast to Greenville the Hunt county seat. According to the United States Census Bureau, Celeste has a total area of 2.9km2, all land.[5]

Demographics

Celeste racial composition as of 2020[6]
(NH = Non-Hispanic)!Race!Number!Percentage
White (NH)62076.64%
Black or African American (NH)344.2%
Native American or Alaska Native (NH)40.49%
Mixed/Multi-Racial (NH)566.92%
Hispanic or Latino9511.74%
Total809
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 809 people, 320 households, and 252 families residing in the city.

Education

The city is served by the Celeste Independent School District and is home to the Celeste High School Blue Devils.

Notable people

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files. United States Census Bureau. August 7, 2020.
  2. Web site: U.S. Census website . . 2008-01-31 .
  3. Web site: US Board on Geographic Names. 2008-01-31. United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25.
  4. https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hlc16 Texas State Historical Association
  5. Web site: Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Census Summary File 1 (G001): Celeste city, Texas . dead . https://archive.today/20200213095431/https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/G001/1600000US4813672 . February 13, 2020 . March 19, 2018 . American Factfinder . U.S. Census Bureau.
  6. Web site: Explore Census Data . 2022-05-22 . data.census.gov.