Hondo is a city in Medina County, Texas, United States. The population was 7,897 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Medina County.

History

Hondo, the county seat of Medina County, is on U.S. Highway 90 and the Southern Pacific Railroad, forty-one miles west of mid-town San Antonio. The Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway built through the county from the east in 1881, and the first sale out of its Hondo City plat was made on October 1, 1881. The community had twenty-five residents in 1884, 200 in 1892, and 2,500 in 1915. A post office designated Hondo City began operation in 1882.

In 1930, the local Hondo Lions Club erected the now somewhat famous sign reading "This is God's Country, Don't Drive Through It Like Hell," at the city limits with the intention of slowing down those speeding while traveling through town. Later, in the 1940's the sign was changed to "This is God's Country, Please Don't Drive Through It Like Hell" in order to satisfy those in the town who were displeased with the tone of the old sign.  The sign has been in news and print in many magazines, including on the cover of National Geographic, and in the music video of Little Texas' song "God Blessed Texas."

Hondo was incorporated on May 14, 1942. The U.S. Army built an air field in the town in 1942 to train new pilots; at one time the largest air navigation school in the world, Hondo Army Air Field trained over 14,000 navigators for service during World War II before closing in 1946 but civilian contract flight training and pilot screening programs for Air Force cadets continued operations. In July 1971 Hondo became the location of a radar weather station. In 1989 the community had 200 businesses. The population in 1980 was 6,057, and in 1990 it was 6,081.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 7,897 people, 2,207 households, and 1,664 families residing in the city. The population density was 823.8 people per square mile (317.9/km²). There were 2,474 housing units at an average density of 258.1/sq mi (99.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 73.33% White (includes Hispanic or Latino of any race were 59.92% of the population), 8.33% African American, 0.47% Native American, 0.25% Asian, 15.23% from other races, and 2.38% from two or more races.

There were 2,207 households out of which 39.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.1% were married couples living together, 14.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.6% were non-families. 21.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.91 and the average family size was 3.38.

In the city the population was spread out with 26.0% under the age of 18, 12.0% from 18 to 24, 33.1% from 25 to 44, 16.6% from 45 to 64, and 12.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 132.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 145.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $27,917, and the median income for a family was $34,856. Males had a median income of $21,639 versus $17,868 for females. The per capita income for the city was $12,635. About 18.9% of families and 22.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 31.8% of those under age 18 and 17.1% of those ages 65 or over.

Geography

Hondo is located at 29°20′49″N 99°8′44″W/29.34694, -99.14556(29.346838, -99.145543) approximately 40 miles west of San Antonio.   According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 9.6 square miles (24.9 km²), of which, 9.6 square miles (24.8 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.21%) is water.

Education