Brady, Texas

Brady, Texas
City
McCulloch County Courthouse in Brady
Nickname:  The Heart of Texas
Location of Brady, Texas
Country	United States
State	Texas
County	McCulloch
Area
• Total	11.5 sq mi (29.8 km2)
• Land	9.2 sq mi (23.8 km2)
• Water	2.3 sq mi (6.0 km2)
Elevation	1,677 ft (511 m)
Population  (2010)
• Total	5,528
• Density	601.1/sq mi (232.1/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code	76825
Area code	325
FIPS code	48-09916
GNIS feature ID	1352814

Brady is a city in McCulloch County, Texas, United States. Brady refers to itself as "The Heart of Texas", as it is the closest city to the geographical center of the state. The geographical center of Texas is about 15 miles northeast of Brady. The population was 5,528 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of McCulloch County.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, Brady has a total area of 11.5 square miles (30 km²), of which, 9.2 square miles (24 km²) of it is land and 2.3 square miles (6.0 km²) of it (20.16%) is water.

Major highways

• U.S. Highway 87
• U.S. Highway 190
• U.S. Highway 283
• U.S. Highway 377
• State Highway 71

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1880	115		—
1890	560		387.0%
1910	2,669		—
1920	2,197		−17.7%
1930	3,983		81.3%
1940	5,002		25.6%
1950	5,944		18.8%
1960	5,338		−10.2%
1970	5,557		4.1%
1980	5,969		7.4%
1990	5,946		−0.4%
2000	5,523		−7.1%
2010	5,528		0.1%
2014 (est.)	5,457		−1.3%
U.S. Decennial Census

As of the census of 2000, there were 5,523 people, 2,181 households, and 1,448 families residing in the city. The population density was 601.1 people per square mile (232.0/km²). There were 2,603 housing units at an average density of 283.3 per square mile (109.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 59.6% White, 2.2% Black, 0.3% Native American, 0.4% Asian, .1% from other races, and .6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 36.7% of the population.

There were 2,181 households out of which 32.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.7% were married couples living together, 12.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.6% were non-families. 31.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.11.

In the city the population was spread out with 28.4% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 23.5% from 25 to 44, 21.2% from 45 to 64, and 19.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 85.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $22,961, and the median income for a family was $28,701. Males had a median income of $25,498 versus $17,289 for females. The per capita income for the city was $12,607. About 18.7% of families and 23.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.7% of those under age 18 and 22.1% of those age 65 or over.

History

When the area was settled in the 1870s, the community was named Brady City after Brady Creek, which runs through town. The name was shortened to Brady when the town was incorporated in 1906. In 1787–88 Spanish explorer José Mares crossed the creek near the site of present Brady. Henry and Nancy Fulcher, the first settlers on Brady Creek, donated land for the townsite in the mid-1870s. Allison Ogden and his father-in-law, Ben Henton, built a store in 1875. A post office opened in 1876. After residents of McCulloch County chose Brady as county seat on May 15, 1876, the town grew fairly quickly. Brady had about fifty residents in 1877, and a stone courthouse was completed in 1878.

Thomas Maples began weekly publication of the Brady Sentinel in 1880; by 1884 Brady had two churches, a district school, three stores, two hotels, and 300 residents. Stock raising was the primary occupation in the Brady area before 1900. In the 1870s and 1880s local ranchers drove their cattle to markets in Kansas. Most other trade was with Brownwood and Lampasas. The number of farms and fences increased with the influx of immigrants in the late 1880s and 1890s. Poultry, sheep, goats, cotton, and pecans joined cattle as important sources of income for area residents.

When the Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railway arrived in 1903, Brady became a principal shipping point for Central Texas. The Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe came to Brady in 1912. By 1914 the town had grown to include four churches, two schools, two banks, several processing plants, manufacturing and supply outlets, and 2,669 residents. In 1926 Brady residents celebrated the building of forty-two-acre Richards Park by holding a two-day barbecue on the Fourth of July weekend; it was such a success that the celebration was labeled the "July Jubilee" and became an annual event.

Curtis Field opened just north of Brady in 1942 as a pilot-training school. Also during World War II a German prisoner-of-war camp was built three miles east of the town; it housed more than 300 Germans, most of them members of Rommel's Afrika Korps. Brady grew slowly from the 1920s through the 1950s, with population estimates reaching a peak of 6,800 in 1958. In 1959 the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway abandoned the section of track between Brownwood and Brady, thereby reducing Brady's access to outside markets. The population fell to 5,338 by 1961 and subsequently stabilized. Brady Reservoir was completed in 1963 for flood control, municipal and industrial water needs, and recreation. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe abandoned the track between Brady and Eden in 1972, leaving the town with only a branch track to connect it with the main line at Lometa, in Lampasas County.

Brady had 5,925 residents and 142 businesses in 1988. It was principally a farming and ranching community. Its industry included a mohair-combing plant and sand-mining operations. The Francis King Art Gallery and Museum houses works by King, a painter and sculptor, and a collection of restored antique cars. Brady celebrates an annual band festival and goat cook-off every Labor Day. The stone courthouse, built in 1900, was renovated in 1974. In 1989 G. Rollie White Downs, one of the first horse racetracks in Texas after the passage of pari-mutuel laws in 1989, operated briefly in Brady but was unprofitable and closed by 1990. Brady's population in 1990 was 5,946, but dropped to 5,528 in 2010.

Notable residents

• James Earl Rudder taught and coached football at Brady High School in 1933.
• Dan Collins Taylor from rural Doole near Brady was a rodeo performer and promoter.
• Terry Manning, music producer, lived in Brady as a child.
• Scott Appleton, 1963 Outland Trophy Winner, AFL & NFL Player
• Claude Dudley, as a small boy that was lost in a pasture in the back country of Brady, Tx, He claimed to have been abducted by aliens.

Education

Children in Brady and Melvin attend Brady ISD schools. There are approximately 1,300 students attending Brady ISD. Brady Elementary consists of grades K-5 and the principal is Kelley Hirt. Brady Middle School consists of grades 6-8. Brady High School consists of grades 9-12 with Eric Bierman as principal. Johnny Clawson serves as Superintendent.

Brady High School is a TEA Recognized campus.

Government and infrastructure

Heart of Texas Healthcare System is the primary hospital serving Brady

In 1947 the State of Texas opened the Brady State School for Negro Girls on a former prisoner of war camp in McCulloch County, near Brady, leased from the Federal Government of the United States. In 1950 the state replaced the Brady facility with the Crockett State School.

See also

• Old McCulloch County Jail
• G. Rollie White Downs

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, Brady has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

External links

• Handbook of Texas Online: Brady, TX
• Brady Standard-Herald
• The City of Brady Website
• Radioactive Water