Arcola is a city in Fort Bend County, Texas, United States, within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. The population was 2,034 as of the 2020 census, an increase over the figure of 1,642 tabulated by the 2010 census, which represented, in turn, an increase over the 2000 figure of 1,048.
Arcola incorporated in 1986.
Geography
thumb|left|Map of Arcola
Arcola is located near the eastern edge of Fort Bend County at (29.501339, –95.463760). Texas State Highway 6 passes through the city, leading northwest to Sugar Land and southeast 14 miles to Alvin. Downtown Houston is to the north.
According to the United States Census Bureau, Arcola has a total area of , of which , or 0.98%, is water.
| align = right
| align-fn = center
Racial and ethnic composition
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+Arcola city, Texas – Racial and ethnic composition<br><small></small>
!Race / Ethnicity <small>(NH = Non-Hispanic)</small>
!Pop 2000
!Pop 2010
!
!% 2000
!% 2010
!
|-
|White alone (NH)
|125
|128
|style='background: #ffffe6; |154
|11.93%
|7.80%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |7.57%
|-
|Black or African American alone (NH)
|344
|458
|style='background: #ffffe6; |457
|32.82%
|27.89%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |22.47%
|-
|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)
|0
|2
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1
|0.00%
|0.12%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.05%
|-
|Asian alone (NH)
|23
|15
|style='background: #ffffe6; |25
|2.19%
|0.91%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1.23%
|-
|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)
|0
|0
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1
|0.00%
|0.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.05%
|-
|Other race alone (NH)
|1
|2
|style='background: #ffffe6; |2
|0.10%
|0.12%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.10%
|-
|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)
|11
|12
|style='background: #ffffe6; |35
|1.05%
|0.73%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1.72%
|-
|Hispanic or Latino (any race)
|544
|1,025
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1,359
|51.91%
|62.42%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |66.81%
|-
|Total
|1,048
|1,642
|style='background: #ffffe6; |2,034
|100.00%
|100.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%
|}
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Arcola had a population of 2,034, 621 households, and 487 families residing in the city. The median age was 29.9 years; 30.4% of residents were under the age of 18 and 9.2% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 91.0 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 88.4 males age 18 and over.
There were 621 households in Arcola, of which 52.7% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 45.2% were married-couple households, 18.2% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 29.6% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 16.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census
! Race !! Percent
|-
| White || 17.0%
|-
| Black or African American || 22.8%
|-
| American Indian and Alaska Native || 1.5%
|-
| Asian || 1.4%
|-
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander || <0.1%
|-
| Some other race || 37.4%
|-
| Two or more races || 20.0%
|-
| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) || 66.8%
|}
2010 census
As of the census
Education
Arcola pupils attend schools in Fort Bend Independent School District (FBISD). FBISD formed in 1959 by the consolidation of Missouri City Independent School District and the Sugar Land Independent School District.
The community is within the East Division, controlling school board slots 5 through 7. Most of the city is zoned to Heritage Rose Elementary School, Thornton Middle School, and Almeta Crawford High School. The section north and east of Texas State Highway 6 and north and west of Farm to Market Road 521 is zoned to Burton Elementary School, and Hightower High School.
The Texas Legislature specifies that the Houston Community College (HCC) boundary includes "the part of the Fort Bend Independent School District that is not located in the service area of the Wharton County Junior College District and that is adjacent to the Houston Community College System District." Wharton College's boundary within FBISD is defined only as the City of Sugar Land and the ETJ of Sugar Land, Arcola is in neither location. Arcola is in HCC.
History of schools
At the time FBISD formed, in 1959, there was one school for black students in Arcola, Oaklane Elementary School, serving grades 1–8. Black students in grades 9–12 were assigned to M.R. Wood School in Sugar Land. White students, at the time, were assigned to an elementary school in Missouri City, a junior high school in Sugar Land, and a high school in Missouri City. Those sites now house E. A. Jones Elementary School, Lakeview Elementary School, and Missouri City Middle School, respectively. Dulles High School became established as the white high school of FBISD. Desegregation occurred in 1965, and Oaklane closed at that time. After desegregation, Dulles High was the only zoned high school in the district until Willowridge High School in Houston opened in 1979.
Previously all pupils north of State Highway 6 attended Burton Elementary School in unincorporated Fort Bend County. Some pupils south of Highway 6 attended Sienna Crossing Elementary School, and other pupils south of Highway 6 attended Schiff Elementary School in unincorporated Fort Bend County.
Prior to the opening of Hightower in 1998, Elkins High School served Arcola. After 1998<!--Opening of Hightower--> and prior to 2010 all Arcola pupils were zoned to Hightower. Prior to 2023, portions of Arcola south of Highway 6 were zoned to Ridge Point High School; that year, they were rezoned to Crawford.
Transportation
Houston Southwest Airport, a general aviation airport, is in the Arcola city limits.
References
External links
- City of Arcola official website