Freeport is a city in Brazoria County, Texas, United States, located on the Gulf of Mexico, founded in 1912. According to the 2020 census, the city population was 10,696, down from 12,049 in 2010, where Hispanic or Latino were 52% of the population.
Freeport's economic growth began in 1939 with the construction of Dow Chemical Company facilities, which remain its largest employer and are the largest integrated chemical manufacturing facility in the United States.
In 2002, Freeport LNG was founded; an LNG export terminal was developed in the early 2010s after the US shale gas revolution and came online in 2019. In June 2022 a pipeline rupture and explosion closed the terminal until February 2023.
History
thumb|left|Freeport Sulphur No.6 entering Freeport harbor, 1923
Freeport was founded as a European-American settlement in November 1912 by the Freeport Sulphur Company. The population was 300. However, by 1929, that population had grown to 3,500, and to 4,100 by 1939, influencing a steady increase of economic expansion in Freeport.
By 1937, a Freeport School District had been established, consisting of several segregated schools and 27 teachers. There were two white schools, one black school, and a white high school.
Geography
Freeport is located in southern Brazoria County at (28.959527, –95.356941), near the mouth of the Brazos River in the Gulf of Mexico. In 2003, the city annexed of beach bounded on the northeast by the village of Quintana and continuing southwest to the mouth of the Brazos River. This beach is known as Bryan Beach. It is just a few miles away from Surfside and Quintana beaches.
Texas State Highway 288, the Nolan Ryan Expressway, leads north from Freeport to Angleton, the county seat, and to downtown Houston. Texas State Highway 36 leads northwest to Brazoria.
According to the United States Census Bureau, Freeport has a total area of , of which is land and , or 12.36%, is water.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Freeport had a population of 10,696 and 2,993 families residing in the city. The median age was 33.4 years. 27.7% of residents were under the age of 18 and 11.6% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 101.7 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 100.5 males age 18 and over.
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census
! Race !! Number !! Percent
|-
| White || 4,029 || 37.7%
|-
| Black or African American || 1,218 || 11.4%
|-
| American Indian and Alaska Native || 119 || 1.1%
|-
| Asian || 58 || 0.5%
|-
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander || 0 || 0.0%
|-
| Some other race || 2,728 || 25.5%
|-
| Two or more races || 2,544 || 23.8%
|-
| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) || 6,798 || 63.6%
|}
98.8% of residents lived in urban areas, while 1.2% lived in rural areas.
There were 3,621 households in Freeport, of which 40.9% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 43.2% were married-couple households, 21.9% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 27.1% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 20.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
Economy
Port Freeport is a seaport on the Gulf of Mexico and is currently ranked 26th in international tonnage. The associated chemical plants provide a stable economy. Freeport is the site of the Dow Chemical Company's Texas Operations facility, which is the company's largest integrated site and the largest integrated chemical manufacturing facility in the United States. Chemical production includes Alkalines And Chlorine, Industrial Gases, Industrial Inorganic Chemicals, Plastics Materials And Resins, Synthetic Rubber, Cyclic Crudes And Intermediates, Industrial Organic Chemicals, Agricultural Chemicals, Adhesives And Sealants, and Petroleum Refining.
Government
Freeport is in Texas' 14th congressional district, and is represented by Congressman Randy Weber.
Media
The Brazosport Facts in Clute is a local paper. It was headquartered in Freeport until the move to Clute in 1976.
The Houston Chronicle is the metropolitan area newspaper.
Education
thumb|[[Brazosport High School]]
Public education
Schools in Freeport include Brazosport High School (Grades 9–12), Freeport Intermediate School (Grades 7–8), Lanier Middle School (Grades 5–6), Freeport Elementary, and Velasco Elementary School but this place shut down (Grades Pre-K–4). They are all maintained through Brazosport Independent School District.
The $19.2 million Freeport Elementary facility opened in 2018. VLK Architects designed the building. The student capacity is 750.
Velasco Elementary was a Kindergarten through grade 4 school until 2017, when it became a grade 2–4 school for all of Freeport. Grades K–1 were moved to O. A. Fleming Elementary, which was scheduled to close in 2018 and be replaced by Freeport Elementary. and Jane Long Elementary School (grades 2–4). Jane Long was scheduled to close in 2017, with Fleming taking grades K–1 and Velasco Elementary taking over grades 2–4. Fleming was scheduled to close when the new Freeport Elementary School opened in 2018. The Texas Legislature designated the Brazosport ISD as in the Brazosport College zone.
Libraries
The Freeport Library is a part of the Brazoria County Library System.
See also
- List of municipalities in Texas
Notes
References
External links
- Brazosport ISD
- Port Freeport
- Historic materials about Freeport, hosted by the Portal to Texas History
- Handbook of Texas: Freeport
- The Portal of Texas History
- Brazosport College
- City-Data.com
- Podunk: Profile for Freeport, Texas
- Final Report Freeport Harbor, Texas Channel Improvement Project Communication from the Assistant Secretary, Army, Civil Works, the Department of Defense Transmitting the Freeport Harbor Channel Improvement Project, Brazoria County, Texas Feasibility Report and Environmental Impact Statement, Part 1 Part 2