Galena Park, Texas

Galena Park is a city in Harris County, Texas, United States, within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. The population was 10,740 at the 2020 census. The population is predominantly Hispanic.

History

Issac Batterson and his family settled in the area in 1833; it was a part of the Ezekiel Thomas survey. The area of Galena Park began as the settlement of Clinton in 1835. The center of what would become Galena Park was a tract that Batterson purchased from the estate of Ezekiel Thomas. By the late 1930s Houston was growing as a port, so Galena Park expanded. Since the 1940s, area residents considered the city to be a part of greater Houston. The 1980s also hit Galena Park's economy with layoffs from the steel mills as the U.S. steel contracted due to overseas competition. The economy further decreased after the September 11 attacks, when seaport administrators tightened security rules that governed whether sailors could leave ships docked at port.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.

The city is east of the 610 Loop, north of the Houston Ship Channel, and adjacent to the City of Jacinto City, as well as the Clinton Park neighborhood of Houston. Clinton Drive is the main arterial road for Galena Park and traffic to and from the ship channel and the Port of Houston uses this road. The area around Galena Park includes freeways, freight railway, and heavy industry.

The border between Galena Park, previously an all-white city and Clinton Park, an African-American neighborhood, was barricaded as of 2008. Rafael Longoria and Susan Rogers of the Rice Design Alliance said in 2008 that the barricade "provides a stark example of how the prevailing segregationist sentiments of the era [are] still in evidence." 1850–1900 1910 1920 1930 1940

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

| align = right

Racial and ethnic composition

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"

|+Galena Park city, Texas – Racial and ethnic composition

!Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)

!Pop 2000

!Pop 2010

!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |Pop 2020

!% 2000

!% 2010

!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |% 2020

|White alone (NH)

|2,347

|1,240

|style='background: #ffffe6; |856

|22.16%

|11.39%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |7.97%

|Black or African American alone (NH)

|803

|719

|style='background: #ffffe6; |622

|7.58%

|6.60%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |5.79%

|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|22

|13

|style='background: #ffffe6; |12

|0.21%

|0.12%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.11%

|Asian alone (NH)

|29

|10

|style='background: #ffffe6; |9

|0.27%

|0.09%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.08%

|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2

|0.01%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.02%

|Other race alone (NH)

|17

|style='background: #ffffe6; |31

|0.04%

|0.16%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.29%

|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)

|43

|27

|style='background: #ffffe6; |71

|0.41%

|0.25%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.66%

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|7,343

|8,860

|style='background: #ffffe6; |9,137

|69.33%

|81.38%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |85.07%

|Total

|10,592

|10,887

|style='background: #ffffe6; |10,740

|100.00%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Galena Park had a population of 10,740, 3,112 households, and 2,481 families. The median age was 31.3 years. 29.6% of residents were under the age of 18 and 10.3% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 103.1 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 101.8 males age 18 and over.

100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 3,112 households in Galena Park, of which 48.8% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 51.8% were married-couple households, 18.3% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 24.0% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 15.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

! Race !! Number !! Percent

| White || 3,244 || 30.2%

| Black or African American || 660 || 6.1%

| American Indian and Alaska Native || 160 || 1.5%

| Asian || 15 || 0.1%

| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander || 2 || 0.0%

| Some other race || 3,630 || 33.8%

| Two or more races || 3,029 || 28.2%

| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) || 9,137 || 85.1%

2010 census

As of the census

Galena Park is located in District 143 of the Texas House of Representatives As of 2011, Ana Hernandez Luna represented the district. Galena Park is within District 6 of the Texas Senate; as of 2011, Mario Gallegos, Jr. was the representative.

Galena Park was within Texas's 29th congressional district; as of 2019, Sylvia Garcia represented the district. The United States Postal Service operates the Galena Park Post Office at 1805 Clinton Drive.

The designated public health center of the Harris Health System (formerly Harris County Health System) is the Strawberry Health Clinic in Pasadena. The nearest public hospital is Ben Taub General Hospital in the Texas Medical Center, Houston.

Education

Primary and secondary schools

Public schools

thumb|[[Galena Park High School]]

thumb|Galena Park Library

Students in Galena Park attend schools in Galena Park Independent School District.

Four separate elementary schools, Galena Park Elementary School in Galena Park, MacArthur Elementary School in Galena Park, Jacinto City Elementary School in Jacinto City, and Pyburn Elementary School in Houston, serve students from the city of Galena Park Almost all Galena Park students are zoned to Galena Park Middle School (6–8) in Galena Park. A few in northeast Galena Park are zoned to Woodland Acres Middle School in Houston. All Galena Park residents are zoned to Galena Park High School (9–12) in Galena Park.

In addition, GPISD operates the William F. "Bill" Becker Early Childhood Development Center, a preschool program for low-income families, in Galena Park.

In the pre-1970 era of racial segregation in schools, the local high school for Black children was Fidelity Manor High School.

Private schools

Our Lady of Fatima School, a prekindergarten to grade 8 Roman Catholic school, is in Galena Park. The school is fully accredited by TEA and TCEA. It has served the community for over 60 years and is open in enrollment to all faiths and denominations.

Colleges and universities

The Galena Park ISD area (and therefore Galena Park) is zoned to the San Jacinto College system.

Public libraries

The Harris County Public Library (HCPL) system operates the Galena Park Branch at 1500 Keene Street in Galena Park. The branch, a partnership between HCPL and Galena Park, was built in March 1996, and opened in December of that year.

Gallery of schools

Image:GalenaParkMiddleSchool.JPG|Galena Park Middle School

Image:GalenaParkElementarySchoolTexas.JPG|Galena Park Elementary School

Image:MacArthurElementaryGalenaParkTX.JPG|MacArthur Elementary School

Image:BeckerEarlyChildhoodGalenaParkTX.JPG|Becker Early Childhood Center

</gallery>

Notable people

Michael Glyn Brown, former hand surgeon
Howard Twilley, professional football player

Gallery

Image:GalenaParkFireDepartment.JPG|Galena Park Fire Station #1

Image:GalenaParkPoliceDepartment.JPG|Galena Park Police Department