Giddings, Texas

Giddings is a city in and the county seat of Lee County, Texas, United States situated on the intersection of U.S. Highway 77 and U.S. Route 290. As of the 2020 census, Giddings had a population of 4,969.

History

The land where the city of Giddings now stands was part of the land granted to Stephen F. Austin in 1821 for a colony in Spanish Texas, and later became part of the Robertson's Colony.

thumb|left|The Lee County Courthouse in Giddings (built 1899)

alt=|thumb|Giddings Area Pumpjack

The city itself was founded in 1871 when the Houston and Texas Central Railway came to the area. It probably took its name from local magnate Jabez Deming Giddings, who was instrumental in bringing the railway to the area. He had come to the area from Pennsylvania in 1838 to claim the land bounty of his brother Giles A. Giddings, killed at the Battle of San Jacinto. Another theory is that the city was named after Jabez's brother Dewitt Clinton Giddings.

Early settlers in the new town were mostly pioneers from the surrounding communities, such as Old Evergreen and Shady Grove. The majority of these people were ethnically British Isles natives, but a sizable minority were Wendish families from the Serbin area. They would later establish the German-language newspaper Deutsches Volksblatt.

A syndicate headed by William Marsh Rice owned the whole townsite and sold property to settlers. Later, Rice Institute (now Rice University) in Houston had control and sold the lots.

Wide streets were a distinguishing characteristic of the town; the two main thoroughfares (Main and Austin Streets) were 100 feet (30 m) wide, and other streets were 80 feet (24 m) wide. The town's first church, established in 1871, was Methodist. J. D. Giddings Masonic Lodge, chartered in Evergreen in 1865, moved to Giddings, and early churches and a public school met in its building. Soon after the Civil War, freed slaves from farms and plantations settled in Giddings. Classes for more than 50 black students were held in a church in 1883, and the first black public school was built in 1887.

Giddings became the county seat when Lee County was established in 1874. Early businesses included the Granger store, a blacksmith shop and saloon, a millinery shop, a saddle and harness shop, and an oil mill. Brick buildings came in 1875. The courthouse built in 1878 burned and was replaced in 1899. Fletcher House, built in 1879 by August W. Schubert, was sold to the Missouri Synod of the Immanuel Lutheran Church in 1894 to house Concordia Lutheran College. By 1890, the town was part of a rich cotton-growing area with access to the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway, several gins, an opera house, newspapers, and a population estimated at 1,000. The First National Bank was opened in 1890 and was still in operation more than a century later. The town was incorporated in 1913 and had a population of 2,000 by 1914.

In the early 1980s, the oil-laden Austin chalk that underlies the town was tapped, and the area experienced an oil boom. Some 300 oil-related businesses located in the town, and many oil rigs were operating in outlying areas. In the late 1980s, however, the oil activities decreased almost to a standstill. The population of Giddings in 1988 was 5,178. In 1990, local businesses included a hospital, a medical clinic, a dialysis clinic, a chiropractic clinic, two nursing homes, a library, motels, restaurants, two newspapers, a peanut mill, Invader Boat Manufacturing Company, and Nutrena-Cargill Mills. Nineteen churches were in the city.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which (0.58%) is covered by water.

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by relatively high temperatures and evenly distributed precipitation throughout the year. The Köppen climate classification describes the weather as humid subtropical, Cfa.

Demographics

Racial and ethnic composition

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

|+Giddings city, Texas – Racial composition

!Race (NH = Non-Hispanic)

!2010

!2000

!1990

!1980

|White alone (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |37.8% (1,876)

|43.3% (2,115)

|50.4% (2,572)

|63.6% (2,603)

|71.3% (2,818)

|Black alone (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |12.5% (623)

|11.7% (572)

|13% (665)

|15.7% (642)

|17.8% (703)

|American Indian alone (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.2% (10)

|0.2% (12)

|0.3% (13)

|0% (2)

|0% (0)

|Asian alone (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.6% (32)

|0.8% (41)

|0.6% (29)

|<td rowspan="2"> |0.2% (9)

|Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0% (0)

|0.1% (3)

|0% (0)

|Other race alone (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.1% (7)

|0% (0)

|0.1% (3)

|0.1% (6)

|0% (0)

|Multiracial (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |3.1% (153)

|1.1% (56)

|1% (50)

|—

|Hispanic/Latino (any race)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |45.6% (2,268)

|42.7% (2,082)

|34.7% (1,773)

|20.3% (831)

|10.6% (420)

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Giddings had a population of 4,969 people, 1,777 households, and 1,364 families. The median age was 36.3 years, 27.2% of residents were under the age of 18, and 16.0% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 93.7 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 89.9 males age 18 and over.

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

Of the 1,777 households, 38.8% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 46.5% were married-couple households, 17.8% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 29.3% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 25.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

! Race !! Number !! Percent

| White || 2,414 || 48.6%

| Black or African American || 662 || 13.3%

| American Indian and Alaska Native || 40 || 0.8%

| Asian || 33 || 0.7%

| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander || 0 || 0.0%

| Some other race || 816 || 16.4%

| Two or more races || 1,004 || 20.2%

| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) || 2,268 || 45.6%

2000 census

As of the census

In 2014, the Giddings Economic Development Corporation purchased 165 acres of land for the development of the Giddings 290 Business Park.

Education

thumb|[[Giddings High School]]

The City of Giddings is served by the Giddings Independent School District. Giddings High School is a 9th–12th grade campus located in the city. The campus is a member of District 13-AAAA Div.2 with an enrollment of 657 students.

The Texas Legislature designates most of Lee County (Giddings included) as being in the Blinn Junior College district.

Media

Local newspapers serving Giddings and Lee County at large are presently the Giddings Times and News and the Lexington Leader.

A local radio station, KGID, Inc. FM 96.3, has operated since 2018.

The Giddings Deutsches Volksblatt, a trilingual German-English-Wendish/Sorbian newspaper, was published in Giddings.

Arts and culture

thumb|right|Giddings at the intersection of [[U.S. Highway 290|U.S. Highways 290 and 77]]

thumb|right|Fire department

In 2015, the city of Giddings, the GEDC, and members of the American Legion launched phase I of the Veterans Memorial Wall Project. The Lee County Veterans Association was created to manage and conduct fundraising for the project, which broke ground in spring 2020.

The Wendish heritage in Giddings is celebrated annually in nearby Serbin, Texas, put on by the Texas Wendish Heritage Society. It occurs on the fourth Sunday every September.

The Giddings Area Chamber of Commerce operates the Lee County Heritage Center/Hubert-Fletcher Home.

The City Meat Market restaurant at the corner of Austin and Main Streets was rated one of the 50 best places for barbecue by Texas Monthly.

In 2017, Texas Monthly selected Snow's BBQ as Best BBQ in Texas, thereby elevating female pitmaster Tootsie Tomanetz to regional celebrity status one week before her 85th birthday. The business was previously honored with this award in 2008. Tomanetz is slated to appear in the Netflix documentary Chef's Table.

The Historic Freight Station and Depot Complex is located in downtown Giddings. Property owner GEDC has leased one of the freight stations to a distillery for use as a tasting room and bottling operation and another building for use as a brewhouse (Brauerei) and German restaurant, currently under development.

Notable people

Gwendolyn B. Bennett, writer and journalist, major Harlem Renaissance figure
Gus Mutscher, former speaker of the Texas House of Representatives
David J. Porter (born 1956), Texas railroad commissioner
Hilton Smith, pitcher in Negro League baseball
Larry Wade, world-class 110 hurdler and NCAA champion in 110 hurdles (Texas A&M University)

References

External links

Handbook of Texas Online about Giddings
Tourist Guide to Giddings