Hungerford is a census-designated place (CDP) in northeastern Wharton County, Texas, United States. <!--Interstate 69/-->U.S. Route 59, Texas State Highway 60, and Farm to Market Road 1161 intersect in the community. The Kansas City Southern Railway Co. passes through Hungerford. The population was 390 at the 2020 census. It is located on what in the 1820s was part of colonist Alexander Jackson's land grant north of George E. Quinan's home. By the 1870s, the Quinan settlement grew up a short distance away, but its residents moved to the new town when the railroad came through Hungerford.
Geography
Hungerford is located at (29.399122, -96.077019).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 1.8 square miles (4.7 km<sup>2</sup>), all land.
History
Alexander Jackson was one of the Old Three Hundred colonists from the United States who accepted land grants from Stephen F. Austin. The Alexander Jackson league was a strip of land which was bounded on the southwest by the Colorado River, just northwest of present-day Wharton and ran northeast beyond West Bernard Creek. After the Texas Revolution, the Republic of Texas set up a short-lived ordnance depot called Post West Bernard Station at a location northwest of present-day Hungerford. Its purpose was to recondition weapons captured at the Battle of San Jacinto and to watch for a possible invasion by the Mexican army.
In 1872, the village of Quinan was founded approximately west of present-day Hungerford. The Quinan post office was established in 1874 in the general store owned by John C. Habermacher, who also served as postmaster. Habermacher was once a member of Edwin Booth's acting troupe. His wife, Annie Thatcher, was Alexander Jackson's granddaughter. In 1882, the New York, Texas and Mexican Railway was built through the newly surveyed town of Hungerford, which was in the adjacent George W. Singleton league. Most of Quinan's businesses moved to the railroad, followed by the post office in 1883. The new town was named after Daniel E. Hungerford, who was the father-in-law of the railroad's major investor, John William Mackay.
In 1885, Hungerford boasted 200 residents, several churches, a steam cotton gin, a gristmill, and a school. In 1908, the town became the headquarters for the J. D. Hudgins Ranch. In 1926, the Strouhal Tire Recapping Company opened in Hungerford. That year, the town had 13 businesses, including three general stores. Five different area schools counted a total of 259 black students, 189 white students, and 13 teachers. The 1927 poll tax enumerated 85 white voters and 64 black voters. In 1961 the population was 450 and 18 commercial establishments were in town. By that year, the train no longer stopped at Hungerford. In 1973, the local school district stopped operating and its students were absorbed by four nearby districts.
In the 1980s, there were 500 residents and most business was seasonal: hunting and harvesting cotton, grain, and pecans. In 1980, the Teen Challenge of South Texas New Life Rehabilitation Center bought the former black school. Between its opening and 1990, its enrollment increased from 150 to 250. In 2018, it was the Straightway Training Center, a Christian-based drug and alcohol rehabilitation program. In 1986, the Texas Historical Commission located four markers in Hungerford. In the late 1980s, U.S. Route 59 was rerouted to bypass Hungerford. In 2000, the population was 645.
<gallery widths="300px" heights="225px" >
File:Hungerford TX Railroad Marker.jpg|New York, Texas & Mexican Railroad historical marker
File:Hungerford TX West Bernard Marker.jpg|Post West Bernard Station historical marker
File:Hungerford TX Quinan Marker.jpg|Quinan Community historical marker
File:Hungerford TX Hudgins Ranch Marker.jpg|J. D. Hudgins Ranch historical marker
</gallery>
Demographics
Hungerford first appeared as a census-designated place in the 2000 U.S. census.
!Pop 2010
!
!% 2000
!% 2010
!
|-
|White alone (NH)
|300
|133
|style='background: #ffffe6; |122
|46.51%
|38.33%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |31.28%
|-
|Black or African American alone (NH)
|200
|134
|style='background: #ffffe6; |128
|31.01%
|38.62%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |32.82%
|-
|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)
|0
|0
|style='background: #ffffe6; |2
|0.00%
|0.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.51%
|-
|Asian alone (NH)
|0
|1
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1
|0.00%
|0.29%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.26%
|-
|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)
|0
|0
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0
|0.00%
|0.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.00%
|-
|Other race alone (NH)
|0
|0
|style='background: #ffffe6; |2
|0.00%
|0.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.51%
|-
|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)
|3
|2
|style='background: #ffffe6; |7
|0.47%
|0.58%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1.79%
|-
|Hispanic or Latino (any race)
|142
|77
|style='background: #ffffe6; |128
|22.02%
|22.19%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |32.82%
|-
|Total
|645
|347
|style='background: #ffffe6; |390
|100.00%
|100.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%
|}
As of the census
Education
The CDP is divided between the Boling Independent School District<!--UNI 10780--> and the Wharton Independent School District<!--UNI 45380-->. The comprehensive high school of the former is Boling High School.
The Texas Legislature assigns all of Wharton County to Wharton County Junior College.
<gallery widths="300px" heights="225px" >
File:Hungerford TX Post Office.jpg|US Post Office at Live Oak St. and Hwy. 60
File:Hungerford TX Volunteer Fire.jpg|Hungerford Volunteer Fire Station
File:Hungerford TX Community Center.jpg|Hungerford Community Center on Cypress St.
File:Hungerford TX Marker Stone.jpg|Granite rock displays four historical markers
</gallery>