Stafford, Texas

Stafford is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, in the metropolitan area. The city is mostly in Fort Bend County, with a small part in Harris County. As of the 2020 census, Stafford's population was 17,666, down from 17,693 at the 2010 census.

History

William Stafford established a plantation with a cane mill and a horse-powered cotton gin in 1830. On April 15, 1836, during the Texas Revolution, the forces of Antonio López de Santa Anna stopped at Stafford's plantation and ordered it burned. Stafford rebuilt his plantation and resided there until his 1840 death. A settlement called "Stafford's Point" was established around the plantation; it became a townsite in August 1853, when the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado Railway began stopping there. Stafford's Point had a post office from 1854 to 1869. "Staffordville" had a post office from January 5 to February 26, 1869. The settlement, now known as Stafford, operated a post office from 1869 to 1918; the post office reopened in 1929.

In 1884, Stafford had 50 residents, two general stores, and a grocer. By 1896, it had a population of 300. By 1914, the population fell to 100. In 1931, 320 people lived in Stafford. This increased to 400 in 1946. Stafford incorporated as a city in 1956. A small part of the city extends northeast into Harris County. It is bordered by Houston to the north, Meadows Place to the northwest, Sugar Land to the west, and Missouri City to the south and east.

The Southwest Freeway (Interstate 69) passes through northwest Stafford, leading northeast to the center of Houston and southwest to Rosenberg. U.S. 90 Alternate passes through Stafford as Main Street, leading west to Sugar Land and northeast to the Houston East End.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Stafford has an area of , of which is land and , or 0.58%, is water.

Extraterritorial jurisdiction

Stafford has two areas of extraterritorial jurisdiction. They are within the Houston Independent School District, including an area at Beltway 8 and Stafford Road and another area between Beltway 8 and Murphy Road. One area within the Alief Independent School District is next to the City of Meadows Place along Interstate 69/U.S. Route 59. Areas in the Fort Bend Independent School District include part of Fifth Street and an area around U.S. Route 90 Alternate, Dulles Avenue, and Avenue E. The City of Stafford has avoided annexing these areas, because doing so would give it territory in school districts other than the Stafford Municipal School District (SMSD) and the city wants its city limits and the SMSD to have the same area. The SMSD cannot annex these areas without the other school districts' permission.

Demographics

Racial and ethnic composition

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

|+Stafford city, Texas – Racial and ethnic composition

!Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)

!Pop 2000

!Pop 2010

!% 2000

!% 2010

|White alone (NH)

|5,590

|3,972

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2,858

|35.65%

|22.45%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |16.18%

|Black or African American alone (NH)

|2,905

|4,740

|style='background: #ffffe6; |5,239

|18.53%

|26.79%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |29.66%

|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|45

|42

|style='background: #ffffe6; |27

|0.29%

|0.24%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.15%

|Asian alone (NH)

|3,086

|4,000

|style='background: #ffffe6; |3,849

|19.68%

|22.61%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |21.79%

|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |19

|0.05%

|0.03%

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

|Other race alone (NH)

|40

|50

|style='background: #ffffe6; |110

|0.26%

|0.28%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.62%

|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)

|354

|293

|style='background: #ffffe6; |449

|2.26%

|1.66%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2.54%

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|3,653

|4,590

|style='background: #ffffe6; |5,115

|23.30%

|25.94%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |28.95%

|Total

|15,681

|17,693

|style='background: #ffffe6; |17,666

|100.00%

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

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Stafford had a population of 17,666. The median age was 35.3 years. 22.4% of residents were under the age of 18 and 12.0% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 94.5 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 91.9 males age 18 and over.

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

There were 6,805 households in Stafford, of which 33.0% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 41.8% were married-couple households, 22.0% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 30.8% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 28.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

! Race !! Number !! Percent

| White || 3,825 || 21.7%

| Black or African American || 5,322 || 30.1%

| American Indian and Alaska Native || 151 || 0.9%

| Asian || 3,864 || 21.9%

| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander || 21 || 0.1%

| Some other race || 2,309 || 13.1%

| Two or more races || 2,174 || 12.3%

| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) || 5,115 || 29.0%

2010 census

As of the census

The median income for a household was $61,084, and for a family was $63,244. Males had a median income of $46,023 versus $40,549 for females. The per capita income was $27,082. About 6.3% of families and 9.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.4% of those under 18 and 9.3% of those 65 or older.

Economy

Stafford has not had a municipal property tax since 1995. Though it is known as a bedroom community of the greater Houston area, an estimated four times as many people work in Stafford on a weekday, which is evidence of the large amount of commercial activity that helps the city financially.

thumb|right|[[Texas Instruments facility in Stafford: Texas Instruments was Stafford's largest employer.]]

Originally, Stafford was an agricultural community, but through modern history has operations from commercial, manufacturing, retail, service, and wholesale industries that pay sales and franchise taxes to the city.

Texas Instruments (TI) operated a production facility in Stafford, where it manufactured wafers used in cell phones, high-definition televisions, and solar devices. The plant first opened in 1967. In 2009, TI, which had around 1,500 employees in its Stafford office that year, was the city's largest employer.

About 20 years ago, TI comprised about 25% of the city's economy and by 2012, it stood at about one-tenth of that, or 2.5%. Some jobs at the plant were scheduled to end in July 2012. Other jobs were scheduled to remain until the factory's closure in late 2012. TI said it planned to open another facility in greater Houston for the 500 remaining employees.

Parks and recreation

thumb|Stafford Civic Center

About of greenspace in Stafford are designated as municipal parks. Stafford City Park, the largest, covers of land. The park includes baseball and softball fields, basketball courts, a pavilion, playground equipment, picnic benches, and soccer (football)/open fields. Gordon Fountain Lake Park, covering , is Stafford's second-largest park. It has a 1/2-mile, lighted, jogging trail, a lake, a pavilion, picnic benches, and playground equipment. The Vaccaro Manor Park has a lighted, quarter-mile jogging trail, a pavilion, playground equipment, sidewalks, and soccer/open fields. The Rubin Park has playground equipment and picnic benches. First Street Park has of land and includes baseball/softball fields, a jogging trail, lighting, and picnic benches. The Margaret Havens Historical Memorial Garden is next to Stafford City Hall. Its rose garden, benches, and fountain have attracted many couples to marry there. Stafford operates a Civic Center and a City Pool in the Municipal Complex. City residents pay $15 a year for pool access. The Stafford Centre Performing Arts Theatre and Convention Centre has a 1,100-seat performing arts theater; 25,000 square feet of meeting, banquet, and exposition space, including a 20,000-ft2 ballroom; and over 28 acres of outdoor festival green space.

Fort Bend County operates the Stafford Community Center in Fifth Street, an unincorporated area near Stafford.

In 2014 the Sugar Land Youth Cricket Club, a children's cricket club, was established. In 2016 it played its home games at Everest Academy in Stafford.

Government and infrastructure

thumb|Stafford City Hall

thumb|right|The Stafford Municipal Complex is located in the southern part of the city off Staffordshire Road at Constitution Avenue.

Local government

The City of Stafford stopped levying nonschool property taxes in 1995. It is the only Houston-area city and the most populous city in Texas to do so. Sales and franchise taxes from businesses fund the city.

From 1969 to 2020, Stafford's mayor was Leonard Scarcella. By 2018, he was the longest-serving mayor in the United States. On June 28, 2020, Scarcella died at age 79. In December 2020, Cecil Willis was elected mayor. In June 2023, Ken Matthew was elected mayor.

The Stafford City Hall, Stafford Police Department, and Municipal Court buildings are on South Main, adjacent to one another. The Stafford Volunteer Fire Department operates out of three fire stations.

The city is governed by its Home Rule Charter. The most recent review was in 2018. The commission consisted of:

Ash Hamirani

Jonathan Montoya

Hector Acevedo

Christeen Seymour

Lawrence Vaccaro Jr.

Vice Chairperson Ettienne Zak

Chairperson Robert Sorbet

County, state, and federal representation

Stafford is partly in Fort Bend County and partly in Harris County. Residents pay property taxes to their respective counties.

Much of Stafford is in District 26 of the Texas House of Representatives. As of 2012, Charlie Howard represents the district. Some of Stafford is in District 27 of the Texas House of Representatives. As of 2012, Ron Reynolds represents the district. Most of Stafford is in District 13 of the Texas Senate, represented by Borris L. Miles. Some of Stafford is in District 17 of the Texas Senate, represented by Joan Huffman.

thumb|left|Stafford Post Office

Stafford is in Texas's 22nd congressional district. As of 2021, Troy Nehls represents the district.

The U.S. Postal Service operates the Stafford Post Office. Some locations in Houston have Stafford mailing addresses.

Fort Bend County does not have a hospital district. OakBend Medical Center serves as the county's charity hospital which the county contracts with. Harris County has a hospital district, Harris Health.

Media

The Houston Chronicle is the area's newspaper of record.

Culture

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir is in unincorporated Fort Bend County, Texas, within the extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) of Stafford and with a Stafford mailing address.

Annual Juneteenth Festival

Stafford, Texas hosts an annual Juneteenth Celebration, first launched in 2022 by former City Council Member Don Jones.

Education

thumb|[[Houston Community College System Stafford building]]

Colleges and universities

Stafford MSD (and therefore the city) is served by the Houston City College System. The HCCS Southwest College includes the Stafford Campus at 10041 Cash Road. In spring 2012, the enrollment at the Stafford Campus was 8,139. Stafford is also home to North American University, a small private university with an enrollment of roughly 800 students.

Primary and secondary schools

thumb|left|[[Stafford Municipal School District headquarters]]

Public schools

The city has the only municipal school district (Stafford Municipal School District) in all of Texas. In 1977, Stafford broke away from the Fort Bend Independent School District (FBISD), which caused several rounds of federal litigation; by 1981, it was declared that the Stafford Municipal School District was constitutional. Almost all of Stafford was in FBISD, with a minuscule portion in the Houston Independent School District. All of Stafford is now zoned to the Stafford Municipal School District, Texas's only municipal school district controlled by the city. Residents pay property taxes to the school district. Staffordshire students were reassigned to E. A. Jones Elementary School in Missouri City. Dulles Junior High School served as FBISD's sole junior high school from March 1965 to August 1975. Dulles High became the only zoned high school for students of all races in FBISD until Willowridge High School in Houston opened in 1979.

Private schools

Everest Academy (Pre-K–5), a school of the Darul Arqam Schools, is in Stafford. Sugar Creek Montessori School also has a campus in Stafford.

Public libraries

Fort Bend County Libraries' Mamie George Branch is in Sugar Land, on Dulles Avenue next to Dulles Middle School. The Mamie George Library, a library designed by Wylie W. Vale and Associates, opened in November 1974. It was named after Mamie George, a philanthropist from Fort Bend County. The George Foundation donated funds for the building, and the Fort Bend Independent School District donated the land the library was built on. The library was renovated in 1991. In 1996 the small-business-center materials were moved from the Missouri City Branch to the Mamie George Branch.

Gallery

File:StaffordMunicipalCourt.JPG|Stafford Municipal Court

File:StaffordPoliceDepartment.JPG|Stafford Police Department, part of the J.C. "Buster" Public Safety Complex

File:FireStation1StaffordTexas.JPG|Fire Station No. 1, part of the J.C. "Buster" Court Public Safety Complex

File:StaffordNorthsideFireStation.JPG|Northside Fire Station

File:StaffordCentreStaffordTX.JPG|Stafford Centre for the Performing Arts

File:StaffordPOTX.JPG|Stafford Post Office

</gallery>

References

External links

City of Stafford official website
Muck, Patti. "Stafford, railroad on divergent tracks/1st Texas town to see a train balks at Southern Pacific's "dual' plan." Houston Chronicle. Sunday July 31, 1994. C1.