Wilmer, Texas

City of Wilmer, Texas
City
Location of Wilmer in Dallas County, Texas
Coordinates: 32°35′27″N 96°40′57″W / 32.59083°N 96.68250°W / 32.59083; -96.68250Coordinates: 32°35′27″N 96°40′57″W / 32.59083°N 96.68250°W / 32.59083; -96.68250
Country	United States
State	Texas
County	Dallas City Type: Rural
Government
• Mayor	Casey Burgess
Area
• Total	6.4 sq mi (16.7 km2)
• Land	6.4 sq mi (16.5 km2)
• Water	0.04 sq mi (0.1 km2)
Elevation	466 ft (142 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	3,682
• Density	570/sq mi (220/km2)
Time zone	CST (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code	75172
Area code(s)	972
FIPS code	48-79576[1]
GNIS feature ID	1350245[2]
Website	http://www.cityofwilmer.net/

Wilmer is a city in Dallas County, Texas, United States. The population was 3,682 at the 2010 census.^[3] It is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Union Pacific's Dallas Intermodal Terminal is located partly in the city of Wilmer and partly in the city of Hutchins.^[4] The shipping facility, built by AUI Contractors, Prime Rail Interests and Halff Associates, was a 70 million U.S. dollar project.

Geography

Wilmer is located at 32°35′27″N 96°40′57″W / 32.59083°N 96.68250°W / 32.59083; -96.68250 (32.590743, -96.682619).^[5] It is situated along Interstate 45 in southeastern Dallas County, approximately 14 miles (23 km) south of downtown Dallas.^[6]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.4 square miles (16.7 km²), of which 6.4 square miles (16.5 km²) is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²), or 0.82%, is water.^[7]

History

The area was initially settled by Andrew K. Gray before 1850. The settlement was originally known as Prairie Valley when the Houston and Texas Central Railroad arrived in 1872.^[8] In 1884, the post office in Prairie Valley was renamed Wilmer, after A.J. Wilmer, a conductor on the Houston and Texas Central line. The population was estimated at 100 in 1890, with several stores and businesses operation in the community. That figure had risen to over 200 by the start of World War I. A fire destroyed most of Wilmer's business district on July 4, 1929. The community's shallow wells were unable to pump the adequate amount of water needed to extinguish the blaze.

Wilmer incorporated in 1945, and its first mayor, J.H. May, was elected on a platform of installing a water system. At the time of incorporation, Wilmer had 136 homes and a population of approximately 450. In 1949, a volunteer fire department was established and a fire truck was purchased. Around the same time, Wilmer and the neighboring city of Hutchins consolidated their schools.^[6] By 1960, Wilmer was home to 1,785 residents. Throughout the latter half of the twentieth century, Wilmer continued to grow, but at a much slower rate than other communities in Dallas County.^[8] With 3,393 residents as of the 2000 census, Wilmer is currently one of the smallest incorporated cities in Dallas County.

Demographics

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 3,393 people, 958 households, and 714 families residing in the city. The population density was 538.9 people per square mile (207.9/km²). There were 1,078 housing units at an average density of 171.2/sq mi (66.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 47.89% White, 23.43% African American, 1.12% Native American, 0.06% Asian, 24.55% from other races, and 2.95% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 41.50% of the population.

There were 958 households out of which 40.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.9% were married couples living together, 15.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.4% were non-families. 19.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.23 and the average family size was 3.71.

In the city the population was spread out with 30.7% under the age of 18, 13.0% from 18 to 24, 33.5% from 25 to 44, 17.6% from 45 to 64, and 5.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females there were 115.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 116.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $33,843, and the median income for a family was $35,820. Males had a median income of $26,742 versus $22,007 for females. The per capita income for the city was $12,167. About 16.3% of families and 18.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26.5% of those under age 18 and 6.8% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Wilmer is served by the Dallas Independent School District. The area is within the Board of Trustees District 5; as of 2008 Lew Blackburn represents the district.^[11] As of fall 2011 the area is zoned to Wilmer-Hutchins Elementary School,^[12] Kennedy-Curry Middle School,^[13] and Wilmer-Hutchins High School.^[14]

In 2015 the Wilmer Early Childhood Center,^[15] located on the site of the former Wlmer Elementary School, opened.^[16]

School histories

Wilmer-Hutchins Independent School District used to serve Wilmer. Until the end of the school district, Wilmer Elementary School was located in Wilmer.^[17][18] In addition, Kennedy-Curry Middle School and Wilmer-Hutchins High School in Dallas, then under WHISD control, served Wilmer.^[17] WHISD was closed after spring 2005 with official termination in June 2006. After the closure of WHISD property values in the district increased.^[19]

From 2005-2009 Wilmer was served by various DISD schools. From 2005-2006^[20] to 2008-2009 W. W. Bushman,^[21][22] B. F. Darrell,^[23][24] J. N. Ervin,^[25][26] and Whitney M. Young elementary schools served sections of Wilmer.^[27][28] From 2009-2010 to 2010-2011 only Bushman,^[29][30] Ervin,^[31][32] and Young served sections of Wilmer.^[33][34]

In the 2005-2006^[35] and the 2006-2007 school years Sarah Zumwalt Middle School served as Wilmer's middle school.^[36] From 2006-2007 to 2010-2011 Zumwalt (Darrell, Young, and Ervin zones) and Maynard H. Jackson Middle School (Bushman zone) served portions of Wilmer.^{[37][38][39][40]}

From 2005-2006 to 2010-2011 A. Maceo Smith High School served as Wilmer's high school.^[41][42][43]

Dallas ISD was considering opening a new Wilmer-Hutchins Elementary School building, restoring the Wilmer-Hutchins High School building, and demolishing the Kennedy-Curry Middle School building as part of its 2008 bond campaign.^[44] The district will open Wilmer Hutchins Elementary School in an area within the City of Dallas in 2011.^[45][46] In November 2010 DISD announced that three schools (Wilmer Hutchins ES, Kennedy-Curry Middle School, and Wilmer-Hutchins HS) would open/re-open in the Wilmer-Hutchins area in 2011.^[47]

The charter school group Honors Academy previously operated Wilmer Academy, a K-8 school, in Wilmer.^[48]

Government

The small city received national attention with the candidacy of James Brian Sliter for mayor, in the May 10, 2008 election. Sliter is an unconvicted registered sex offender who accepted a ten-year probation deferred adjudication after arranging to have sex over the Internet with a 15-year-old girl.^[49][50] Sliter later dropped out of the race.^[51]

References

External links

• City of Wilmer official website
• City of Wilmer official website (Archive)
• Wilmer Citizen Activist blog
• The Ellis County Observer, local newspaper
• The Ellis County Press, local newspaper
• "City of Wilmer, Texas COMMUNITY PLAN 2030" (Archive). Adopted June 18, 2009. Ordinance No. 09-0618.

Municipalities and communities of Dallas County, Texas, United States
County seat: Dallas‡
Cities	Balch Springs Carrollton‡ Cedar Hill‡ Cockrell Hill Combine‡ Coppell‡ Dallas‡ DeSoto Duncanville Farmers Branch Ferris‡ Garland‡ Glenn Heights‡ Grand Prairie‡ Grapevine‡ Hutchins Irving Lancaster Lewisville‡ Mesquite‡ Ovilla‡ Richardson‡ Rowlett‡ Sachse‡ Seagoville‡ University Park Wilmer Wylie‡
Towns	Addison Highland Park Sunnyvale
Unincorporated communities	Sand Branch
Historical communities	Alpha Buckingham Duck Creek East Dallas Embree Fruitdale Hatterville Hord's Ridge Kleberg La Reunion Liberty Grove Long Creek New Hope Oak Cliff Pleasant Grove Preston Hollow Renner Rylie Scyene Trinity Mills Tripp
Footnotes	‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

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