Point, Texas

Point is located at 32°55′53″N 95°52′15″W (32.931512, -95.870957).[5] It is situated at the junction of U.S. Route 69 and Farm Roads 47 and 514 in northwestern Rains County, approximately eight miles northwest of Emory and sixty miles east of Dallas.[6]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.8 square miles (7.3 km²).

Settled circa 1880 as a flag station on a section of the Missouri–Kansas–Texas (MKT) Railroad being built from Mineola to Greenville, the name submitted for a post office was initially Rice's Point, in honor of early area settler William Rice. When that was rejected, the name Point was accepted. By 1890, the community had an estimated population of fifty, a public school, and four churches. Ten men, led by newspaperman Isaac Newton Gresham, met in Point on August 28, 1902, and signed a charter to establish the Farmers' Educational and Cooperative Union of America.[8] The organization went national in 1905 and had a million members by 1908. In 1913, Point established the first independent school district in Rains County. The number of residents had risen to around 600 in 1914. The Great Depression severely impacted the community, leading to a rapid decline in population and the number of businesses in Point. The paving of U.S. Route 69 in the early 1940s bolstered the population to approximately 420, but that figure had again declined to 350 by the end of that decade. The MKT line was abandoned in the mid-1950s. In 1957, the Iron Bridge Dam was constructed on the Sabine River to form Lake Tawakoni. When the lake reached its fullest extent in 1960, it was only four miles from Point. Point was incorporated as a city in 1966. Development along the shores of Lake Tawakoni eventually became a separate community, East Tawakoni, which incorporated in 1967.[6] Point's population was 419 in 1970 and slowly grew, due to a combination of tourism and its role as a local agricultural trade center. The 1990 census reported 645 residents living in the city and 792 in 2000.[8]

As of the census[3] of 2010, there were 820 people, 309 households, and 216 families residing in the city. The population density was 293.9 people per square mile (113.4/km²). There were 354 housing units at an average density of 126.9/sq mi (49/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 91.7% White, 2.3% African American, 0.6% Native American, 0.5% Asian, 2.9% from other races, and 2.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.6% of the population.

There were 309 households, out of which 37.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.7% were married couples living together, 15.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.3% were non-families. 24.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.10.

In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 29.3% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 27.4% from 25 to 44, 21.0% from 45 to 64, and 13.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $25,417, and the median income for a family was $30,341. Males had a median income of $26,389 versus $19,688 for females. The per capita income for the city was $11,946. About 21.5% of families and 18.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.4% of those under age 18 and 18.6% of those age 65 or over.

The City of Point is served by the Rains Independent School District.