Edinburg, Texas

Edinburg is a city in and the county seat of Hidalgo County, Texas, United States. The population was 48,465 at the 2000 census. The University of Texas–Pan American, the only fully accredited four-year university in the Rio Grande Valley, is located in Edinburg. Medal of Honor recipient Alfredo (Freddy) Cantu Gonzalez was born in 1946 in Edinburg.

Edinburg is one of the principal cities of the McAllen–Edinburg–Mission metropolitan area, which includes all of Hidalgo County.

History
In 1908, John Closner, William Briggs, Argyle McAllen, Plutarco de la Viña and Dennis B. Chapin developed a new community (the town square of which is now located at the crossroads of U.S. Highway 281 and State Highway 107). The town was named Chapin in honor of one of the developers. It became the county seat of Hidalgo County in a dramatic, nighttime covert operation in which the county records were removed from the previous county seat, Hidalgo, Texas. When Dennis Chapin was involved in the shooting death of Oscar J. Rountree at the Dan Breen Saloon in San Antonio, Texas, the community changed its name to Edinburg to honor John Young, a prominent businessman who was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. The town was incorporated in 1919.

Geography
Edinburg is located at °N, °W (26.304225, -98.163751).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 37.4 square miles (96.9 km²), of which, 37.4 square miles (96.8 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.13%) is water.

Demographics
Population as of the census of 2000, there were 48,465 people, 14,183 households, and 11,417 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,296.9 people per square mile (500.7/km²). There were 16,031 housing units at an average density of 429.0 per square mile (165.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 73.32% White, 0.58% African American, 0.47% Native American, 0.65% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 22.67% from other races, and 2.27% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 88.68% of the population. About 95% of those who selected the "other race" were Hispanic or Latino.

There were 14,183 households out of which 46.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.9% were married couples living together, 19.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.5% were non-families. 15.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.29 and the average family size was 3.71.

In the city the population was spread out with 33.0% under the age of 18, 13.1% from 18 to 24, 29.8% from 25 to 44, 15.9% from 45 to 64, and 8.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 27 years. For every 100 females there were 95.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $28,938, and the median income for a family was $30,634. Males had a median income of $27,505 versus $21,010 for females. The per capita income for the city was $11,854. About 25.2% of families and 29.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 37.2% of those under age 18 and 23.0% of those age 65 or over.

Colleges and universities
Edinburg is the home of the University of Texas-Pan American and the Rio Grande Bible Institute. Edinburg is also located in the South Texas College District.

Primary and secondary education
Almost all of the city is served by the Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District, comprising three high schools, one alternative secondary school, five middle schools, and 20 of the District's elementary schools. A small portion is served by the McAllen Independent School District, including Memorial High School, Lamar Academy, Cathey Middle School, and McAllen's Gonzalez Elementary.

In addition, the South Texas Independent School District operates magnet schools that serve Edinburg. South Texas Business Education & Technology Academy (BETA) is in Edinburg. Students from Edinburg also have the chance to attend other South Texas ISD schools in Mercedes -South Texas High School for the Medical Professions and The Science Academy of South Texas.

The Catholic Diocese of Brownsville operates St. Joseph Catholic School, an elementary and middle school.

Public libraries
The City of Edinburg operates the Dustin Michael Sekula Memorial Library.

Museums
Edinburg is home to the Museum of South Texas History, formerly the Hidalgo County Historical Museum.

Government and infrastructure
As Edinburg is the county seat of Hidalgo County, most major county offices are located there including the Criminal District Attorney's Office, the District Courts and County Courts at Law of Hidalgo County, the Community Supervision and Corrections Department, the Hidalgo County Juvenile Probation Department, the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Department and the offices of the County Judge, the Tax Assessor/Collector, the County Treasurer, County Auditor and Veterans Services. Hidalgo County Commissioner's Precinct Four represents Edinburg on the Hidalgo County County Commissioner's Court.

Several state agencies have offices in Edinburg. This includes the Thirteenth Court of Appeals, the Texas Attorney General's Child Support Unit, the Texas departments of Health Services, Human Services, Protective and Regulatory Services and Public Safety. The Texas Youth Commission has a facility near Edinburg. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice operates two facilities, the Lopez Unit and the Segovia Unit, in Edinburg.

Congressman Ruben Hinojosa and the Customs and Border Protection have regional offices in Edinburg.

Sports
This city is the home of the Edinburg Roadrunners, an independent league baseball team in the North American League.

Radio stations

 * KFRQ 94.5FM (Modern Rock) Official Site
 * KKPS 99.5FM (Regional Texano) Official Site
 * KNVO 101.1FM (Contemporary Spanish) Official Site
 * KVLY 107.9FM (Adult Contemporary, TOP 40) Official Site
 * KBFM 104.1FM (Hip Hop and R&B)
 * KURV 710 AM (Talk Radio) FOX News, Mark Levine, Colonel Ray, Gardening, Kim Komando
 * KMBH/KHID 88.1 FM (Public Radio) National Public Radio, American Public Media, Public Radio International.

Area newspapers

 * The Monitor
 * The Edinburg Review
 * The Mid Valley Town Crier

Television
The Edinburg area is served by numerous local television affiliates.
 * XHRIO-TV (FOX 2) - Matamoros, Tamaulipas Official Site
 * KGBT-TV (CBS 4) - Harlingen, Texas
 * KRGV-TV (ABC 5) - Weslaco, Texas
 * KVTF-CA (Telefutura 20) - Brownsville, Texas
 * KVEO-TV (NBC 23) - Brownsville, Texas
 * KTLM-TV (Telemundo 40) - Rio Grande City, Texas
 * KLUJ-TV (TBN 44) - Harlingen, Texas
 * KNVO-TV (Univision 48) - McAllen, Texas Official Site
 * KMBH-TV (PBS 60) - Harlingen, Texas
 * KNWS-LP (Azteca America 64) - Brownsville, Texas