Техас штатының Кингсвилл қаласының тарихы мен географиясы

Kingsville is a city in the southern region of the U. S. state of Texas and the county seat of Kleberg County. Located on the U. S. Route 77 corridor between Corpus Christi and Harlingen, Kingsville is the principal city of the Kingsville Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of the larger Corpus Christi Kingsville Combined Statistical Area. The population was 25,402 at the 2020 census, and in 2022 the U. S. Census Bureau estimated the population at 24,833. Named in honor of Richard King, the city was founded to provide infrastructure for the adjacent King Ranch, as well as serve as the headquarters of the newly founded St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway. In 1904, the first tracks were laid and the first buildings constructed for the planned city. In 1911, the city was incorporated. It is home to Texas A&M University Kingsville, a member of the Texas A&M University System, and Naval Air Station Kingsville, one of the U. S. Navy's two locations for jet aviation training.

The history of Kingsville is closely intertwined with the city's main creek, the Santa Gertrudis. The first recorded inhabitants of the area were the Coahuiltecan Malaquites, surviving on seafood from nearby Baffin Bay, with settlements along the Santa Getrudis and San Fernando creeks, and the Cayo del Grullo branch of Baffin Bay. Large herds of mustangs roamed the south Texas plains, often drinking from the waters of spring fed creeks in and around present day Kingsville. In 1803, Jose Lorenzo de la Garza established a settlement along the Santa Gertrudis. In 1846, General Zachary Taylor and his army camped along the banks of the Santa Gertrudis prior to their campaign into Mexico. In 1899, after many failed attempts, King ranch manager Robert J. Kleberg, Jr., was finally able to tap into an underground lake of water. The discovery of readily accessible water paved the way for a future settlement next to the ranch.

With the continued growth of the King Ranch in the mid to late 19th century, the desire for a railroad through the region increased, both to connect the communities of the Rio Grande Valley to the rest of Texas, and to serve the King Ranch. At the turn of the 20th century, Henrietta King, widow of Richard King, deeded a portion of the ranch to entice the construction of a town and to bring a railroad adjacent to the ranch. The first buildings were constructed, track was laid through the town, and the first train passed through Kingsville on July 4, 1904, considered the founding date of the city. Kingsville's first post office was also established that year. By the close of the first decade of the 20th century, Kingsville already had a thriving business scene, with an active commercial club, that was the forerunner of the city's chamber of commerce today. In 1909, a library was established, an opera house built in 1910, and by 1911, the city was incorporated and the first city government was chartered. Two years later, in 1913, Kingsville was named the county seat of the newly established Kleberg County. Segregationalist policies and Jim Crow laws were present in Kingsville during the beginning of the 20th century. By the 1920s, three distinct segregated communities had emerged, the Spanish speaking Tejano and migrant Mexican community of farm workers to the north, the African American community that mostly worked the railroad to the south, and the Anglo American community in the center of the city along the downtown region. The Ku Klux Klan had a presence in the town, boosting a mayor to election in 1922, and was responsible for the lynching of a visiting African American physician from nearby Bishop in 1923. In 1941, a naval air station opened in nearby Corpus Christi, after lobbying efforts by Congressman Kleberg, and began training pilots for the Navy and Marine Corps. Following Pearl Harbor and the United States' entry into the war, the need for increased pilot training and additional auxiliary airfields led to the Navy selecting Kingsville as the site of one, among several other municipalities. Plans were drawn up in 1941 and, in 1942, the U. S. Navy opened the new training airfield, Naval Air Auxiliary Station Kingsville, just to the east of town. NAS Kingsville is one of three major Naval Aviation jet training facilities for the Navy, and has had a significant impact on the economy and Kingsville's history. Due to the city's close proximity to the Gulf of Mexico, several hurricanes and tropical storms have made landfall in Kingsville. In 1916, a Category 4 hurricane made landfall at Baffin Bay and directly hit Kingsville, inflicting nearly $100,000 of damage. Illinois' Governor Edward Fitzsimmons Dunne, who had been in the state inspecting Army camps along the Texas Mexico border, was marooned in Kingsville overnight during the storm.

In 2009, the population density of Kingsville was There were 10,427 housing units, with an average density of .

+Kingsville racial composition (NH = Non Hispanic)RaceNumberPercentageWhite (NH)4,89119.25%Black or African American (NH)9663.8%Native American or Alaska Native (NH)680.27%Asian (NH)7592.99%Pacific Islander (NH)10.0%Some Other Race (NH)810.32%Mixed/Multi Racial (NH)3601.42%Hispanic or Latino18,27671.95%Total25,402
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 25,402 people, 9,399 households, and 5,813 families residing in the city.

There were 25,994 residents in 9,103 households, and 5,837 families living in the city. 1,192 housing units were vacant. The rental vacancy rate was 9.3 percent while the homeowner vacancy rate was 3.9 percent. Males had a median income of $44,854 versus $26,447 for females. NAS Kingsville has had a large economic impact on the city since it opened in 1942. Today, an estimated one in seven residents of the Kingsville area are in some way associated with the base. The base employs just over 1,600 residents.

Due to the structure and zoning of Texas independent school districts, they cross city boundaries. Public primary and secondary school districts that include portions of Kingsville include: Kingsville Independent School District (KISD) for the majority of the city, Ricardo Independent School District (for a small southern portion), and the Santa Gertrudis Independent School District (SGISD) (for a small western portion). There are two high schools within Kingsville: Henrietta M. King High School operated by KISD, and Academy High School operated by SGISD. Ricardo ISD high school students move on to Kaufer Early College High School, which is operated by Riviera Independent School District. Other KISD schools include Memorial Middle, John S. Gillett Intermediate, and A. D. Harvey, Alice G. K. Kleberg, Jesus R. Perez, and N. M. Harrel elementary schools. Additionally, KISD operates the Pogue Options Alternative Academy. SGISD operates one elementary and junior high school, the Santa Gertrudis School. In 2018, KISD received an 'F' rating from the Texas Education Agency, and no grade for 2019, due to data integrity. Conversely, SGSID received a grade of 'A' for both 2018 and 2019. Private schools include the Epiphany Episcopal School, Christian Life Academy, and the Presbyterian Pan American School. St. Gertrude the Great School of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Corpus Christi was formerly in Kingsville. The school closed in 2019. It was the final Catholic school in the Kingsville region.

The main campus of Texas A&M University Kingsville (TAMUK) is located in the northwest portion of the city. Additionally, the Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy (part of the Texas A&M Health Science Center) is located on the campus of TAMUK. Under Texas law, the Kingsville ISD, Santa Gertrudis ISD, and Ricardo ISD areas are all in the boundary of Coastal Bend College (referred to in legislation under its former name, "Bee County College"). Coastal Bend College has a campus in Kingsville offering several certificate and associate degree programs.