Editing Kosse, Texas

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
| official_name      = Kosse, Texas
| settlement_type    = [[Town]]
| nickname           = 
| motto              = <!-- Images -->
| image_skyline      = KosseTexas (1 of 1).jpg
| imagesize          = 
| image_caption      = Kosse, Texas
| image_flag         = 
| image_seal         = <!-- Maps -->
| image_map          = TXMap-doton-Kosse.PNG
| mapsize            = 250px
| map_caption        = Location of Kosse, Texas
| image_map1         = Limestone County Kosse.svg
| mapsize1           = 250px
| map_caption1       = <!-- Location -->
| subdivision_type   = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
| subdivision_name   = United States
| subdivision_type1  = [[U.S. state|State]]
| subdivision_name1  = [[Texas]]
| subdivision_type2  = [[List of counties in Texas|County]]
| subdivision_name2  = [[Limestone County, Texas|Limestone]]

<!-- Government -->| government_footnotes = 
| government_type    = 
| leader_title       = 
| leader_name        = 
| leader_title1      = 
| leader_name1       = 
| established_title  = 
| established_date   = <!-- Area -->
| unit_pref          = Imperial
| area_footnotes     = <ref name="CenPopGazetteer2019">{{cite web|title=2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2019_Gazetteer/2019_gaz_place_48.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=August 7, 2020}}</ref>
| area_magnitude     = 
| area_total_km2     = 3.37
| area_land_km2      = 3.34
| area_water_km2     = 0.03
| area_total_sq_mi   = 1.30
| area_land_sq_mi    = 1.29
| area_water_sq_mi   = 0.01

<!-- Population -->| population_as_of   = [[2020 United States Census|2020]]
| population_footnotes = 
| population_total   = 458
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_density_sq_mi = <!-- General information -->
| timezone           = [[North American Central Time Zone|Central (CST)]]
| utc_offset         = -6
| timezone_DST       = CDT
| utc_offset_DST     = -5
| elevation_footnotes = 
| elevation_m        = 152
| elevation_ft       = 499
| coordinates        = {{coord|31|18|27|N|96|37|49|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title}}
| postal_code_type   = [[ZIP code]]
| postal_code        = 76653
| area_code          = [[Area code 254|254]]
| blank_name         = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
| blank_info         = 48-39844<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=January 31, 2008|title=U.S. Census website}}</ref>
| blank1_name        = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
| blank1_info        = 1360753<ref name="GR3">{{cite web|url=http://geonames.usgs.gov|access-date=January 31, 2008|title=US Board on Geographic Names|publisher=[[United States Geological Survey]]|date=October 25, 2007}}</ref>
| website            = {{URL|www.kossetexas.com}}
| footnotes          = 
}}

[[Image:KosseTexas2 (1 of 1).jpg|200px|right|thumb|Narcissus Street in Kosse]]

[[Image:Kosse, TX Cafe IMG 6230.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Kosse Cafe is located at the intersection of [[Texas State Highway 7|Texas Highways 7]] and [[Texas State Highway 14|14]] and is one of three restaurants in the town.]]

[[Image:First Baptist Church, Kosse, TX IMG 6229.JPG|200px|right|thumb|The First [[Baptist]] Church of Kosse was built in 1907.]]

'''Kosse''' is a town in southern [[Limestone County, Texas|Limestone County]], [[Texas]], United States. The population was 458 at the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]].

Kosse calls itself "A Little Town with a Big Heart."

==Geography==

Kosse is located at {{coord|31|18|27|N|96|37|49|W|type:city}} (31.307452, –96.630267).<ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=April 23, 2011|date=February 12, 2011|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990}}</ref> It is situated at the junction of [[List of State Highways in Texas|State Highways]] [[Texas State Highway 7|7]] and [[Texas State Highway 14|14]] in southwestern Limestone County, approximately 16 miles east of [[Marlin, Texas|Marlin]] and 17 miles south of [[Groesbeck, Texas|Groesbeck]]. The closest large cities are [[Waco, Texas|Waco]], 42 miles to the northwest, and [[Bryan, Texas|Bryan]]/[[College Station, Texas|College Station]], 52 miles south of Kosse.<ref name="Texas Escapes">{{cite web | url = http://www.texasescapes.com/CentralTexasTownsNorth/Kosse-Texas.htm | title = Kosse, Texas | publisher = Texas Escapes Online Magazine | access-date = November 4, 2009}}</ref>

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the town has a total area of {{convert|1.3|sqmi|km2}}, all land.

==History==

=== Early settlement ===
Initial settlement of the area began in the mid-1840s as a community known as Eutaw. Settlers built homes near Duck Creek and Eutaw was a stage stop for the Franklin-Springfield and Waco-Marlin stage routes.<ref name="Texas Handbook">{{cite web | url = https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hlk14 | title = Kosse, Texas | publisher = [[The Handbook of Texas]] online | access-date = November 4, 2009}}</ref>

=== Arrival of the Houston & Texas Central Railway ===
Following the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], the area was in the planned route of the [[Houston and Texas Central Railway]] (H&TC) which was being constructed to link Houston to Dallas, Denison and the Red River.  The H&TC set aside one acre of land along the rail line two miles west of Eutaw as a townsite, and named it for chief engineer Theodore Kosse.  For several months in late 1870 and early 1871, Kosse was the northernmost terminus of the railway, and the population briefly boomed.  But by the spring of 1871, the rail line had been extended further north to the new terminus of Groesbeck and Kosse's population was considerably reduced. By 1873, ''Logan's Railway Business Directory'' noted that Kosse "contains about 200 inhabitants and is doing little business. When it was the terminus it was a thriving place, now its glory has faded. Cattle constitute the bulk of shipments from here."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Logan|first=A. L.|title=Logan's Railway Business Directory|url=https://archive.org/details/logansrailwaybus00loga|publisher=A. L. Logan & Co.|year=1873|location=St. Louis, MO|pages=[https://archive.org/details/logansrailwaybus00loga/page/106 106]}}</ref>

=== Incorporation and early years ===
The new town of Kosse was formally incorporated by an Act of the Texas Legislature on May 22, 1871. The Act named G. N. Beaumont, D. T. Igleheart, J. Huey, R. H. Fielder and a Mr. Young to be commissioners to lay off the town and make a town plat. The town's first officers were appointed by the Governor, and the first general election was held on the second Tuesday in November 1872, at which time a mayor, constable and five aldermen were elected for a two-year term.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Laws of Texas, 1822-1897 (Vol. 6)|last=Gammell|first=Hans P. N.|year=1898|pages=438–441}}</ref>  The town was named for H&TC's chief engineer, Theodore Kosse.

=== Late 19th century ===
The first census of Kosse was taken in 1880 when it had a population of 476. Five years later, Kosse had multiple cotton gins, two sawmills, and three gristmills.<ref name="Texas Escapes" /> By 1890 there were 647 residents.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth46827/m1/376/sizes/l/|title=A Memorial and Biographical History of Navarro, Henderson, Anderson, Limestone, Freestone and Leon Counties, Texas|date=1893|publisher=Lewis Publishing Company|location=Chicago|page=376|access-date=September 28, 2014}}</ref>

An acre of land was granted for the construction of a public school on October 1, 1884. Kosse became an independent school district in 1893, with J. Thomas Hall as its first superintendent.<ref name="Kosse Cafe">{{cite web|url=http://www.kossecafe.com/kossehistory.html|title=Kosse, Texas|publisher=Kosse Cafe|access-date=November 4, 2009}}</ref> The district had a total of 225 students. A separate school with 80 students and two teachers served the area's black community.<ref name="Texas Handbook" />

On December 22, 1895, a fire burned seven brick buildings and destroyed the merchandise of seventeen firms; this caused a loss of $75,000, of which only $30,000 was insured.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.newspapers.com|title=A $75,000 Fire in Texas|date=December 23, 1895|work=The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)|access-date=November 30, 2019}}</ref>

=== Early 20th century ===
By the turn of the 20th century, Kosse had emerged as a small but stable regional community that supported the surrounding farms and ranches of southern Limestone County.
[[File:Kosse1899.jpg|thumb|Downtown Kosse in November 1899]]
Kosse was home to 700 residents in 1914. A local Chamber of Commerce was formed in 1921. In 1922, discovery of oil by wildcatter A. E. Humphreys dramatically transformed Kosse into a temporary oil boom town with thousands of new residents.  However, the numerous wells drilled around Kosse did not turn out to be producers, and Kosse's oil boom came to a rapid close early in 1923.

The [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]] severely impacted Kosse as businesses closed and people left in search of jobs. Declining student enrollment caused the Kosse School Board to vote in favor of consolidation with Groesbeck in 1968.<ref name="Kosse Cafe" /> Kosse had eleven businesses in 1989.

==Demographics==

As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2" /> of 2000, there were 497 people, 205 households, and 137 families residing in the town. The population density was {{convert|381.7|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 269 housing units at an average density of {{convert|206.6|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The racial makeup of the town was 73.24% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 18.31% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 1.01% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.20% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 5.84% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 1.41% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 10.66% of the population.
{{US Census population
| 1880 = 476
| 1890 = 647
| 1900 = 717
| 1910 = 764
| 1920 = 872
| 1930 = 805
| 1940 = 881
| 1950 = 566
| 1960 = 354
| 1970 = 471
| 1980 = 484
| 1990 = 505
| 2000 = 497
| 2010 = 464
| 2020 = 458
| footnote = U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|access-date=June 4, 2015}}</ref><br>2020 Census<ref name="2020 Census">{{cite web |date=May 2023 |title=Census Bureau profile: Kosse, Texas |url=https://data.census.gov/all?q=Kosse%20town,%20Texas |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=Jun 7, 2024}}</ref>
}}

There were 205 households, out of which 32.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.8% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 15.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.7% were non-families. 30.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 3.03.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 27.4% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 27.0% from 25 to 44, 22.3% from 45 to 64, and 16.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.3 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $25,227, and the median income for a family was $30,781. Males had a median income of $24,167 versus $16,750 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the town was $12,868. About 19.6% of families and 25.2% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 45.4% of those under age 18 and 21.1% of those age 65 or over.

==Education==
Public education in the town of Kosse is provided by the [[Groesbeck Independent School District]].

==Notable people==

* [[Sam G. Bratton]], senator and circuit judge
* [[John Wesley Hardin]], outlaw and killer; claimed to have committed a murder in Kosse, January 1870 (although Kosse hadn't been established yet)
* [[Kosse Johnson]], former All-American football player ([[Rice University]]; 1951–1953)
* [[Walter Angus Keeling]], former federal judge and [[Texas Attorney General]]
* [[Kenneth Sims]], former professional football player ([[New England Patriots]]; 1982–1989). First overall selection in the [[1982 NFL draft]], inducted into [[College Football Hall of Fame]] Class of 2021
* [[Bob Wills]], [[Western swing]] musician, [[songwriter]] and bandleader

==References==
<references />

==External links==
*{{Official website|www.kossetexas.com}}

{{Limestone County, Texas}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Towns in Limestone County, Texas]]
[[Category:Towns in Texas]]