The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 89, July 1985 - April, 1986 Page: 399
610 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Ethnic Change in Texas
nine of every ten persons was Mexican in 188o, was less than one-third
Hispanic fifty years later.25 Aided by a net Anglo emigration from
South Texas since 196o, Mexicans have decisively reversed this trend.
More notably, the past fifty years have also witnessed a significant
northward movement of Hispanic people within the state, as can be
seen in the significant enlargement of the area in which they form be-
tween a quarter and a half of the total population, as well as in the
northward and eastward shift in the boundary of the district housing
more Mexicans than blacks (figures 5, 6, 7). Four counties that had
black majorities as recently as 19oo-Brazoria, Fort Bend, Matagorda,
and Wharton-housed more Hispanics than blacks by 1980.26
Denton County, in North Texas, provides a good example of the
spread of the Mexican population into new areas. Only 14 persons of
Hispanic ethnicity lived in Denton County in 1887, contrasted with 905
blacks; and by 1930 the Mexican total had risen to 254, still less than
one-eighth the number of Afro-Americans.27 Some had come as rail-
road workers, while others labored on farms and ranches in the county.
Many Anglo cemeteries in rural Denton County contain a few, spatially
segregated, Mexican graves dating from the early part of the century.
The Menchaca family operated a Mexican-food cafe as early as 1916
on the east side of the Denton courthouse square. Even so, Spanish-
surnamed counts revealed only 242 such persons in the county in 1950
and 885 in 1960. Beginning in the 1960s, an upswing in immigration
occurred, with South Texas as the leading source, and in the following
decade Hispanics surpassed blacks to become the largest Denton County
minority. The 1980 census enumerated 6,286 Hispanic persons, or 4.5
percent of the county population, surpassing the black total of 6,135.28
Until fairly recently, a rather orderly steplike geographical progres-
sion was evident in the northward intrastate migration of Hispanics.
25 Robert C. Spillman, "A Historical Geography of Mexican American Population Patterns in
the South Texas Hispanic Borderland: 1850-1970" (M.A. thesis, University of Southern Mis-
sissippi, 1977), 38, 61, based upon his hand count of the MSS population schedules of the 1880
United States census; see also Mattie L. Wooten, "Racial, National, and Nativity Trends in Texas,
1870-1930," Southwestern Social Science Quarterly, XIV (June, 1933), 62-69.
26Thirteenth Census, Vol. III, Population, igro, pp. 805-851.
27 L. L. Foster (ed.), First Annual Report of the Agricultural Bureau of the Department of Agriculture,
Insurance, Statistics, and History, 1887-88 (Austin, 1889), 55; Fifteenth Census of the United
States: 1930, Population, Vol. III, Pt. 2 (Washington, D.C., 1932), 978, 1,014.
28Terry G. Jordan, "County Bicentennial Affair Rich in Spanish History," Denton Record-
Chronicle, Feb. 11, 1976; 198o Census of Population, Vol. I, Chapter C, Pt. 45, Texas, Sec. 1,
pp. 51, 79, lol; United States Census of Population: 1950o, Persons of Spanish Surname, Special
Report (Washington, D.C., 1953), p. 3C-45; United States Census of Population: 1960, Subject
Reports, PC(2)-1B, Persons of Spanish Surname (Washington, D.C., 1963).399
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 89, July 1985 - April, 1986, periodical, 1985/1986; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117151/m1/469/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.