Burke, Texas | |
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City | |
Location of Burke, Texas |
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Coordinates: 31°14′9″N 94°45′54″W / 31.23583°N 94.76500°WCoordinates: 31°14′9″N 94°45′54″W / 31.23583°N 94.76500°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Texas |
County | Angelina |
Government | |
• Type | Municipal |
• Mayor | John T. Jones |
• City Secretary | Charlotte Morris |
• City Manager | Clint Jones |
Area | |
• Total | 2.8 sq mi (7 km2) |
• Land | 2.77 sq mi (7.2 km2) |
• Water | 0.03 sq mi (0.08 km2) |
Elevation | 272 ft (83 m) |
Population (2010) | |
• Total | 737 |
• Density | 260/sq mi (100/km2) |
Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
• Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
ZIP | 75941-9507 |
Area code(s) | 936 |
FIPS code | 48-11380 |
GNIS feature ID | 1381555 |
Burke is a city in southwestern Angelina County, Texas, United States. The population was 737 at the 2010 census.
Burke was founded in 1881 when construction of the Houston, East and West Texas Railway reached the western edge of Bradley Prairie. The town was originally named Rhodes for general store owner W. R. Rhodes and postmaster H. R. Rhodes, but about 1885 it was renamed for Edmund L. Burke, a railroad employee who directed the railroad survey.
By 1885 Burke had three sawmills, three cotton gins, a church, and a school. In 1886 it received a post office, which remained there until 1955. By 1888 it had a larger school, three general stores, a drugstore, a sawmill, a dentist and watchmaker, and a Farmers' Alliance store. In 1897 Burke had an estimated population of 650. By 1904 Burke's population had declined to 161, due to the rise of Lufkin, eight miles north, as an industrial center for the county. However, by 1915 the population had risen to 200, and by 1925 it reached 300. The Burke Methodist Church was organized in 1899-1900, and the First Baptist Church of Burke in 1905.
Education was a priority at Burke, and it had an independent school district until 1964 when the Burke school was consolidated with the Diboll Independent School District at Diboll. Burke was incorporated as a city in 1966, and a municipal water system was constructed. Burke had a population of 322 in 1980 and 314 in 1990.
Burke is located at 31°14′9″N 94°45′54″W / 31.23583°N 94.76500°W (31.235704, -94.764849). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.8 square miles (7.3 km2), of which, 2.77 square miles (7.2 km2) of it is land and 0.03 square miles (0.078 km2) is water.