Huntsville, Texas | |
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City | |
"Welcome to Huntsville, Home of Sam Houston"
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Motto: Keep Huntsville Beautiful | |
Location of Huntsville, Texas |
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Coordinates: 30°43′20″N 95°33′12″W / 30.72222°N 95.55333°WCoordinates: 30°43′20″N 95°33′12″W / 30.72222°N 95.55333°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Texas |
County | Walker |
Government | |
• Type | Council-Manager |
• City Council |
Mayor Andy Brauninger Ronald Allen Keith D. Olson Tyler McCaffety Tish Humphrey Clyde Loll Joe Emmett Joe Rodriquez Paul Davidhizar |
• City Manager | Matt Benoit |
Area | |
• Total | 36.3 sq mi (94.0 km2) |
• Land | 35.8 sq mi (92.7 km2) |
• Water | 0.5 sq mi (1.3 km2) |
Elevation | 371 ft (113 m) |
Population (2010) | |
• Total | 38,548 |
• Density | 1,100/sq mi (410/km2) |
Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
• Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
ZIP code | 77320, 77340-77344, 77348-77349 |
Area code(s) | 936 |
FIPS code | 48-35528 |
GNIS feature ID | 1382049 |
Website | huntsvilletx.gov |
Huntsville is a city in and the county seat of Walker County, Texas, United States. The population is 38,548 as of the 2010 census. It is the center of the Huntsville micropolitan area.
It is located approximately seventy miles north of Houston in the East Texas Piney Woods on Interstate 45, which runs between Houston and Dallas. Huntsville is home to Sam Houston State University, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Huntsville State Park, the HEARTS Veterans Museum of Texas, located on Texas Veterans Memorial Parkway at Interstate 45, and the Texas Prison Museum, also on Highway 75 near Interstate 45. Huntsville served as the residence of Sam Houston, who is recognized in Huntsville by the Sam Houston Memorial Museum and a statue on Interstate 45.
The city had its beginning about 1836, when Pleasant and Ephraim Gray opened a trading post on the site. Ephraim Gray became first postmaster in 1837, naming it after his former home town, Huntsville in Madison County, Alabama.
Huntsville became the home of Sam Houston, who served as President of the Republic of Texas, Governor of the State of Texas, Governor of Tennessee, U.S. Senator, and Tennessee congressman. General Houston led the Texas Army in the Battle of San Jacinto – the decisive victory of the Texas Revolution. Houston has been noted for his life among the Cherokees of Tennessee, and – near the end of his life – for his opposition to the American Civil War, a position which was a very unpopular in his day. Located in Huntsville are two of Houston's homes, his grave, and the Sam Houston Memorial Museum. Houston's life in Huntsville is also commemorated by his namesake Sam Houston State University, and by a 70 ft (21 m) statue. (The towering statue, "Tribute to Courage" by artist David Adickes, has been described as the world's largest statue of an American hero, and is easily viewed by travelers on Interstate 45.)