Slaton is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Lubbock County Lubbock County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 census placed the population at 310,639. Its county seat and largest city is Lubbock. The county was created in 1876 and organized in 1891. It is named for Thomas Salt ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Founded by German immigrants, Slaton was the westernmost German settlement in Texas The population was 5,858 at the 2020 census. Slaton is part of the Lubbock Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Slaton was named for Lubbock rancher and

banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

O.L. Slaton, Sr. (1867–1946), who promoted railroad construction in Slaton.

Geography

Slaton is on the level plains of the

Llano Estacado The Llano Estacado (), sometimes translated into English as the Staked Plains, is a region in the Southwestern United States that encompasses parts of eastern New Mexico and northwestern Texas. One of the largest mesas or tablelands on the North A ...

. The nearest significant geographical feature is

Yellow House Canyon Yellow House Canyon is about long, heading in Lubbock, Texas, at the junction of Blackwater Draw and Yellow House Draw, and trending generally southeastward to the edge of the Llano Estacado about east of Slaton, Texas; it forms one of three ...

, which is to the northeast. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has an area of , of which are land and , or 0.56%, is covered by water.

Climate

According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Slaton has a

semiarid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of se ...

, ''BSk'' on climate maps.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 5,858 people, 2,090 households, and 1,472 families residing in the city.

2000 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, 6,109 people, 2,253 households, and 1,610 families resided in the city. The population density was . The 2,565 housing units averaged 473.1 per square mile (182.7/km). The racial makeup of the city was 72.35% White, 7.76% African American, 0.59% Native American, 0.16% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 17.07% from other races, and 1.98% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 42.27% of the population. Of the 2,253 households, 33.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.0% were married couples living together, 15.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.5% were not families. About 25.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.22. In the city, the population was distributed as 29.0% under the age of 18, 10.3% from 18 to 24, 23.5% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 16.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.7 males. For every 100 women age 18 and over, there were 83.7 men. The median income for a household in the city was $25,915, and for a family was $31,224. Males had a median income of $26,696 versus $20,601 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $13,087. About 21.6% of families and 23.0% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 33.7% of those under age 18 and 16.4% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The City of Slaton is served by the

Slaton Independent School District Slaton Independent School District is a public school district based in Slaton, Texas, United States. In addition to Slaton, the district serves students in rural southeastern Lubbock County and parts of Ransom Canyon. A small portion of extrem ...

Infrastructure

Major roads and highways

U.S. Highway 84 * Texas FM 400

Farm to Market Road 400 Farm to Market Road 400 (FM 400) is a farm to market road located in Lynn, Lubbock, Hale, and Swisher counties in the Llano Estacado of Texas. Route description The southern terminus of FM 400 is at an interchange with US 87 no ...

Farm to Market Road 41

Railroads

A major

yard The yard (symbol: yd) is an English units, English unit of length in both the British imperial units, imperial and US United States customary units, customary systems of measurement equalling 3 foot (unit), feet or 36 inches. Sinc ...

of the

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...

is located in Slaton. The South Plains Lamesa Railroad's railpark offers car storage and

transloading Transloading, also known as cross-docking, is the process of transferring a shipment from one mode of transportation to another. It is most commonly employed when one mode cannot be used for the entire trip, such as when goods must be shipped in ...

for, among other commodities,

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that wind power, converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. , hundreds of thousands of list of most powerful wind turbines, large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, were generating over ...

components.

Special events

The Caprock Classic Car Club Show and Cruise takes place every third Saturday in July. The annual event showcases classic and refurbished cars and trucks. Set up around the town square, the event includes music, arts and crafts, food, and mor
www.slatonchamberofcommerce.org
The July 4th Festival takes place at the Slaton Park, where area musicians perform on an outdoor stage. The park is filled with games, rides, food, and more. The South Plains Air Show is a biannual event taking place the first weekend of June in odd-number years. Hosted by the Texas Air Museum Caprock Chapter, the show takes place at the City of Slaton/Larry T. Neal Memorial Airport. Re-enactments and aerobatic performances are schedule
www.thetexasairmuseum.org
Th
St. Joseph Sausage Fest
is put on every October b
St. Joseph's Catholic School
The event has been held annually since 1969 and is the school's primary fundraiser. Volunteers make 8,000–9,500 pounds of sausage to sell at the weekend-long event.

Notable people

People born in Slaton: * Jeremy Boreing (born 1979), producer * Harry Burrus (1921–2004), footballer * Dee Fondy (1924–1999), baseballer *

Bobby Keys Robert Henry Keys (December 18, 1943 – December 2, 2014) was an American saxophonist who performed as a member of several horn sections of the 1970s. He appears on albums by the Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Harry Nilsson, Delaney ...

(1943–2014), saxophonist * Bill Lienhard (1930–2022), basketballer *

Buddy Parker Raymond Klein "Buddy" Parker (December 16, 1913 – March 22, 1982) was an American football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL), who served as head coach for the Chicago Cardinals, Detroit Lions, and Pittsburgh Steelers. Pa ...

(1913–1982), baseballer * Simon Salinas (born 1955), politician

References

External links

* * {{authority control Cities in Lubbock County, Texas Cities in Texas Lubbock metropolitan area 1911 establishments in Texas