Sierra Blanca is a census-designated place (CDP) in and the county seat of Hudspeth County, Texas, in the United States. The town is part of the Trans-Pecos region of far western Texas. The town is located northeast from the Mexican border and is located within the Mountain Time Zone. As of the 2010 census, the population was 553.
The town was founded in 1881 at the completion point of a long-sought southern transcontinental railway. Sierra Blanca has served as the junction of the Southern Pacific and Missouri Pacific railroads. Hudspeth County was formed in 1917 from El Paso County. Sierra Blanca was named the county seat, and has the only adobe courthouse in the state of Texas.
The town continues to accommodate travelers along interstate 10 between Van Horn and El Paso which is the main route that connects Texas from west to east. The town was named for the nearby Sierra Blanca Mountains, which was named for the white poppies which grew on it (sierra blanca is Spanish for white range).
The letters "SB" can be seen on a nearby mountain from Interstate 10.
Geography
Sierra Blanca is found in Far West Texas, a subdivision of West Texas located at 31°10′55″N 105°20′27″W (31.182009, -105.340843) 4,520 feet above sea level. The city is part of the Trans-Pecos region within the most mountainous and arid portion of Texas. The town is located in Hudspeth County which is large and sparsely populated. Sierra Blanca (White Mountain), at an elevation over 7,000 feet (2,100 m) above sea level, towers over the town and is the most prominent mountain peak of the surrounding mountainous terrain. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Sierra Blanca has 99% clean air and 100% clean water.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 4.1 square miles (11Â km2), of which 4.1 square miles (11Â km2) is land and 0.04 square miles (0.10Â km2) (0.73%) is water. Soil in the surrounding area is mostly non-arable and cannot sustain large scale farming. Due to the high altitude of the city, it has a cooler climate than other areas of the Chihuahuan Desert.
Summer days are hot with cool summer nights. The city occasionally experiences high winds and dust storms. June is regularly the warmest month with the highest recorded temperature in town was 109 °F (43 °C) in 1994. During the winter the jet stream will periodically dip far south and bring extremely low temperatures. December is usually the coolest month and the lowest temperature recorded was âˆ'10 °F (âˆ'23 °C) in 1985.
Normally, the city receives less than 1 inch (25Â mm) of snow annually. During the hurricane season large tropical storms can sometimes bring large amounts of precipitation to the arid mountainous region and can cause flash flooding. The city on average has 293 sunny days and 43 days of precipitation. Rainfall is low; the town and vicinity receive an average of 11.27 inches (286Â mm) of rainfall annually.
Demographics
As of the 2010 census, the population was 553, 172 households, and 126 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 116.0 people per square mile (50.6/km²). There were 227 housing units at an average density of 55.8 per square mile (21.5/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 83.91% White, 3.44% Native American, 3.25% Black, 1.45% Asian, 7.96% from other races, and 3.56% from two or more races. Latino of any race were 72.61% of the population.
There were 172 households out of which 40.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.72% were married couples living together, 13.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.0% were non-families. 28.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.31.
In the CDP, the population was spread out with 29.8% under the age of 18, 11.8% from 18 to 24, 30.8% from 25 to 44, 18.4% from 45 to 64, and 9.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34.3 years. For every 100 females there were 96.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.1 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $32,464. The per capita income for the CDP was $14,682. About 19.6% of families and 22.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.3% of those under age 18 and 32.6% of those age 65 or over.
Education
Sierra Blanca is served by the Sierra Blanca Independent School District; it spends an annual average of $6,343 per student. On average there are 10.9 students per teacher. For the demographic group older than 25 years: 68.6% have a high school degree; 3.2% have a Bachelor’s; 2.6% have a Graduate degree.
Economy
The cost of living in Sierra Blanca is about 20% less than the US average. Sierra Blanca has a high home ownership rate of 49.5%. The median home is valued at $54,600 with a 1.94 annual percent appreciation. As of December 2013, the unemployment rate was 5.4%.
Starting in 1992, a few miles from Sierra Blanca was the location of a sludge dump that received 250 tons of treated sewage each day by train from New York City. The practice was discontinued in 2001, after local complaints about odor and negative impact on health.
Press reports indicated that in 2013, the town supported three restaurants and a motel. There is no grocery store in the community.
Law enforcement
In September 2012, singer Fiona Apple was arrested at a checkpoint for possession of small amounts of marijuana and hashish, and spent the night in jail there. A few weeks later, a Nelly tour bus was stopped at the same checkpoint, and ten pounds of marijuana were found on the bus along with heroin and a loaded gun. The singer was not arrested, but a member of his entourage was. Previously, musicians Snoop Dogg and Willie Nelson as well as actor Armie Hammer had all been arrested separately for drug possession in Sierra Blanca. The U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint at Sierra Blanca sends the county thousands of drug cases a year and inspects 15 to 20,000 vehicles every day. The county is unable to prosecute the vast majority of these cases as the federal government no longer funds such activities.
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