Bishop is a small town in south Texas, it was a planned town from its beginning. In 1910, F.Z. Bishop, an insurance agent turned promoter, acquired of land in South Texas along the railroad line and laid out a model community surrounded by farm tracts. Bishop laid out zoned business, industrial and residential districts and built a water and power system. In just two years, the town grew to a population of 1,200. Bishop closed his operation as World War I started. He had sold more than of land and established a prosperous community. The city was built on agriculture as its economic mainstay. The economy is also bolstered by a large chemical plant opened in 1945 by Celanese Corporation of America.
Geography
Bishop is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of, all of it land. It is located on U.S. Highway 77 and Farm-to-Market Road 70, Bishop is located eight miles north of Kingsville and about thirty miles southwest of Corpus Christi.
As of the census of 2000, there were 3,305 people, 1,132 households, and 868 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,394.1 people per square mile. There were 1,269 housing units at an average density of 535.3 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 84.11% White, 0.97% African American, 0.57% Native American, 0.12% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 11.71% from other races, and 2.45% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 60.00% of the population. There were 1,132 households out of which 38.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.9% were married couples living together, 14.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.3% were non-families. 20.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.92 and the average family size was 3.41. In the city, the population was spread out with 30.0% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 21.3% from 45 to 64, and 12.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median agewas 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.3 males. The median income for a household in the city was $35,434, and the median income for a family was $41,250. Males had a median income of $30,469 versus $22,316 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,974. About 12.2% of families and 14.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.6% of those under age 18 and 13.5% of those ages 65 or over.
