China Grove is about east of downtown San Antonio. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of, all of it land.
Demographics
At the 2000 census 1,247 people, 404 households, and 355 families were residing in the town. The population density was 303.0 people per square mile. There were 417 housing units at an average density of 101.3 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 86.93% White, 5.93% African American, 0.24% Native American, 0.08% Asian, 4.81% from other races, and 2.00% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 22.53%. Of the 404 households 43.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 80.0% were married couplesliving together, 6.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 11.9% were non-families. 9.9% of households were one person and 5.0% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 3.09 and the average family size was 3.30. The age distribution was 28.1% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 25.9% from 25 to 44, 27.2% from 45 to 64, and 12.1% 65 or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.5 males. The median household income was $67,333 and the median family income was $73,125. Males had a median income of $43,482 versus $30,391 for females. The per capita income for the town was $22,745. About 2.4% of families and 3.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.6% of those under age 18 and 2.2% of those age 65 or over.
Cultural references
The community became famous in 1973 when the Doobie Brothers' "China Grove" became a hit song. It was written and sung by The Doobies' Tom Johnston, who wrote it after passing through the town on his way to a concert in San Antonio, Texas. Despite the its name and Johnston's lyrics, China Grove does not have a sizable Asian population; residents tracing their heritage to Asia number less than one-tenth of one percent of the population. Instead, the town got its name from a grove of chinaberry trees once located near the town's train depot, no longer extant. This China Grove is not the one mentioned in Eudora Welty's short story, "Why I Live at the P.O.". That town is said to be in Mississippi.
