Killeen

Sister cities

• Osan

History

In 1881, the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway extended its tracks through central Texas, buying a few miles southwest of a small farming community known as Palo Alto, which had existed since about 1872. The railroad platted a 70-block town on its land and named it after Frank P. Killeen, the assistant general manager of the railroad. By the next year, the town included a railroad depot, a saloon, several stores, and a school. Many of the residents of the surrounding smaller communities in the area moved to Killeen. By 1884, the town had grown to include about 350 people, served by five general stores, two gristmills, two cotton gins, two saloons, a lumberyard, a blacksmith shop, and a hotel. Killeen expanded as it became an important shipping point for cotton, wool, and grain in western Bell and eastern Coryell Counties. By 1900, its population was about 780. Around 1905, local politicians and businessmen convinced the Texas legislature to build bridges over Cowhouse Creek and other streams, doubling Killeen's trade area. A public water system began operation in 1914 and its population had increased to 1,300 residents. Until the 1940s, Killeen remained a relatively small and isolated farm trade center. The buildup associated with World War II changed that dramatically. In 1942, Camp Hood (recommissioned as Fort Hood in 1950) was created as a military training post to meet war demands. Laborers, construction workers, contractors, soldiers, and their families moved into the area by the thousands, and Killeen became a military boomtown. The opening of Camp Hood radically altered the nature of the local economy, since the sprawling new military post covered almost half of Killeen's farming trade area. The loss of more than 300 farms and ranches led to the demise of…

Geography

Killeen is located in western Bell County and is bordered to the north by Fort Hood and to the east by Harker Heights. Killeen is west of Belton, the county seat and nearest access to Interstate 35. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and , or 1.24%, is covered by water. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Killeen has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps. The hottest temperature recorded in Killeen was on September 4, 2000 and September 6, 2000, while the coldest temperature recorded was on December 23–24, 1989.NWSIEM | source 2 = | source = }}

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4,758
• Turkey Vulture

  Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,410
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  3,078
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,009
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,753
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  2,736
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  2,697
• Black Vulture

  Coragyps atratus (Bechstein, 1793) · Aves
  2,171

Largest nearby schools

• HARKER HEIGHTS H S
  High · HARKER HEIGHTS · 2,359 students · 17.7:1 ratio
• ROBERT M SHOEMAKER H S
  High · KILLEEN · 2,175 students · 17.5:1 ratio
• KILLEEN H S
  High · KILLEEN · 2,076 students · 16.3:1 ratio
• CHAPARRAL H S
  High · KILLEEN · 1,711 students · 16.8:1 ratio
• C E ELLISON H S
  High · KILLEEN · 1,682 students · 14.8:1 ratio
• ROY J SMITH MIDDLE
  Middle · KILLEEN · 1,327 students · 19:1 ratio
• NOLAN MIDDLE
  Middle · HARKER HEIGHTS · 1,178 students · 17.8:1 ratio
• KILLEEN EL
  Elementary · KILLEEN · 1,135 students · 15.5:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.9 — 2015-09-03
  7 km NNE of Leander, Texas
• M 2.7 — 2007-09-15
  11 km ENE of Milano, Texas