1.
Unincorporated area
–
Occasionally, municipalities dissolve or disincorporate, which may happen if they become fiscally insolvent, and services become the responsibility of a higher administration. In some countries, such as in Brazil, Japan, France or the United Kingdom, unlike many other countries, Australia has only one level of local government immediately beneath state and territorial governments. A local government area often contains several towns and even entire cities, thus, aside from very sparsely populated areas and a few other special cases, almost all of Australia is part of an LGA. Unincorporated areas are often in locations, cover vast areas or have very small populations. Postal addresses in unincorporated areas, as in parts of Australia. Thus, there is any ambiguity regarding addresses in unincorporated areas. The Australian Capital Territory has no municipalities and is in some sense an unincorporated area, the territorial government is directly responsible for matters normally carried out by local government. The far west and north of New South Wales constitutes the Unincorporated Far West Region, a civil servant in the state capital manages such matters as are necessary. The second unincorporated area of state is Lord Howe Island. In the Northern Territory,1. 45% of the area and 4. In South Australia, 60% of the area is unincorporated and communities located within can receive services provided by a state agency. Firstly, the remote area that is unincorporated is the Abrolhos Islands. Secondly, the unincorporated areas are A-class reserves either in, or close to. In Canada, depending on the province, a settlement is one that does not have a municipal council that governs solely over the settlement. It is usually, but not always, part of a municipal government. This can range from hamlets to large urbanized areas that are similar in size to towns. In British Columbia, unincorporated settlements lie outside municipal boundaries entirely, Unincorporated settlements with a population of between 100 and 1,000 residents may have the status of designated place in Canadian census data. In some provinces, large tracts of undeveloped wilderness or rural country are unorganized areas that fall directly under the provincial jurisdiction
2.
Texas
–
Texas is the second largest state in the United States by both area and population. Other major cities include Austin, the second most populous state capital in the U. S. Texas is nicknamed the Lone Star State to signify its former status as an independent republic, and as a reminder of the states struggle for independence from Mexico. The Lone Star can be found on the Texan state flag, the origin of Texass name is from the word Tejas, which means friends in the Caddo language. Due to its size and geologic features such as the Balcones Fault, although Texas is popularly associated with the U. S. southwestern deserts, less than 10 percent of Texas land area is desert. Most of the centers are located in areas of former prairies, grasslands, forests. Traveling from east to west, one can observe terrain that ranges from coastal swamps and piney woods, to rolling plains and rugged hills, the term six flags over Texas refers to several nations that have ruled over the territory. Spain was the first European country to claim the area of Texas, Mexico controlled the territory until 1836 when Texas won its independence, becoming an independent Republic. In 1845, Texas joined the United States as the 28th state, the states annexation set off a chain of events that caused the Mexican–American War in 1846. A slave state before the American Civil War, Texas declared its secession from the U. S. in early 1861, after the Civil War and the restoration of its representation in the federal government, Texas entered a long period of economic stagnation. One Texan industry that thrived after the Civil War was cattle, due to its long history as a center of the industry, Texas is associated with the image of the cowboy. The states economic fortunes changed in the early 20th century, when oil discoveries initiated a boom in the state. With strong investments in universities, Texas developed a diversified economy, as of 2010 it shares the top of the list of the most Fortune 500 companies with California at 57. With a growing base of industry, the leads in many industries, including agriculture, petrochemicals, energy, computers and electronics, aerospace. Texas has led the nation in export revenue since 2002 and has the second-highest gross state product. The name Texas, based on the Caddo word tejas meaning friends or allies, was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves, during Spanish colonial rule, the area was officially known as the Nuevo Reino de Filipinas, La Provincia de Texas. Texas is the second largest U. S. state, behind Alaska, though 10 percent larger than France and almost twice as large as Germany or Japan, it ranks only 27th worldwide amongst country subdivisions by size. If it were an independent country, Texas would be the 40th largest behind Chile, Texas is in the south central part of the United States of America. Three of its borders are defined by rivers, the Rio Grande forms a natural border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south
3.
United States
–
Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
4.
Gonzales, Texas
–
Gonzales is a city in Gonzales County, Texas, United States. The population was 7,237 at the 2010 census, Gonzales is one of the earliest Anglo-American settlements in Texas, the first west of the Colorado River. It was established by Empresario Green DeWitt as the capital of his colony in August 1825, DeWitt named the community for Rafael Gonzáles, governor of Coahuila y Tejas. Informally, the community was known as the DeWitt Colony, the original settlement was abandoned in 1826 after two Indian attacks. It was rebuilt nearby in 1827, the town remains today as it was originally surveyed. Gonzales is referred to as the Lexington of Texas because it was the site of the first skirmish of the Texas Revolution, in 1831, the Mexican government had granted Green DeWitts request for a small cannon for protection against Indian attacks. At the outbreak of disputes between the Anglo settlers and the Mexican authorities in 1835, a contingent of more than 100 Mexican soldiers was sent from San Antonio to retrieve the cannon. When the soldiers arrived, there were only 18 men in Gonzales, but they refused to return the cannon, Texians under the command of John Henry Moore confronted them. Sarah DeWitt and her daughter sewed a flag bearing the likeness of the cannon and the words Come and Take It, the Texians successfully resisted the Mexican troops in what became known as the Battle of Gonzales. Gonzales later contributed 32 men from the Gonzales Ranging Company to the defense of the Alamo and it was the only city to send aid to the Alamo, and all 32 men lost their lives defending the site. It was to Gonzales that Susanna Dickinson, widow of one of the Alamo defenders, and Joe, travis, fled with news of the Alamo massacre. General Sam Houston was there organizing the Texas forces and he anticipated the town would be the next target of General Antonio López de Santa Annas Mexican army. Gathering the Texians at Peach Creek east of town, under the Sam Houston Oak, Houston ordered Gonzales burned and he began a retreat toward the U. S. border. The widows and orphans of Gonzales and their neighbors were forced to flee, the town was derelict immediately after the Texas Revolution, but was eventually rebuilt on the original site in the early 1840s. By 1850, the town had a population of 300, the population rose to 1,703 by time of the 1860 census,2,900 by the mid-1880s, and 4,297 in 1900. Part of the growth of the late 19th century can be attributed to the arrival of immigrants, among them Jews, many of whom became peddlers. Gonzales is located in central Gonzales County at 29°30′32″N 97°26′52″W, on the northeast side of the Guadalupe River, U. S. Route 183 passes through the west side of the city, leading south 32 miles to Cuero and northwest 18 miles to Luling. U. S. Route 90 Alternate passes through the side of the city, leading east 18 miles to Shiner
5.
City
–
A city is a large and permanent human settlement. Cities generally have complex systems for sanitation, utilities, land usage, housing, a big city or metropolis usually has associated suburbs and exurbs. Such cities are associated with metropolitan areas and urban areas. Once a city expands far enough to another city, this region can be deemed a conurbation or megalopolis. Damascus is arguably the oldest city in the world, in terms of population, the largest city proper is Shanghai, while the fastest-growing is Dubai. There is not enough evidence to assert what conditions gave rise to the first cities, some theorists have speculated on what they consider suitable pre-conditions and basic mechanisms that might have been important driving forces. The conventional view holds that cities first formed after the Neolithic revolution, the Neolithic revolution brought agriculture, which made denser human populations possible, thereby supporting city development. The advent of farming encouraged hunter-gatherers to abandon nomadic lifestyles and to settle near others who lived by agricultural production, the increased population density encouraged by farming and the increased output of food per unit of land created conditions that seem more suitable for city-like activities. In his book, Cities and Economic Development, Paul Bairoch takes up position in his argument that agricultural activity appears necessary before true cities can form. According to Vere Gordon Childe, for a settlement to qualify as a city, it must have enough surplus of raw materials to support trade and a relatively large population. To illustrate this point, Bairoch offers an example, Western Europe during the pre-Neolithic, when the cost of transport is taken into account, the figure rises to 200,000 square kilometres. Bairoch noted that this is roughly the size of Great Britain, the urban theorist Jane Jacobs suggests that city formation preceded the birth of agriculture, but this view is not widely accepted. In his book City Economics, Brendan OFlaherty asserts Cities could persist—as they have for thousands of years—only if their advantages offset the disadvantages, OFlaherty illustrates two similar attracting advantages known as increasing returns to scale and economies of scale, which are concepts usually associated with businesses. Their applications are seen in more basic economic systems as well, increasing returns to scale occurs when doubling all inputs more than doubles the output an activity has economies of scale if doubling output less than doubles cost. To offer an example of these concepts, OFlaherty makes use of one of the oldest reasons why cities were built, in this example, the inputs are anything that would be used for protection and the output is the area protected and everything of value contained in it. OFlaherty then asks that we suppose the protected area is square, the advantage is expressed as, O = s 2, where O is the output and s stands for the length of a side. This equation shows that output is proportional to the square of the length of a side, the inputs depend on the length of the perimeter, I =4 s, where I stands for the quantity of inputs. So there are increasing returns to scale, O = I2 /16 and this equation shows that with twice the inputs, you produce quadruple the output
6.
Ghost town
–
A ghost town is an abandoned village, town, or city, usually one that contains substantial visible remains. Some ghost towns, especially those that preserve period-specific architecture, have become tourist attractions, visiting, writing about, and photographing ghost towns is a minor industry. The town of Plymouth on the Caribbean island of Montserrat is a ghost town that is the de jure capital of Montserrat and it was rendered uninhabitable by volcanic ash from an eruption. The definition of a ghost town varies between individuals, and between cultures, lindsey Baker, author of Ghost Towns of Texas, defines a ghost town as a town for which the reason for being no longer exists. Some believe that any settlement with visible tangible remains should not be called a ghost town, others say, conversely, whether or not the settlement must be completely deserted, or may contain a small population, is also a matter for debate. Generally, though, the term is used in a sense, encompassing any. The American author Lambert Florins preferred definition of a ghost town was simply a shadowy semblance of a former self, a town can also be abandoned when it is part of an exclusion zone due to natural or man-made causes. Ghost towns may result when the activity or resource that created a boomtown is depleted or the resource economy undergoes a bust. Boomtowns can often decrease in size as fast as they initially grew, sometimes, all or nearly the entire population can desert the town, resulting in a ghost town. The dismantling of a boomtown can often occur on a planned basis, modular buildings can be used to facilitate the process. A gold rush would often bring intensive but short-lived economic activity to a remote village, in other cases, the reason for abandonment can arise from a towns intended economic function shifting to another, nearby place. This happened to Collingwood, Queensland in Outback Australia when nearby Winton outperformed Collingwood as a centre for the livestock-raising industry. The railway reached Winton in 1899, linking it with the rest of Queensland, the Middle East has many ghost towns that were created when the shifting of politics or the fall of empires caused capital cities to be socially or economically unviable, such as Ctesiphon. The rise of condominium investment caused for real estate bubbles also leads to a ghost town, as real estate prices rise, such examples include China and Canada, where housing is often used as an investment rather than for habitation. Railroads and roads bypassing or no longer reaching a town can create a ghost town. This was the case in many of the ghost towns along Ontarios historic Opeongo Line, some ghost towns were founded along railways where steam trains would stop at periodic intervals to take on water. Amboy, California was part of one series of villages along the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad across the Mojave Desert. River re-routing is another factor, one example being the towns along the Aral Sea, Ghost towns may be created when land is expropriated by a government and residents are required to relocate
7.
Waelder, Texas
–
Waelder is a town in Gonzales County, Texas, United States. The population was 1065 at the 2010 census, Waelder is located at 29°41′37″N 97°17′54″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has an area of 1.3 square miles. The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers, according to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Waelder has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated Cfa on climate maps. As of the census of 2010, there were 1065 people,362 households, the population density was 819.2 people per square mile. There were 443 housing units at a density of 322. 9/mi². The racial makeup of the city was 50. 2% White,13. 3% African American,1. 2% Native American,33. 2% from other races, hispanic or Latino of any race were 77. 6% of the population. 22. 7% of all households were made up of living alone and 8. 9% were made up of individuals 65 years of age or older living alone. The average household size was 2.94 and the family size was 3.4. In the town, the population was out with 26. 9% under the age of 18,11. 8% from 18 to 24,32. 5% from 25 to 49,19. 4% from 50 to 64. The median age was 33.9 years, for every 100 females there were 110.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 120.1 males, the median income for a household in the Waelder was $24,152, and the median income for a family was $39,792. Its per capita income was $11,417, full-time, year-round working males had a median income of $28,487 versus $15,969 for full-time, year-round working females. About 13. 4% of families and 23. 7% of the population were below the poverty line, Waelder is home to the J Bar B Foods factory, where meat products are produced and shipped to local stores. Waelder was recently featured in a My H-E-B commercial, two newspapers, The Gonzales Inquirer and The Gonzales Cannon, provide local news coverage for Waelder. The discussion forums, an added feature, allows interested parties to discuss current local events or request assistance in researching family histories. The Gonzales Inquirer The Gonzales Cannon
8.
County seat
–
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is used in the United States, Canada, Romania, China, in the United Kingdom and Ireland, county towns have a similar function. In the United States, counties are the subdivisions of a state. Depending on the state, counties may provide services to the public, impose taxes. Some types of subdivisions, such as townships, may be incorporated or unincorporated. The city, town, or populated place that houses county government is known as the seat of its respective county, a county seat is usually, but not always, an incorporated municipality. The exceptions include the county seats of counties that have no incorporated municipalities within their borders, such as Arlington County, Virginia, likewise, some county seats may not be incorporated in their own right, but are located within incorporated municipalities. For example, Cape May Court House, New Jersey, though unincorporated, is a section of Middle Township, in some of the colonial states, county seats include or formerly included Court House as part of their name. Most counties have only one county seat, an example is Harrison County, Mississippi, which lists both Biloxi and Gulfport as county seats. The practice of multiple county seat towns dates from the days when travel was difficult, there have been few efforts to eliminate the two-seat arrangement, since a county seat is a source of pride for the towns involved. There are 36 counties with multiple county seats in 11 states, Coffee County, for example, the official county seat is Greensboro, but an additional courthouse has been located in nearby High Point since 1938. For example, Clearwater is the county seat of Pinellas County, Florida, in New England, the town, not the county, is the primary division of local government. Historically, counties in this region have served mainly as dividing lines for the judicial systems. Connecticut and Rhode Island have no county level of government and thus no county seats, in Vermont, Massachusetts, and Maine the county seats are legally designated shire towns. County government consists only of a Superior Court and Sheriff, both located in the shire town. Bennington County has two towns, but the Sheriff is located in Bennington. In Massachusetts, most government functions which would otherwise be performed by county governments in other states are performed by town governments. As such, Massachusetts has dissolved many of its county governments, two counties in South Dakota have their county seat and government services centered in a neighboring county
9.
Leesville, Texas
–
Leesville is an unincorporated community in Gonzales County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had an estimated population 150 in 2000, Leesville is located at 29°24′25″N 97°44′42″W. It is situated along State Highway 80 in southwestern Gonzales County, although it is unincorporated, Leesville has a post office with the zip code of 78122. Public education in the community of Leesville is provided by the Nixon-Smiley Consolidated Independent School District, U. S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System, Leesville, Texas Leesville, Texas from the Handbook of Texas Online
10.
Oak Forest, Texas
–
Oak Forest was a settlement in Gonzales County, Texas five miles west of Gonzales. Oak Forest was situated along modern Farm Road 90A and CR143, according to the Handbook of Texas, the community had an estimated population 25 in 2000. Gonzales County Historical Commission U. S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System, Oak Forest, Texas Oak Forest, Texas from the Handbook of Texas Online
