Kyle

History

As part of railroad expansion along the International-Great Northern Railroad (I&GN), railroad tycoon and entrepreneur Jay Gould found an opportunity for additional revenue between the cities of Austin and San Marcos which were lined with cotton fields and livestock farms. Originally, the railline was to cross over to Mountain City, located three miles (4.8 km) north of Kyle, but when addressing with his secretary, Ira Evans, it was seen as more cost effective to build a straight track from Austin to San Marcos which went right through the private lands of Fergus Kyle and his wife, Anne Moore. Following an agreement between the I&GN and the Kyle and Moore families, 200 acres were deeded to the railroad in exchange for $1.

The rights to the track through Kyle was then sold to the Texas Land Company, which would be in charge of plotting the town, who then sent a surveying party and filed plans with the county clerk for the town on September 7, 1880. The town originally consisted only of 6x3 city blocks for both commercial and residential zoning, as well as a combination train depot and separate cotton platform along the tracks. The first lots were sold at an auction on September 25 under the now historically designated 'Auction Oak' with the railroad offering free rides and food for attendees from Austin.

The new town drew residents and businesses from Mountain City and Blanco, four miles (6.4 km) west, as well as independent farmers and ranchers in the county. Tom Martin operated the first business in Kyle as a saloon-meat market combination, the first of four saloons to open in the town's inaugural year. Other founding families like the Nance and Wallace families would open a cotton gin and lumberyard not long after, and by 1883 the population exceeded 500, growing to over 700 by the first census the town participate in, but would later decline during the Great Depression and ensuing Dust Bowl.

Kyle was incorporated in 1928 as a general-law city with a mayor and five council members. In 1937, Mary Kyle Hartson, daughter of Fergus Kyle, was elected mayor by a write-in vote. Hartson, after winning election again in 1944, would serve as mayor as part of an all-woman city council and making Kyle the only Texas town with an all-woman government.

From 1892 to 1901, Kyle was the childhood home of Pulitzer Prize–winning author Katherine Anne Porter. Many of her most famous stories, such as "Noon Wine," are set in locations in and around Kyle. Her former home is now a writer's residence open to the public by appointment. The Katherine Anne Porter Literary Center hosts readings by visiting writers.

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 45,697 people, 15,590 households, and 10,370 families residing in the city. The median age was 32.6 years, with 27.0% of residents under the age of 18 and 8.5% of residents 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 96.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 95.4 males.

Of the 15,590 households, 42.2% had children under the age of 18 living in them, 50.1% were married-couple households, 15.9% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 24.3% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 20.4% of households were made up of individuals and 5.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.15, the average family size was 3.51, and 391 persons in the city lived in group quarters rather than households.

98.1% of residents lived in urban areas, while 1.9% lived in rural areas.