Marathon, Texas


Marathon is a census-designated place in Brewster County, Texas, United States. The population was 470 in 2007, after growing from 455 in 2000, but had decreased to 430 by 2010.

Geography

Marathon is located at .
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of, all of it land.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 455 people, 198 households and 126 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 86.6 per square mile. There were 287 housing units at an average density of 54.6/sq mi. The racial makeup of the CDP was 82.42% White, 0.88% African American, 13.19% from other races, and 3.52% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 53.19% of the population.
There were 198 households of which 24.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.5% were married couples living together, 8.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.9% were non-families. 32.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.87.
The age distribution was 21.1% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 17.1% from 25 to 44, 33.2% from 45 to 64, and 19.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females, there were 104.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 108.7 males.
The median household income was $22,273, and the median family income was $27,500. Males had a median income of $22,500 versus $20,938 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $17,884. About 13.2% of families and 23.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 46.7% of those under age 18 and 13.9% of those age 65 or over.

Places of interest

The Gage Hotel, built in 1927 by architect Henry Trost, is a historic 45-room hotel.
The town was also a filming location for the movie Paris, Texas directed by Wim Wenders. The 1985 Kevin Costner film, Fandango, shot scenes in Marathon.

Highways

Education

Marathon is served by Marathon Independent School District.

Earthquake

On April 14, 1995, a 5.7-magnitude earthquake occurred near Marathon. As of 2008, this was the second-largest earthquake recorded in Texas.

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification system, Marathon has a semiarid climate, BSk on climate maps.