City of Friendswood
—  City  —
Location in Galveston and Harris Counties in the state of Texas
Coordinates: 29°30′45″N 95°11′53″W / 29.5125°N 95.19806°W / 29.5125; -95.19806Coordinates: 29°30′45″N 95°11′53″W / 29.5125°N 95.19806°W / 29.5125; -95.19806
Country	United States
State	Texas
Counties	Galveston, Harris
Incorporated	1960
Government
• Type	Council Manager
• City Council	Mayor David Smith Michael E. Barker Jim Barr Jim Hill Patrick J. McGinnis Bill Holbert Deirdre Carey Brown
• City Manager	Roger C. Roecker
Area
• Total	20.9 sq mi (54.1 km2)
• Land	20.7 sq mi (53.7 km2)
• Water	0.2 sq mi (0.4 km2)
Elevation	31 ft (9 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	35,805
• Density	1,700/sq mi (660/km2)
Time zone	CST (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP codes	77546, 77549
Area code(s)	281
FIPS code	48-27648[1]
GNIS feature ID	1336252[2]
Website	ci.Friendswood.TX.us

Friendswood is a city in the U.S. state of Texas within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. The city lies in Galveston and Harris counties. As of the 2010 census, the population of Friendswood was 35,805.^[3]

In 2007, CNN/Money Magazine rated Friendswood as one of "America's Best Places to Live."^[4]

History[link]

Friendswood was founded in 1895 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Today, Friendswood houses the Houston area headquarters for the Quaker Society.^{[citation needed]}

Geography[link]

Map of Friendswood

Friendswood is located at 29°30′45″N 95°11′53″W / 29.5125°N 95.19806°W / 29.5125; -95.19806 (29.512532, -95.197933).^[5]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 20.9 square miles (54.1 km²), of which 20.7 square miles (53.7 km²) is land and 0.15 square miles (0.4 km²), or 0.69%, is water.^[6]

Demographics[link]

Friendswood City Hall

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 29,037 people, 10,107 households, and 8,085 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,381.2 people per square mile (533.4/km²). There were 10,405 housing units at an average density of 495.0 per square mile (191.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 90.09% White, 2.70% African American, 0.40% Native American, 2.39% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 2.79% from other races, and 1.63% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.79% of the population.

There were 10,107 households out of which 43.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.5% were married couples living together, 8.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.0% were non-families. 17.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.85 and the average family size was 3.23.

In the city the population was spread out with 30.0% under the age of 18, 6.2% from 18 to 24, 29.4% from 25 to 44, 25.7% from 45 to 64, and 8.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 93.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.4 males.

In 2009, the median income for a household was $95,336, and the median income for a family was $105,474. Males had a median income of $60,304 versus $35,447 for females. The per capita income for the city was $39,371. About 2.3% of families and 3.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.4% of those under age 18 and 3.8% of those age 65 or over.

Friendswood Post Office

Government and infrastructure[link]

The Friendswood Post Office is located at 310 Morningside Drive.^[7]

Education[link]

Primary and secondary schools[link]

Public schools[link]

Students in Friendswood attend schools in either Friendswood Independent School District (FISD) if they live south of Clear Creek (Galveston County), or Clear Creek Independent School District (CCISD) if they live north of Clear Creek (Harris County). The CCISD portion is within the Board of Trustee District 4,^[8] represented by Stuart J. Stromeyer as of 2008.^[9]

Cline Elementary School, Westwood Elementary School, Bales Intermediate School, and Windsong Intermediate School serve the Friendswood ISD portion of Friendswood. All Friendswood ISD residents are zoned to Friendswood Junior High School and Friendswood High School.

Clear Creek ISD students from Friendswood attend either Wedgewood Elementary School in Friendswood. Students who live in the area around Friendswood but are in unincorporated Harris County with address listed as Friendswood or Webster attend Greene Elementary School or Landolt Elementary School in unincorporated Harris County for elementary schools.^[10][11] Most CCISD areas of Friendswood are zoned to Brookside Intermediate School in Friendswood. One section of land is zoned to Westbrook Intermediate School in Houston.^[12] Depending on attendance boundary, some students continue to Clear Brook High School in an unincorporated area of Harris County adjacent to Friendswood, while some students continue to Clear Springs High School in League City.^[13]

Public libraries[link]

The Friendswood Public Library at 416 South Friendswood Drive serves Friendswood.^[14]

References[link]

External links[link]

Houston portal

• City of Friendswood official website
• Friendswood, Texas from the Handbook of Texas Online
• Friendswood Public Library

v t e Municipalities and communities of Galveston County, Texas, United States County seat: Galveston Cities Bayou Vista Clear Lake Shores Dickinson Friendswood‡ Galveston Hitchcock Jamaica Beach Kemah La Marque League City‡ Santa Fe Seabrook‡ Texas City‡ Village Tiki Island CDPs Bacliff Bolivar Peninsula San Leon Unincorporated communities Algoa Bayview Caplen Crystal Beach Gilchrist High Island Port Bolivar Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

v t e Municipalities and communities of Harris County, Texas, United States County seat: Houston Cities Baytown‡ Bellaire Bunker Hill Village Deer Park El Lago Friendswood‡ Galena Park Hedwig Village Hilshire Village Houston‡ Humble Hunters Creek Village Jacinto City Jersey Village Katy‡ La Porte League City‡ Missouri City‡ Morgan's Point Nassau Bay Pasadena Pearland‡ Piney Point Village Seabrook‡ Shoreacres‡ South Houston Southside Place Spring Valley Village Stafford‡ Taylor Lake Village Tomball Waller‡ Webster West University Place CDPs Aldine Atascocita Barrett Channelview Cinco Ranch‡ Cloverleaf Crosby Highlands Mission Bend‡ Sheldon Spring Unincorporated communities Airline Bammel Barker Beaumont Place Bridgeland Community Cedar Bayou Champion Forest Cimarron Coady Copperfield Cypress Dyersdale East Aldine Fall Creek Hockley Houmont Park Huffman Hufsmith Kinwood Klein Kleinbrook Kohrville Louetta Lynchburg McNair Northcliffe Northcliffe Manor Northgate Forest North Houston Nottingham Country Remington Ranch Rose Hill Satsuma Timber Meadows Traces Westfield The Woodlands‡ Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

v t e Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown Counties Austin Brazoria Chambers Fort Bend Galveston Harris Liberty Montgomery San Jacinto Waller "Principal" cities Houston Sugar Land Baytown Galveston Conroe Other cities Alvin Angleton Bellaire Clute Deer Park Dickinson Freeport Friendswood Galena Park Humble Jacinto City Katy Lake Jackson La Marque La Porte League City Missouri City Pasadena Pearland Richmond Rosenberg South Houston Stafford Texas City West University Place For a complete listing, see list of cities and towns in Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown MSA Unincorporated areas Atascocita Channelview Cloverleaf Crosby Cypress Fresno Hockley Klein Port Bolivar Spring The Woodlands Bodies of water Buffalo Bayou Galveston Bay Gulf Intracoastal Waterway Houston Ship Channel San Jacinto River Trinity River Lake Houston Lake Conroe

v t e  State of Texas Austin (capital) Topics Architecture Climate Cuisine Geography Government History Languages Literature Sports Texans Transportation Symbols Visitor attractions Society Culture Crime Demographics Economy Education Politics Regions Ark‑La‑Tex Big Bend Blackland Prairies Brazos Valley Central Texas Coastal Bend Cross Timbers Deep East Texas East Texas Edwards Plateau Golden Triangle Hill Country Llano Estacado Northeast Texas North Texas Osage Plains Panhandle Permian Basin Piney Woods Rio Grande Valley Southeast Texas South Plains South Texas Trans-Pecos West Texas Metropolitan areas Abilene Amarillo Austin–Round Rock–San Marcos Beaumont–Port Arthur Brownsville–Harlingen College Station–Bryan Corpus Christi Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington El Paso Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown Killeen–Temple–Fort Hood Laredo Longview Lubbock McAllen–Edinburg–Mission Midland Odessa San Angelo San Antonio–New Braunfels Sherman–Denison Texarkana Tyler Victoria Waco Wichita Falls Counties There are 254 counties in Texas. (See Table of Texas counties or List.)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2012)

"The Man" is a slang phrase that may refer to the government or to some other authority in a position of power. In addition to this derogatory connotation, it may also serve as a term of respect and praise.

The phrase "the Man is keeping me down" is commonly used to describe oppression. The phrase "stick it to the Man" encourages resistance to authority, and essentially means "fight back" or "resist", either openly or via sabotage.^[1]

History[link]

The earliest recorded use^{[citation needed]} of the term "the Man" in the American sense dates back to a letter written by a young Alexander Hamilton in September 1772, when he was 15. In a letter to his father James Hamilton, published in the Royal Dutch-American Gazette, he described the response of the Dutch governor of St. Croix to a hurricane that raked that island on August 31, 1772. "Our General has issued several very salutary and humane regulations and both in his publick and private measures, has shewn himself the Man." ^{[2][dubious – discuss]} In the Southern U.S. states, the phrase came to be applied to any man or any group in a position of authority, or to authority in the abstract. From about the 1950s the phrase was also an underworld code word for police, the warden of a prison or other law enforcement or penal authorities.

It was also used as a term for a drug dealer in the 1950s and 1960s and can be seen in such media as Curtis Mayfield's "No Thing On Me", William Burroughs's novel Naked Lunch, and in the Velvet Underground song "I'm Waiting for the Man", in which Lou Reed sings about going to Uptown Manhattan, specifically Lexington Avenue and 125th Street, to buy heroin.

The use of this term was expanded to counterculture groups and their battles against authority, such as the Yippies, which, according to a May 19, 1969 article in U.S. News and World Report, had the "avowed aim ... to destroy 'The Man', their term for the present system of government". The term eventually found its way into humorous usage, such as in a December 1979 motorcycle ad from the magazine Easyriders which featured the tagline, "California residents: Add 6% sales tax for The Man."

In present day, the phrase has been popularized in commercials and cinema, featuring particularly prominently as a recurring motif in the 2003 film School of Rock.^[3][4][5][6]

Use as praise[link]

The term has also been used as an approbation or form of praise. This may refer to the recipient's status as the leader or authority within a particular context, or it might be assumed to be a shortened form of a phrase like "He is the man (who is in charge)." One example of this usage dates to 1879 when Otto von Bismarck commented, referring to Benjamin Disraeli's pre-eminent position at the Congress of Berlin, "The old Jew, he is the man."^{[7][dubious – discuss]}

In more modern usage, it can be a superlative compliment ("you da man!") indicating that the subject is currently standing out amongst his peers even though they have no special designation or rank, such as a basketball player who is performing better than the other players on the court. It can also be used as a genuine compliment with an implied, slightly exaggerated or sarcastic tone, usually indicating that the person has indeed impressed the speaker but by doing something relatively trivial.

See also[link]

• Absentee landlord
• Big Brother (Nineteen Eighty-Four)
• New World Order (conspiracy theory)
• Ruling class
• The Establishment
• Power elite
• Corrections officer
• YTMND

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Lighter, J.E. (Ed.). (1997). Random House Dictionary of American Slang. New York: Random House.