The area was heavily logged after the construction of the Texarkana and Fort Smith Railway that was later part of a line that ran from Kansas City to Port Arthur, Texas. The city was named after lumberman Charles Shelton Vidor, owner of the Miller-Vidor Lumber Company and father of director King Vidor. By 1909 the Vidor community had a post office and four years later a company tram road was built. Almost all Vidor residents worked for the company. In 1924 the Miller-Vidor Lumber Company moved to Lakeview, just north of Vidor, in search of virgin timber. A small settlement remained and the Miller-Vidor subdivision was laid out in 1929. Vidor is known as a "sundown town," where African Americans are not allowed after sunset. It is long considered a haven for the Ku Klux Klan. In 1993, after a federal judge ordered that 36 counties in East Texas, including Vidor, desegregate public housing by making some units available for minorities, the Klan from Cleveland, Texas held a march in the community. After several families moved in, the sheriff's office received threats to blow up one of the apartment complexes. Residents were threatened by their neighbors, and several families moved out under the pressure. In 2005, 2008, and 2017 Vidor and surrounding areas suffered extensive damage from Hurricane Rita, Ike, and Harvey. A mandatory evacuation was imposed upon its residents for about two weeks.
Geography
Vidor is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of, of which, of it is land and 0.09% is water.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 11,440 people, 4,222 households, and 3,158 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,083.6 people per square mile. There were 4,652 housing units at an average density of 440.6 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 97.3% White, 0.1% African American, 0.5% Native American, 0.2% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.7% from other races, and 1.21% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.49% of the population. There were 4,222 households, out of which 34.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.3% were married couples living together, 13.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.2% were non-families. 22.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.09. In the city, the population was spread out, with 26.7% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 27.4% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 14.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.1 males. The median income for a household in the city was $31,982, and the median income for a family was $37,572. Males had a median income of $35,781 versus $21,054 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,381. About 10.7% of families and 14.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.5% of those under age 18 and 8.9% of those age 65 or over.
