The city of Amarillo, originally namedOneida, is situated in theLlano Estacado region.[10] The availability of the railroad and freight service provided by theFort Worth and Denver Railway contributed to the city's growth as a cattle-marketing center in the late 19th century.[11]
Amarillo was once theself-proclaimed "Helium Capital of the World" for having one of the country's most productive helium fields.[12] The city is also known as "The Yellow Rose of Texas" (as the city takes its name from the Spanish word for yellow),[13] "Yellow City" for its name, and "Rotor City, USA" for itsV-22 Osprey hybrid aircraft assembly plant. Amarillo operates one of the largestmeat-packing areas in the United States.Pantex, the onlynuclear weapons assembly and disassembly facility in the country, is also a major employer, with the location of this facility giving rise to the nickname "Bomb City".[14]
This sectionis missing information about events in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Please expand the section to include this information. Further details may exist on thetalk page.(August 2025)
During April 1887, John T. Berry, fromAbilene, Texas, established a site for a town, choosing a well-watered section along theright-of-way of the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway that was building across the Texas Panhandle. Barry and merchants fromColorado City, Texas wanted to make his new townsite the region's main trading center. On August 30, 1887, the site won the election for acounty seat to be established for Potter County. Availability of the railroad'sfreight service made the town a fast-growingcattle-marketing center.[11]
The settlement originally was called Oneida; it later changed its name to Amarillo (the Spanish word for the color yellow). This probably had been suggested by yellow wildflowers that were plentiful during the spring and summer, or the nearbyAmarillo Lake andAmarillo Creek, named in turn for the yellow soil along their banks and shores. Early residents originally pronounced the city's name more similar to the Spanish pronunciation/ˌɑːməˈriːjoʊ/ah-mə-REE-yoh, but it later was supplanted by the current pronunciation.[15]
Amarillo in 1889, three weeks after incorporationAn aerial view of the Amarillo business district in 1912Grand Opera House, Amarillo, Texas (postcard, circa 1909–1924)Downtown Amarillo in 1944
On June 19, 1888,Henry B. Sanborn, who is given credit as the "Father of Amarillo",[16] and his business partnerJoseph F. Glidden began buying land to move Amarillo to the east after arguing that Berry's site was on low ground and would flood during rainstorms. Sanborn offered to trade lots in the new location to businesses in the original city's site and help with the expense of moving to new buildings. His incentives gradually won over some people who moved their businesses to Polk Street in the new commercial district.[17] Heavy rains almost flooded Berry's part of the town in 1889, prompting even more people to move to Sanborn's location. This eventually led to another county-seat election, which made Sanborn's site the new county seat in 1893.[11]
By the late 1890s, Amarillo had emerged as one of the world's busiest cattle-shipping points, and its population grew significantly. The city became agrain elevator, milling, and feed-manufacturing center after an increase in wheat and small grains production during the early 1900s. Discovery ofnatural gas in 1918 andoil three years later brought oil and gas companies to the Amarillo area.[11]
The United States government bought the Cliffside Gas Field with high helium content in 1927 and the Federal Bureau of Mines began operating the Amarillo Helium plant two years later.[18] The plant was the sole producer of commercial helium in the world for many years.[19] TheU.S. National Helium Reserve is stored in the Bush Dome Reservoir at the Cliffside facility.[20]
World War II led the establishment of Amarillo Army Air Field in east Amarillo and the nearby Pantex Army Ordnance Plant, which produced bombs and ammunition. After the end of the war, both of the facilities were closed. The Pantex Plant was reopened in 1950 and produced nuclear weapons throughout theCold War.[11]
In 1951, the army air base was reactivated asAmarillo Air Force Base and expanded to accommodate aStrategic Air CommandB-52 Stratofortress wing.[21] The arrival of servicemen and their families ended the city's depression. Between 1950 and 1960, Amarillo's population grew from 74,443 to 137,969. However, the closure of Amarillo Air Force Base on December 31, 1968, contributed to a decrease in population to 127,010 by 1970. In 1970, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Amarillo's population as 6.1% Hispanic and 88.5% non-Hispanic white.[22]
In the 1980s,ASARCO, Iowa Beef Processors (present-dayTyson Foods),Owens-Corning, andWeyerhaeuser built plants at Amarillo. The Eastridge neighborhood houses many immigrants from countries such asVietnam,Laos, andBurma, many finding employment at the nearby Iowa Beef Processors plant.[23] The following decade, Amarillo's city limits encompassed 60 square miles (155 km2) in Potter and Randall Counties.Interstate 27 highway connectingLubbock to Amarillo was built mostly during the 1980s.[11]
Following the lead of the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway, predecessors of theAtchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway andChicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad had established services to and from Amarillo. These three carriers maintained substantial freight and passenger depots and repair facilities in the city through most of the 20th century and were major employers within the community.[24]
U.S. Routes 60, 87, 287, and 66 intersected at Amarillo, making it a major tourist stop with numerous motels, restaurants, and curio shops.
Lighthouse pinnacle in Palo Duro Canyon: The canyon system is located south of the city.
Amarillo is located near the middle of theTexas Panhandle. It does not share similar weather characteristics withsouth andeast Texas. It is situated in the grasslands of the Texas Panhandle and is surrounded by dense prairie and desert. Amarillo is infamous for its unpredictable weather patterns, with broad daily temperature changes, raging winds, devastating hailstorms and "northers", long periods of drought, late frosts, spring tornadoes,dust storms, and floods.
Though urbanization, agricultural farming, and construction have taken place over the last century in and around Amarillo, the native grasslands that dominate this region have remained largely untouched. The region's surface is relatively flat and has little soil drainage. Due to the lack of developed drainage, much of the rainfall either evaporates, infiltrates into the ground, or accumulates inplaya lakes.[10] According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 90.3 square miles (234 km2), with 89.9 sq mi (233 km2) of it land and 0.4 sq mi (1.0 km2) of it (0.50%) covered by water. The Amarillo metropolitan area covers four counties:Armstrong,Carson, Potter, and Randall. Amarillo sits closer in proximity to theOklahoma,New Mexico andColorado state capitals than it does toAustin.
Flowing about 20 miles (32 km) northeast of Amarillo is theCanadian River, which divides theWestern High Plains ecological region. The southern divide of the Western High Plains is theLlano Estacado or Staked Plains geographical region. The river is dammed to formLake Meredith, a major source of drinking water in the Texas Panhandle region.[25] The city is situated near the Panhandle Field, in a productive gas and oil area, covering 200,000 acres (81,000 ha) inHartley, Potter,Moore,Hutchinson, Carson,Gray,Wheeler, andCollingsworth Counties. The Potter County portion had the nation's largest natural gas reserve.[26] Approximately 25 miles (40 km) south of Amarillo isPalo Duro Canyon. The tallest peak is reported to be 2,500 feet (760 m) underground in northeastern Potter County under theAlibates Flint Quarries National Monument.[27]
Like most of the Texas Panhandle, Amarillo has a temperatesemi-arid climate (Köppen climate classificationBSk).[28] Both the city and most of the county as a whole lie inUSDA Plant Hardiness Zone 7a.[29] Amarillo is characterized by a winter season featuring largediurnal temperature variation, great day-to-day variability, possible sudden and/or severe Arctic air outbreaks (in Texas, called "blue northers"), possibleblizzards and hot summers with generally low humidity. The average annual precipitation is 20.4 inches or 520 millimeters. Much of Amarillo's precipitation falls during heavy convective showers and thunderstorms during the late spring and summer months.
According to 'Cities Ranked and Rated' (Bert Sperling and Peter Sander), Amarillo averages 48 days per year during which thunder and lightning is reported. This is above the national average. These storms can be severe: Amarillo and the Texas Panhandle are situated in the western portion of "Tornado Alley" and are prone to severe weather events, occurring primarily between April and July. Severe thunderstorms can produce damaging straight-line winds, large hail, tornadoes, and flash flooding. Tornadoes have occurred in and around the city in 1968, 1970, 1982, 1986, 2001, 2007, 2013, 2015, and 2016. The strongest tornado to ever hit Amarillo was a deadly F4 tornado that struck the city in the nighttime hours of May 15, 1949. Amarillo's most densely populated areas, on the south and east sides of the city, had catastrophic damage; the tornado killed 7 people and injured more than 80 others. The monthly daily average temperature ranges from 38.6 °F (3.7 °C) in January to 79.6 °F (26.4 °C) in July. Sunny weather prevails year-round, with nearly 3300 hours of bright sunshine annually. TheNational Weather Service in Amarillo forecasts and provides climatic data for the city.
Extreme temperatures range from −16 °F (−26.7 °C) onFebruary 12, 1899 to 111 °F (43.9 °C) on June 26, 2011, but lows do not typically dip to 0 °F or −17.8 °C in most years, while highs above 100 °F or 37.8 °C are seen on 4.7 days on average. On average, there are 5.9 days of lows at or below 10 °F or −12.2 °C, 8.8 days where the temperature fails to rise above freezing, and 61 days of 90 °F (32.2 °C)+ highs. Unlike in the Rio Grande Valley or eastern portions of Texas, days where the low does not fall below 70 °F or 21.1 °C are relatively rare, due to the aridity and elevation. Blizzards occur occasionally, but snowfall is typically light, averaging nearly 18 inches or 46 centimeters seasonally and the median figure is near 10 inches or 25 centimeters.[30] Amarillo is also recorded as the windiest city in the U.S. by the Weather Channel.[31]
Climate data for Amarillo, Texas, 1991–2020 normals,[a] extremes 1892–present[32]
Source: NOAA (sun, relative humidity, and dew point 1961–1990)[33][34][35]
Notes
^Mean monthly maxima and minima (i.e. the expected highest and lowest temperature readings at any point during the year or given month) calculated based on data at said location from 1981 to 2010.
Amarillo city, Texas – racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
This map shows the city's average number of inhabitants per square mile of land in 2000.
According to the2020 United States census, there were 200,393 people, 76,778 households, and 50,005 families residing in the city, an increase of 5.1% since the 2010 United States census. At the2010 U.S. census, there were 190,695 people residing in Amarillo, an increase of 9.8% since the2000 U.S. census.[41]
In 2020, there were 76,778 households with an average of 2.57 people per household.[42] Of the households, 60.8% lived in owner-occupied housing units and the median value of an owner-occupied housing unit was $140,030. The median homeowner costs with a mortgage were $1,272 and without a mortgage $479. Amarillo had a median gross rent of $876 from 2016 to 2020. Amarillo had a median household income of $52,941 and per capita income at $28,274. An estimated 15.4% of the population lived at or below thepoverty line.
In 2020, there were 78,706 occupied households, out of which 26,945 weremarried couples living together, 4,327 had a female householder with no spouse present, and 1,858 were male householder, no spouse present. The age distribution of the city in 2020 was as follows: 7.6% of the population was under the age of 5, 26.8% was under the age of 18, 73.2% 18 and older, 13.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34.1 years.
The median income for a household in the city was $52,941, and the median income for a family was $64,632. Married-couple families had a median income of $80,819, and non-family households had a median income of $31,663. About 15.4% of families were below the poverty line, including 20% of those under age 18, 14.1% ages 18 – 64, and 12.2% of those age 65 or over.
Part of theBible Belt,Christianity is the predominant religion in Amarillo and its metropolitan area. There are more than 200 churches in the area as of 2013.[43]
According toSperling's BestPlaces in 2021, 77.83% of the population identified as religious, with 74.53% Christian.[44][unreliable source?] Baptists made up 40.2% of the Christian population and Catholics were 13.3% of the local population.Methodists andPentecostals were the next largest Christian groups, followed byPresbyterians,Mormons,Episcopalians or Anglicans, andLutherans. Approximately 8.1% of the population were of a different Christian faith. In 2021, about 0.1% of Amarillo's residents identified withJudaism and 2.1% were Muslim. An estimated 1.1% followed an Eastern religion such asBuddhism orHinduism.[citation needed]
Amarillo is considered the regional economic center for the Texas Panhandle,[45][46] as well as EasternNew Mexico and the Oklahoma Panhandle. The meat packing industry is a major employer in Amarillo;[47] about one-quarter of the United States' beef supply is processed in the area. The city also holds the headquarters for the Texas Cattle Feeders Association. Petroleum extraction is also a major industry. The helium industry decreased in significance after the federal government privatized local operations in the late 1990s.Bell Helicopter Textron opened ahelicopter assembly plant near the city's international airport in 1999.[45]
The city's largest employer in 2005 was Tyson Foods, with 3,700 employees. TheAmarillo Independent School District was next with 3,659 employees followed by Pantex, Baptist St. Anthony's Health Care System, City of Amarillo, Northwest Texas Healthcare System,Amarillo College, Walmart, andUnited Supermarkets.[48] Other major employers include Bell Helicopter Textron, Owens-Corning,Amarillo National Bank andASARCO.
Approximately 14 million acres (57,000 km2) of agricultural land surrounds the city withcorn,wheat, andcotton as the primary crops. Other crops in the area includesorghum,silage,hay, andsoybeans.[49] The Texas Panhandle, particularly inHereford, Texas, serves as a fast-growing milk producing area as several multimillion-dollar state of the art dairies were built in the early 2000s.[50]
The Amarillo Economic Development Corporation (AEDC), funded by a city sales tax, provides aggressive incentive packages to existing and prospective employers. In the mid-to-late 1990s, the AEDC gained notoriety by sending mock checks to businesses across the country, placing full-page advertisements inThe Wall Street Journal, and paying an annual $1 million subsidy toAmerican Airlines to retain jet service.[51][52] The AEDC is largely responsible for bringing Bell Helicopter Textron's development of the V-22 Osprey hybrid aircraft and the future site ofMarine One assembly in Amarillo.[53]
From 2020 to 2021, Amarillo experienced its greatest amount of economic development in 30 years.[54]Amazon, Asset Protection Unit, andTexas Tech University Vet School were named some major organizations contributing to the city and metropolitan area's economic growth. Through theCOVID-19 pandemic in Texas, the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce announced a new initiative to help local businesses rebound from the pandemic.[55] Its tourism industry also rebounded.[56]
Entrance to Texas Panhandle War Memorial in AmarilloListing of Amarillo-area personnel killed in theVietnam War
Several natural attractions are near the city. ThePalo Duro Canyon State Park is the United States' second largest canyon system, after theGrand Canyon and is located south of Amarillo. The canyon is a prominent mountain biking destination and hosts the annual 50-mile Palo Duro Canyon Trail Run.[57] Palo Duro has a distincthoodoo that resembles a lighthouse. Another natural landmark near the city, theAlibates Flint Quarries National Monument is located 30 miles (48 km) north of Amarillo. It had been the site for prehistoric inhabitants to obtainflint in order to make tools and weapons. About 100 miles (160 km) southeast of Amarillo inBriscoe County isCaprock Canyons State Park and Trailway, the state park is the home of the official Texas StateBison Herd captured and taken care of by cattle rancher Charles Goodnight.[58]
Local millionaireStanley Marsh 3 funded many public art projects in the city including theCadillac Ranch, located west of Amarillo onInterstate 40, a monument of paintedCadillac automobiles that were dug into the ground head first. Marsh also participated in an ongoing art project called the Dynamite Museum, which consists of thousands of mocktraffic signs. These signs, bearing messages such as "Road does not end" or displaying a random picture, are scattered throughout the city of Amarillo.[59] Besides these works, close to the city is the final earthwork ofRobert Smithson (and another commission by Marsh),Amarillo Ramp.
The city has events and attractions honoring thecowboy and Texas culture. During the third week of September, the Tri-State Fair & Rodeo brings participants mostly from Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas to Amarillo since 1921.[60] On the Tri-State Exposition grounds, theAmarillo National Center is a special events center for events ranging from nationalequestrian competitions tomotor sports androdeos. The World Championship Ranch Rodeo sponsored by theWorking Ranch Cowboys Association is held every November in theAmarillo Civic Center.[61] The Amarillo Livestock Auction on Bull Road holds a free-to-the-public cattle auction on Tuesdays. Now located on Interstate 40, The Big Texan Steak Ranch is famous by offering visitors a free 72 ounce (2 kg) beef steak if it (and its accompanying dinner) is eaten in under an hour.
The Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts building is located near the Amarillo Civic Center.Acoyote sleeps in the afternoon heat in the Amarillo Zoo.
Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts, opened in 2006, houses the Amarillo Opera, Amarillo Symphony, and Lone Star Ballet concerts. The facility, located just across the Amarillo Civic Center, features a 1,300-seat auditorium. The Globe-News Center was built in hope by city officials and others that it would revitalize the downtown area.[62] The nonprofitcommunity theater group, Amarillo Little Theatre, has its season run from September to May. The theater group's two facilities, the Mainstage and the Adventure Space, are located west of Amarillo's downtown. The PioneerAmphitheater, located in nearby Palo Duro Canyon, is the setting for the outdoor musical dramaTexas, which plays nightly during the summer. The musical depicts a story about the history of Texas Panhandle settlers throughout the years. In 2002, theproducers changed its name toTexas Legacies after retiring the previous script that was used for 37 years for a more historically accurate one, but attendance declined over the next four seasons, so it was decided to revert to the originalPaul Green script in 2006.[63][64]
The Amarillo Public Library is affiliated with the Harrington Library Consortium. The consortium consists of public, college, and school libraries located in the Texas Panhandle that share resources and cooperate with one another. Other members include Amarillo's public schools, Amarillo College, Canyon Area Library, Lovett Memorial Library inPampa, Texas, and Hutchinson County Library inBorger, Texas.[65] The Amarillo Public Library's main branch is located in downtown and operates four neighborhood branches.
Wonderland Amusement Park is located in northern Amarillo at Thompson Park, named for Ernest Thompson. The park also houses the Amarillozoo and offerspicnicking.
TheAmerican Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) is an international organization dedicated to the preservation, improvement and record-keeping of theAmerican Quarter Horse breed. The organization is headquartered in Amarillo and has a museum. There is also anAmerican Quarter Horse Hall of Fame exhibited in the museum. In addition, the AQHA and Center City of Amarillo co-sponsor the project, "Hoof Prints of the American Quarter Horse" consisting of horse statues located in front of several Amarillo businesses, such as the downtown Amarillo National building, Nationwide Insurance, and Edward Jones. An area business would purchase a horse statue for a local artist to paint.[66]
Two of the Amarillo area's higher education institutions have at least one museum in their campuses. The Amarillo Art Center, opened in 1972, is a building complex with theAmarillo Museum of Art (AMoA)[67] and concert hall located on the Washington Street Campus of Amarillo College. Located on the campus of West Texas A&M University, thePanhandle-Plains Historical Museum claims to be the largest historical museum in Texas.
Medical Center Park, adjacent to Amarillo Botanical Gardens
Don Harrington Discovery Center, located in the city's hospital district, is an interactive science center and space theater with over 60 hands-on exhibits.[68] Outside of the building is a steel structure called the Helium Monument which has time capsules and designates Amarillo the "Helium Capital of the World".[11] Near the proximity of the Discovery Center, theAmarillo Botanical Gardens has gardens, indoor exhibits, and a library for visitation throughout the year.
The Texas Pharmacy Museum claims to be the only Texas museum specialized in the research, collection, preservation, and exhibition of the history of pharmacy, is also located in the city's hospital district.[69]
Founded in 2013, by businessman Tom Warren, The Amarillo Historical Museum is Amarillo's only local museum exclusively featuring local history.[70]
Other notable museums in the area are the Kwahadi Kiva Indian Museum and theEnglish Field Air & Space Museum. The Kwahadi Kiva Indian Museum features a collection ofNative American artifacts and provides dance performances. The English Field Air & Space Museum, which had been operated by the Texas Aviation Historical Society and featured aircraft and space exhibits, closed its doors in 2007 and subsequently lost many of its aircraft. The museum, now rebuilding its collection as Texas Air & Space Museum, is located on American Drive on the south side of the airport.
Most of Amarillo's population growth and commercial development is occurring in the southern and northwestern parts of the city.[71] Similar to many towns in the Texas Panhandle, the city's downtown has suffered economic deterioration throughout the years.[72] To help revitalize it, the Center City of Amarillo organization was formed to establish partnerships with groups that have a large presence in the city.[73] Since its conception in the 1990s, Center City has sponsored public art projects and started block parties in the downtown area.[74]
The 31-storyFirstBank Southwest Tower was opened in Amarillo's downtown in 1971.[75] Completed in the same year as the FirstBank Southwest Tower, the Amarillo National Bank Plaza One building houses the headquarters ofAmarillo National Bank, the city's largest financial institution.[76][77] TheSanta Fe Building, completed in 1930 as the regional office of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, was vacant for several years until 1995 when Potter County bought it for $426,000 to gain new office spaces.[78]
FirstBank Southwest Tower, the tallest building in the city, dominates the skyline of downtown Amarillo.
Amarillo's historic homes and buildings listed on theNational Register of Historic Places reflect the economic growth from around 1900 to the start of World War II. Polk Street contains many of the city's historic downtown buildings and homes. The large historic homes on this street were built close to downtown, and homes were located on the west side of the street as a symbol of status because they would be greeted with the sunrise every morning.[79]
The city of Amarillo's Parks and Recreation Department operates over 50 municipal parks, including askatepark west of the city. Amarillo's largest parks are Medical Park, Thompson Memorial Park, and Memorial Park, near Amarillo College's Washington Street Campus. From 1978 to 2002, theJunior League of Amarillo and the city of Amarillo's Parks and Recreation Department co-sponsored Funfest, a family entertainment festival, benefiting the city parks and the league's Community Chest Trust Fund. Funfest was held in Thompson Memorial Park duringMemorial Day weekend.[80]
West Texas A&M University features a full slate ofNCAA Division II teams;Amarillo College is in a different division than West Texas A&M, however, playing in the NJCAA division 2 bracket. From 1968 to 1996, Amarillo hosted the annualNational Women's Invitational Tournament (NWIT), a post-season women'scollege basketball tournament.[89] During high school football season, the Amarillo Independent School District schools' home games are inDick Bivins Stadium which had a $5,700,000 renovation in 2005.[90] Randall High School (part of the adjacent Canyon Independent School District) plays its home games inKimbrough Memorial Stadium in Canyon, in addition to the yearly Clinton Invitational horseshoe tournament. River Road, Highland Park, and Bushland High Schools also play football and other sports.
In 1913, Amarillo became the first Texas city and the fifth in United States to use thecouncil-manager form of municipal government, with all governmental powers resting in alegislative body, called a council (before 2014, it was called a commission).[91][92] Five elected commissioners, one of whom is the mayor, comprise the council. All serve a two-year term. The commission's role is to pass ordinances and resolutions, adopt regulations, and appoint city officials including thecity manager. Although the mayor serves as a presiding officer of the commission, the city manager is the administrative head of the municipal government and is responsible for the administration of all departments. The city commission meets on Tuesday of each week.[93] The mayor is Cole Stanley, and the city manager is Jared Miller.
As the seat of Potter County, the city is the location of the county's trial, civil, and criminal courts. The Randall County Amarillo Annex building is located within the city limits and houses its Sheriff's Office and Justice of the Peace Court, Precinct 4.[95][96]
In theU.S. House, Amarillo is located inTexas's 13th congressional district, and is represented by RepresentativeRonny Jackson. In theTexas Legislature, the city is in the 31st District in the Texas Senate, represented byRepublicanKevin Sparks, of Midland. It is in the 87th District in the Texas House of Representatives, having been represented by RepublicanDavid A. Swinford since 1991. Swinford retired in January 2011 and was succeeded by fellow RepublicanFour Price. The sliver of Amarillo within Randall County is represented by Price's Republican colleague,John T. Smithee, who has served in the 86th District since 1985.
The clock tower at Amarillo College's Washington Street Campus
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 23.3% of all adults aged 25 and older have obtained abachelor's degree, and 85% a high school diploma or equivalent.[42]
Amarillo National Bank Plaza One building in downtown Amarillo
The major local newspaper is theAmarillo Globe-News, owned byGateHouse Media. It is a combination of three newspapers:Amarillo Daily News,Amarillo Globe, andAmarillo Times. Other publications include a local monthlymagazine,Accent West, dealing with city and regional issues in the Amarillo area, and a daily online paper,The Amarillo Pioneer.[108] The American Quarter Horse Association publishes two monthly publications,The American Quarter Horse Journal andThe American Quarter Horse Racing Journal. HISPANIC Newspaper El Mensajero owned by Dr. Ramon Godoy started printing in 1989.
Amarillo is the 168th largest United States radio market in autumn 2005 designated by theradio audience research company,Arbitron. Arbitron rated the five highest-rated commercial radio stations in Fall 2012/Spring 2013 as:
The regional public radio network, High Plains Public Radio, operates KJJP-FM 105.7. Other notable radio stations around the area include thecollege stationsKACV-FM 89.9 (Amarillo College),Active RockKZRK-FM (107.9), andKWTS-FM 91.1 (West Texas A&M University) in nearby Canyon.
Tradewind Airport is a public-usegeneral aviation airport located in Randall County, 3 nautical miles (3.5 mi; 5.6 km) south of Amarillo's central business district. The airport covers 595 acres (241 ha) and has twoasphalt-paved runways and onehelipad.[112]
Buffalo Airport is a public-use general aviation airport located in Randall County, 9 nautical miles (10 mi; 17 km) south of Amarillo's central business district. The airport covers 40 acres (16 ha) and has two grass runways.[113]
Local transit services in the city have been available since 1925 and have been provided through the City of Amarillo'sAmarillo City Transit (ACT) department since 1966; before that time the system was privately owned. ACT operates bus services that include fixed route transit and demand responseparatransit which are designed for people with disabilities. Each year ACT transports approximately 350,000 passengers on the fixed route and 30,000 paratransit passengers.[48]
Amarillo has no passenger rail service but remains an important part of the rail freight system. The last passenger train out of the city was theSanta Fe Railroad'sSan Francisco Chief, fromChicago, in 1971. TheTexas Zephyr betweenDenver andDallas last served Amarillo in 1967.[114] TheBNSF Railway complex in Amarillo continues to serve a heavy daily traffic load, approximately 100–110 trains per day.[115] TheUnion Pacific Railroad also sends substantial shipments to or through Amarillo. In addition to intermodal and general goods, a big portion of rail shipments are of grains and coal. There have been various proposals over the years to add passenger service. One, theCaprock Chief, would have seen daily service as part of a Fort Worth, Texas—Denver, Colorado service, but it failed to gain traction.
Several streets around Amarillo's downtown area are still paved with bricks.
The streets in Amarillo's downtown area conform to agrid pattern. The city's original street layout was set up by William H. Bush. Beginning at the west end of the town moving to the east, Bush named the north to south streets for pastUnited States presidents, in chronological order except forJohn Quincy Adams because the surname had been taken by the second president,John Adams.[116] The last president so honored wasGrover Cleveland; as the city expanded eastward the pattern was not continued.
While the streets running north–south are designated 'streets', east–west streets are numbered and are designated 'avenues'. North of the Fort Worth & Denver (now BNSF) railyard, the numbers are "NW" (northwest) west of Polk Street and "NE" (northeast) east of Polk. South of the railyard (including the downtown-city center area), numbers are officially "SW" (southwest) west of Polk, and "SE" (southeast) east of Polk. Colloquially, though, most tend to dub the SW and SE avenues as W (west) and E (east), respectively. One example of the numbering difference is the former U.S. Highway 66 routing west of downtown and into the San Jacinto neighborhood. Most call it 'West Sixth Street' instead of SW Sixth Avenue.
In 1910, the Amarillo voters had approved to pay for street paving withbricks.[117] As of 2003, the city still has 16.2 miles (26.1 km) of brick streets in some parts of the downtown area. In 2002, the city spent $200,000 to restore one block of brick street on Ninth Avenue between Polk and Tyler streets.[118]
Amarillo is served by two interstate highways:Interstate 27 andInterstate 40. Amarillo is also the northern terminus for I-27, of which less than one mile (~1.6 km) is located in Potter County. The highway terminates at the city's main west–east highway, Interstate 40, just north of the Potter–Randall county line. The roadway continues northward into downtown Amarillo via U.S.60,87, and287, via a series of four one-way streets including Buchanan, Pierce, Fillmore and Taylor. North of downtown the highway becomes US 87 & 287 and continues northward toDumas.[45]
Interstate 40, the city's major east–west thoroughfare, was completed entirely through Amarillo in November 1968 across the center of the city despite local opposition.[119]Loop 335 is abeltway that circles around Amarillo in all four directions and consists of four-lane roadway on its northeast and southwest quadrants and a two-lane highway to the southeast and northwest.[citation needed] Plans to convert the entire beltway into a freeway were published by theTexas Department of Transportation in 2015.[120] ThePorts to Plains Corridor passes through Amarillo as part of Interstate 27, which is planned to be extended north from its current terminus toRaton, New Mexico.[121]
Route 66 commemorative water tower in Amarillo, Texas
Previously,U.S. Route 66 had been the city's major east–west highway,[114] generally following Amarillo Boulevard to the north of the downtown area and then curving southwest to leave the city near the Veterans Hospital. The highway's original alignment through Amarillo was later designated as a city route.[clarification needed] Amarillo is also mentioned in the song "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66".
The Harrington Regional Medical Center has two of the city's major hospitals.
Amarillo is home to medical facilities including Baptist St. Anthony's and Northwest Texas Hospitals, the Don & Sybil Harrington Cancer Center, Bivins Memorial Nursing Home, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Texas Tech School of Pharmacy, and Texas Panhandle Mental Health and Mental Retardation. All are located in the Harrington Regional Medical Center, the first specifically designated city hospital district in Texas.[122]
Baptist St. Anthony's, known locally as BSA, had some of its services listed on theU.S. News & World Report's "Top 50 Hospitals" from 2002 to 2005.[123] BSA was a result of a 1996 merger between the Texas Panhandle's first hospital, St Anthony's, with High Plains Baptist Hospital.[124] The BSA Hospice & Life Enrichment Center provides important services to the Amarillo area. The BSA facility, opened in 1985, was the first free-standing hospice west of theMississippi River to be built and opened without debt.[125]
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
Northwest Texas Hospital is home to the area's only Level III designated trauma center.
TheThomas E. Creek Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center is located east of Harrington Regional Medical Center. The facility opened in 1940 and was renamed in 2005, honoring the 18-year-old Amarillo Marine who had been posthumously awarded theMedal of Honor.[126] Construction began in 2006 for a new Texas State Veterans Home in northwest Amarillo. The United States government, through the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, provided the funding to build the facility; the Texas government will run it after construction is completed.[127] The Ussery-Roan Texas State Veterans Home opened in 2007.[128]
Drinking water is provided by the City of Amarillo and its Utilities Division. Amarillo's water supply used to come from both fromLake Meredith and theOgallala Aquifer. Due to the lake's low water level, water is now only supplied by the aquifer. Lake Meredith is located northeast of Amarillo and in 2005 it contained at least 114 billion US gallons (430,000,000 m3) of water. By 2011, lake levels had dropped so much due to the Texas drought that the Canadian River Municipal Water Authority voted to stop using it entirely.[129] However, increased rainfall in recent years[when?] has helped the lake regain much of its volume.[130] Generally, the city's daily water production averages between 40–50 million US gallons (150,000–190,000 m3).[131]
Collection and disposal of the city's trash and garbage are the responsibilities of the City of Amarillo's Solid Waste Collection and Solid Waste Disposal Departments. Amarillo's non-hazardous solid waste is collected for burial in the city'slandfill. The City of Amarillo also operates recycling collection centers, one located near the downtown area and four at fire stations in the city.[132] Other utilities are primarily provided by private organizations. Natural gas is distributed byAtmos Energy. Electric power service is distributed byXcel Energy, through its wholly owned subsidiary, the Amarillo-based Southwestern Public Service Company.[133] Wired telephone service is mainly provided byAT&T. Cable television is primarily provided bySuddenlink Communications.
The city gained national media attention in 1998 when local cattlemen unsuccessfully sued television talk show hostOprah Winfrey for comments made onher show connecting American beef tomad cow disease, costing them and their industry millions of dollars.[134] In order to attend the trial in Amarillo, she temporarily relocated her show to the Amarillo Little Theatre for nearly a year. During the trial, Winfrey hired Dallas-based jury consultantPhil McGraw to aid her attorneys on selecting and analyzing the members of the jury.[135] McGraw would later become a regular guest on Winfrey's television show and subsequently started his own talk show,Dr. Phil, in 2002.
Another notable trial in Amarillo was theFort Worth-area murder case ofT. Cullen Davis, which involved one of the richest men in the United States, his former wife, and her daughter and boyfriend. The trial was moved from Fort Worth to Amarillo in 1977 on a change of venue.[136] The 1997 murder ofBrian Deneke and subsequent trial also brought national attention because it highlighted social divisions in the community that mirrored those in America as a whole. The defendant in the trial was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and received a light sentence.[137] The movieBomb City is based on the events surrounding Deneke's murder.
The small town ofTulia, Texas, approximately 47 miles (76 km) south from Amarillo, was the scene of a controversial drug sting in 1999. Local civil rights attorney Jeff Blackburn took up the case of the Tulia defendants, which became acause célèbre and resulted in the exoneration and pardon of the defendants.[138] A federal lawsuit directed at the officials responsible for the sting operation was held in Amarillo. In the final settlement, the City of Amarillo agreed to pay $5 million in damages to the former Tulia defendants; disband the Panhandle Regional Narcotics Task Force that it set up to oversee the sting operation; and require early retirement for two Amarillo Police Department officers who were responsible for supervising the sting's sole undercover agent.[139][140]
On May 5, 2020, Amarillo ranked 13th in the nation for Highest Average Daily Growth Rate of COVID-19 cases by the New York Times.[141]
The Amarillo Film Commission is a division of the Amarillo Convention and Visitor Council that was created to provide film crews with locations and other assistance when filming in Amarillo.[144] Amarillo was the setting for several motion pictures, includingIndiana Jones and the Last Crusade,Switchback, andThe Plutonium Circus, the 1995South by Southwest Film Festival winner for best documentary feature.[citation needed] Amarillo also features heavily in theBetter Call Saulepisode of the same name, the third of the show's second season, in which protagonistJimmy McGill visits the city to solicit clients.[145]
^Jones, Daniel (2003) [1917], Peter Roach; James Hartmann; Jane Setter (eds.),English Pronouncing Dictionary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,ISBN3-12-539683-2
^Depending on the climatologist's threshold,BSk if based upon the annual mean temperature (<18.0 °C or 64.4 °F),BSh if based upon the daily average temperature in the coldest month (≥0 °C or 32 °F).
^"USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map". Agricultural Research Center, PRISM Climate Group Oregon State University.Archived from the original on February 27, 2014. RetrievedFebruary 24, 2014.
^Cowley, Jennifer S. (October 2001)."Public Art in Private Places". Texas A&M University's Real Estate Center. Archived fromthe original on September 17, 2006. RetrievedJanuary 25, 2007.
^Smith-Rodgers, Sheryl (May 21, 2006 – May 27, 2007)."Cowboy Cooking". American Profile. Archived fromthe original on August 11, 2006. RetrievedJanuary 25, 2007.
Carlson, Paul H. (2006).Amarillo: The Story of a Western Town. Texas Tech University Press.ISBN978-0-89672-587-4. An illustrated history of the Queen City of the Texas Panhandle.
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