[22] The arrival of servicemen and their families ended the city's depression. Texas State Highway Loop 335 encircles the Metroplex while I-27 (434) and I-40 neatly intersect Amarillo into compass-like North, South, East, and West sections. According to Arbitron the top 5 rated commercial radio stations in Fall 2012/Spring 2013 are: The regional public radio network, High Plains Public Radio, operates KJJP-FM 105.7. She was a ranch historian and radio personality. Amarillo previously hosted an independent league baseball team, the Amarillo Thunderheads of the American Association, which played its home games in Potter County Memorial Stadium from 2011 to 2015. The City of Amarillo also operates recycling collection centers, one located near the downtown area and four at fire stations in the city. There are app. The river is dammed to form Lake Meredith, a major source of drinking water in the Texas Panhandle region. [151] Other utilities are primarily provided by private organizations. The National Weather Service in Amarillo forecasts and provides climatic data for the city. [27] Approximately 25 miles (40km) south of Amarillo is the canyon system, Palo Duro Canyon. [119] The movie Bomb City is based on the events surrounding Deneke's murder. The so named Amarillo Mountains are a range of granite mountains that run from northwest to southeast thru the Amarillo, TX area. The data shown is for information purposes only and except where noted, all of the data or features shown or depicted on this map are not to be construed or interpreted as accurate and/or reliable; the City of Amarillo assumes no liability or responsibility for any . The Pantex Plant was reopened in 1950 and produced nuclear weapons throughout the Cold War.[11]. [80] The Amarillo Livestock Auction on Bull Road holds a free-to-the-public cattle auction on Tuesdays. [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 its V-22 Osprey hybrid aircraft assembly plant. [143] The BSA Hospice & Life Enrichment Center provides important services to the Amarillo area. Some of Texas' most prominent companies are established in Amarillo, fueling the job market. Tornadoes have occurred in and around the city in 1968, 1970, 1982, 1986, 2001, 2007, and most recently in 2013, 2015 and 2016. A portion of the former Amarillo Air Force Base was converted to civilian use and became part of the airport. The Globe-News Center was built in hope by city officials and others that it will revitalize the downtown area. And the Harrington Cancer Center Complex is an expanding specialized medical complex that operates in conjunction with Texas Tech University. I'm still trying to wrap my feeble brain around this. Christie's version, which only managed to reach 18 when originally released in 1971, made it to the number 1 spot in the UK Singles Chart in 2005 for 7 weeks. [147], Drinking water is provided by the City of Amarillo and its Utilities Division. The Thomas E. Creek Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center is located east of Harrington Regional Medical Center. These signs, bearing messages such as "Road does not end" or displaying a random picture, are scattered throughout the city of Amarillo. Considered one of the United States' top cities to start a business, this Texas jewel offers outdoor activities, various education options, and a range of professional opportunities in a Lone Star suburban setting. [145] Construction began in 2006 for a new Texas State Veterans Home in northwest Amarillo. Peaks of the Amarillo Mountains range from 2500 to 10,000 feet high. The Palo Duro Canyon is the second-largest canyon system in the United States. May have tunnels that go to the Pantex plant but I've never been out there as it is under security and monitored by camera. 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. For a more upscale dining experience, both the Metropolitan, a premier American Speakeasy and wine bar, and the OHMS Cafe & Bar, described for the refined American Fare and Art, offer excellent food, music, and ambiance. has helped the lake regain much of its volume. Electric power service is distributed by Xcel Energy, through its wholly owned subsidiary, the Amarillo-based Southwestern Public Service Company. Grady Hazlewood, a 1930s district attorney in Amarillo, served in the Texas Senate from 1941 to 1971. Availability of the railroad and freight service after the county seat election made the town a fast-growing cattle-marketing center. Extreme temperatures range from 16F (26.7C) on February 12, 1899 to 111F (43.9C) on June 26, 2011, but lows do not typically dip to 0F or 17.8C in most years, while highs above 100F or 37.8C are seen on 4.7 days on average. The Baptist St. Anthony's Health Care System supports the growing need for all medical professionals. Amarillo Country Club and Dell Wood are the city's two private country clubs. Another Amarillo industry and a substantial employer is the Pantex Plant, a newly built nuclear weapons manufacturing and assembly plant. If you can't, you pay $72 for the experience. Through the COVID-19 pandemic in Texas, the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce announced a new initiative to help local businesses rebound from the pandemic. The Kwahadi Kiva Indian Museum features a collection of Native American artifacts and provides dance performances. The meat packing industry is a major employer in Amarillo;[66] about one-quarter of the United States' beef supply is processed in the area. It is the creation of a group of "underground" artists from San Francisco, known as the Ant Farm, it and was sponsored by Texas millionaire Stanley Marsh 3. Another three districts, Canyon Independent School District (CISD) to the south, Highland Park (HISD), and River Road Independent School District (RISD) immediately adjacent to Porter County, contribute additional educational options to the area. Originally named "Oneida," Businessman J.I. Wonderland Amusement Park is located in northern Amarillo at Thompson Park, named for Ernest Thompson. Previously, the Texas Zephyr to Denver and Dallas, last served Amarillo in 1967. The racetrack is associated with the United States Racing Association (USRA), and events run from April through September. Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport is a public airport located 10 miles (16km) east of the central business district of Amarillo, north of Interstate 40. The southern divide of the Western High Plains is the Llano Estacado or Staked Plains geographical region. January and February record the city's coldest temperatures, and both ice and snow are possible. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Amarillo was once the self-proclaimed "Helium Capital of the World" for having one of the country's most productive helium fields. It is a stunning landscape vista. Read more about this topic: Amarillo, Texas, The totality of our so-called knowledge or beliefs, from the most casual matters of geography and history to the profoundest laws of atomic physics or even of pure mathematics and logic, is a man-made fabric which impinges on experience only along the edges. There have been various proposals over the years to add passenger service. [15], On June 19, 1888, Henry B. Sanborn, who is given credit as the "Father of Amarillo",[16] and his business partner Joseph F. Glidden began buying land to the east to move Amarillo after arguing that Berry's site was on low ground and would flood during rainstorms. [17] Heavy rains almost flooded Berry's part of the town in 1889, prompting more people to move to Sanborn's location. His incentives gradually won over people, who moved their businesses to Polk Street in the new commercial district. Another option is the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum highlighting area fossils and natural history. Freeways are easily accessible. Another part of Amarillo's sporting history was its roots in professional wrestling. Amarillo's primary and secondary education is handled by five different school districts:[111][112], From 1922 to 1938, the author Laura Vernon Hamner, who wrote a novelized biography of Charles Goodnight, served as the Potter County school superintendent. The Amarillo mountains are really a thing, and they're kind of confusing. The consortium consist of public, college, and school libraries located in the Texas Panhandle that share resources and cooperate with one another. They also happen to be shared with our neighbors to the east. Revealed by powerful earthquakes, the subterranean structures offer exciting new clues to why our planet is a chemical oddball. New York: PublicAffairs. Transportation Blizzards occur occasionally, but snowfall is typically light, averaging nearly 18 inches or 46 centimetres seasonally and the median figure is near 10 inches or 25 centimetres. Palo Duro plunges into the Panhandle flatland like an upside down mountain range, and we spent the . Amarillo was the title of the third episode of the second season of AMC's drama Better Call Saul, a spin-off of the hit drama Breaking Bad. Several country songs have touted the inexplicable draw of Amarillo. The musical depicts a story about the history of Texas Panhandle settlers throughout the years. A city route (which was an original alignment of US 66 through central and west Amarillo) followed Fillmore south into the downtown area and turned on West 6th through the San Jacinto Heights district which is now home to many antique shops, restaurants and other businesses, passing the Amarillo Country Club and veering onto West 9th Street and Bushland Blvd before tying into the through route at a traffic circle near the Veterans Hospital. [73] Amazon, Asset Protection Unit, and Texas Tech University Vet School were named some major organizations contributing to the city and metropolitan area's economic growth. In the 20052006 television season, Amarillo is the 131st largest television market in the United States designated by Nielsen Media Research.[115]. Amarillo's largest parks are Medical Park, Thompson Memorial Park, and Memorial Park, near Amarillo College's Washington Street Campus. When you think of Texas, you think of football. The canyon is a prominent mountain biking destination and hosts the annual 50-mile Palo Duro Canyon Trail Run. Two of the Amarillo area's higher education institutions have at least one museum in their campuses. This Awesome Playground Was Built In 5 Days, By Volunteers. The trial was moved from Fort Worth to Amarillo in 1977 on a change of venue. This district holds many of Amarillo's early history and stories and is part of the Amarillo Cultural District. The Palo Duro Canyon is the second-largest canyon system in the United States. By . In nearby Clarendon and Canyon, Texas, lived the Western artist Harold Dow Bugbee, whose early works were patronized by Ernest Thompson. Another notable trial in Amarillo includes the Fort Worth-area murder case of T. Cullen Davis, which involved one of the richest men in the United States, his former wife, and her daughter and boyfriend. The city gained national media attention in 1998 when local cattlemen unsuccessfully sued television talk show host Oprah Winfrey for comments made on her show connecting American beef to mad cow disease, costing them and their industry millions of dollars. Wonderland Amusement Park. Medicine is a growing profession in Amarillo. The city was the home of the Double-A Amarillo Gold Sox Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League off and on from 1939 to 1982. The defendant in the trial was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and received a light sentence. [75], Amarillo has a number of natural attractions near the city. The museum is now rebuilding its aircraft collection as Texas Air & Space Museum and is located on American Drive on the south side of the airport. The Amarillo metropolitan area covers four counties: Armstrong, Carson, Potter, and Randall. Amarillo, Texas, is the pride of the Texas Panhandle. [149] Generally, the city's daily water production averages between 4050million US gallons (150,000190,000m3).[150]. Marsh also participated in an ongoing art project called the Dynamite Museum, which consists of thousands of mock traffic signs. The first Mrs. Thompson, May Peterson Thompson, a former Metropolitan Opera singer, was involved in the arts while in Amarillo and later when the couple lived in Austin. [77], From 1932 to 1977, the Paramount Theater, originally built for $250,000, flourished in Amarillo. Loop 335 circles around Amarillo in all four directions and consists of four-lane roadway on its northeast and southwest quadrants and two-lane paving to the southeast and northwest. Amarillo had a median gross rent of $876 from 2016 to 2020. 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. Tradewind Airport is a public-use general aviation airport located in Randall County, 3 nautical miles (3.5mi; 5.6km) south of Amarillo's central business district. [81] The nonprofit community theater group, Amarillo Little Theatre, has its season run from September to May. He is the father of the farm-to-market road program in Texas. [102] It also operates the Clements Unit and Nathaniel J. Neil Unit in unincorporated Potter County, east of Amarillo. The city played a part in the plot of the episode, as it was a location used by series protagonist Jimmy McGill to solicit clients.[127]. . In the U.S. House, Amarillo is located in Texas's 13th congressional district, and is represented by Representative Ronny Jackson. 14. It isn't too far fetched to think that given enough time, mountain ranges could get covered up thanks to a variety of reasons. A local favorite, "Texas, the Musical Drama," tells the tale of the Panhandle's settlement in the longest-running Texas musical at the Pioneer Amphitheater. Driving Distance from Amarillo 2 hours, 25 minutes. Exhibit at Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum at Canyon, TX states that the underground structures known as Amarillo Mountains are an extension of the Arbuckles of Oklahoma and the Ouachita of . Four separate school districts combine to form Amarillo schools. County, state, and federal representation, Exhibit at Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum at Canyon. The cost of living in Amarillo, including apartment rentals, is slightly less than its nearest Texas city, Dallas. Highlight . The city operates Amarillo City Transit (ACT) for localized bus transportation. [14] The attractions Cadillac Ranch, and Big Texan Steak Ranch are located adjacent to Interstate 40. However, the closure of Amarillo Air Force Base on December 31, 1968, contributed to a decrease in population to 127,010 by 1970. The eastern end of the mountains offers 1,000 feet (305 m) of topographic relief in a region otherwise dominated by gently rolling grasslands. On the northern side of Amarillo, the loop will be completely reconstructed to an Interstate-Grade freeway with complete grade separations and will be expanded to four lanes. Downtown Amarillo is home not only to many historical buildings and churches but also to a plethora of public art pieces. Tom Blasingame, considered to have been the oldest cowboy in the history of the American West, worked for seventy-three years, primarily, on the JA Ranch south of Amarillo. The second airport is Tradewind Airport (TDW), a privately owned public-use airport in Randall County. There are more than 200 churches in the area as of 2013. And don't forget the 806's "Southwest So What" festival each March a counter to Austin's SXSW Music and Film festival. ENORMOUS mountains have been found deep under Earth's surface - and they could be bigger than anything above ground. The Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument provides for a fascinating day of exploration. There are four distinct seasons in the Texas Panhandle. The Amarillo City Transit bus is scheduled Monday through Saturday, 6:20 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Amarillo City Transit (ACT) closes for major holidays. ACT has no plans to scale back any of their transit routes or services.[67]. St James's, England, United Kingdom 48 F Cloudy. The AISD partners with WTAMU and nearby Amarillo College to provide high-school vocational training. In 2020, there were 76,778 households with an average of 2.57 people per household. Palo Duro Canyon State Park, 30 miles southeast of the city, offers hiking, biking, horseback riding, and zip-lining. An area business would purchase a horse statue and a local artist paints on it.[85]. He authored the first state school loan programs for returning World War II veterans and college students. In 1913, Amarillo became the first Texas city and the fifth in United States to use the council-manager form of municipal government, with all governmental powers resting in a legislative body, called a council (before 2014, it was called a commission). Amarillo's non-hazardous solid waste is collected and disposed of through burial in the city's landfill. He became an international expert on national petroleum and natural gas production and conservation. West Texas A&M University and the Amarillo Independent School District are both significant employers to the residents of Amarillo. In addition to intermodal and general goods, a big portion of rail shipments involve grains and coal. During the third week of September, the Tri-State Fair & Rodeo brings participants mostly from Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas to Amarillo since 1921. Amarillo is only a three-hour drive away from Capulin Volcano National Monument, which is located in New Mexico. Other notable museums in the area are the Kwahadi Kiva Indian Museum and the English Field Air & Space Museum. One of the most unusual restaurants comes highly recommended Yellow City Street Food. Singer Lacey Brown of Amarillo advanced to the top 24 in season 8 on the hit show American Idol. They lie completely underground and are covered by. Route 66 Motor Speedway, a 3/8 mile clay, high-bank oval track, sits east of the city. According to the United 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%) water. Greyhound Bus provides daily commercial service to Amarillo. It is once known as the site for prehistoric inhabitants to obtain flint in order to make tools and weapons. Want Something Different This Christmas? Amarillo is also home to the Venom, a professional indoor football team charter members of the Champions Indoor Football league. Lyft and Uber's ridesharing companies and commercial taxi services are available at Amarillo International Airport and the Tradewind Airport. Large ranches exist in the Amarillo area; among others, the defunct XIT Ranch and the still functioning JA Ranch founded in 1877 by Charles Goodnight and John George Adair. The city of Amarillo's Parks and Recreation Department operates over 50 municipal parks, including a skatepark west of the city. In 1951, the army air base was reactivated as Amarillo Air Force Base and expanded to accommodate a Strategic Air Command B-52 Stratofortress wing. Amarillo Weather Forecasts. The underground structures known as Amarillo Mountains are an extension of the Arbuckles of Oklahoma and the Ouachita of Arkansas and Oklahoma. Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument, Registered Historic Places in Potter County, Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport, List of notable people from Amarillo, Texas, U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Amarillo, Texas, "2000 Census: Population of Texas Cities", "Census profile: Amarillo, TX Metro Area", "History Makers of the High Plains: H.B. The airport covers 40 acres (16ha) and has two grass runways. The Lights. It also includes a stack interchange that will connect the new freeway to the future I-27 Ports to Plains Corridor (Highway 287, 87). Siemens Government Technologies also operates in Amarillo, providing technological solutions for infrastructure, energy, and healthcare. Located on the campus of West Texas A&M University, the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum claims to be the largest historical museum in Texas. Houston, TX 44 F Clear. From 1978 to 2002, the Junior 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. Amarillo entertains everyone. The average annual precipitation is 20.4 inches or 520 millimetres. Amarillo's water supply used to come from both from Lake Meredith and the Ogallala Aquifer. Weather Underground provides local & long-range weather forecasts, weatherreports, maps & tropical weather conditions for the Amarillo area. The underground structures known as Amarillo Mountains are an extension of the Arbuckles of Oklahoma and the Ouachita of Arkansas and Oklahoma. Beef production remains one of the largest industries in the Panhandle, producing 88% of Texas' beef and 30% of the nation's beef. The tornado devastated the south and east sides of the city, killing 7 people, and injuring more than 80 others. Amarillo is infamous for its unpredictable weather patterns, with massive temperature changes on a daily basis, raging winds, devastating hailstorms and "northers", long periods of drought, late frosts, spring tornadoes, dust-storms, and floods. Mean monthly maxima and minima (i.e. Amarillo, TX 10-Day Weather Forecast - The Weather Channel | Weather.com 10 Day Weather - Amarillo, TX As of 11:38 am CST Today 64/ 34 0% Fri 03 | Day 64 SSW 12 mph Sunny. Tradewind is three miles southeast of the city's center. The footlights of Amarillo burn bright. That part of Amarillo within Randall County is represented by Swinford's Republican colleague, John T. Smithee, who has served in the 86th District since 1985. Amarillo sits at an elevation of about 3,600 feet. The chief city of the Texas Panhandle, Amarillo is located on a sandy playa, or dry lake bed, and the tawny colour of its soil lends the city its name (Spanish: Yellow). [135] TxDOT has planned multiple multi-level interchanges that intersect with Interstate 40, Interstate 27, and U.S. 287 and 87.