Amarillo

History

During April 1887, John T. Berry, from Abilene, Texas, established a site for a town, choosing a well-watered section along the right-of-way of the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway that was building across the Texas Panhandle. Berry and merchants from Colorado City, Texas wanted to make his new townsite the region's main trading center. On August 30, 1887, the site won the election for a county seat to be established for Potter County. Availability of the railroad's freight service made the town a fast-growing cattle-marketing center. On June 19, 1888, Henry B. Sanborn, who is given credit as the "Father of Amarillo", and his business partner Joseph 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. 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. The plant was the sole producer of commercial helium in the world for many years. The U.S. National Helium Reserve is stored in the Bush Dome Reservoir at the Cliffside facility. Amarillo was hit by the Dust Bowl in the 1930s and entered an economic depression. 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…

Geography

Amarillo is located near the middle of the Texas Panhandle. It does not share similar weather characteristics with south and east 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 in playa lakes. The city is situated near the Panhandle Field, in a productive gas and oil area, covering in Hartley, Potter, Moore, Hutchinson, Carson, Gray, Wheeler, and Collingsworth Counties. The Potter County portion had the nation's largest natural gas reserve. The Palo Duro Canyon State Park is the United States' second largest canyon system, after the Grand Canyon and is located Approximately southeast of Amarillo is Palo Duro Canyon. Palo Duro Canyon has a distinct hoodoo that resembles a lighthouse. The underground structures known as Amarillo Mountains are an extension of the Arbuckles of Oklahoma and the Ouachita of Arkansas and Oklahoma. They are some thousands of feet underground. The range was discovered by pioneer oilmen. Some of the peaks are believed to be 10,000 feet (3,000 m) high.[21] The tallest peak is reported to be underground in northeastern Potter County under the Alibates Flint…

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• TASCOSA H S
  High · AMARILLO · 2,187 students · 16.6:1 ratio
• PALO DURO H S
  High · AMARILLO · 1,923 students · 15.3:1 ratio
• BOWIE MIDDLE
  Middle · AMARILLO · 748 students · 15:1 ratio
• AUSTIN MIDDLE
  Middle · AMARILLO · 677 students · 15.4:1 ratio
• HOUSTON MIDDLE
  Middle · AMARILLO · 656 students · 13.1:1 ratio
• TRAVIS MIDDLE
  Middle · AMARILLO · 629 students · 14:1 ratio
• EASTRIDGE EL
  Elementary · AMARILLO · 596 students · 14.5:1 ratio
• AVONDALE EL
  Elementary · AMARILLO · 548 students · 16.1:1 ratio