Dalhart

History

Founded in 1901, Dalhart is named for its location on the border of Dallam and Hartley Counties; its name is a portmanteau of the names of the two counties. The city was founded at the site of a railroad junction, which heavily contributed to its early growth. Dalhart was in the center of the Dust Bowl, an area adversely affected by a long period of drought and dust storms during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Here, Tex Thornton, operating on the now debunked concussion theory, coaxed today's inflation-adjusted equivalent of $1 million from the locals on claims he could fire rocket-powered explosives into the clouds and cause rain.

Geography

Dalhart is located in northwestern Texas. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which , or 0.21%, is covered by water. Dalhart sits in the Southern Great Plains and is heavily impacted by its agriculture industry. Dalhart is about 70 miles northwest of Amarillo, the nearest city that has a population over 100,000. Dalhart sits at the intersection of U.S. Highways 54, 87, and 385. Two miles south of Dalhart is the former Rita Blanca State Park, site of Rita Blanca Canyon, now maintained by the City of Dalhart. It is 1,680 acres, plus the 160 acres of Lake Rita Blanca, The park has playground equipment and hiking/biking/riding trails. but is from Santa Fe, New Mexico, from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, from Denver, Colorado, from Cheyenne, Wyoming, from Topeka, Kansas, and from Lincoln, Nebraska. Dalhart experiences a semiarid climate (Köppen BSk) with cool, dry winters and hot summers. The average annual rainfall of less than strongly influences both Dalhart's ecological climate and agricultural practices, especially center-pivot irrigation. Since records began in 1948, the hottest temperature in Dalhart has been on June 26, 2011, and the coldest was on January 4, 1959. On average, 65 afternoons each year reach or top , 133.8 mornings fall to or below freezing, 10.1 afternoons fail to top freezing, and two mornings fall to or below , giving a hardiness zone of 6b to 7a. The hottest complete month has been July 2011, with a mean maximum of and the coldest was January 1963 with a mean minimum of . The wettest calendar year has been 1985 with and the driest was 2011 with only .

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Great-tailed Grackle

  Quiscalus mexicanus (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  318
• Rock Pigeon

  Columba livia J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  310
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  284
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  281
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  270
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  255
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  206
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  187

Most recent

• M 2.5 — 2026-09-22
  6 km SE of Texhoma, Texas
• M 2.66 — 2025-10-13
  26 km NW of Goodwell, Oklahoma
• M 2.6 — 2024-09-08
  34 km NNW of Nara Visa, New Mexico
• M 2.7 — 2024-05-17
  3 km SSE of Hartley, Texas
• M 2.6 — 2023-08-11
  24 km WSW of Channing, Texas
• M 3.4 — 2022-03-31
  8 km S of Clayton, New Mexico