Groom

History

The route from Fort Smith, Arkansas, to Santa Fe, New Mexico, along the Canadian River was charted 1849 by Captain Randolph Barnes Marcy. Published in 1859, Marcy's book, The Prairie Traveler: A Handbook for Overland Expeditions, contained maps and illustrations of routes between the Mississippi and the Pacific and was used as a basic manual by westward-bound wagon trains and travelers for years. Colonel B. B. Groom, an experienced cattleman near Lexington, Kentucky, leased from the New York and Texas Land Company of land in Hutchinson, Carson, Gray, and Roberts Counties in the Texas Panhandle in 1882, resulting in the organization of the Francklyn Land and Cattle Company. Groom purchased an estimated 1,300 head of shorthorns in 1882 and selected the Diamond F brand, approved by the Francklyn officials and filed as the company's brand in October 1882. Unfortunately, Groom's vision of the finest and most desirable cattle ranch in the United States did not materialize for him. The Francklyn Land and Cattle Company became insolvent in 1886. The bondholders foreclosed and organized a new company known as White Deer Lands (later White Deer Land Company), under the management of the agent Timothy Dwight Hobart, one of the subsequent founders of Pampa, Texas. Colonel Groom's son, Harrison Groom, established a camp at the edge of a little lake just west of the present town of White Deer.

Geography

Groom is located in the southeastern corner of Carson County. Interstate 40 (I-40) bypasses the town to the north, with access from exits 110 through 114. I-40 Business) passes through the center of town. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all land.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Great-tailed Grackle

  Quiscalus mexicanus (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  157
• Western Meadowlark

  Sturnella neglecta Audubon, 1844 · Aves
  130
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  124
• Rock Pigeon

  Columba livia J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  92
• Horned Lark

  Eremophila alpestris (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  86
• Red-tailed Hawk

  Buteo jamaicensis (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  80
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  78
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  69

Most recent

• M 2.8 — 2026-07-26
  13 km S of Claude, Texas
• M 5 — 2026-07-23
  38 km SSE of Spearman, Texas
• M 2.5 — 2026-02-10
  8 km NE of Amarillo, Texas
• M 2.7 — 2026-01-12
  8 km NE of Amarillo, Texas
• M 2.8 — 2026-01-10
  15 km NE of Amarillo, Texas
• M 2.5 — 2025-12-09
  4 km E of Skellytown, Texas