Hereford

History

Hereford was founded as "Blue Water" in 1899 after the Pecos and Northern Texas Railway connected Amarillo to Farwell. After a town already named Blue Water was discovered, residents renamed the town "Hereford" in honor of the cattle of the local ranchers and the city, Hereford, in the United Kingdom. During World War II, a prisoner-of-war camp existed there for Italian prisoners of war. It was dismantled in 1947. In 1975, popular high school teacher Wayne Woodward was fired for his efforts to establish a local branch of the American Civil Liberties Union. Mr. Woodward won a subsequent legal suit, that gained national attention, against the Hereford Independent School District. The events were documented in the 2022 book You Will Never Be One of Us by Timothy P. Bowman. A rich Western heritage includes the Las Escarbadas ranch house of the XIT Ranch, once located southwest of Hereford. The restored historic structure can now be seen at the National Ranching Heritage Center at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. The Deaf Smith County Historical Museum at 400 Sampson Street in Hereford offers indoor and outdoor exhibits on the settlement of West Texas. Hereford was once known as the "Windmill City" due to its many windmills supplying fresh water from the Ogallala Aquifer.

Geography

Hereford is located in southeastern Deaf Smith County and on the Llano Estacado. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land. U.S. Highway 60 passes through the city as 1st Street, leading northeast to Amarillo and southwest to Clovis, New Mexico. U.S. Highway 385 (25 Mile Avenue) runs north–south through the city, leading north to Interstate 40 at Vega and south to Dimmitt.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Great-tailed Grackle

  Quiscalus mexicanus (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  220
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  171
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  156
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  149
• Rock Pigeon

  Columba livia J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  149
• Triatoma gerstaeckeri (Stål, 1859)

  Triatoma gerstaeckeri (Stål, 1859) · Insecta
  116
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  97
• Killdeer

  Charadrius vociferus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  80

Largest nearby schools

• HEREFORD H S
  High · HEREFORD · 1,176 students · 13.4:1 ratio
• HEREFORD J H
  Middle · HEREFORD · 599 students · 13.3:1 ratio
• NORTHWEST EL
  Elementary · HEREFORD · 456 students · 17.5:1 ratio
• BLUEBONNET EL
  Elementary · HEREFORD · 404 students · 17.6:1 ratio
• AIKMAN EL
  Elementary · HEREFORD · 378 students · 16.4:1 ratio
• WEST CENTRAL EL
  Elementary · HEREFORD · 361 students · 17.2:1 ratio
• HEREFORD PREPARATORY ACADEMY
  Middle · HEREFORD · 299 students · 13.6:1 ratio
• TIERRA BLANCA EARLY CHILDHOOD CENTER
  Other · HEREFORD · 279 students · 16.4:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.8 — 2026-07-26
  13 km S of Claude, 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 2.6 — 2025-05-21
  13 km NNE of Amarillo, Texas
• M 2.8 — 2024-06-26
  14 km ESE of Amarillo, Texas