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Panhandle, Texas

Everything Panhandle is known for

2 songs mention this city

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Music in Panhandle

Songs About Panhandle

Panhandle Slim
The Panhandlers
80%
"Song about Panhandle"
canadian river waltx
R.W. Hampton
20%

Artists From Panhandle

No artists from Panhandle in the database yet.

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Rivers & Roads in Song near Panhandle

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Panhandle.

Highway I 40 21 songs U.S. Route 66 19 songs Canadian River 7 songs

Musical Heritage

Woody Guthrie's Panhandle Years RoadyGoat

1929

U.S. Highway Sixty across the Texas Panhandle is the Woody Guthrie Memorial Highway, named for the Oklahoma born folk singer who spent seven years in the Panhandle. Oil was discovered around Pampa in nineteen twenty five, and the Guthrie family moved to the boomtown in nineteen twenty nine, when Woody was seventeen. He worked the soda fountain at the Harris drugstore, and in his autobiography he said he found his first guitar in the back room. His Uncle Jeff taught him to play. He quit school in his senior year, did odd jobs like sign painting, and played local clubs and radio stations for tips. In nineteen thirty three he married Mary Jennings, a Pampa girl and the sister of a bandmate. Then the fields of the Panhandle slipped into the Dust Bowl, and Guthrie left for California. For a long time, most folks around Pampa did not care to mention him. A Pampa grandmother changed that after reading a Guthrie biography. Her nonprofit, Pampa's Tribute to Woody Guthrie, bought the old drugstore building and turned it into the Woody Guthrie Folk Music Center, and her group got Highway Sixty across the Panhandle designated in his name. Guthrie died in nineteen sixty seven.

RoadyGoat → · 12.1 mi away

History of Panhandle

The Secret City on the Plains RoadyGoat

As you drive through this region, you're passing near one of the most significant and secretive engineering sites in the country: the Pantex Plant. Located just down Highway 60 between Panhandle and Amarillo, this facility is the United States' primary location for assembling and disassembling nuclear weapons. It began during World War II as a conventional bomb factory, its location chosen for being remote and secure. After the war, it was converted for its nuclear mission. The engineering here is staggering, involving the precise handling of incredibly powerful and sensitive materials. The plant required the development of specialized tools, robotics, and safety protocols found nowhere else on Earth. For decades, thousands of people from Panhandle and surrounding towns have made the daily drive to this high-security facility, contributing to a massive, hidden technological enterprise that has quietly shaped the economy and identity of the entire Texas Panhandle.

RoadyGoat → · 3.7 mi away

Panhandle, TX RoadyGoat

In 1888, Panhandle was planned as the terminus of the Panhandle and Santa Fe Railway, which led to its rapid development. The city was surrounded by large cattle ranches and quickly acquired essential services like a bank, mercantile store, school, and newspaper. In 1897, Panhandle was scandalized by the poisoning of Minnie Morrison by her preacher husband George E. Morrison, who wanted to marry his mistress. He was executed in Wilbarger County, uttering 'Jesus, Lover of My Soul' as his last words. In 1909, Panhandle incorporated with a mayor-council government. The population grew in the 1920s when Panhandle became the center of a natural gas field. In 2016, a head-on collision of two BNSF intermodal trains resulted in three deaths, one injury, and $16 million in damages.

3.7 mi away

Panhandle, TX RoadyGoat

Panhandle, Texas. It's a place where the wind whispers across bluestem grass and pronghorn antelope still roam free. A town built on cattle and wheat under that big Panhandle sky. You might not expect a place this quiet to have touched the wider world, but it has.

3.7 mi away

Temple Lea Houston

1860

(August 12, 1860 - August 15, 1905) Born in the Texas Governor's Mansion, the eighth and last child of Sam Houston (1793-1863) and his wife Margaret; educated at Baylor University, Texas A&M, and in a law office, Temple Houston came in 1881 to this region as district attorney for the 35th Judicial District. He married Laura Cross of Mobeetie, 1882. Tall and handsome, he resembled his father-- a fact cited when he ran for the Texas Senate in 1884. He won, and was seated before reaching legal age for the office. While serving in the Senate, he built a home near "Panhandle City." During his two terms, he became a leader in spite of his youth, advancing legislation favorable to frontiersmen in this area. When a new capitol was dedicated in Austin in 1888, he made the major speech, taking pride that lands in the Panhandle had paid for the magnificent building. Amid the ovations of that day were pleas that he run for Governor or United States Congressman, but he declined. About 1893 he moved to Oklahoma and gained added fame as a lawyer and orator. Thus the fledgling of "The Raven" became a legend in his own time. He was the father of two daughters and three sons. The Oklahoma Historical Society has honored him by placing a marker at his grave in Woodward.

Historical Marker →

Old County Bookmobile

1938

In use 1938-1957. Based at the county library on this site. A bright red, visible for miles, this first bookmobile in Texas was called "The Library Bus." It stopped at ranches, schools, oil camps; circulated 2,000 books a month; served in era of sparse settlement, World War II growth and later industrialization. There were private and rental libraries in early Texas; the Republic had a National Library, but most county libraries were founded or instigated by local citizens- -as was this pioneer bookmobile. Texas still has 51 bookmobiles in other counties.

Historical Marker →

Last Great Panhandle Cattle Drive to Montana

1892

Each spring and summer after 1880, many Texas herds went up the trail to Northern states for fattening. For the cowboys, trail drives meant hard work. They had to turn stampedes, ford rivers and quicksand streams, and fight Indians and cattle thieves. They endured hunger, thirst, and other physical hardships. The Last Great Texas Panhandle Drive was organized here at N Bar N (N-N) Headquarters. Ranch manager was J.L. Harrison; trail boss, T.L. (Tom) Coffee. 100 cowboys drove 10 herds, each with 2500 cattle, or a total of 25,000 beeves, to Montana from April to September 1892. The cattle belonged to Niedringhaus Brothers, German tinsmiths of St. Louis, who put into ranching a fortune made in enamel granite household wares. From 1882 to 1886, N Bar N leased range in Carson and neighboring counties from the Francklyn Land & Cattle Company, a British syndicate backed by Cunard Steamship Line. Afterward this range belonged to White Deer Land Company. The N Bar N outfit left here because White Deer Land Company wanted the range cleared of large herds. By 1907 the 650,000 acres of its land was offered for sale to small ranchers and farmers. It was fenced and the steam plow introduced to turn the rich, grassy sod.

Historical Marker →

Pantex

1942

The Pantex Plant, a component of the Albuquerque Operations of the United States Department of Energy, is located in southeastern Carson County between U.S. Highway 60 and State Highway 293 seventeen miles northeast of Amarillo. The government established an army ordnance plant at the 16,000-acre site in 1942 to produce bombs and shells for the armed forces during World War II . A post office was established in November 1944 for the plant employees who lived in government housing nearby. The plant remained in operation until the war ended in August 1945, and the employees subsequently dispersed. In 1949 the War Assets Administration sold the plant for one dollar to Texas Technological College for use in agricultural research and experimentation, but the government retained the right to repossess the facility under a national-security clause. The Atomic Energy Commission reclaimed 10,000 acres in 1951 and converted the plant to the production of chemical explosives and nuclear weapons. Throughout the next two decades the resident population of Pantex fluctuated; it was 958 in 1966 and 205 in 1970. The post office remained in operation until 1969, when it became a rural branch of the Amarillo post office. Pantex became the sole plant for weapons disassembly/modification work in 1965 and for warhead construction by 1975. The Pantex Plant, administered by the Department of Energy (DOE), assembled nuclear and thermonuclear warheads from components manufactured at other facilities and was the site of pacifist demonstrations. A 1988 DOE report rated Pantex the second most hazardous of its sixteen weapons plants and laboratories. Other unfavorable environmental reports were filed. In 1988 cleanup was under way for exposed asbestos and other substances. Underground storage tanks that leaked gasoline and an unlined pit used to dump solvents and other toxic substances were slated for cleanup. Carson County residents stated that there had been little pressure on Pantex to protect the environment because it was Amarillo's largest employer, having 2,700 employees. Pantex assembled its last nuclear weapon in 1991. After the end of the Cold War and the conclusion of an arms reduction agreement with Russia (June 1992), the Pantex Plant was to disassemble thousands of warheads each year. The plan to store 110,000 pounds of plutonium in bunkers at Pantex was of concern to nearby residents who feared that the Ogallala Aquifer, which is used for irrigation throughout the Panhandle and supplies almost 40 percent of Amarillo's water, might become contaminated. In 1993 the facility began weekly tours of declassified sections to visitors. In 1994 missing maintenance records and a series of safety system failures caused a lengthy shutdown. Pantex disassembled 12,514 warheads from October 1986 through September 1996. By that year the plant had a stockpile of 9,000 plutonium pits and a growth rate of 1,200 pits a year. By late 1996 the DOE proposed an increase in the plant's plutonium storage from a total of 12,000 pits to 20,000 pits, making Pantex the designated plutonium storage facility for the United States. Pantex was also slated as the site for the strategic reserve of plutonium for possible future use. These announcements generally had community support, but some local residents and state officials, including the Texas Attorney General's office, expressed concerns that the Panhandle would be unfairly burdened as the nation's dumping ground for surplus plutonium. In 2000 the DOE created a semiautonomous agency, the National Nuclear Security Administration, as an overseer of the Nuclear Weapons Complex, including Pantex. On February 1, 2001, BWXT Pantex, an independent consortium of BWX Technologies, Honeywell, and Bechtel, was awarded the contract for Pantex management and plant operations. Though environmental studies had found no evidence of plutonium contamination in the early 2000s, traces of high explosives and heavy metals had been found in

Tsha Handbook → · 4.3 mi away

Cree, Thomas Boger

1870

Thomas Boger Cree, Panhandle pioneer, was born on May 19, 1847, in Green Park, Pennsylvania, son of John Dunbar Cree, who worked as a horse and mule inspector for the federal government. When the Civil War broke out, fourteen-year-old Thomas joined his father in Washington, D.C.; he served as a teamster in the Union Army for two years. In 1866 or 1867 he went to Chicago to work for the Union Pacific Railroad. He was assigned to the construction company that built the first transcontinental railroad line and served as corral boss. He was present at the ceremonial driving of the golden spike at Promontory Point, Utah, on May 10, 1869. Cree afterward helped build the Missouri, Kansas and Texas (Katy) line to Fort Worth in the early 1870s. About that time he met and married Melissa Ballard, a niece of Jesse Chisholm , for whom the Chisholm Trail was named. The Crees had eight children. Throughout the 1880s Cree did construction work with various railroads. In 1886 he started working for the Fort Worth and Denver City, which was building its line from Vernon into the Texas Panhandle. His family accompanied him as the railroad pushed northwest. Near the future townsite of Panhandle City, in Carson County, Cree built a dugout home and at his wife's request planted a bois d'arc sapling to help break the monotony of the prairie grass. Thomas Cree's bois d'arc tree, located just off U.S. Highway 60 near Panhandle, was for years a familiar landmark on the treeless plain; on October 23, 1963, Governor John Connally dedicated it as a historical landmark. Unfortunately, the tree, which had survived droughts, blizzards, summer heat, and sandstorms, was killed by herbicides sprayed on nearby crops in 1970. In 1888 Cree filed a claim and erected a sod house near the head of McClellan Creek in Gray County. He assisted in the establishment of Panhandle City and helped organize its first church in 1889. In 1892 the Crees sold their land near Panhandle and settled on choice ranchland near Cheyenne, Oklahoma. In 1902, after a blizzard wiped out half of their herd, the Crees bought four sections in northeastern Wheeler County, Texas, and leased another four. There Thomas and Melissa Cree spent their remaining years. Mrs. Cree died in 1916 and her husband on July 23, 1927. They were buried in the Rankin (now the White Rose Reydon) Cemetery in Roger Mills County, Oklahoma.

Tsha Handbook →

Things to Do in Panhandle

nature 22.3 mi away
Alibates Flint Quarries

Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument sits on a ridge above the Canadian River north of Amarillo. The rock here is dolomite that got infused with silica…
quirky 19.7 mi away
Leaning Tower of Texas (Britten)

A 75-foot water tower tilted on purpose so motorists think it's about to topple — a 1980s stunt that lured Route 66 drivers into Ralph Britten's truck stop.…
quirky 12.4 mi away
Slug Bug Ranch

Five Volkswagen Beetles buried nose-down in a field outside Conway Texas -- a blatant rip-off of Cadillac Ranch seventy-five miles west on Interstate 40 but…

Sports in Panhandle

🏆 STATE CHAMPIONS Class 2A · Boys Basketball · 2026

Panhandle Panthers — 2026 UIL 2A Division 1 Boys Basketball State Champions

Most recent: 2026 2A Division 1

Panhandle High School, a Class 2A institution nestled in the Texas Panhandle, has established a notable presence in boys basketball. The school's athletic program is a source of pride for the community, reflecting the dedication and spirit found in this part of the state. Their consistent efforts on the court have brought significant recognition to the Panthers.

The Panhandle Panthers boys basketball team proudly secured a UIL State Championship in 2026, competing in the 2A Division 1 bracket. This achievement highlights a peak performance year for the program. The community celebrates these milestones, which underscore the hard work and competitive drive of Panhandle High School's athletes.

State titles
2026
Most recent
2026
Class
2A
The moment

The Panhandle High School boys basketball team clinched the 2A Division 1 UIL State Championship in 2026.

Sources: Wikipedia · UIL State Championship Archives · SI High School (ScoreBook Live)
🏆 STATE CHAMPIONS Class 2A · Girls Basketball · 2017–2026

Panhandle Panthers — UIL 2A Girls Basketball State Champions — 2 titles

Most recent: 2026 2A Division 1

Panhandle High School, nestled in the Texas Panhandle, has established itself as a notable presence in Class 2A girls' basketball. The Pantherettes have captured two UIL state championships, showcasing their consistent strength and skill on the court. These titles represent significant achievements for the program and the community it represents.

The team's success is a source of local pride, reflecting the dedication and hard work of its athletes. With state championships in 2017 and 2026 2A Division 1, Panhandle High School continues to build a strong tradition in Texas high school basketball, supported by the close-knit spirit of the town.

State titles
2 (2017–2026)
Most recent
2026
Class
2A
The moment

The 2026 2A Division 1 state championship was a high point for Panhandle High School.

Sources: Wikipedia · UIL State Championship Archives · SI High School (ScoreBook Live)

Everything Near Panhandle

131 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

  • Temple Lea Houston · Historical Marker

    (August 12, 1860 - August 15, 1905) Born in the Texas Governor's Mansion, the eighth and last child of Sam Houston (1793-1863) and his wife Margaret; educated at Baylor University, Texas A&M, and in a law office, Temple…

  • Old County Bookmobile · Historical Marker

    In use 1938-1957. Based at the county library on this site. A bright red, visible for miles, this first bookmobile in Texas was called "The Library Bus." It stopped at ranches, schools, oil camps; circulated 2,000 books…

  • Last Great Panhandle Cattle Drive to Montana · Historical Marker

    Each spring and summer after 1880, many Texas herds went up the trail to Northern states for fattening. For the cowboys, trail drives meant hard work. They had to turn stampedes, ford rivers and quicksand streams, and…

  • Cree, Thomas Boger · Tsha Handbook

    Thomas Boger Cree, Panhandle pioneer, was born on May 19, 1847, in Green Park, Pennsylvania, son of John Dunbar Cree, who worked as a horse and mule inspector for the federal government. When the Civil War broke out,…

  • Paul, James Christopher · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Panhandle, Texas, a town that owes its very existence to the railroad. In January of <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1888</say-as>, banker James Christopher Paul arrived here. Panhandle…

  • Southwood, James Edward · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through the Texas Panhandle, and right here in what is now Carson County, you're passing through the site of a determined effort to build a town. In 1886, James Edward Southwood was part of a crew…

  • Finch-Lord-Nelson and the Founding of Panhandle City · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Panhandle, a town that owes its start to a cattle firm. Back in 1887, the Finch-Lord-Nelson company, who brought the first Herefords to this region, promoted this city as the railroad approached.…

  • The Square House · Historical Marker

    You're driving past The Square House. The Niedringhaus brothers of St. Louis sent lumber by ox-cart from Dodge City and built this square house on their "N Bar N" Ranch here in Carson County in the mid-1880s. In 1887 a…

  • Panhandle, TX · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Panhandle, a town that started as a railroad terminus surrounded by vast cattle ranches. But this community has a dark secret. In 1897, the Methodist pastor, George E. Morrison, poisoned his wife.…

  • Carson County · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Carson County, right in the heart of the Texas Panhandle. This area was once dominated by Comanche tribes and vast buffalo herds, but by the late 1880s, the railroad was changing everything. In…

  • Panhandle Herald · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Panhandle, Texas, home to a true piece of local history: The Panhandle Herald. Established way back on July 22, 1887, in a simple tent, this paper holds the distinction of being the oldest…

  • Pioneer Dugout · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Carson County, where the High Plains once stretched out as a sea of grass, completely lacking in trees or stone. Between 1874 and 1888, settlers here had to get creative with their homes. Many…

Show all 131 nearby places
  • Purvines Ranch Home · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Purvines Ranch Home, built between 1906 and 1908. In a land where lumber was scarce, Carroll and Kate Purvines built this home themselves, using cement blocks they made by hand from local sand.…

  • Texas Panhandle Pioneers - The Simms Brothers · Historical Marker

    You're driving through the Texas Panhandle, a place forged by pioneers like the Simms brothers. Walter, George, and Dormer Simms arrived in Texas in 1886, eventually buying land and working it in this county. They even…

  • Carhart, Edward Elmer · Tsha Handbook

    Edward Elmer Carhart, businessman, the eldest son and third of eight children of Theresa (Mumford) and John Wesley Carhart , was born on December 15, 1863, in Watertown, New York. The family moved to Racine, Wisconsin,…

  • Carson County Square House Museum · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Panhandle, Texas, and right here is the Square House Museum. It started in 1967 with just one twenty-four-foot square house, one of the oldest buildings in Carson County. By 1986, it had grown to…

  • Panhandle Railway · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through the Texas Panhandle, near what's now Carson County. Back in 1887, this area was buzzing with the promise of a new railroad. The Panhandle Railway Company was chartered to connect Washburn to…

  • St. Francis, TX · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through southeastern Potter County, and right here is the story of St. Francis. It began in 1908 as a simple train station on the Southern Kansas Railway. Soon after, a general store opened, a post office…

  • Callaghan Memorial Library · 0.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Panhandle, and right here is the Callaghan Memorial Library. It honors Asbery A. Callaghan, who came to Texas in 1890. After taking over the family store, he served in nearly every public office…

  • Panhandle Herald · 0.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Panhandle Herald, the oldest newspaper in the Texas Panhandle, still publishing since 1887. It's also the second oldest business in the area. For over thirty years, from 1926 to 1958, it was…

  • Wheat, oil, and gas country · 0.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Carson County, formed from older territories back in 1876. It was organized in 1888 and named for Samuel P. Carson, a statesman for both the United States and the Republic of Texas. Today, wheat,…

  • Promised three railroads, bypassed for Amarillo · 0.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Carson County, created way back in 1876 and named for Samuel Price Carson, a Secretary of State for the Republic of Texas. This area became a pioneer in oil and gas development. The county seat,…

  • Carson County · 0.1 mi · Historical Marker

    Formed from Young and Bexar territories; created August 21, 1876, organized June 29, 1888. Named in honor of Samuel P. Carson 1798-1840, statesman of the United States and the Republic of Texas. Wheat, oil and gas…

  • Carson County · 0.1 mi · Historical Marker

    Created 1876. Organized 1888. Named for Samuel Price Carson, Secretary of State, Republic of Texas. A pioneer county in oil and gas development. Panhandle, county seat, promised main lines of 3 railroads, was by-passed…

  • First Baptist Church of Panhandle · 0.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Panhandle, the site of the First Baptist Church. Organized in 1897 by Reverend William H. Younger, the congregation faced ups and downs. They grew during the oil boom of the 1920s, but the Great…

  • Farm & Ranch Building · 0.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Farm & Ranch Building. Gift of Olive Pendleton Finch and Orville Henry Finch (born Jan. 28, 1880; son of John A. Finch, nephew of Lue Finch), banker, rancher, Christian philanthropist.In memory of…

  • Conway Community Church · 0.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Conway Community Church, built in 1912. It was the only country church in this area in continuous use for over 50 years. Today, it still serves descendants of the original pioneers who helped…

  • Methodism in Panhandle · 0.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Panhandle, a town that became an important stronghold for Methodism in this part of Texas in the late 1800s. The county's first congregation, a Northern Methodist one, was established in 1889, and…

  • Relocated to Square House Museum · 0.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Conway Community Church. This union church building was completed in 1912 and served as an important gathering place for the community, housing regular worship services until 1968.…

  • Conway Community Church · 0.1 mi · Historical Marker

    Residents of Conway, established 9 miles south of here in 1905, attended non-denominational services in a relocated schoolhouse until this union church building was completed in 1912. It became an important gathering…

  • John F. Weatherlys Family · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Panhandle, Texas, where the Weatherly family left a lasting legacy. John F. Weatherly arrived in 1898, starting a ranch 25 miles north. He wasn't just a rancher; he ran the country store, the post…

  • Oldest Bank in the Texas Panhandle · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Panhandle, and right here is the site of the oldest bank in the Texas Panhandle, and it's been in continuous service since it opened! Founded by James Christopher Paul, a pupil of Sam Houston's…

  • Texan Hotel · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Panhandle, a town that boomed in the 1920s thanks to oil. Lodging was in high demand, and the Texan Hotel was built to meet it. Originally opened in 1926 as the Downs Hotel by Clark and Margaret…

  • Panhandle · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Panhandle, Texas, once the booming capital of this whole region in the 1880s! This town sprang up after the buffalo were gone and the Plains Indians were moved to reservations. In 1887, the Santa…

  • Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe Railroad Depot · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're rolling through Panhandle, a town that owes a lot to the railroad. This brick depot you see was built in 1928, right in the middle of the oil boom. It was one of the last of its kind built on the Atchison,…

  • John A.Holmes · 0.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Panhandle, Texas, where John A. Holmes made his mark. Born in Mississippi in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1886</say-as>, Holmes earned his law degree from the University of Texas. He…

  • Terminus of the Santa Fe Railroad_Panhandle, Texas · 0.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Panhandle, Texas, a town that was almost the undisputed metropolis of the entire Panhandle region. Back in 1887, this spot was planned to be the major junction for two big railroads: the Santa Fe…

  • Panhandle Cemetery · 0.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Panhandle Cemetery, the final resting place for many of the region's earliest settlers. The oldest documented graves here date back to 1889, just three years after the founding of this, the first…

  • The Secret City on the Plains · 3.7 mi

    As you drive through this region, you're passing near one of the most significant and secretive engineering sites in the country: the Pantex Plant. Located just down Highway 60 between Panhandle and Amarillo, this…

  • Panhandle, TX · 3.7 mi

    In 1888, Panhandle was planned as the terminus of the Panhandle and Santa Fe Railway, which led to its rapid development. The city was surrounded by large cattle ranches and quickly acquired essential services like a…

  • The House That Moved to Town · 3.7 mi

    One of the most important places in Panhandle is the Square House Museum, and the story of its centerpiece is a story of community stubbornness. The Square House went up right here in 1887 — twenty-four feet square,…

  • Pantex · 4.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    The Pantex Plant, a component of the Albuquerque Operations of the United States Department of Energy, is located in southeastern Carson County between U.S. Highway 60 and State Highway 293 seventeen miles northeast of…

  • Carson, Samuel Price · 4.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what is now Carson County, named for Samuel Price Carson. He was a planter and lawmaker who came to Texas from North Carolina. Carson was already an experienced politician, having served in the…

  • Conway, TX · 4.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Conway, on Interstate Highway 40 in southern Carson County, traces its beginnings to 1892, when the Lone Star School, said to be the first rural school that endured in the Panhandle, was established for the children of…

  • First Tree Texas High Plains · 5.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Panhandle, and look to your right – you're passing the site of the first tree planted on the High Plains! Thomas Cree dug his home into the earth here in 1888 and planted a bois d'arc tree. For…

  • Thomas Cree Homesite · 5.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through the wide-open spaces of the Panhandle, and right here is the site of the Thomas Cree Homesite. After fighting in the Civil War, Cree came west in 1888 and settled on this land. With no trees…

  • The 33rd Anniversary National Convention · 5.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Panhandle, and just up ahead, a convention in 1965 honored a local hero. The Men's Garden Clubs of America held their 33rd Anniversary National Convention in nearby Amarillo. While there, they…

  • Seeing Inside Without Opening It Up · 10.3 mi

    Here's a problem that shows up everywhere, not just at Pantex: how do you inspect the inside of a sealed, delicate part without taking it apart or harming it? The answer is a family of techniques called nondestructive…

  • The Plant Where the Nation Takes Weapons Apart · 10.4 mi

    Out on the flat plains northeast of Amarillo sits Pantex, the United States' primary facility for the final assembly, maintenance, and disassembly of the nation's nuclear weapons. The part that surprises people is what…

  • Trusting Old Machines Without Turning Them On · 10.4 mi

    Here is a genuine science puzzle. The United States stopped live nuclear testing in 1992. So how do you stay confident that weapons built decades ago still work, when you've promised never to set one off to find out?…

  • The Careful Science of Things That Go Bang · 10.4 mi

    Some of the most demanding science at Pantex is the chemistry of high explosives, and the basic idea is more interesting than the bang. An explosive is just a material engineered to release its stored chemical energy…

  • How the Purple Heart Trail Grew Across Texas · 11.4 mi

    This highway is part of the Purple Heart Trail, a symbolic trail that runs through all fifty states to honor those killed or wounded in combat while serving in the armed forces. In Texas it started with one road. In two…

  • Slug Bug Ranch · 11.6 mi · Historical Marker

    About thirty-five miles east of Cadillac Ranch, in the empty hamlet of Conway, five Volkswagen Beetles stand half-buried nose-first in the dirt. They were installed in 2002 by the Crutchfield family, who ran a gas…

  • White Deer Cemetery · 12.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past White Deer Cemetery, a place with roots stretching back over a century. The story goes that an informal burial ground might have started as early as 1905 with an unnamed railroad worker killed in an…

  • Woody Guthrie's Panhandle Years · 12.1 mi

    U.S. Highway Sixty across the Texas Panhandle is the Woody Guthrie Memorial Highway, named for the Oklahoma born folk singer who spent seven years in the Panhandle. Oil was discovered around Pampa in nineteen twenty…

  • Slug Bug Ranch · 12.4 mi · Things to Do

    Five Volkswagen Beetles buried nose-down in a field outside Conway Texas -- a blatant rip-off of Cadillac Ranch seventy-five miles west on Interstate 40 but…

  • The Polish Pioneers of the Panhandle · 12.9 mi

    A unique piece of White Deer's identity arrived by train in 1909. That year two Polish farmers, Henry Czerner and Ben Urbanczyk, came up from Panna Maria — the mother colony of Polish Texas, settled by families who…

  • Engineering the Panhandle Gas Field · 12.9 mi

    The oil boom that transformed White Deer was powered by a monumental feat of geological science and engineering. The Panhandle Field isn't just a pool of oil; it's one of the largest natural gas reservoirs ever…

  • When Black Gold Made White Deer a Boomtown · 12.9 mi

    Imagine White Deer in the early 1920s: a farm town on the railroad, incorporated in 1921, built on wheat and on a Polish farming colony that had raised Sacred Heart Catholic Church here in 1913. Then the Panhandle field…

  • White Deer, TX · 12.9 mi

    The history of White Deer is deeply rooted in cattle ranching and oil. The community was first settled around 1882 by the British-owned Francklyn Land and Cattle Company, later known as the White Deer Company. In 1919,…

  • The Office That Sold the Prairie · 12.9 mi

    White Deer exists because a land company decided to sell the prairie. In 1882 the British-owned Francklyn Land and Cattle Company stocked this country with cattle. When English bondholders foreclosed, it was reorganized…

  • N Bar N Ranch · 13.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through the Texas Panhandle, a land once defined by vast cattle ranches. Right here, in what is now Carson County, stood the N Bar N Ranch. Established in 1886 by brothers William and Frederick…

  • White Deer, TX · 13.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through White Deer, Texas, a town born from cattle and a curious sight. Back in 1882, the vast ranchlands here were claimed by the British-owned Francklyn Land and Cattle Company. The railroad arrived in…

  • First Presbyterian Church Building · 13.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through White Deer, and right here stood the very first church building in town. Dedicated on July 4th, 1909, this little church was a true community effort, funded by gifts from pioneer members' home…

  • First Presbyterian Church · 13.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of White Deer's very first church building. Dedicated on July 4th, 1909, this structure was a true community effort. Pioneer members' home churches and even donations from other…

  • Jackson General Store · 13.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the old Jackson General Store in White Deer. This building wasn't always here; it was moved to this location in 1908 when the townsite itself was established. For years, it was more than…

  • Polish Settlers of White Deer · 13.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through White Deer, Texas, and you're passing the site of a remarkable journey. In 1854, a hundred Polish families – that’s 800 people – crammed onto one small sailing ship for a nine-week voyage across…

  • White Deer · 13.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through White Deer, a town named for a creek that legend says was once a feeding ground for a white deer. This area wasn't just about legend, though. Back in <say-as interpret-as="date"…

  • Hotel at White Deer · 13.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through White Deer, and right here is the site of a hotel that started life as a sales pitch. Back in the early 1900s, the White Deer Land Company was trying to sell off land, so they built this place…

  • First Baptist Church of White Deer · 13.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through White Deer, and this historic Baptist church has seen it all. Organized in 1912, the congregation met in borrowed spaces before building their own sanctuary in 1921. They even paid off their debt…

  • White Deer Sacred Heart Catholic Church · 13.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the White Deer Sacred Heart Catholic Church, founded by Polish settlers in 1913. They built this community from scratch, holding services in homes until a priest could visit. The church…

  • White Deer United Methodist Church · 13.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the White Deer United Methodist Church, the oldest continuously active congregation in town. It began in 1911 with seven charter members and shared space with other denominations until…

  • Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery · 13.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery, a reminder of the pioneers who settled this land. The White Deer Land Company donated this five-acre plot in 1913, and the first burial was the infant son of the…

  • 6666 Dixon Creek Ranch · 13.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Carson County, heading past the legendary 6666 Dixon Creek Ranch. It all started back in 1874 when Billy Dixon, a famous buffalo hunter and scout, built his first dugout home right here on the…

  • Roan, Charles H. · 14.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Armstrong County, home of Charles H. Roan. He was a local hero who earned the Congressional Medal of Honor for incredible bravery during the invasion of Peleliu in World War II. Tragically, he…

  • Last Great Panhandle Cattle Drive to Montana · 14.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through the heart of the Panhandle, where one of the last great cattle drives set out. Look around – this was the N Bar N Headquarters, the staging ground for a massive undertaking in 1892. Imagine it:…

  • Claude Cemetery · 14.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Claude, and right here is the town's first cemetery. It all started in 1885 when Dan Cavanagh settled this land. By 1890, he donated the first grave site for Neal DeBerry, a railroad worker. Soon…

  • Ayers, Claude Monroe · 14.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Claude, a town named after a man who helped put it on the map. Claude Monroe Ayers wasn't just any resident; he was a locomotive engineer. In 1887, he piloted the very first Fort Worth & Denver…

  • Fort Smith-Santa Fe Trail Gregg Route, 1840 · 15.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through the Texas Panhandle, and just southwest of here, you might still spot faint traces of a vital overland route. This was the Fort Smith-Santa Fe Trail, pioneered by Josiah Gregg. On March 15, 1840,…

  • St. Francis Catholic Church Community · 15.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the St. Francis Catholic Church Community near Amarillo. German Catholic settlers, drawn by colonization efforts, began moving here in 1907, forming the nucleus of the parish. Though town…

  • St. Francis Catholic Church · 15.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past St. Francis Catholic Church. St. Francis Church commemorates a century of Eucharistic clebrations growing in love of God, family, land and country as a strong fiath community-March 13, 2008.

  • Armstrong County Jail · 16.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Claude, and right here is the Armstrong County Jail. Built in 1894, this wasn't just any jail. It was constructed from stone quarried fourteen miles south in Palo Duro Canyon, hauled here by local…

  • Early Sheriffs of Armstrong County · 16.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Armstrong County, where the lawmen of the late 1800s and early 1900s were true pioneers. These early sheriffs, serving from 1890 to 1926, didn't have it easy. They lived in jail quarters with…

  • Town of Washburn · 16.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Claude, but just a bit west of here, you're passing the original site of Washburn. Planned in 1887 by R. E. Montgomery, son-in-law of the Fort Worth & Denver City Railway president, Washburn was…

  • Saved four Marines on Peleliu · 16.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Claude, hometown of Charles H. Roan. A U.S. Marine, he volunteered in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1942</say-as> and served in the Pacific. On Peleliu Island, he saved four fellow…

  • Roan, Charles Howard · 16.2 mi · Historical Marker

    (August 16, 1923 - September 18, 1944) Claude native Charles H. Roan volunteered for World War II service in the U.S. Marine Corps in December 1942. On active duty in the Pacific, he was killed in battle on Peleliu…

  • Claude, TX · 16.2 mi

    In the early 16th century, Spanish conquistador Francisco Coronado and his party passed through what is now Claude, Texas, on their exploration of the New World. The town was originally named Armstrong City after the…

  • Coronado Expedition · 16.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Armstrong County, right where Francisco Vazquez de Coronado and his expedition passed through in 1541. They set out from Mexico City, on a quest for the fabled Seven Cities of Gold, known as…

  • Great Panhandle Indian Scare of 1891 · 16.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through the Texas Panhandle, and if you listen closely, you might still hear the echoes of the Great Panhandle Indian Scare of 1891. Even though most Native Americans had moved on by the 1880s, settlers…

  • Warner Building · 16.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Claude, and right here, you're passing the site of the old Warner Building. Built in 1909 by Dr. William and Phebe Warner, this place was the heart of the town. Imagine: it held Dr. Warner's…

  • Claude · 16.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Claude, a town that owes its existence to the railroad. Back in 1887, the Fort Worth & Denver Railroad pushed into this area. The engineer on the very first passenger train, Claude Ayers,…

  • Boy Scout Troop No. 17 · 16.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Claude, and right here is the birthplace of a Texas institution: Boy Scout Troop No. 17. Organized way back in May of <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1912</say-as>, it's one of the oldest…

  • Warner, William · 16.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Claude, in Armstrong County, and we're talking about Dr. William Warner and his wife, Phebe. Arriving in the area, they married right here in Claude in 1898. Dr. Warner practiced medicine for 35…

  • Washburn, TX · 16.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Armstrong County, and right here is Washburn, a town that sprang up practically overnight. Back in 1887, this spot became the end of the line for the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway. Promoters…

  • Claude News · 16.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Claude, and right here is the birthplace of a Texas newspaper that documented the Panhandle's boom. It started as the 'Argus' on January 1st, 1890, in this brand new railroad town. It soon merged…

  • Armstrong County · 16.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Armstrong County, organized in 1890 and named for early Texas pioneers. This area boomed with the JA Ranch, established in 1876, making ranching the chief industry. Farming took hold later, after…

  • Claude's Marine on Peleliu · 16.4 mi

    In Claude, U.S. Highway Two Eighty Seven is the Charles H. Roan Memorial Highway. Charles Howard Roan was born in Claude on August sixteenth, nineteen twenty three, the son of Henry and Lillabel Roan. He volunteered for…

  • Roan, Charles Howard · 16.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Claude, Texas, the hometown of Charles Howard Roan. He was a young Marine, just twenty years old, fighting in the Palau Islands in September of <say-as interpret-as="date"…

  • Christian, James Terrill · 16.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Armstrong County, not far from the stunning Palo Duro Canyon. Right here, James Terrill Christian built his ranching empire. He arrived with his family in Jack County back in 1881, but headed west…

  • Warner, William Arthur · 16.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Claude, Texas, and right here is where a remarkable "first" happened. In <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1912</say-as>, Dr. William Arthur Warner, who served as the only doctor in Armstrong…

  • Claude, TX · 16.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Claude, the county seat of Armstrong County. This town owes its existence to the railroad. When the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway arrived in 1887, the original name was Armstrong City. But a…

  • Warner, Phebe Kerrick · 16.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Phebe Kerrick Warner, women's club leader, writer, and candidate for Congress, the youngest of eleven children of Armstead and Sarah Ann (Sloan) Kerrick, was born on May 2, 1866, in Belle Plain, near Pattonsburg,…

  • Warner Memorial Community Center · 16.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Warner Memorial Community Center in Claude. This building started life around 1912 as the Llano School, way out southwest of here. After it was vacated in 1930, it became a rural community center…

  • Fort Smith-Santa Fe Trail Marcy Route, 1849 · 16.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Amarillo, and to your left and right, you might still see faint ruts of an old, famous trail. This was the Fort Smith-Santa Fe Trail, a vital overland route connecting Arkansas to New Mexico. It…

  • First Baptist Church of Claude · 16.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the First Baptist Church of Claude. Organized in 1890 with 19 members, the congregation worshipped in the Presbyterian building before building their own frame sanctuary in 1899. This…

  • The Giant Cross of Groom · 16.8 mi

    You can't miss it. Dominating the horizon is the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ, a staggering one-hundred-ninety-foot-tall steel structure that's one of the largest crosses in the Western Hemisphere. It was the vision…

  • The Leaning Tower of Texas · 16.8 mi

    If you look closely, you’ll spot another, quirkier landmark near Groom: a water tower leaning at a precarious angle. Don't worry, it's not falling over. It was put there that way on purpose. This is the famous Leaning…

  • The Engineering That Moved the Main Street · 16.8 mi

    The highway you’re driving on right now tells a major story about engineering and its power to shape a town's destiny. For decades, Groom’s lifeline was Route 66, a simple two-lane road that ran right through the heart…

  • Groom, TX · 16.8 mi

    Groom's history is deeply intertwined with the cattle industry and the railroad. Colonel B. B. Groom, a cattleman from Kentucky, leased a vast expanse of land in the Texas Panhandle in 1882, leading to the formation of…

  • Carroll, William A., M.D. · 16.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Claude, and you're passing a park named for a man who dedicated his life to this community: Dr. William A. Carroll. Born in Tennessee in 1875, Dr. Carroll came to Claude in 1914 and practiced…

  • Charles Goodnight's Railroad · 17.2 mi

    The highway you're driving on, US-287, follows the path of the railroad that made Claude a vital pin on the map of the American West. South of here lay the legendary JA Ranch, a million-acre cattle empire Charles…

  • The Last True Cowboy · 17.2 mi

    Out on the JA Ranch range south of Claude worked a man considered by many one of the last true cowboys of the Old West: Tom Blasingame. He wasn't a famous lawman or a wealthy rancher. He was a working cowboy, and he was…

  • Engineering a Town from Nothing · 17.2 mi

    The very existence of Claude is a feat of 19th-century railroading. Imagine the task facing the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway in the 1880s: build a graded line across hundreds of miles of what seemed like empty,…

  • The Canyon Carved Through Time Itself · 17.2 mi

    About twenty miles south of Claude, the ground just opens up -- Palo Duro Canyon, the second-largest canyon in the country, cut almost 120 miles long and dropping about 800 feet from rim to floor. Water did all of it.…

  • The County Seat War · 17.2 mi

    That courthouse in the middle of town is a trophy. When Armstrong County finally organized in March of 1890, two towns wanted to be the county seat: Claude, which the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway had conjured up…

  • Claude, TX · 17.2 mi

    The city was originally named Armstrong City, after several area ranches named Armstrong. However, in 1887, the town's name changed to Claude, named in honor of Claude Ayers, the engineer of the first train of the Fort…

  • Gulf Burnett No. 2 (Carson County Oil Discovery Well) · 17.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Carson County, and just a few miles southeast of here, history was struck – literally! Look for the marker for Gulf Burnett No. 2. On May 2nd, <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1921</say-as>,…

  • First Rotary Drilling Rig Used in Texas Panhandle · 17.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through the Texas Panhandle, and just ahead is a spot that changed how oil was found here. In October of <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1923</say-as>, partners W. T. Willis, J. E. Trigg, and H. D.…

  • Blasdel, Eugene Sherwood · 18.2 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through the Texas Panhandle, a land of wide-open spaces and, as Eugene Blasdel discovered, incredible oil and gas potential. Blasdel, originally from Illinois, came to Groom in 1904 seeking opportunity.…

  • Groom, TX · 18.2 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Groom, Texas, right where the Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railway decided to lay down tracks in 1902. <break time="400ms"/> The town got its name from B. B. Groom, the first general manager of…

  • Groom, B. B. · 18.2 mi · Tsha Handbook

    B. B. (Colonel) Groom, cattleman, was born in England about 1812. As a young man he married Elizabeth Thomson, whose father was among the breeders of Bates shorthorn cattle in England; they had a son. Sometime after…

  • Dr. Charles L. Fields · 18.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Groom, and right here is the story of Dr. Charles L. Fields, a pioneer dentist who served the Texas Panhandle from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. Born in <say-as interpret-as="date"…

  • Groom · 18.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Groom, Texas, a town that sprang up in 1902. The Rock Island Railroad was pushing west, and local landowner W. S. Wilkerson saw his chance. He founded this place, naming it for Colonel B. B.…

  • State National Bank · 18.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Groom, and right here is the site of the State National Bank, founded way back in 1904. It started as a private bank, but by 1908, it had earned a state charter. Imagine the grit of those early…

  • The Road Builder Who Backed the Ballet · 19.1 mi

    Business U S Two Eighty Seven inside Amarillo is the L. P. "Pete" Gilvin Memorial Highway, and the man it honors built roads for a living. A lifetime Amarillo resident, Pete Gilvin graduated from Amarillo High School,…

  • When the Sky Rained Soot · 19.3 mi

    Imagine a time when everything here was covered in a fine layer of black dust. For decades, the area around Skellytown was a hub for carbon black production. These industrial plants burned immense amounts of natural gas…

  • The Chemistry of a Stronger Tire · 19.3 mi

    The carbon black plants that once operated near Skellytown were basically massive chemical reactors. Their purpose was to turn natural gas into a highly valuable industrial material through a process of incomplete…

  • The Perfectly Planned Town · 19.3 mi

    The neat grid of streets in Skellytown is a corporate plat, not an accident. In 1926 the Skelly Oil Company bought land here from rancher Henry Schafer, on top of the Roxana pool, and laid out a townsite deliberately…

  • Skellytown, TX · 19.3 mi

    In 1926, Skelly Oil Company purchased a 320-acre lease from local rancher Henry Schafer, leading to the birth of Skellytown. Schafer named the town in honor of the company's founder, William Grove Skelly. The town…

  • Skellytown, TX · 19.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Skellytown, a place born from oil! Back in 1926, the Skelly Oil Company found rich fields here. Rancher Henry Schafer platted this townsite, naming it after the company's founder. Initially, it…

  • Leaning Tower of Texas (Britten) · 19.7 mi · Things to Do

    A 75-foot water tower tilted on purpose so motorists think it's about to topple — a 1980s stunt that lured Route 66 drivers into Ralph Britten's truck stop.…

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