Wolfforth, Texas

Everything Wolfforth is known for

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Music in Wolfforth

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Artists From Wolfforth

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Musical Heritage

Terry Allen RoadyGoat

Lubbock gave the world Buddy Holly. It also gave the world Terry Allen — and Terry Allen never once let the place off the hook. In 1979 he came home to cut a record with Lubbock players and called it "Lubbock (on everything)." You know his songs even if the name's new to you: "Amarillo Highway" is a Texas country standard, and Little Feat cut his "New Delhi Freight Train" first. He rolls with the Panhandle Mystery Band — his son Bukka, pedal-steel man Lloyd Maines, Charlie Sexton on guitar. He's a Guggenheim fellow and a painter they hang in museums, and if you caught "Killers of the Flower Moon," that was Terry and his wife Jo Harvey up on screen. Texas Tech is putting up a whole center with their names on it. Not bad for a kid who met Elvis one of the six nights the King played Lubbock.

RoadyGoat → · 10.2 mi away

Amanda Shires RoadyGoat

Growing up in Lubbock, Amanda Shires watched Bobbie Nelson play piano alongside Willie and the band — and then she went and built her own outlaw résumé the bold way. She climbed onstage uninvited at a Billy Joe Shaver show, fiddle in hand, and played her way right into his band. Seven solo albums followed, Down Fell the Doves and My Piece of Land among them. She won a Grammy for her work in the 400 Unit, the band fronted by her husband Jason Isbell, and the two of them cut the duet "The Problem" in 2020. Back in 2017 she pulled together the Highwomen with Maren Morris, Brandi Carlile, and Natalie Hemby. Lubbock breeds them stubborn. Shires wears it well.

RoadyGoat → · 10.2 mi away

Buddy Holly Center RoadyGoat

Out on the West Texas Walk of Fame in Lubbock, there's a bronze man about your size, a Fender slung across him, frozen mid-song. That's Buddy Holly, cast in metal right where he came up. The center behind him lives in the old Worth and Denver Depot — a train station somebody gutted and rebuilt into a museum, one of the better examples of a depot getting a second life. Inside, the permanent exhibit walks his whole story, start to finish. Not the highlight reel — the life. You come to Lubbock, you can stand eye to eye with the statue, then step inside and meet the man it was cast from. Same town, same streets, same flat sky he grew up under. He never really left it.

RoadyGoat → · 10.2 mi away

Lubbock's Pancho Clos RoadyGoat

In Lubbock, Santa comes in a poncho. They call him Pancho Clos — spelled without the a-u-s, so nobody mixes him up with the other fella. It started back in nineteen seventy-one, when three men, Agustin Medina, Jesse Reyes, and Bidal Aguero, heard a Tucson musician named Lalo Guerrero's Spanglish take on "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and brought the idea to the local American GI Forum, the Hispanic veterans group. Every year, the Sunday before Christmas, Rogers Park filled up and the kids went home with gifts. For close to thirty years, a man named Julian Perez was Pancho Clos — salt-and-pepper beard, sombrero big as a wagon wheel, the brightest poncho you ever saw. He passed in twenty-eighteen. But the beard gets handed down. Somebody puts it on every year.

RoadyGoat → · 10.2 mi away

History of Wolfforth

Wolfforth, TX RoadyGoat

Wolfforth's story is intertwined with the land itself, and the grit of the people who worked it. You can still feel that connection walking around – the dry air, a consequence of our altitude on the high plains, whispers tales of resilience.

Terry's Texas Rangers and a One-Day Command RoadyGoat

Thomas Saltus Lubbock, the man this county is named for, helped raise one of the most storied cavalry outfits Texas ever put in the saddle. Along with a man named Benjamin Terry, he recruited the Eighth Texas Cavalry, but almost nobody called it that. Everybody knew them as Terry's Texas Rangers. Terry served as the colonel in charge, and Lubbock rode as the lieutenant colonel, second in command. Then came a heartbreak of timing. Colonel Terry was killed in a fight in Kentucky in December of eighteen sixty-one. A few weeks later, on January eighth, eighteen sixty-two, Thomas Lubbock was promoted to full colonel and given command of the whole regiment. There was just one cruel problem. He was already lying sick in a hospital bed in Bowling Green, Kentucky, burning up with typhoid fever. He received command of the regiment on the eighth, and he died the very next day, on January ninth. He held the top command for essentially a single day. So the name on your map belongs to a man who reached the summit of his career and lost his life within twenty-four hours of each other.

RoadyGoat → · 10.2 mi away

Lubbock, TX RoadyGoat

Lubbock rises from the South Plains like a cottonwood after a rain. It's easy to think it just *happened* here, but there's a reason this particular spot became a regional hub. Think about it: endless flat land, perfect for cotton. Once the railroad came through, it was almost inevitable. People needed a place to process and ship their crops, and Lubbock became that place. The funny thing is, even with the agriculture and the university, what really draws people in is something you can't plan. Buddy Holly. He was just a kid from Lubbock who changed music, and his story is woven into the city’s identity. You can visit the Buddy Holly Center, see the glasses he wore, and feel that connection to a legend. That pulls in tourists, sure. But if you ask a local why people really stay, they’ll tell you it's the wide-open spaces, the big sky, and the stubborn West Texas spirit. It's a place where you can still see pronghorn antelope on the horizon, where the wind always blows, and where a prairie dog town might be just around the corner. It gets in your blood, and you can't shake it.

10.2 mi away

V-8 Ranch

1884

Nestled into a small, shallow valley created by a bend in the North Fork of the Double Mountain Fork of the Brazos River, the 1,500-acre V-8 Ranch contains the headquarters of the vast IOA ranch, which was a 14 by 30-mile contiguous block of land covering most of the southern half of Lubbock County. The IOA was established in 1884-1886, just as the free-range cattle industry collapsed due to drought and economic conditions.

Beginning in 1893, the process to sell the ranch's cattle began. Frank Wheelock, great nephew of principal stockholder Stillman Wheelock and later Lubbock's first mayor, also started selling the ranch's land, resulting in a series of lawsuits that culminated in a Sheriff's sale and acquisition by H.L. Kokernot in 1901. 

In 1914, George Boles, a well-known South Plains rancher, bought 5,000 acres from the Kokernots. Boles owned the property until it was lost to foreclosure in 1935. 

A 3,400-acre portion of the Boles property was acquired by Sam C. Arnett, Sr., and George Benson in 1939. Benson and Arnett were business partners in many ventures, including Citizen's National Bank, insurance and real estate investments, and a Ford dealership. When they purchased this property, they renamed it V-8 Ranch, in honor of the Ford V-8 engine. As of 2017, the remaining acreage is owned by the Arnett family. 

Numerous buildings on the property, including the stucco residence, are some of the oldest ranch structures in Lubbock County. They may have been built by sheep herder Zach Williams in 1877, the IOA company in the 1880s, or George Boles between 1914 and 1935. In spite of the ranch's close proximity to the city of Lubbock, the V-8 Ranch still reflects the South Plains' vibrant ranching history. 

Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2017


Historical Marker → · 4.5 mi away

Holley, Charles Hardin [Buddy Holly]

1957

Buddy Holly, rock-and-roll pioneer, was born Charles Hardin Holley on September 7, 1936, in Lubbock, Texas. He was the youngest of four children of Lawrence and Ella (Drake) Holley. His father worked as a tailor and salesman in a Lubbock clothing store, and though Lawrence Holley did not play an instrument himself, he and his wife encouraged the musical talents of their children. Buddy made his debut at the age of five, when he appeared with his brothers in a talent show in nearby County Line and won five dollars for his rendition of "Down the River of Memories." At eleven he took piano lessons and proved to be an apt pupil, but quit after only nine months. After briefly studying the steel guitar, he picked up the acoustic guitar and taught himself to play. At Hutchinson Junior High School he befriended Bob Montgomery; the two formed a duo that performed country and what eventually was called rock-and-roll music. In fall 1953 Holly, Montgomery, and bass player Larry Welborn earned a regular spot on Lubbock radio station KDAV's Sunday Party program. While attending Lubbock High School, Holly studied printing and drafting and worked part-time at Panhandle Steel Products. He apparently never doubted, however, that he would become a professional musician. In 1954 and 1955 he, Montgomery, and Welborn made a few demonstration recordings in Wichita Falls and hoped to land a recording contract, but in 1956 Decca offered Holly a solo contract. Decca was well-known as a country-and-western label and tried unsuccessfully to fit Holly into the country mold. After releasing two unsuccessful singles the company terminated Holly's contract. Buddy returned to Lubbock and was still determined to make it big in the music business. In February 1957 he, Welborn (who was soon replaced by Joe B. Mauldin), drummer Jerry Allison, and guitarist Niki Sullivan went to independent producer Norman Petty 's studio in Clovis, New Mexico, and adopted the name the Crickets . From this point Holly's career took off. Brunswick Records signed the Crickets, while Holly signed a solo contract with Brunswick's Coral subsidiary. The records put out under the Crickets' name had backing vocals, while those put out under Holly's name, with the exception of "Rave On," did not. The arrangement made no difference in their recording technique. All of the records included Holly's unmistakable vocal style, which incorporated hiccups, nonsense syllables, a wide range, and abrupt changes of pitch, and was described by one critic as playfully ironic and childlike. The first Crickets single, "That'll Be the Day," backed with "I'm Looking for Someone to Love," was released on Brunswick Records on May 27, 1957. The record eventually reached Number 3 on the pop charts and Number 2 on the rhythm-and-blues charts. At first many listeners assumed that Holly and his band were black. In July 1957, when the Crickets flew east, they discovered that they had been booked on various package tours with black artists at such theaters as the Apollo in New York and the Howard in Washington, D.C. Their reception at the Apollo was chilly, until they launched the third day's show with a wild version of "Bo Diddley." The next few months were busy ones for Holly and his band. They appeared on television on American Bandstand , The Arthur Murray Dance Party , and The Ed Sullivan Show and on a number of package tours and concert bills with some of the most famous rock-and-rollers of the day. In late December, Holly's second solo single, "Peggy Sue," backed with "Everyday," reached Number 3 on the pop and R&B charts. The Crickets' second single, "Oh Boy!," backed with "Not Fade Away," was released in October 1957 and sold close to a million copies. Niki Sullivan quit the band, and over the next few months the Crickets toured Australia, Florida, and Great Britain as a trio before Holly asked Tommy Allsup to join as lead guitarist of the group. Their third single, "Maybe Baby," backed with "Tell Me How,"

Tsha Handbook → · 7.9 mi away

Cotton Club

1938

The Cotton Club was a ballroom, concert arena, and dance hall in Lubbock, Texas. It was a venue for big bands, country and western performers, rock-and-roll artists, and all musicians who fell in between. Beyond being the venue for the popular artists of the time, the club interacted with the local community in various ways—from hosting the Junior Welfare League’s Charity Ball in 1946 to being Lubbock’s first, and for many years only, integrated dance hall. With such a diverse level of community involvement, the Cotton Club engaged and influenced both the Lubbock community and the larger South Plains region. The Lubbock Cotton Club, which had no connection to a more famous Harlem version in New York City, took its name from the region’s chief agricultural output. The original club, located on 50th Street and Railroad Avenue (present-day Southeast Drive) in a renovated Army Quonset hut, opened on November, 11, 1938. The first performers were Adelle Kastle and Frank “Deacon” Murino and his Men about Town. The club, established to appeal to Lubbock’s “high society” by hosting well-known orchestras and big bands, flourished. By the mid-1940s the club owners began booking country and western acts. According to former Cotton Club owner, Tommy Hancock, the change in musicians was due to the lack of enough “classy” people in Lubbock to support a 1,400-capacity club. Thus the owners began booking other artists. Owners knew they could bring in more cowboys to see Hank Williams rather than Jack Teagarden or Al Donahue. Ray Terry and his Pioneer Playboys, Tex Ritter , and the Maddox Brothers with Rose were some of the other headlining performers. Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys were Friday night regulars at the club from 1953 through 1955. In the mid-1950s the Cotton Club became a hub for rock-and-roll music . Elvis Presley performed at the Cotton Club on numerous occasions in 1955. In attendance at Presley’s performances was a local Lubbock musician, Buddy Holly , who met with Presley and was influenced by his style of music. Other rock-and-roll musicians played through the 1950s, including Little Richard, Fats Domino and Roy Orbison . In 1962 the club burned. Owner Ralph Lowe chose not to rebuild. Tommy Hancock and wife, Charlene Condray Hancock, both well-known musicians in the Lubbock area, asked Ralph Lowe for the club’s sign and for permission to start a new Cotton Club. The Hancocks built a new Cotton Club along the Slaton Highway (U.S. Highway 84), about fourteen miles from downtown Lubbock. The Hancocks reopened the Cotton Club in 1965, but like its predecessor, it became victim in 1966 to fire. In 1967, after the new building was complete, the Hancocks reopened the famous dance hall. The new Cotton Club was located on the site of the second incarnation. The late 1960s started a new trend at the Cotton Club. The “hippie generation” emerged in Lubbock and frequented the club. The cowboys, however, also continued to go to the club because Hancock and his band continued to play classic country and western dance music. Surprisingly the cowboys and the alternative crowd got along well, and few fights broke out between the two groups which was very unusual for the usually rough club. Johnny Hughes, along with many others, credits the peaceful union to Tommy Hancock and the atmosphere he created at the club. “The hippies and bikers and the Unitarians and the college students could coexist and there was no fighting. It was all because of Tommy Hancock. He was doing the thing Willie got known for in Austin—peaceful coexistence.” The 1970s saw a continual trend away from country and western music to a more alternative sound. Artists such as Waylon Jennings and the Maines Brothers replaced Bob Wills and Hank Thompson . By 1978 the Hancocks had grown tired of the club business and chose to sell the club to Joe Ely and C.B. Stubblefield . Ely and Stubblefield did not own the club for long, but they were able to book rising artists of the era

Tsha Handbook → · 7.9 mi away

Reese Air Force Base

1941

Ten years of concentrated efforts by city officials led to the establishment of a U. S. Army Air Corps Advanced Flying School at Lubbock in the summer of 1941. Built ten miles west of the city, where barracks, runways and other military facilities replaced cotton fields and grassland, the base officially opened in January 1942. Renamed Lubbock Army Flying School the next month as the first class of cadets arrived, the base provided training to more than 7,000 World War II pilots by the time of its deactivation in 1945. During the post-war years reserve units used the facilities here, and barracks were converted into housing for returning veterans and their families. By 1949 the base was reactivated and renamed in honor of First Lt. Augustus F. Reese, Jr., a Shallowater, Texas, native killed in action during World War II. Designated a permanent installation by 1950, Reese Air Force Base was transferred to Air Training Command in 1958. Thousands of pilots were trained here in the following decades, but by the 1990s the base was slated for permanent closure, leaving a 56-year legacy of excellence. More than 25,000 men and women earned their wings at Reese, including more than 600 international students from 40 allied countries. (1997)

Historical Marker → · 6.4 mi away

Lubbock Christian - 2025 Texas TAPPS Division III state football champion

2025

Lubbock Christian defeated Dallas Christian School 36-30 for the 2025 Texas TAPPS Division III state football championship.

Sports News → · 6.1 mi away

Things to Do in Wolfforth

historical 10.6 mi away
Buddy Holly Center

Lubbock was a dusty cotton town when a skinny kid named Charles Hardin Holley picked up a guitar in the nineteen fifties and figured out how to make rock and…
historical 10.8 mi away
Buddy Holly Center

Museum dedicated to Lubbock's most famous son. The day the music died.
quirky 10.5 mi away
Ozymandias On The Plains

A pair of giant legs — and nothing else — standing in a Lubbock field. Shelley's poem made real.

Everything Near Wolfforth

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

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