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The city gained national media attention in 1998 when local cattlemen unsuccessfully sued television talk show host Oprah Winfrey for comments made on her show connecting American beef to mad cow disease, costing them and their industry millions of dollars. Posted: 12/14/2019 1:33:08 AM EST. One example of the numbering difference regards the former U.S. Highway 66 routing west of downtown and into the San Jacinto neighborhood. The Amarillo Independent School District was next with 3,659 employees followed by Pantex, Baptist St. Anthony's Health Care System, City of Amarillo, Northwest Texas Healthcare System, Amarillo College, Wal-mart, and United Supermarkets. Marsh also participated in an ongoing art project called the Dynamite Museum, which consists of thousands of mock traffic signs. From awe-inspiring canyons to soaring mountains, Texas truly has it all. West Texas A&M University and the Amarillo Independent School District are both significant employers to the residents of Amarillo. [26] The city is situated near the Panhandle Field, in a productive gas and oil area, covering 200,000 acres (81,000ha) in Hartley, Potter, Moore, Hutchinson, Carson, Gray, Wheeler, and Collingsworth Counties. Swinford retired in January 2011 and was succeeded by fellow Republican Four Price, who is the current representative. I immediately thought of cowboys and cattle trails as I drove closer. The canyon is a prominent mountain biking destination and hosts the annual 50-mile Palo Duro Canyon Trail Run. South of the railyard (including the downtown-city center area), numbers are officially "SW" (southwest) west of Polk, and "SE" (southeast) east of Polk. [130], Local transit services in the city have been available since 1925 and have been provided through the City of Amarillo's Amarillo City Transit (ACT) department since 1966; before that time the system was privately owned. The Amarillo metropolitan area is the 180th-largest in the United States with a population of 236,113 in four counties: Armstrong, Carson, Potter, and Randall. Amarillo is located near the middle of the Texas Panhandle and is part of the Llano Estacado or Staked Plains region which has a surface that is relatively flat and has little drainage in the soil. [81] The nonprofit community theater group, Amarillo Little Theatre, has its season run from September to May. In addition to intermodal and general goods, a big portion of rail shipments involve grains and coal. The underground structures known as Amarillo Mountains are an extension of the Arbuckles of Oklahoma and the Ouachita of Arkansas and Oklahoma. 14. Venom plays their games at the Amarillo Civic Center Coliseum throughout the summer. Routes 60, 87, 287, and 66 intersected at Amarillo, making it a major tourist stop with numerous motels, restaurants, and curio shops. The Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument provides for a fascinating day of exploration. The downtown part of the city was initially designed to be a grid pattern, providing numerous alternate routes to any location. 908 streets in Amarillo, as well as 58 parks and playgrounds, 4 city swimming pools, two world-class skating parks, and 32 miles of jogging trails. You may recognize quite a few of the iconic landmarks found in the canyon, but there's still others that you just might have not seen yet! At first called Oneida, the city originated in 1887 as a railroad construction camp and in the 1890s grew . [120] A federal lawsuit directed at the officials responsible for the sting operation was held in Amarillo. The cost of living in Amarillo, including apartment rentals, is slightly less than its nearest Texas city, Dallas. The Texas Pharmacy Museum claims to be the only Texas museum specialized in the research, collection, preservation, and exhibition of the history of pharmacy, is also located in the city's hospital district. [118] The 1997 murder of Brian Deneke and subsequent trial also brought national attention because it highlighted social divisions in the community that mirrored those in America as a whole. When you think of Texas, you think of football. Eat all 72 ozs of steak, and it's FREE! The city encompasses 99.48 sqm in both, Potter and Randall Counties. Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport is a public airport located 10 miles (16km) east of the central business district of Amarillo, north of Interstate 40. Amarillo's non-hazardous solid waste is collected and disposed of through burial in the city's landfill. An estimated 1.1% followed an Eastern religion such as Buddhism or Hinduism. The Amarillo Art Center [1], opened in 1972, is a building complex with the Amarillo Museum of Art (AMoA)[86] and concert hall located on the Washington Street Campus of Amarillo College. The airport covers 40 acres (16ha) and has two grass runways. A portion of the former Amarillo Air Force Base was converted to civilian use and became part of the airport. The Amarillo mountains are really a thing, and they're kind of confusing. Boston, MA warning-7 F. [46] Amarillo is characterized by a winter season featuring large diurnal temperature variation, great day-to-day variability, possible sudden and/or severe Arctic air outbreaks (in Texas, called "blue northers"), possible blizzards and hot summers with generally low humidity. Early residents originally pronounced the city's name more similar to the Spanish pronunciation /mrijo/ ah-m-REE-yoh, which was later displaced by the current pronunciation. [18] The plant was the sole producer of commercial helium in the world for a number of years. The Pantex Plant was reopened in 1950 and produced nuclear weapons throughout the Cold War.[11]. The city commission holds its regular meetings on Tuesday of each week. The region's surface is relatively flat and has little soil drainage. Think about ice ages, volcanic eruptions, earthquakesand not to mention the Texas panhandle wind that I'm pretty sure could blow a mountain over on the right day. Christie's version, which only managed to reach 18 when originally released in 1971, made it to the number 1 spot in the UK Singles Chart in 2005 for 7 weeks. It's a deceptive altitude increase when coming from Oklahoma City. Read on to learn why Amarillo is such a hidden gem. The park also houses the Amarillo zoo and offers picnicking. [76] Palo Duro has a distinct hoodoo that resembles a lighthouse. The underground structures known as Amarillo Mountains are an extension of the Arbuckles of Oklahoma and the Ouachita of Arkansas and Oklahoma. In 1970, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Amarillo's population as 6.1% Hispanic and 88.5% non-Hispanic white. Popular . In many cases, taxis are the least expensive option. [70][71] The AEDC is largely responsible for bringing Bell Helicopter Textron's development of the V-22 Osprey hybrid aircraft and the future site of Marine One assembly in Amarillo. Siemens Government Technologies also operates in Amarillo, providing technological solutions for infrastructure, energy, and healthcare. Tornadoes have occurred in and around the city in 1968, 1970, 1982, 1986, 2001, 2007, and most recently in 2013, 2015 and 2016. Most call it 'West Sixth Street' when its actually SW Sixth Avenue. The four acres of the Mary E. Bivins Tropical Conservatory offer lush gardens and seasonally themed activities and classes. [11], By the late 1890s, Amarillo had emerged as one of the world's busiest cattle-shipping points, and its population grew significantly. There is also an American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame exhibited in the museum. The city's original street layout was set up by William H. Bush, beginning at the west end of the town moving to the east. The United States government, through the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, provided the funding to build the facility, while the Texas government will run it after construction is completed. Amarillo residents are known as Amarilloans. In 2015, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) published the plans for the all new Loop 335 freeway that encircles the city of Amarillo. The American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) is an international organization dedicated to the preservation, improvement and record-keeping of the American Quarter Horse breed. The racetrack is associated with the United States Racing Association (USRA), and events run from April through September. [91] Amarillo had a minor league indoor soccer team called the Amarillo Challengers that competed in the SISL and later the USISL.[92]. [22] The arrival of servicemen and their families ended the city's depression. [35][36] The Santa Fe Building, completed in 1930, was the regional offices of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, but was vacant for several years until Potter County bought the building for $426,000 in 1995 to gain new office spaces. Wonderland Amusement Park. Pantex is about 20 miles from downtown Amarillo. [62][63], Amarillo is considered the regional economic center for the Texas Panhandle,[64][65] as well as Eastern New Mexico and the Oklahoma Panhandle. Amarillo is also mentioned in the song "Route 66". The city operates Amarillo City Transit (ACT) for localized bus transportation. If ranching is in your future, the plentiful and affordable land surrounding Amarillo could be the place. Amarillo metropolitan area 268,691 (Census 2020); in 1890 population was 482. Want Something Different This Christmas? The city is also the location of headquarters for the Texas Cattle Feeders Association. Maps | More Weather. Need a little fresh air? [61] Baptists made up 40.2% of the Christian population and Catholics were 13.3% of the local population. There is a vast array of housing styles in Amarillo. [94] Randall High School (part of the adjacent Canyon Independent School District) plays its home games in Kimbrough Memorial Stadium in Canyon, as well as the yearly Clinton Invitational horseshoe tournament. The City of Amarillo is providing this information as a public service. The airport offers both an outdoor self-parking lot, valet parking, and car rental. Due to the lake's low water level, water is now only supplied by the aquifer. But Amarillo's "rush hour" is an urban myth. Ours are just better at playing hide and seek, I guess. In 2002, the city spent $200,000 to restore one block of brick street on Ninth Avenue between Polk and Tyler streets. ACT has no plans to scale back any of their transit routes or services.[67]. Tradewind is three miles southeast of the city's center. National Parks Near Amarillo While Texas' two official national parks-Big Bend National Park and Guadalupe Mountains National Park-are quite a drive away from Amarillo, there are several other federally managed lands in the Texas Panhandle Plains that make great places to visit! Previously, U.S. Highway 66 was the major eastwest highway through the city, generally following Amarillo Blvd. The age distribution of the city in 2020 was as follows: 7.6% of the population was under the age of 5, 26.8% was under the age of 18, 73.2% 18 and older, 13.8% who were 65 years of age or older. Nicknamed "The Grand Canyon of Texas," it is 277 miles long, 18 miles wide, and 6,000 feet deep. Sanborn also offered to trade lots in the new location to businesses in the original city's site and help with the expense of moving to new buildings. The airport is served by several major air carriers with non-stop service to Dallas, Houston, Austin, Denver, Phoenix and Las Vegas. Goodnight continued the partnership for a time after Adair's death with Adair's widow, Cornelia Wadsworth Ritchie Adair, who was then the sole owner from 1887 until her death in 1921. Though urbanization, agricultural farming, and construction have occurred over the last century in and around Amarillo, the native grasslands that dominate this region have remained largely untouched.