Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    From $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Amarillo
    Amarillo
    Amarillo
    Ebook162 pages31 minutes

    Amarillo

    By Ron Smith

    4/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Many people are surprised to learn that the city of Amarillo was actually founded twice. Originally settled by J. T. Berry in April 1887 and known as Oneida, the site of the town was located on such low ground that many residents feared it was susceptible to flooding. In 1888, one concerned resident named Henry B. Sanborn began buying land a mile east of the site as a potential place to relocate the town. In 1889, the town s fears came to fruition when heavy rains flooded the original town site, prompting residents to move to Sanborn s new location. The town went on to become one of the world s busiest cattle shipping points in the late 1890s, causing its population to grow significantly. Today Amarillo is the largest city in the Texas Panhandle, and its economy continues to thrive on cattle, along with agriculture, oil, and natural gas.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateAug 17, 2009
    ISBN9781439623398
    Amarillo
    Author

    Ron Smith

    Ron Smith, born and raised in Vancouver, is the author and editor of numerous books. For close to forty years he taught at universities in Canada, Italy, the United States and the U.K. In 2011 he was awarded the Gray Campbell Award for distinguished service to the B.C. publishing industry. The founding publisher of Oolichan Books, he lives with his wife, Patricia Jean Smith, also a writer, in Nanoose Bay on Vancouver Island.

    Read more from Ron Smith

    Related to Amarillo

    Related ebooks

    Photography For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • UNLIMITED

      Gene Autry in Oklahoma

      Mar 5, 2024

      Gene Autry in Oklahoma
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Midwest Main Street

      Apr 5, 2022

      The Midwest Main Street
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The State Line Two-Step

      Aug 25, 2022

      The State Line Two-Step
      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Little Town On The Prairie

      Sep 12, 2023

      Little Town On The Prairie
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Coal Mining and Toll Scrip

      Sep 5, 2023

      Coal Mining and Toll Scrip
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      A Gem In Southern Wyoming

      Oct 26, 2021

      A Gem In Southern Wyoming
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Antiquing In The Heart Of GOLD RUSH COUNTRY

      Sep 7, 2023

      Ride the time train from the film Back to the Future 3 to the days of the California Gold Rush. Pan for gold, ride in a stagecoach and browse a wide selection of antiques at over a dozen shops, malls and vintage emporiums. Truly, the Jamestown-Sonora

      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Ringling Brothers Circus Scrip

      Nov 10, 2020

      Ringling Brothers Circus Scrip
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      ‘Charm City’

      Feb 13, 2022

      Visitors to Baltimore generally head downtown to the Inner Harbor to admire its shops and view, feast on the city’s famous crab cakes or take in a Ravens or Orioles game, little aware that Baltimore is full of American history and antiques. Francis S

      10 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Rars Central Illinois Notes

      Nov 5, 2024

      Rars Central Illinois Notes
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Small Town Colorado Notes

      Oct 4, 2022

      Small Town Colorado Notes
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Timbuctoo, California

      Sep 25, 2018

      Timbuctoo, California
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Boomtowns

      Nov 1, 2022

      Boomtowns
      1 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Where South Meets West

      Jan 30, 2020

      Where South Meets West
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Clairton National Banks Boom

      Feb 7, 2023

      Clairton National Banks Boom
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Seamstress Of Seattle

      Jul 14, 2019

      The Seamstress Of Seattle
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Readers Respond merge

      Sep 29, 2022

      Readers Respond merge
      2 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Amarillo

    4/5

    2 ratings1 review

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      This book is part of the Postcard History Series which explores an area's history through its postcards. Mr. Smith chose to stop the postcards in the late 1950s.I enjoyed the book very much, even though it made me very sad at times. I believe in historic preservation and so many turn of the century buildings were torn down. Still the memories are preserved in some way and others still exist. I learned the history behind some of the buildings I have spotted downtown. I learned that on May 15, 1949 a tornado passed within a mile and a half of where I now live. If you enjoy postcards and want to learn more about Amarillo's past through its architecture, then you will enjoy this book.

    Book preview

    Amarillo - Ron Smith

    BIBLIOGRAPHY

    INTRODUCTION

    The largest city in the Texas Panhandle, Amarillo was actually founded twice. It was originally founded by J. T. Berry in April 1887 and named Oneida. Then on June 19, 1888, Henry B. Sanborn began buying land a mile east as a new town location. Sanborn is known as the father of Amarillo. He claimed that the original town site was on low ground and would be susceptible to flooding during rainstorms. In 1889, heavy rains almost flooded the original town site and prompted more residents to move to Sanborn’s new location. Around the late 1890s, the railroads made their way into town, helping Amarillo become one of the world’s busiest cattle-shipping points and causing the population to grow significantly—in people as well as cattle.

    Gas was discovered in 1918, and oil was discovered three years later. Oil and gas companies set up shop in the area. In 1927, the U.S. government bought the Cliffside gas field, which had high helium content. Two years later, the Federal Bureau of Mines began operating the Amarillo Helium plant from this gas field. Amarillo was once the self-proclaimed helium capital of the world—as if one nickname is not enough—for having one of the country’s most productive helium fields. The city is also known as the Yellow Rose of Texas, as the city takes its name from the Spanish word for yellow. The city was also crowned Beef City because of its growth as a cattle-marketing center in the late 19th century.

    When Amarillo was hit by the dust bowls in the 1930s, it entered an economic depression. As in many other parts of the country, it was World War II that spurred the local economy. Amarillo’s economy continues to thrive on cattle, along with agriculture, oil, and natural gas. Amarillo Army Air Field, which was located in east Amarillo, and the nearby Pantex Army Ordinance Plant, producing bombs and ammunition, were both established in 1942 during World War II. The city’s depression ended with the arrival of servicemen and their families to the area. The Pantex Army Ordinance Plant closed in 1945 and then reopened in 1950. The Army Air Field closed at the end of World War II in 1946 and then was reopened in 1951 as the Amarillo Air Force Base. In 1968, the air base closed for good.

    U.S. Highways (Routes) 60, 66, 87, and 287 merged at Amarillo, making it a major tourist stop with numerous hotels, tourist camps, motels, restaurants, and curio shops. Places of special interest include the Cadillac Ranch and the Big Texan Steak Ranch, both of which are on the former Route 66. Amarillo is the only area on Route 66 where one cannot follow and drive on the original Route 66. Most of the original highway is still in existence across the country, and one can actually drive on it. The Amarillo airport has taken over parts of the original Route 66, thus making it impossible to follow the original road. Also found here are the Texas Panhandle War Memorial; American Quarter Horse Association and Museum; and Panhandle Plains Historical Museum, the largest history museum in Texas. South of Amarillo is the Palo Duro Canyon State Park—Texas’s grand canyon. In the Palo Duro Canyon, the Pioneer Amphitheater presents the outdoor musical drama Texas.

    Amarillo’s Rick Husband International Airport has the third-largest runway in the world and is designated as an alternate landing site for the space shuttle. This large runway was built in the 1950s when the Amarillo Air Force Strategic Air Command (SAC) base was here.

    I have been an avid postcard collector for over 20 years, collecting mostly postcards of Amarillo, Texas, and the surrounding towns. I only collect postcards that are of the standard size and not the newer, larger continental postcards. The town name of Amarillo was spelled, and misspelled, several different ways through the years. It has been spelled as Amarillo, Amarilla, Amorillo, and even Amarylla.

    The history of Amarillo has always intrigued me, and the postcard collection created an unintentional history of the place—so I decided to create a book. I have always enjoyed the challenge of getting a postcard I didn’t have before. When I first started collecting, the Internet did not exist, so finding postcards required trips to antique stores, antique shows, flea markets, auctions, and postcard shows.

    My postcards feature all kinds of popular places, such as churches, banks, hotels, motels, restaurants, and important buildings. Some of the older cards are the real photo postcards for which the card company basically took a photograph and made that a postcard. For some of these, only one or two cards were produced. Other times, a hundred or so were made. The challenge was in finding the cards that were still around. So often, people just trash their old postcards. It is always interesting to see cards that show how they have changed over the years. Disasters were always a very popular subject. When there

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1