Amarillo, Texas Yesterday, Today, and Tommorrow

Amarillo, Texas was established by merchants in 1887 close to a large playa lake known as Amarillo or Wild Horse Lake. The name Amarillo came from the nearby lake and creek and means “yellow” in Spanish. On August 30, 1887 it was officially chosen to be the Potter County seat and became the region’s main trade center with the help of the building of the railroad. Today the city continues to grow and extends from Potter County south into Randall County. The railroad is still an important facet of Amarillo commerce in part because Amarillo has been one of the world’s busiest cattle shipping points since 1890. Amarillo industry and commerce has historically centered around ranching, farming, and oil and gas exploration and production. In recent years the diversification of industry has kept Amarillo alive and growing. Today, Amarillo is home to a Bell Helicopter assembly plant for the Osprey aircraft, the Amarillo Copper Refinery, a Tyson Fresh Meat plant, an Owens-Corning Fiberglass plant, the Pantex nuclear weapons assembly and disassembly plant, and has state of the art medical facilities that attract clientele from the surrounding rural Texas Panhandle, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Kansas areas. The population of Amarillo according to the 2000 census was 173,000 and the city has expanded significantly since that time. Along with population and economic growth, Amarillo has seen the growth of the performing and visual arts. The Panhandle Plains Museum in nearby Canyon, Texas on the campus of West Texas A&M University is Texas’ largest history museum and Amarillo College hosts the Amarillo Museum of Arts. Residents of Amarillo also enjoy the Amarillo Symphony, the Amarillo Opera, the Lone Star Ballet, Amarillo Little Theatre, and the use of a beautiful new Amarillo Globe News Center for the Performing Arts for many cultural events. Nature supplies the most beauty for the area providing mostly sunny skies and making Amarillo home to stunning sunsets. Amarillo has a neighborly spirit and a pioneer attitude that has endured throughout its history. Amarillo’s western heritage compiled with a progressive mindset has kept it alive and growing regardless of dust storms, war, and economic depression and will continue to carry the city toward a positive future