Located in the Texas Panhandle and bordered by New Mexico and Oklahoma, Amarillo was first settled in 1887. The name, Amarillo, was taken from the Spanish language meaning "yellow," because of the color of the sub-soil in the channel of the Amarillo Creek. In the early days, most of the houses were painted yellow to commemorate the name.
The first county courthouse was built in 1888 and the Amarillo Hotel followed in 1889. Texas Rangers administered the only law until 1899, when the City Council incorporated to govern the 925 acres with a population of 1,442. Population grew in 1910 to 9,957 when Amarillo wrote its own charter and became the first town in the Southwest and fifth in the United States to adopt the Commission-Manager form of government.
Industry in Amarillo thrived in the early years because of railroading, cattle and merchandising. The Burlington Railway was born out of the first rail companies in 1888 and brought many commercial benefits. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Rail company brought their trains to Amarillo and completed the through-train service in 1899. This rail growth through the 1890's allowed Amarillo to become the world's greatest cattle-shipping market. The January 1897, eighteen registered cattle from the famous herds of Gudgell & Simpson (renamed Hereford in 1898) were unloaded in Amarillo to develop the distinctive Panhandle beef type, inheriting Longhorn hardiness and Hereford beef quality. At the turn of the century, fencing of ranges began and wheat planting started. This eventually developed Amarillo into a major wheat belt of American.
The first newspaper was founded in 1887, the second in 1889 and the surviving newspaper, the Amarillo News, was founded in 1892. Scheduled air transportation began in 1929 and air mail service in 1930. Education developed with the first schoolhouse built in 1889, progressing with the founding of West Texas State University in 1909 and followed by Amarillo Junior College in 1929.
Amarillo has the world's largest natural gas development and provides pipelines to many large cities and thousands of towns connecting through to the Atlantic seaboard. The world's second largest gas field is also being developed in this area. Natural gas and petroleum discoveries have given rise to a number of the city's major industries which produce carbon black, petro-chemicals and helium. Zinc smelting brought economic advantages when it entered the Amarillo industry picture in 1992.
The friendly people, the thriving pioneer spirit and a progressive attitude makes Amarillo one of the best places to live and prosper. The unhurried friendliness of Amarillo was cited when it was selected in the October 1994 issue of Entrepreneur magazine as one of the "25 Best Cities for Small Business." Factors such as success rates for business, payment performance of companies, personal incomes, state programs and cost of living were considered in the selection of the top cities. Deliberate diversification efforts, financed in part by a half-cent economic development sales tax, have increased the continuous growth of Amarillo with a flourishing economy that finds new businesses opening every day.
City officials are excited about such plans as a new national research laboratory to devise peaceful uses for plutonium and the relocation of two aerospace firms into the area is also adding to the optimism of Amarillo's future. Health-care related business growth will be fueled by Texas Tech University's newly opened pharmacy school and the possibility that a children's hospital may be added to the 450-acre regional medical center complex.
The leaders of Amarillo see nothing but expanded and continued growth for our city. They invite you to come see the beautiful sunsets, join us in a bright future and become a part of our history.
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