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. [61] Baptists made up 40.2% of the Christian population and Catholics were 13.3% of the local population. [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. The airport is served by several major air carriers with non-stop service to Dallas, Houston, Austin, Denver, Phoenix and Las Vegas. It does not share similar weather characteristics with south and east Texas. 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 Amarillo mountains are part of the Arbuckle/Ouichita/Wichita mountains in Oklahoma. The City of Amarillo also operates recycling collection centers, one located near the downtown area and four at fire stations in the city. Interstate 27 highway connecting Lubbock to Amarillo was built mostly during the 1980s.[11]. Other notable museums in the area are the Kwahadi Kiva Indian Museum and the English Field Air & Space Museum. Holy Smoke! Texas Has Actual Volcanoes. Here's Where to See Ten of Them. I-40 stretches, east to west, 177 milesjoining together many smaller Texas Panhandle towns. The Amarillo Cadillac Ranch (also known as the Caddy Ranch ), is a public art work, created in 1974 exhibited in open ranchland which is used for farming and breeding cattle. At first called Oneida, the city originated in 1887 as a railroad construction camp and in the 1890s grew . Don Harrington Discovery Center, located in the city's hospital district, is an interactive science center and space theater with over 60 hands-on exhibits. So we started grabbing a bunch of these satellite pictures of cities and towns around Amarillo. About 300 million years ago, the Wichita and Amarillo mountains were forced up out of the earth by a fault that begins in Dallas and stretches into northern New Mexico, said University of Texas. Furthermore, another triple-level interchange will be built to accommodate Soncy Road, Helium Road, I-27 and the new loop. The roughly 270,000 residents of the region are proud that the average commute is only 15 minutes barring, of course, construction, wrecks, or mishaps. Visit The Amarillo Civic Center for indoor stage productions home to the Amarillo Symphony Orchestra and the Lone Star Ballet. Here Are 3 Events For You. The average annual precipitation is 20.4 inches or 520 millimetres. Another Amarillo industry and a substantial employer is the Pantex Plant, a newly built nuclear weapons manufacturing and assembly plant. In addition to intermodal and general goods, a big portion of rail shipments involve grains and coal. 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. From 1978 to 2002, the Junior League of Amarillo and the city of Amarillo's Parks and Recreation Department co-sponsored Funfest, a family entertainment festival, benefiting the city parks and the league's Community Chest Trust Fund. If you're looking for an Amarillo home, contact The RealFX Group at (512) 956-7390 to get in touch with an experienced local real estate agent and discover your Amarillo dream home today. The Lights. Also located in Amarillo, the 113-year-old West Texas A&M University (WTAMU) is home to an international faculty and over 8,000 students. A city route (which was an original alignment of US 66 through central and west Amarillo) followed Fillmore south into the downtown area and turned on West 6th through the San Jacinto Heights district which is now home to many antique shops, restaurants and other businesses, passing the Amarillo Country Club and veering onto West 9th Street and Bushland Blvd before tying into the through route at a traffic circle near the Veterans Hospital. "Amarillo" redirects here. One example of the numbering difference regards the former U.S. Highway 66 routing west of downtown and into the San Jacinto neighborhood. Notable Amarilloans include actress Ann Doran (19112000), old-style journalist Bascom N. Timmons, the Dory Funk wrestling family, former UFC Champions Heath Herring and Evan Tanner, astronaut Rick Husband, professional golfer Ryan Palmer, rockabilly pioneer Buddy Knox, actress Carolyn Jones, actress and dancer Cyd Charisse, actor and poet Harry Northup, State Senator Max Sherman, Republican state chairman Tom Mechler, politicians Beau Boulter and John Marvin Jones, businessman T. Boone Pickens, Jr., singer-songwriter J. D. Souther, gambler Thomas "Amarillo Slim" Preston, soldier and interior decorator Clyde Kenneth Harris, and music artist and composer Terry Stafford ("Amarillo by Morning"; "Suspicion"). [27] Approximately 25 miles (40km) south of Amarillo is the canyon system, Palo Duro Canyon. The downtown part of the city was initially designed to be a grid pattern, providing numerous alternate routes to any location. In her later years, she lived in the Herring Hotel, owned by Ernest Thompson, and was often known informally as "Miss Amarillo".[113]. The locals cheer, "Fangs Up!". The facility opened in 1940 and was renamed in 2005, honoring the 18-year-old Amarillo Marine who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. But, the Amarillo Civic Center Coliseum is also home to the North American Hockey League team, the Raging Bulls. Medicine is a growing profession in Amarillo. Amarillo is only a three-hour drive away from Capulin Volcano National Monument, which is located in New Mexico. The World Championship Ranch Rodeo sponsored by the Working Ranch Cowboys Association is held every November in the Amarillo Civic Center. Amarillo is also home to the Venom, a professional indoor football team charter members of the Champions Indoor Football league. Downtown Amarillo is home not only to many historical buildings and churches but also to a plethora of public art pieces. . 7 Cool National + State Parks Near Amarillo, TX Wichita Mountains - Wikipedia The AISD partners with WTAMU and nearby Amarillo College to provide high-school vocational training. The region's surface is relatively flat and has little soil drainage. In the final settlement, the City of Amarillo agreed to pay $5million in damages to the former Tulia defendants; disband the Panhandle Regional Narcotics Task Force that it set up to oversee the sting operation; and require early retirement for two Amarillo Police Department officers who were responsible for supervising the sting's sole undercover agent. The median age was 34.1 years. [79] On the Tri-State Exposition grounds, the Amarillo National Center is a special events center for events ranging from national equestrian competitions to motor sports and rodeos. Palo Duro Canyon State Park, 30 miles southeast of the city, offers hiking, biking, horseback riding, and zip-lining. If ranching is in your future, the plentiful and affordable land surrounding Amarillo could be the place. The trial was moved from Fort Worth to Amarillo in 1977 on a change of venue. [77], From 1932 to 1977, the Paramount Theater, originally built for $250,000, flourished in Amarillo. Texas State Highway Loop 335 encircles the Metroplex while I-27 (434) and I-40 neatly intersect Amarillo into compass-like North, South, East, and West sections. The secret, not so secret any more, tunnels of Amarillo TX - AR-15 Amarillo was hit by the Dust Bowl and entered an economic depression. [141], Baptist St. Anthony's, known locally as BSA, had some of its services listed on the U.S. News & World Report's "Top 50 Hospitals" from 2002 to 2005. 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. [134], Amarillo is served by two interstate highways: Interstate 27 and Interstate 40. The large historic homes on this street were built close to downtown, and homes were located on the west side of the street as a symbol of status because they would be greeted with the sunrise every morning.[38]. This family-owned eatery, found in a 20' x 20' downtown building, serves food-truck-inspired cuisine. The location of this facility also gave rise to the nickname "Bomb City". [33], The 31-story FirstBank Southwest Tower was opened in Amarillo's downtown in 1971. Amarillo is also the northern terminus for I-27, of which less than one mile (~1.6km) is located in Potter County. Used to be a military base close to where the airport is was told that the actual base goes many levels underground. [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. A local favorite, "Texas, the Musical Drama," tells the tale of the Panhandle's settlement in the longest-running Texas musical at the Pioneer Amphitheater. West Texas A&M University features a full slate of NCAA Division II teams; however, Amarillo College is one of the few community colleges in Texas without an athletic program. The city's largest employer in 2005 was Tyson Foods, with 3,700 employees. Maps | More Weather. [28] Tom Blasingame, considered to have been the oldest cowboy in the history of the American West, worked for seventy-three years, primarily, on the JA Ranch south of Amarillo. 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. Climbing from the canyon bottom to the rim on the new Rock Garden Trail will test any rider's lungpower. A furnished studio apartment ranges from $650 to $750. Amarillo | Texas, United States | Britannica [24] The following decade, Amarillo's city limits encompassed 60 square miles (155km2) in Potter and Randall Counties. was formed when an underground river collapsed. U.S. Highway 66 also passed through the city. The city is situated near the Panhandle Field, in a productive gas and oil area, covering 200,000 acres (800 km2) in Hartley, Potter, Moore, Hutchinson, Carson, Gray, Wheeler, and Collingsworth counties. Amarillo's temperature typically varies from 25F to 91F. [37], Amarillo's historic homes and buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places reflect the economic growth from around 1900 to the start of World War II. But Amarillo's "rush hour" is an urban myth. Out of the 77.83%, 74.53% identify as Christian. Highlight . The museum is now rebuilding its aircraft collection as Texas Air & Space Museum and is located on American Drive on the south side of the airport. [68] The Texas Panhandle, particularly in Hereford, Texas, serves as a fast-growing milk producing area as several multimillion-dollar state of the art dairies were built in early 2000s. Amarillo is infamous for its unpredictable weather patterns, with massive temperature changes on a daily basis, raging winds, devastating hailstorms and "northers", long periods of drought, late frosts, spring tornadoes, dust-storms, and floods. The Amarillo Film Commission is a division of the Amarillo Convention and Visitor Council that was created to provide film crews with locations and other assistance when filming in Amarillo. A complete schedule of route times and stop locations is available through the mobile app One Ride. The roadway continues northward into downtown Amarillo via U.S. 60, 87, and 287, via a series of four one-way streets including Buchanan, Pierce, Fillmore and Taylor. [29], Most of Amarillo's population growth and commercial development are occurring in the southern and northwestern parts of the city. Due to the lake's low water level, water is now only supplied by the aquifer. The median homeowner costs with a mortgage were $1,272 and without a mortgage $479. It had plush red carpet, murals, and a pipe organ, 1,433 seats, and was considered the finest theater north of Fort Worth. Welcome to the City of Amarillo's Interactive Web Maps. The city has events and attractions honoring the cowboy and Texas culture. [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. Walmart provides both part-time and full-time jobs for the area. In Amarillo, the southern plains meet the desert. [10] The availability of the railroad and freight service provided by the Fort Worth and Denver City Railroad contributed to the city's growth as a cattle-marketing center in the late 19th century.[11]. [11], By the late 1890s, Amarillo had emerged as one of the world's busiest cattle-shipping points, and its population grew significantly. Amarillo had a median gross rent of $876 from 2016 to 2020.