Amarillo ( ; Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Potter County, though most of the southern half of the city extends into Randall County. It is the 17th-most populous city in Texas and the most populous city in the Texas panhandle. The estimated population of Amarillo was 203,729 as of 2024, comprising nearly half of the panhandle's population. The Amarillo metropolitan area had an estimated population of 308,297 as of 2020.

The city of Amarillo, originally named Oneida, is situated in the Llano Estacado region.Rathjen, Fredrick W. The Texas Panhandle Frontier (1973). pg. 11. The University of Texas Press. . The availability of the railroad and freight service provided by the Fort Worth and Denver Railway contributed to the city's growth as a cattle-marketing center in the late 19th century.. Retrieved on January 25, 2007.

Amarillo was once the self-proclaimed "Helium Capital of the World" 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), "Yellow City" for its name, and "Rotor City, USA" for its V-22 Osprey hybrid aircraft assembly plant. Amarillo operates one of the largest meat-packing areas in the United States. Pantex, the only nuclear weapons assembly and disassembly facility in the country, is also a major employer, with the location of this facility giving rise to the nickname "Bomb City".

History

During April 1887, John T. Berry, from Abilene, Texas, established a site for a town, choosing a well-watered section along the right-of-way of the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway that was building across the Texas Panhandle. Berry and merchants from Colorado City, Texas wanted to make his new townsite the region's main trading center. On August 30, 1887, the site won the election for a county seat to be established for Potter County. Availability of the railroad's freight service made the town a fast-growing cattle-marketing center.

The settlement originally was called Oneida; it later changed its name to Amarillo (the Spanish word for the color yellow). This probably had been suggested by yellow wildflowers that were plentiful during the spring and summer, or the nearby Amarillo Lake and Amarillo Creek, named in turn for the yellow soil along their banks and shores. Early residents originally pronounced the city's name more similar to the Spanish pronunciation , but it later was supplanted by the current pronunciation.Hammond, Clara T., comp. Amarillo (1974). pg. 6. George Autry, Printer, Amarillo, Texas.

On June 19, 1888, Henry B. Sanborn, who is given credit as the "Father of Amarillo", and his business partner Joseph F. Glidden began buying land to move Amarillo to the east after arguing that Berry's site was on low ground and would flood during rainstorms. Sanborn 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. His incentives gradually won over some people who moved their businesses to Polk Street in the new commercial district. Heavy rains almost flooded Berry's part of the town in 1889, prompting even more people to move to Sanborn's location. This eventually led to another county-seat election, which made Sanborn's site the new county seat in 1893.

By the late 1890s, Amarillo had emerged as one of the world's busiest cattle-shipping points, and its population grew significantly. The city became a grain elevator, milling, and feed-manufacturing center after an increase in wheat and small grains production during the early 1900s. Discovery of natural gas in 1918 and oil three years later brought oil and gas companies to the Amarillo area.

The United States government bought the Cliffside Gas Field with high helium content in 1927 and the Federal Bureau of Mines began operating the Amarillo Helium plant two years later. The plant was the sole producer of commercial helium in the world for many years.. Retrieved on January 25, 2007. The U.S. National Helium Reserve is stored in the Bush Dome Reservoir at the Cliffside facility.

Amarillo was hit by the Dust Bowl in the 1930s and entered an economic depression.

World War II led the establishment of Amarillo Army Air Field in east Amarillo and the nearby Pantex Army Ordnance Plant, which produced bombs and ammunition. After the end of the war, both of the facilities were closed. The Pantex Plant was reopened in 1950 and produced nuclear weapons throughout the Cold War.

In 1951, the army air base was reactivated as Amarillo Air Force Base and expanded to accommodate a Strategic Air Command B-52 Stratofortress wing. The arrival of servicemen and their families ended the city's depression. Between 1950 and 1960, Amarillo's population grew from 74,443 to 137,969. However, the closure of Amarillo Air Force Base on December 31, 1968, contributed to a decrease in population to 127,010 by 1970. In 1970, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Amarillo's population as 6.1% Hispanic and 88.5% non-Hispanic white.

In the 1980s, ASARCO, Iowa Beef Processors (present-day Tyson Foods), Owens-Corning, and Weyerhaeuser built plants at Amarillo. The Eastridge neighborhood houses many immigrants from countries such as Vietnam, Laos, and Burma, many finding employment at the nearby Iowa Beef Processors plant. The following decade, Amarillo's city limits encompassed in Potter and Randall Counties.

Following the lead of the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway, predecessors of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad had established services to and from Amarillo. These three carriers maintained substantial freight and passenger depots and repair facilities in the city through most of the 20th century and were major employers within the community.

U.S. Routes 60, 87, 287, and 66 intersected at Amarillo, making it a major tourist stop with numerous motels, restaurants, and curio shops.

Geography

Amarillo is located near the middle of the Texas Panhandle. It does not share similar weather characteristics with south and east Texas. It is situated in the grasslands of the Texas Panhandle and is surrounded by dense prairie and desert. Amarillo is infamous for its unpredictable weather patterns, with broad daily temperature changes, raging winds, devastating hailstorms and "northers", long periods of drought, late frosts, spring tornadoes, dust storms, and floods.

Though urbanization, agricultural farming, and construction have taken place over the last century in and around Amarillo, the native grasslands that dominate this region have remained largely untouched. The region's surface is relatively flat and has little soil drainage. Due to the lack of developed drainage, much of the rainfall either evaporates, infiltrates into the ground, or accumulates in playa lakes. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , with of it land and of it (0.50%) covered by water. The Amarillo metropolitan area covers four counties: Armstrong, Carson, Potter, and Randall. Amarillo sits closer in proximity to the Oklahoma, New Mexico and Colorado state capitals than it does to Austin.

Flowing about northeast of Amarillo is the Canadian River, which divides the Western High Plains ecological region. The southern divide of the Western High Plains is the Llano Estacado or Staked Plains geographical region. The river is dammed to form Lake Meredith, a major source of drinking water in the Texas Panhandle region.. Retrieved on January 25, 2007. The city is situated near the Panhandle Field, in a productive gas and oil area, covering in Hartley, Potter, Moore, Hutchinson, Carson, Gray, Wheeler, and Collingsworth Counties. The Potter County portion had the nation's largest natural gas reserve.. Retrieved on January 25, 2007.

The Palo Duro Canyon State Park is the United States' second largest canyon system, after the Grand Canyon and is located Approximately southeast of Amarillo is Palo Duro Canyon. Palo Duro Canyon 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. They are some thousands of feet underground. The range was discovered by pioneer oilmen. Some of the peaks are believed to be 10,000 feet (3,000 m) high. The tallest peak is reported to be underground in northeastern Potter County under the Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument.

Climate

Like most of the Texas Panhandle, Amarillo has a temperate semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification BSk).Depending on the climatologist's threshold, BSk if based upon the annual mean temperature (<), BSh if based upon the daily average temperature in the coldest month (≥). Both the city and most of the county as a whole lie in USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 7a. 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 average annual precipitation is . Much of Amarillo's precipitation falls during heavy convective showers and thunderstorms during the late spring and summer months.

According to 'Cities Ranked and Rated' (Bert Sperling and Peter Sander), Amarillo averages 48 days per year during which thunder and lightning is reported. This is above the national average. These storms can be severe: Amarillo and the Texas Panhandle are situated in the western portion of "Tornado Alley" and are prone to severe weather events, occurring primarily between April and July. Severe thunderstorms can produce damaging straight-line winds, large hail, tornadoes, and flash flooding. Tornadoes have occurred in and around the city in 1968, 1970, 1982, 1986, 2001, 2007, 2013, 2015, and 2016. The strongest tornado to ever hit Amarillo was a deadly F4 tornado that struck the city in the nighttime hours of May 15, 1949. Amarillo's most densely populated areas, on the south and east sides of the city, had catastrophic damage; the tornado killed 7 people and injured more than 80 others. The monthly daily average temperature ranges from in January to in July. Sunny weather prevails year-round, with nearly 3300 hours of bright sunshine annually. The National Weather Service in Amarillo forecasts and provides climatic data for the city.

Extreme temperatures range from on February 12, 1899 to on June 26, 2011, but lows do not typically dip to in most years, while highs above are seen on 4.7 days on average. On average, there are 5.9 days of lows at or below , 8.8 days where the temperature fails to rise above freezing, and 61 days of + highs. Unlike in the Rio Grande Valley or eastern portions of Texas, days where the low does not fall below are relatively rare, due to the aridity and elevation. Blizzards occur occasionally, but snowfall is typically light, averaging nearly seasonally and the median figure is near . Amarillo is also recorded as the windiest city in the U.S. by the Weather Channel.

Notes

Demographics

+ Amarillo city, Texas – racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 2000Pop 2010% 2000% 2010White alone (NH)118,821113,929104,02668.43%59.74%51.91%Black or African American alone (NH)10,06711,97713,8085.80%6.28%6.89%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)9489281,0530.55%0.49%0.53%Asian alone (NH)3,4845,8838,2052.01%3.09%4.09%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)4262550.02%0.03%0.03%Other race alone (NH)1172088510.07%0.11%0.42%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)2,2012,8277,0931.27%1.48%3.54%Hispanic or Latino (any race)37,94754,88165,30221.86%28.78%32.59%Total173,627190,695200,393100.00%100.00%100.00%

2020 census