Amarillo

Once the town had moved east, the law took longer to follow. The depot and courthouse stayed at the old site, since the law barred moving them for five years after the 1887 election, and a second county-seat election in 1893 made Sanborn's town the seat. Citizens voted to incorporate on February 18, 1899, but injunctions held up city government, and county officials and Texas Rangers kept order for a time. New railroads raised the population from 1,442 in 1900 to 9,957 by 1910, and the saloons of the Bowery faded after prohibition came in 1911.

What the plaque says

Amarillo Named for Arroyo Amarillo, nearby creek given its designation by Spaniards in early days. In 1887, when the Fort Worth and Denver City Railroad was building through this region, a group represented by J. T. Berry platted the town (1 Mi. W.). The founders were merchants of Colorado City (250 Mi. SE), establishing convenient trade facilities for their South Plains customers. Later (Aug. 30) that year, Potter County was organized and Amarillo was chosen county seat by 38 LX and 15 Frying Pan cowboys as electors. In 1889 heavy rains and other inducements were factors influencing residents to move to this new townsite addition promoted by J. F. Glidden and H. B. Sanborn, owners of the Frying Pan Ranch (headquarters 16 Mi. W). In 1892 Glidden traded his interest in the city for Sanborn's interest in the ranch. In the years 1892-1897, Amarillo was the largest rural shipping point for cattle in the nation. When a rail line to serve the South Plains was proposed, Amarillo and Washburn (15 Mi. SE) were rivals for the junction. Amarillo won, through efforts of city developer Sanborn. When construction began in 1898, Amarillo's future was assured: it was to be the commercial center of the Texas Panhandle. (1970) (1970).

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Route 66 Sixth Street Historic District — 2.0 mi
  Thirteen blocks of Amarillo's streetcar suburb that Route 66 turned into a roadside strip, from the 1922 Nat to Texaco, Phillips and Dutch Mill stations, now shops and bars.
• Helium Centennial Time Columns Monument — 4.7 mi
  Four sealed time capsules raised in Amarillo in 1968 for helium's centennial, in the city that for years produced almost all the world's commercial helium from the Cliffside field.
• Cadillac Ranch — 8.9 mi
  Ten Cadillacs from 1949 to 1963 planted nose down in a pasture west of Amarillo by the Ant Farm collective in 1974, on private land where visitors are let in to paint them.
• Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum — 16 mi
  The Panhandle's great collection, some two million objects behind a 1933 Art Deco hall carved with cattle brands, closed to the public since March 2025 over fire-safety violations.

More markers nearby

• Henry Bradley Sanborn — steps away
• Henry B. Sanborn — steps away
• Potter County — steps away
• Potter County, Establishing of — 0.2 mi