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PANHANDLE,
TEXAS
Carson
County Seat, Texas
Panhandle
35° 20' 51" N, 101° 22' 55" W (35.3475, -101.381944)
US 60 and Hwy 207
29 miles NE of Amarillo
27 miles SW of Pampa
23 miles S of Borger
ZIP code 79068
Area code 806
Population: 2,312 Est. (2019)
2,452 (2010) 2,589 (2000) 2,353 (1990)
Book Hotel Here › Amarillo
Hotels |
History in
a Pecan Shell
A brief timeline of important events in Panhandle's history:
Panhandle was originally named with the appropriate (to the county)
name of Carson City.
1887: Name changed to Panhandle - first newspaper is printed.
1888: Carson County
organized - Panhandle becomes seat of government.
1888: Panhandle is terminus for the Panhandle and Santa Fe Railroad.
1900: Population reaches 300.
1909: Panhandle incorporates.
1920s: Prosperity from natural gas sparks interest in installing infrastructure.
1930s: Town is bankrupted when interest on infrastructure bonds can't
be paid.
1950: New courthouse
constructed.
1965: Bonds finally paid off. |
Mian Street
Panhandle, December 2007
Photo
courtesy Tom
Jones |
Historical Marker:
117 South Main (in front of Police Station)
Panhandle
In 1880s, capital
of Panhandle area. Settled when slaughter of buffalo sent Indians
to live on reservations. Terminus of Santa Fe Railway, 1887. Here
immigrant trains brought colonists, who plowed old Indian range into
wheat fields and civilization. Settlers banked here, saw the dentist,
got supplies, lumber, mail, windmills, fencing. Was made county seat
when Carson County
was organized in 1888. Nearby is site of first oil well in area, drilled
1921. Also nearby, Pantex Farms of Texas Technological University,
on site of World
War II Ordnance Plant.
1965 |
Panhandle,
Texas
Landmarks & Attractions
Photo Gallery
& Historical
Markers |
Thomas Cree's
Little Tree
Planted in 1888, the Bois d'Arc tree planted here was the first
tree planted in the Panhandle region. It was accidentally poisoned
in 1969 - replacement tree and markers are on US 60 - five miles
South of town.
Carson County
Square House Museum
In Pioneer Park on Hwy 207
City Offices are in the former Santa Fe Depot
Scenic Drive:
FM 293 West to Texas 136 North
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Historical Marker:
5th and Elsie Streets, Hwy 207, Square House Museum
The Square House
The Niedringhaus brothers of St. Louis sent lumber by ox-cart from
Dodge City and built this square house on their "N Bar N" Ranch here
in Carson County
in the mid-1880s. In 1887 a railroad official occupied the pioneer
cottage while the Southern Kansas Railway was being extended from
Kiowa, Kansas, to Panhandle City. This was later the home of some
distinguished settlers: pioneer banker and treasurer of Southern Kansas
Railway Company, James Christopher Paul; rancher-judge J. L. Harrison;
innkeeper James B. Wilks; and Sheriff Oscar L. Thorp. The oldest house
in town, it was purchased in 1965 and restored as the Carson County
Museum.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1966 |
Historical Marker:
5th and Elsie Streets, Hwy 207, at Square House Museum
Temple Lea
Houston
(August
12, 1860 - August 15, 1905)
Born in the Texas Governor's Mansion, the eighth and last child of
Sam Houston (1793-1863)
and his wife Margaret; educated at Baylor University, Texas A&M, and
in a law office, Temple
Houston came in 1881 to this region as district attorney for the
35th Judicial District. He married Laura Cross of Mobeetie, 1882.
Tall and handsome, he resembled his father-- a fact cited when he
ran for the Texas Senate in 1884. He won, and was seated before reaching
legal age for the office. While serving in the Senate, he built a
home near "Panhandle City." During his two terms, he became a leader
in spite of his youth, advancing legislation favorable to frontiersmen
in this area. When a new
capitol was dedicated in Austin
in 1888, he made the major speech, taking pride that lands in the
Panhandle had paid for the magnificent building. Amid the ovations
of that day were pleas that he run for Governor or United States Congressman,
but he declined. About 1893 he moved to Oklahoma and gained added
fame as a lawyer and orator. Thus the fledgling of "The Raven" became
a legend in his own time. He was the father of two daughters and three
sons. The Oklahoma Historical Society has honored him by placing a
marker at his grave in Woodward.
1976
[ Temple
Lea Houston: Son of Sam by John Troesser ]
[ Temple Lea Houston
by C. F. Eckhardt ]
[ Temple Houston
by Clay Coppedge ]
[ Sam’s Kids
- the Houston Eight by Wanda Orton ] |
 |
The former ATSF
Depot is in use as City Offices
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Photo
courtesy Terry
Jeanson, September 2007
More Texas Depots |
Historical Marker:
200 South Main Street, in front of Panhandle city hall
Atchison, Topeka,
& Santa Fe Railroad Depot
The 1920s oil boom
brought increased business to this railroad town, and a new depot
was built here in 1928. The structure exhibits elements of the Prairie
School, Mission, and Tudor styles of architecture. Prominent features
include bracketed overhangs, stepped parapets, and cast stone window
surrounds. One of the last brick depots built on the company's western
lines, it was last used for passenger service in 1971. It became City
Hall in 1985.
1988 |
Panhandle Depot
in the Snow
Photo
courtesy Tom
Jones, December 2007 |
Historical Marker:
6th Street
12 blocks E of intersection with Main Street
Panhandle
Cemetery
The oldest documented
graves in this cemetery date to 1889, three years after the founding
of Carson City (later renamed Panhandle), the first town in the county.
Among those buried here are Civil War veterans and area pioneer families.
Gravestone designs range from simple to elaborate, and the cemetery
also contains many unmarked graves. The Panhandle Cemetery has also
served people in surrounding communities. Additional land acquisitions
have increased the size of the graveyard over the years, and a small
chapel was built in 1965.
1990 |
 |
Historical Marker:
117 E. Broadway
Texan Hotel
Texan Hotel During the height of Carson County's oil boom in the 1920s,
the major oil field supply houses headquartered in Panhandle, and
lodging was in great demand. In 1926, Clark B. (d. 1946) and Margaret
(d. 1967) Downs opened the Downs Hotel to help meet this need.
It was renamed the Texan Hotel when the property was conveyed to J.
H. Paul (d. 1960) in 1932. Later owners converted the Texan Hotel
to apartments but continued to make a few rooms available for guests
after World War
II. By the early 21st century, the Texan was the only hotel built
in Panhandle during the oil boom years that remained in operation.
(2002) |
Historical Marker:
from Panhandle, take Hwy 60 about 4.5 miles southwest (on Highway
R.O.W.)
First Tree
First tree on the Texas High Plains, set in front of
dugout home by Thomas Cree, 1888. Good luck symbols of settlers throughout
drought, blizzard and heat. Cree's bois d'arc tree died in the 1970s.
County residents planted a new tree here in 1990 as a memorial to
the area's early pioneers.
1963
[See Texas Historic
Trees ] |
Historical Marker:
from Panhandle, take Hwy 60 about 4.5 miles southwest (on Highway
R.O.W.)
Thomas Cree Homesite
After serving as a teamster in the Civil War (1861-65),
Thadium (Thomas) B. Cree worked for the Union Pacific Railroad. In
1888 he and his wife came to the High Plains. They acquired this land
and, with no trees for lumber, they built a dugout home. Cree traveled
35 miles at his wife's request to find a sapling and planted it here.
He watered it from a nearby lake that he dug from a buffalo wallow.
The tree never grew but lived many years despite blizzard, heat, and
drought. Gov. John Connally dedicated an historical marker in 1963
to the first tree in the Panhandle.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
1967 |
Panhandle Street
Light
Photo courtesy Tom
Jones, June 2007 |
Light fixture
Photo courtesy Tom
Jones, June 2007 |
Carson
County 1940s map
From Texas state map #4335
Courtesy
Texas General Land Office |
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