Panhandle, Texas

Everything Panhandle is known for

2 songs mention this city 0 artists from here

Music in Panhandle

Songs About Panhandle

Panhandle Slim
The Panhandlers
80%
"Song about Panhandle"
canadian river waltx
R.W. Hampton
20%

Artists From Panhandle

No artists from Panhandle in the database yet.

Rivers & Roads in Song near Panhandle

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Panhandle.

Highway I 40 20 songs U.S. Route 66 19 songs Canadian River 7 songs

History of Panhandle

The Secret City on the Plains RoadyGoat

As you drive through this region, you're passing near one of the most significant and secretive engineering sites in the country: the Pantex Plant. Located just down Highway 60 between Panhandle and Amarillo, this facility is the United States' primary location for assembling and disassembling nuclear weapons. It began during World War II as a conventional bomb factory, its location chosen for being remote and secure. After the war, it was converted for its nuclear mission. The engineering here is staggering, involving the precise handling of incredibly powerful and sensitive materials. The plant required the development of specialized tools, robotics, and safety protocols found nowhere else on Earth. For decades, thousands of people from Panhandle and surrounding towns have made the daily drive to this high-security facility, contributing to a massive, hidden technological enterprise that has quietly shaped the economy and identity of the entire Texas Panhandle.

RoadyGoat → · 3.7 mi away

Panhandle, TX RoadyGoat

In 1888, Panhandle was planned as the terminus of the Panhandle and Santa Fe Railway, which led to its rapid development. The city was surrounded by large cattle ranches and quickly acquired essential services like a bank, mercantile store, school, and newspaper. In 1897, Panhandle was scandalized by the poisoning of Minnie Morrison by her preacher husband George E. Morrison, who wanted to marry his mistress. He was executed in Wilbarger County, uttering 'Jesus, Lover of My Soul' as his last words. In 1909, Panhandle incorporated with a mayor-council government. The population grew in the 1920s when Panhandle became the center of a natural gas field. In 2016, a head-on collision of two BNSF intermodal trains resulted in three deaths, one injury, and $16 million in damages.

3.7 mi away

Panhandle, TX RoadyGoat

Panhandle, Texas. It's a place where the wind whispers across bluestem grass and pronghorn antelope still roam free. A town built on cattle and wheat under that big Panhandle sky. You might not expect a place this quiet to have touched the wider world, but it has.

3.7 mi away

Temple Lea Houston

1860

(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.

Historical Marker →

Old County Bookmobile

1938

In use 1938-1957. Based at the county library on this site. A bright red, visible for miles, this first bookmobile in Texas was called "The Library Bus." It stopped at ranches, schools, oil camps; circulated 2,000 books a month; served in era of sparse settlement, World War II growth and later industrialization. There were private and rental libraries in early Texas; the Republic had a National Library, but most county libraries were founded or instigated by local citizens- -as was this pioneer bookmobile. Texas still has 51 bookmobiles in other counties.

Historical Marker →

Last Great Panhandle Cattle Drive to Montana

1892

Each spring and summer after 1880, many Texas herds went up the trail to Northern states for fattening. For the cowboys, trail drives meant hard work. They had to turn stampedes, ford rivers and quicksand streams, and fight Indians and cattle thieves. They endured hunger, thirst, and other physical hardships. The Last Great Texas Panhandle Drive was organized here at N Bar N (N-N) Headquarters. Ranch manager was J.L. Harrison; trail boss, T.L. (Tom) Coffee. 100 cowboys drove 10 herds, each with 2500 cattle, or a total of 25,000 beeves, to Montana from April to September 1892. The cattle belonged to Niedringhaus Brothers, German tinsmiths of St. Louis, who put into ranching a fortune made in enamel granite household wares. From 1882 to 1886, N Bar N leased range in Carson and neighboring counties from the Francklyn Land & Cattle Company, a British syndicate backed by Cunard Steamship Line. Afterward this range belonged to White Deer Land Company. The N Bar N outfit left here because White Deer Land Company wanted the range cleared of large herds. By 1907 the 650,000 acres of its land was offered for sale to small ranchers and farmers. It was fenced and the steam plow introduced to turn the rich, grassy sod.

Historical Marker →

Pantex

1942

The Pantex Plant, a component of the Albuquerque Operations of the United States Department of Energy, is located in southeastern Carson County between U.S. Highway 60 and State Highway 293 seventeen miles northeast of Amarillo. The government established an army ordnance plant at the 16,000-acre site in 1942 to produce bombs and shells for the armed forces during World War II . A post office was established in November 1944 for the plant employees who lived in government housing nearby. The plant remained in operation until the war ended in August 1945, and the employees subsequently dispersed. In 1949 the War Assets Administration sold the plant for one dollar to Texas Technological College for use in agricultural research and experimentation, but the government retained the right to repossess the facility under a national-security clause. The Atomic Energy Commission reclaimed 10,000 acres in 1951 and converted the plant to the production of chemical explosives and nuclear weapons. Throughout the next two decades the resident population of Pantex fluctuated; it was 958 in 1966 and 205 in 1970. The post office remained in operation until 1969, when it became a rural branch of the Amarillo post office. Pantex became the sole plant for weapons disassembly/modification work in 1965 and for warhead construction by 1975. The Pantex Plant, administered by the Department of Energy (DOE), assembled nuclear and thermonuclear warheads from components manufactured at other facilities and was the site of pacifist demonstrations. A 1988 DOE report rated Pantex the second most hazardous of its sixteen weapons plants and laboratories. Other unfavorable environmental reports were filed. In 1988 cleanup was under way for exposed asbestos and other substances. Underground storage tanks that leaked gasoline and an unlined pit used to dump solvents and other toxic substances were slated for cleanup. Carson County residents stated that there had been little pressure on Pantex to protect the environment because it was Amarillo's largest employer, having 2,700 employees. Pantex assembled its last nuclear weapon in 1991. After the end of the Cold War and the conclusion of an arms reduction agreement with Russia (June 1992), the Pantex Plant was to disassemble thousands of warheads each year. The plan to store 110,000 pounds of plutonium in bunkers at Pantex was of concern to nearby residents who feared that the Ogallala Aquifer, which is used for irrigation throughout the Panhandle and supplies almost 40 percent of Amarillo's water, might become contaminated. In 1993 the facility began weekly tours of declassified sections to visitors. In 1994 missing maintenance records and a series of safety system failures caused a lengthy shutdown. Pantex disassembled 12,514 warheads from October 1986 through September 1996. By that year the plant had a stockpile of 9,000 plutonium pits and a growth rate of 1,200 pits a year. By late 1996 the DOE proposed an increase in the plant's plutonium storage from a total of 12,000 pits to 20,000 pits, making Pantex the designated plutonium storage facility for the United States. Pantex was also slated as the site for the strategic reserve of plutonium for possible future use. These announcements generally had community support, but some local residents and state officials, including the Texas Attorney General's office, expressed concerns that the Panhandle would be unfairly burdened as the nation's dumping ground for surplus plutonium. In 2000 the DOE created a semiautonomous agency, the National Nuclear Security Administration, as an overseer of the Nuclear Weapons Complex, including Pantex. On February 1, 2001, BWXT Pantex, an independent consortium of BWX Technologies, Honeywell, and Bechtel, was awarded the contract for Pantex management and plant operations. Though environmental studies had found no evidence of plutonium contamination in the early 2000s, traces of high explosives and heavy metals had been found in

Tsha Handbook → · 4.3 mi away

Cree, Thomas Boger

1870

Thomas Boger Cree, Panhandle pioneer, was born on May 19, 1847, in Green Park, Pennsylvania, son of John Dunbar Cree, who worked as a horse and mule inspector for the federal government. When the Civil War broke out, fourteen-year-old Thomas joined his father in Washington, D.C.; he served as a teamster in the Union Army for two years. In 1866 or 1867 he went to Chicago to work for the Union Pacific Railroad. He was assigned to the construction company that built the first transcontinental railroad line and served as corral boss. He was present at the ceremonial driving of the golden spike at Promontory Point, Utah, on May 10, 1869. Cree afterward helped build the Missouri, Kansas and Texas (Katy) line to Fort Worth in the early 1870s. About that time he met and married Melissa Ballard, a niece of Jesse Chisholm , for whom the Chisholm Trail was named. The Crees had eight children. Throughout the 1880s Cree did construction work with various railroads. In 1886 he started working for the Fort Worth and Denver City, which was building its line from Vernon into the Texas Panhandle. His family accompanied him as the railroad pushed northwest. Near the future townsite of Panhandle City, in Carson County, Cree built a dugout home and at his wife's request planted a bois d'arc sapling to help break the monotony of the prairie grass. Thomas Cree's bois d'arc tree, located just off U.S. Highway 60 near Panhandle, was for years a familiar landmark on the treeless plain; on October 23, 1963, Governor John Connally dedicated it as a historical landmark. Unfortunately, the tree, which had survived droughts, blizzards, summer heat, and sandstorms, was killed by herbicides sprayed on nearby crops in 1970. In 1888 Cree filed a claim and erected a sod house near the head of McClellan Creek in Gray County. He assisted in the establishment of Panhandle City and helped organize its first church in 1889. In 1892 the Crees sold their land near Panhandle and settled on choice ranchland near Cheyenne, Oklahoma. In 1902, after a blizzard wiped out half of their herd, the Crees bought four sections in northeastern Wheeler County, Texas, and leased another four. There Thomas and Melissa Cree spent their remaining years. Mrs. Cree died in 1916 and her husband on July 23, 1927. They were buried in the Rankin (now the White Rose Reydon) Cemetery in Roger Mills County, Oklahoma.

Tsha Handbook →

Things to Do in Panhandle

nature 22.3 mi away
Alibates Flint Quarries

Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument sits on a ridge above the Canadian River north of Amarillo. The rock here is dolomite that got infused with silica…
quirky 19.7 mi away
Leaning Tower of Texas (Britten)

A 75-foot water tower tilted on purpose so motorists think it's about to topple — a 1980s stunt that lured Route 66 drivers into Ralph Britten's truck stop.…
quirky 12.4 mi away
Slug Bug Ranch

Five Volkswagen Beetles buried nose-down in a field outside Conway Texas -- a blatant rip-off of Cadillac Ranch seventy-five miles west on Interstate 40 but…

Sports in Panhandle

🏆 STATE CHAMPIONS Class 2A · Boys Basketball · 2026

Panhandle Panthers — 2026 UIL 2A Division 1 Boys Basketball State Champions

Most recent: 2026 2A Division 1

Panhandle High School, a Class 2A institution nestled in the Texas Panhandle, has established a notable presence in boys basketball. The school's athletic program is a source of pride for the community, reflecting the dedication and spirit found in this part of the state. Their consistent efforts on the court have brought significant recognition to the Panthers.

The Panhandle Panthers boys basketball team proudly secured a UIL State Championship in 2026, competing in the 2A Division 1 bracket. This achievement highlights a peak performance year for the program. The community celebrates these milestones, which underscore the hard work and competitive drive of Panhandle High School's athletes.

State titles
2026
Most recent
2026
Class
2A
The moment

The Panhandle High School boys basketball team clinched the 2A Division 1 UIL State Championship in 2026.

Sources: Wikipedia · UIL State Championship Archives · SI High School (ScoreBook Live)
🏆 STATE CHAMPIONS Class 2A · Girls Basketball · 2017–2026

Panhandle Panthers — UIL 2A Girls Basketball State Champions — 2 titles

Most recent: 2026 2A Division 1

Panhandle High School, nestled in the Texas Panhandle, has established itself as a notable presence in Class 2A girls' basketball. The Pantherettes have captured two UIL state championships, showcasing their consistent strength and skill on the court. These titles represent significant achievements for the program and the community it represents.

The team's success is a source of local pride, reflecting the dedication and hard work of its athletes. With state championships in 2017 and 2026 2A Division 1, Panhandle High School continues to build a strong tradition in Texas high school basketball, supported by the close-knit spirit of the town.

State titles
2 (2017–2026)
Most recent
2026
Class
2A
The moment

The 2026 2A Division 1 state championship was a high point for Panhandle High School.

Sources: Wikipedia · UIL State Championship Archives · SI High School (ScoreBook Live)

Everything Near Panhandle

127 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

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