Texas panhandle

The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a square-shaped area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east. It is adjacent to the Oklahoma Panhandle, land which Texas previously claimed. The 1820 Missouri Compromise declared no slavery would be allowed in states admitted from the Louisiana Purchase above 36°30′ north latitude. Texas was annexed in 1845 from still more westerly land. The Compromise of 1850 removed territory north of this line from Texas, and set the border between the Texas Panhandle and the New Mexico Territory at the 103rd meridian west. The eastern border at the 100th meridian west was inherited from the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819, which defined the border between the United States and New Spain. The Handbook of Texas defines the southern border of Swisher County as the southern boundary of the Texas Panhandle region.

Its land area is , or nearly 10% of the state's total. An additional is covered by water. Its population as of the 2010 census was 427,927 residents, or 1.7% of the state's total population. As of the 2010 census, the population density for the region was . However, more than 72% of residents live in the Amarillo metropolitan area, which is the largest and fastest-growing urban area in the region. Despite being geographically the northernmost part of Texas, the panhandle is distinct from the region commonly called "North Texas", which is to the south and east.

The western edge of the panhandle, defined as the 103rd meridian west, served as the western boundary of the Oklahoma panhandle. The 103rd meridian became known as the Cimarron Meridian, and along with the Cimarron Territory was named for the Cimarron River. Surveyors first marked Texas's portion of the meridian in 1859.United States General Land Office, and John H Clark. . Washington, Govt. Print. Off, 1882. Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/08005285/. The boundary marked by this survey was inaccurately placed between 2 and 4 miles too far west. The northwest corner of Texas is at roughly 103.04° west, 12,234 feet to west of the Cimmaron Meridian. The southernmost point on Texas's border intended to be on the Cimmaron Meridian is at 103.06° west, 19,962 feet too far west. These surveying errors give Texas close to 1,000 square miles of land that was intended to be part of New Mexico under the Compromise of 1850. Although Oklahoma shared the Cimmaron Meridian as its western border, its surveyors were more accurate, meaning that Texas's panhandle extends farther west than Oklahoma's.

Features West of the Caprock Escarpment and north and south of the Canadian River breaks, the surface of the Llano Estacado is rather flat. South of Amarillo, the level terrain gives way to Palo Duro Canyon, the second-largest canyon in the United States. This colorful canyon was carved by the Prairie Dog Town Fork Red River, a tributary of the Red River. North of Amarillo lies Lake Meredith, a reservoir created by Sanford Dam constructed on the main stem of the Canadian River. Lake Meredith and the Ogallala Aquifer are the primary sources of fresh water in this semi-arid region of the High Plains. I-40 passes through the panhandle and Amarillo, along with the counties of Deaf Smith, Oldham, Potter, Carson, Gray, Donley, and Wheeler.The Tascosa Pioneer, October 11, 1890, quoted in Lester Fields Sheffy, The Life and Times of Timothy Dwight Hobart, 1855–1935: Colonization of West Texas (Canyon, TX: Panhandle-Plains Historical Society, 1950), p. 156

Demographics As of the census of 2020, about 434,358 people lived in the panhandle. Of these, 53.6% were non-Hispanic White, 35.2% were Hispanic, 4.8% were African American, 2.8% were Asian. Only 4.1% were of some other ethnicity. About 92.3% of inhabitants claimed native birth, and 8.9% were veterans of the United States armed forces; 49.9% of the population was male, and 50.1% was female. Around 13.2% of the population was 65 years of age or older, whereas 27.8% of the population was under 18 years of age.

Politics

+ Texas Panhandle presidential election resultsYearDemocraticRepublicanThird parties202418.3% 29,04580.8% 128,2370.9% 1,441202019.5% 31,11079.9% 126,3491.5% 2,453201617.0% 24,03979.0% 111,8254.0% 5,606201217.4% 22,77482.6% 108,0500% 0200820.3% 29,56478.3% 114,2021.4% 2,094200418.9% 26,62881.1% 114,5700% 0200021.2% 27,18078.8% 101,2410% 0199628.6% 36,88665.0% 83,8798.6% 8,356

Counties The 26 counties (west to east, from the northwest corner) are:Counties of the Texas Panhandle United States Census Bureau

<li> Dallam <li> Sherman <li> Hansford <li> Ochiltree <li> Lipscomb <li> Hartley <li> Moore <li> Hutchinson <li> Roberts <li> Hemphill <li> Oldham <li> Potter <li> Carson <li> Gray <li> Wheeler <li> Deaf Smith <li> Randall <li> Armstrong <li> Donley <li> Collingsworth <li> Parmer <li> Castro <li> Swisher <li> Briscoe <li> Hall <li> Childress

Cities and towns Major cities with populations greater than 10,000 include:

Amarillo Borger Canyon Dumas Hereford Pampa

Towns with populations less than 10,000 include:

Booker Bovina Cactus Canadian Channing Childress Clarendon Claude Dalhart Darrouzett Dimmitt Dodson Farwell Follett Friona Fritch Groom Gruver Happy Hartley Higgins Kress Lefors Masterson McLean Memphis Mobeetie Panhandle Perryton Sanford Shamrock Silverton Spearman Stinnett Stratford Sunray Texline Tulia Turkey Vega Wellington Wheeler White Deer

Gallery

Texas panhandle

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