The Vanishing Texas Panhandle population

35,613 Views | 298 Replies | Last: 2 yr ago by Spider69
canadianAg
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AG
Yes know the abraham families very well. I know the hufstedler name but wasn't really close in age with any so can't say I know them well. Also familiar with the browns, I remember they owned a big nice house by the football field. I think another brown family owned another big red brick house that my dad actually lived in for awhile growing up.

My parents retired and moved away so now don't really have much reason to go back besides reunions. My class was a bit unusual in that the majority of us ventured pretty far off with very few hanging around to work oil field jobs so even most of the friends are gone.
Teacher_Ag
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AG
CanyonAg77 said:

I'm happy for you to be content, and it's great for everyone to make their own choices.

Small quibbles:
Quote:

I like having my kids in school with others planning on going to college

The reason we moved from a small South Plains town to Canyon, was the school system, which is excellent.

Quote:

. I like choices when I go out to eat.

I bet you go out to the same 4-5 restaurants all the time, just like the rest of us.

Quote:

I like access to culture.

Be honest. How many times have you been to a museum, symphony, or other cultural attraction in the last few years?


Quibble 1
Canyon is a bit of an anomaly up there. Pretty decent school system, far better than most.

2. No, we truly don't take the choices for granted. Some of our friends here think we're nuts for driving 30-45 mins just to try out a place we heard of. But I had my fill of the same handful of mostly mediocre restaurants for most of my life.

3. A lot. My wife and I will literally look at each other from time to time and comment that no, we are not on vacation, this is our life now. Our kids live far richer and more interesting lives than we could have offered them up there.

Plus...now a manageable drive to Aggieland!
CanyonAg77
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AG
The guy I know is A&M '91, his wife is Wendi
CanyonAg77
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Quote:

Plus...now a manageable drive to Aggieland!
Can't argue with that one.

And I'm glad you guys do things. Many, many, do not. The whole culture argument is a pet peeve of mine. My in-laws from Houston, who haven't been to a museum or symphony in 50 years, used it as an argument against my wife and I getting married.


Then they moved to Pagosa Springs, CO in the 1990s.
Harkrider 93
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AG
CanyonAg77 said:

Thaddeus73 said:


That is an old map. Route 66 was gone, and it was I-40 by 1985. WTAMU has not been West Texas State since 1993. It is newer than 1965, as it has Lake Meredith. I-27 began in about 1975, so that's probably about a 1970 map.
That was RED ASK!
As the waves roll, the eagle will fly to the setting sun.
TequilaMockingbird
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What's going on in Dumas that a room at the Quality Inn would be $199 per night July 22nd?
CanyonAg77
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AG
TequilaMockingbird said:

What's going on in Dumas that a room at the Quality Inn would be $199 per night?
Major travel route from Dallas to Denver.
Next Year is the Year
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AG
I'm sure it can be nice in certain areas there but I've hunted all over the Panhandle and can tell you from first hand experience that there's a lot of other areas of Texas that I'd rather live in
TequilaMockingbird
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Same hotel would be something like $109 in Amarillo. I thought maybe the rodeo was in town or something.
CanyonAg77
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TequilaMockingbird said:

Same hotel would be something like $109 in Amarillo. I thought maybe the rodeo was in town or something.
Maybe oil and gas, maybe windmill workers. Maybe just demand due to fewer choices.

BBQ cookoff this coming weekend
annie88
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I once had a boyfriend from Pampa.
Currently a happy listless vessel and deplorable. #FDEMS TRUMP 2024.
Fight Fight Fight.
infinity ag
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Ship in Muslims from Pakistan/Syria and settle them there.
Problem solved.
The_Thinker
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Panhandle is closed. I need land to get cheap in about 4 years so I can move back!
GinMan
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AG
Hey Nav said:




This video gives me flashbacks of 20+ years working in the cotton industry in West Texas. Greatest benefit was raising my children and watch them graduate from a 1A school in small town Texas. I never had to lock my doors or take the keys out of my truck. I didn't even lock my doors when I went on vacation.
I could also walk out my door and hear absolutely nothing…nothing.
I defy you to try that out your back door…on a calm day you couldn't hear the wind, couldn't hear grass or trees, couldn't here distant vehicles on a highway…nothing but silence.
It's a different kind of peaceful…
I now live back in south Texas on the coast.
With all this being said, I hope I never have to go back to live in west Texas ever again……
Nothing out there but money…
woodyhayes
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Lived in Plainview late 80's and supervised a production line at Excel beef packing plant. After about 2 yrs the wife said get me the hell out of here and back to the Gulf coast and water.
TommyBrady
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CanyonAg77 said:

Thaddeus73 said:

Is the Ogallala aquifer holding up OK?
No.



https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-ogallala-aquifer/#:~:text=Today%20the%20Ogallala%20Aquifer%20is,keep%20up%20with%20human%20demands.


Its absolutely disgusting how much damage to the aquifer has been done by the people of the panhandle.
Serious Lee
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is T Boones company still draining the ogalla?
eric76
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AG
If you like scenery, there's nothing better than the Texas Panhandle since we don't have all the trees and mountains cluttering it up.

By the way, I was driving down a dirt road one day after it had rained and was slipping and sliding a bit. In spite of that, I was leaving a cloud of dust behind me.
MouthBQ98
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AG
It puts out a lot of food. Otherwise, it's pretty much doing nothing down there. I think they've overused it unwisely, but that's their own problem as it will render those lands useless except for light grazing eventually.

the panhandle is urbanizing just like anywhere else. You can still commute to a farm or ranch to operate it but as they are larger and more organized and automated, there's less need to live very near or at it.
People want to live near urban amenities (for some reason I can't sort out personally).
Captain Pablo
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TommyBrady said:

CanyonAg77 said:

Thaddeus73 said:

Is the Ogallala aquifer holding up OK?
No.



https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-ogallala-aquifer/#:~:text=Today%20the%20Ogallala%20Aquifer%20is,keep%20up%20with%20human%20demands.


Its absolutely disgusting how much damage to the aquifer has been done by the people of the panhandle.


Well yeah. It's a place with lots of people, lots of agriculture, and no surface water. What are ya gonna do?

When the aquifer dries up, so will the cities.

Is what it is
Thaddeus73
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Every time I think about Palo Duro Canyon, I think of that scene in "Comanche Moon" where Blue Duck told a very young Captain McCrae that he would hang him upside down and put scorpions in his nose....
CanyonAg77
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TommyBrady said:


Its absolutely disgusting how much damage to the aquifer has been done by the people of the panhandle.


Fortunately, you can protest this very effectively.

Stop eating.
Predmid
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ttu_85 said:

TequilaMockingbird said:

Meanwhile Midland and Odessa (Midland and Ector County) have grown by 70K people. Make it stop!
Heard Biden did that with his executive orders. M/O has lost an estimated 9K of 350K since 2020.

I'm sure my family of 4 is counted in that 9k somewhere.
BigOil
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Tom Kazansky 2012 said:

Lived in Pampa for a stint when I started my career in oil and gas. Lots of jobs in the panhandle. Loved it but it was a husk of itself even when I was out there in 2013.


Same here, but in 97.

Miss the White Deer and XIT rodeos.. weekend trips to Amarillo… good simple times.
canadianAg
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Dated a girl from white deer for a short bit senior year. Went to each other's proms but she started acting weird by the time we go to my prom. Turned out she was pregnant from her ex. I remember to this day getting that text from a friend sitting in my freshmen psychology class at A&M. Good times
CDUB98
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AG
Any of you Pampa High School folks from the 80's Know Tim Jones. Yes, I know the name is generic, but I didn't give it to him.

Had sisters named Connie and Pam.

They're my cousins.
Tom Kazansky 2012
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AG
Same. Going and partying in Amarillo after being at A&M was something different but still had a good time with my oil trash buds.
TommyBrady
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AG
Oh canyon ag you are right
CDUB98
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TommyBrady said:

I don't eat that poor quality slop. Everything I eat comes from producers I know. Keep defending destroying that aquifer its a good look for ya.


Dude, you're out of line.
CDUB98
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TommyBrady said:

I forgot we aren't allowed to challenge anyone even when they try to belittle you.


You're not challenging anyone. You're condemning an entire group of people who have put food on the table for millions of people. You are attacking their lives and livelihood.

You need to retreat back into your ivory tower and contemplate what your life would be like without farmers and ranchers like canyonag.
TommyBrady
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AG
How much longer will Midland and Odessa keep growing?
SW AG80
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B-1 83 said:

RiverAg 80 said:

What is going on in Dalhart (Dallam County)?
That county has had a population INCREASE in the last 10 years.
Pigs…….lots……and lots……of ….pigs.
Who is working in those pig lots?
Somalians? People from Afghanistan, Pakistan?
TommyBrady
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AG
You forgot Indonesians
jwoodmd
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LupinusTexensis said:

CDUB98 said:

theeyetest said:

TX04Aggie said:

Im in Amarillo for night on way to Colorado. It feels so nice outside here, I almost want to cry after the hell Houston has felt like for a month.


Stop by one of the Donut Stops in the morning on your way out and get a cherry donut. You can thank me later.


Oh, good lord, those are so good. I have to purposefully stay away.


I will have to go there next trek to Co. I leave Dallas at 2 and hit Amarillo for breakfast and gas.
What, you just blow through those delightful stops of Vernon, Quanah, and Childress?

ETA - I've got cousins in Childress - those towns are full of nice people. Just not much to look at though,
G. hirsutum Ag
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Grew up there. Lots of great people but no rain lots of wind and lots of dust gets a no from me. Oddly enough my neighbor grew up in the same small town. Always fun running into panhandle people
 
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