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CANYON,
TEXAS
Home of West Texas
State, Texas A & M University
Randall County Seat, Texas
Panhandle
Highways 60, 217, 87, and I-27
14 miles S of Amarillo
107 miles N of Lubbock
20 miles N of Happy, Texas
Population: 11,365 (1990) 12,875 (2000)
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| "A
print of a painting by R. Russell Brown depicting the 1908
Randall County courthouse in its original condition." - Terry
Jeanson, September 2007 photo |
History
in a Pecan Shell
(An informal history of Canyon)
Known as Canyon City until 1911, the town's name was first suggested
by blacksmith A. L. Hammond after Palo Duro Canyon. A man named Lincoln
Guy Conner surveyed the site in late 1887 and platted the town in
1889. Conner refused to have the town named after himself,
a gesture so rare in Texas that it
deserves mention. Conner's dugout home served as the community store
and post office.
With the organization of Randall County in 1889, Canyon City was chosen
county seat. Without a railroad, lumber was freighted in from Quanah
- a bone-jarring 140-mile wagon trip.
Conner built Canyon City's first hotel - and didn't name it after
himself - choosing instead the "Victoria."
Newspaper publishing in Canyon City began in 1890. Mastheads bearing
the names Echo, Keystone, Headlight, and Battleship came and
went. In 1896 the Stayer was published. The name was intended
to show the publisher's dertermination to stay in business. It was
sold in 1903 - and was renamed the rather bland Canyon City News.
After papers called the Battleship and Headlight - can you blame them?
The News was bought in 1908, renamed the Randall County News.
This lasted until 1920 when it was bought again and named the Canyon
News. Don't worry, questions concerning the newspapers of Canyon
won't be on the test.
Telephone service arrived in 1896 and two years later the railroad
arrived (the Pecos and Northern Texas). Once again Mr. Conner strengthened
the town by donating land alongside the railroad where acres of cattle
pens were constructed. He didn't name these after himself either.
The Handbook of Texas saw fit to mention in their history of
Canyon that one W. C. Kenyon ran a wagonyard and seven saloons. This
may be the first documented case in Texas
of a businessman taking parking into consideration for his patrons.
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| "The
old First National Bank Building was completed in 1909 and designed
by R.G. Kirsch, the architect of the 1908 Randall County courthouse."
- Terry Jeanson, September 2007 photo |
| "First
Baptist Church of Canyon. Construction began in 1929 but was not completed
until after the Depression." - Terry Jeanson, Sept. 2007 photo |
A timeline
of Canyon, Texas significant events:
1902: Telephone
exchange is installed
1904: Population
of Canyon City reaches 530
1906: Canyon
City incorporates
1907: Santa
Fe railroad connects Canyon City to Plainview
- wiping out stagecoach service between the two towns.
1908: Canyon
City gets electricity, an ice plant and a volunteer fire department.
1909: More
infrastructure is installed with a waterworks and sewer system.
The brick courthouse
(above) is constructed this same year.
1910: Canyon
City is connected to Floydada
with construction of the Santa Fe's Llano Estacado line. West Texas
A&M University - then known as West Texas State Normal College opened
on land (once again) donated by Lincoln Guy Conner. Classes were
first held in the county courthouse. A brick school is built.
1911: Canyon
City officially becomes Canyon.
1915: Canyon's
population reaches 1,500 the population was 1,500, and the town
can boast a twenty-five-room hotel (the Palace).
1921: On December
the second, the southside of Canyon's town square is destroyed by
fire.
Prosperity
continued throughout the 1920s. New infrastructure included paved
streets, streetlights, and natural gas connections. The railroad
even built a new depot and both elementary and high schools received
new buildings. A county library opened in 1927.
The famed Panhandle-Plains
Historical Museum was established in 1932 (expanded in 1985) to
preserve the region's heritage. WPA projects in the 30s built new
buildings on the college campus and a new post office was construct
and decorated with a government-funded mural.
1940: population
reaches 2,622
1950: population
reaches 4,349
See Randall
County Courthouse
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"Top
of Coronado Trail, Palo Duro Park"
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/
%7Etxpstcrd/ |
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Canyon Attractions
Buffalo
Lake National Wildlife Refuge - 7,677 acres.
A major waterfowl refuge, winter haven for ducks and geese.
Headquarter - FM 168, 3 miles south of Umbarger
Palo
Duro Canyon State Park
The Panhandle
Plains Historical Museum:
2403 Fourth Avenue. 806-651-2254
On the campus of West Texas A & M University
One of the better regional museums in the state. The museum building
itself (c.1933) is often featured in architectural guides of Texas
for it's decorative and uniquely Texas details.
www.panhandleplains.org.
Pioneer
Amphitheater -
Information Office - 1514 5th Avenue, Canyon
806-655-2181 or 877-58-TEXAS
The Canyon Chamber of Commerce:
1518 5th Avenue, Canyon, Texas 79015
806-655-7815, 800-999-9481
Website: www.canyonchamber.org
Canyon
Hotels
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Canyon
water tower.
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, September 2007 |
Canyon,
Texas Forum
Subject: Waldine
Tauch
I read with interest your article on Waldine Tauch and her father.
Thank you for this.
However, I would point out that seven Tauch pieces are part of our
collection, including the original plasters from which the bronzes
were cast for the Texas Ranger, Pippa Passes, Higher Education, and
Buckner Group. Tauch had a special relationship with Panhandle-Plains
as she also left twelve Pompeo Coppini pieces to PPHM as well. You
might add Canyon and Burnet
(Buckner Children's Home) to the places one can see her work.
Keep up the good work about Texas.
- Respectfully, Michael R. Grauer, Curator of Art Panhandle-Plains
Historical Museum, Canyon, Texas, September 23, 2005
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© John Troesser |
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