Amarillo, Texas
Amarillo is the fourteenth-largest city in Texas and the county seat of Potter County. It is is located near the middle of the Texas Panhandle and considered its regional economic center. A 2005 Census estimate placed the city's population at 183,021. The greater Amarillo metropolitan area, however, consists of four counties and has an estimated population of 236,113. The city is known as "The Yellow Rose of Texas" and most recently "Rotor City, USA" for its V-22 Osprey hybrid aircraft assembly plant. It also was once called the "Helium Capital of the World" for possessing one of the country's largest helium fields. Pantex, the only nuclear weapons assembly and disassembly facility in the country, is a major employer. Amarillo is also home to one of the largest meat packing areas in the United States; about 25% of the US beef supply is processed by meat paking plants in the region and the city also headquarters the Texas Cattle Feeders Association. Petroleum extraction is another major industry.
The city's largest employer in 2005 is Tyson Foods, followed by the Amarillo Independent School District, BWXT Pantex, Baptist St. Anthony's Health Care System, City of Amarillo, Northwest Texas Healthcare System, Amarillo College, and United Supermarkets. Other major employers include Bell Helicopter Textron (which opened a helicopter assembly plant near the city's international airport in 1999), Owens-Corning, and ASARCO. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the industry with the largest contribution to personal income in the city was the services industry.
Amarillo has a number of natural attractions nearby including Palo Duro Canyon State Park (the second largest canyon system in the U.S.), the Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument (where prehistoric inhabitants obtained flint in order to make tools and weapons), and Caprock Canyons State Park and Trailway (the home of the official Texas State Bison Herd). The attractions, Cadillac Ranch (a monument of painted Cadillac automobiles that were dug into the ground head first) and Big Texan Steak Ranch (made famous by offering visitors a free 72 ounce beef steak if they eat it and its accompanying dinner in under an hour), are located on old U.S. Route 66, which passes through the city. An on-going art project called the Dynamite Museum, consists of thousands of mock traffic signs displaying random pictures or bearing messages such as "Road does not end", are scattered throughout the city.
The city has many events and attractions honoring the cowboy and Texas culture including national equestrian competitions, rodeos and motor sports. During the third week of September, the city hosts the Tri-State Fair & Rodeo. The World Championship Ranch Rodeo is held every November in the Amarillo Civic Center. Amarillo also hosts the annual World Championship Chuckwagon Roundup the first weekend in June. The Amarillo Livestock Auction holds a free to the public cattle auction on Tuesdays.
The higher education institutions in Amarillo are Amarillo College (a two-year community college); Wayland Baptist University (a private university with an Amarillo branch campus); and Texas Tech University at Amarillo, a branch campus of Texas Tech University that offers selected master's degree programs. West Texas A&M University, in nearby Canyon, is the regional university in the Amarillo area and the Texas Panhandle.
The af2 indoor American football team Amarillo Dusters and the CHL hockey team Amarillo Gorillas both play in the Amarillo Civic Center. Amarillo's minor league baseball team, Amarillo Dillas of the United League Baseball, plays its home games in the Potter County Memorial Stadium. Amarillo had a minor league in-door soccer team called the Amarillo Challengers that competed in the SISL and later the USISL.
