Amarillo Grew as a Cattle and Railroad Hub

Amarillo's first townsite stood beside Amarillo Lake, also called Wild Horse Lake. Flooding kept troubling that low spot, and by 1890 the center of town had shifted about a mile east. That early move helps explain why the first townsite and today's downtown do not line up.

The rails and cattle trade supplied the momentum. The Texas Historical Commission records Amarillo as the nation's largest rural cattle-shipping point from 1892 through 1897. An outdoor marker at 900 Polk Street tells the railroad side of that story near the old Santa Fe building.