Panhandle, Texas

{{Distinguish|text=the Texas panhandle}} {{Use American English|date=June 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Panhandle, Texas | settlement_type = City | nickname = | motto = {{force singular}} People of Pride and Purpose | image_skyline = Panhandle, Texas, downtown IMG 0645.JPG | imagesize = | image_caption = Brick streets in Panhandle | image_flag = | image_seal =  | image_map = TXMap-doton-Panhandle.PNG | mapsize = 250px | map_caption = Location of Panhandle, Texas | image_map1 = Carson County Panhandle.svg | mapsize1 = 250px | map_caption1 =  | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = United States | subdivision_type1 = State | subdivision_name1 = Texas | subdivision_type2 = County | subdivision_name2 = Carson

| government_footnotes = | government_type = | leader_title = Mayor | leader_name = Doyle Robinson<ref>{{cite web|title=TML City Officials Directory|url=https://directory.tml.org/profile/individual/19127|access-date=November 5, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251105210251/https://directory.tml.org/profile/individual/19127|archive-date=November 5, 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> | leader_title1 = | leader_name1 = | established_title = | established_date =  | area_footnotes = <ref name="CenPopGazetteer2019">{{cite web|title=2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2019_Gazetteer/2019_gaz_place_48.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=August 7, 2020}}</ref> | area_total_km2 = 5.50 | area_land_km2 = 5.50 | area_water_km2 = 0.00 | area_total_sq_mi = 2.12 | area_land_sq_mi = 2.12 | area_water_sq_mi = 0.00 | unit_pref = Imperial

| timezone = Central (CST) | utc_offset = −6 | timezone_DST = CDT | utc_offset_DST = −5 | elevation_footnotes = <ref name=gnis/> | elevation_ft = 3455 | coordinates = {{coord|35|20|45|N|101|22|45|W|type:city_region:US-TX|display=it}} | postal_code_type = ZIP code | postal_code = 79068 | area_code = 806 | blank_name = FIPS code | blank_info = 48-54960 <ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=January 31, 2008|title=U.S. Census website}}</ref> | blank1_name = GNIS feature ID | blank1_info = 2413105<ref name=gnis>{{GNIS|2413105}}</ref> | website = {{URL|www.panhandletx.govoffice2.com}} | footnotes = }}

'''Panhandle''' is a city in and the county seat of Carson County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,378 at the 2020 census.<ref name=":0" /> Panhandle is part of the Amarillo metropolitan statistical area.

==History== thumb|A BNSF intermodal train in Winslow, Arizona

Panhandle derives its name from its central location in the Texas Panhandle. Originally named "Carson City", it was later changed to "Panhandle City".<ref name="Anderson">{{cite web | last = Anderson| first = H. Allen| title = PANHANDLE, TX | work = Handbook of Texas Online | publisher = Texas State Historical Association| url = https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hjp03}}</ref>

In 1887, Panhandle obtained a post office, and in 1888, the city was planned as the terminus of the Panhandle and Santa Fe Railway. At that time, the city was surrounded by several large cattle ranches. The community soon acquired a bank, a mercantile store, a wagonyard, a school, a newspaper, and three saloons.<ref name="Anderson"/>

In 1888, Carson County was organized, and Panhandle became the county seat.<ref name="Anderson"/> The area's cattlemen were reconciled to the arrival of farmers because they produced needed forage crops, such as hay, and introduced more families with eligible young women for the cowboy bachelors of the cattle kingdom.<ref name=lfs>Lester Fields Sheffy, ''The Life and Times of Timothy Dwight Hobart, 1855-1935: Colonization of West Texas'' (Canyon, Texas: Panhandle-Plains Historical Society, 1950), pp. 120-121</ref>

Panhandle was scandalized in 1897 after George E. Morrison, a preacher at the Methodist Episcopal Church, poisoned his wife Minnie with a strychnine-laced apple so that he could marry his mistress Miss Annie Whittlesey of Topeka, Kansas. Morrison was sentenced to die in the gallows at Vernon in Wilbarger County, Texas, his last words being: "Jesus, Lover of My Soul".<ref>{{cite web | title = WILBARGER COUNTY, TEXAS EXECUTION NEWS STORIES | publisher = Genealogy Trails | url = http://genealogytrails.com/tex/panhandle2/wilbarger/news_execution.html}}</ref>

In 1909, Panhandle voted to incorporate with a mayor-council government.

The population grew in the 1920s when Panhandle became the center of a natural gas field.

A new county courthouse was completed in 1950.

Panhandle continued to thrive in the 1980s as a regional marketing and shipping center for cattle, wheat, and petroleum products.<ref name="Anderson"/>

On June 28, 2016, two BNSF intermodal trains collided head-on in Panhandle.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Domonoske |first1=Camila |title=Positive Train Control Might Have Prevented Fatal Crash In June |url=https://www.wfae.org/2016-07-14/positive-train-control-might-have-prevented-fatal-crash-in-june |website=WFAE 90.7 - Charlotte's NPR News Source |access-date=18 July 2025 |language=en |date=14 July 2016}}</ref> The collision triggered a fireball, resulting in three crew member deaths and one injury. Estimated damage was $16 million.<ref>{{cite web |title=BNSF Railway Head-On Collision |url=https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/Pages/DCA16FR008.aspx |website=www.ntsb.gov |access-date=18 July 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Accident Investigation Report HQ-2016-1141 |url=https://railroads.dot.gov/sites/fra.dot.gov/files/fra_net/18978/HQ-2016-1141%20Final.pdf |website=Federal Railroad Administration |publisher=Federal Railroad Administration Office of Railroad Safety Accident and Analysis Branch |access-date=18 July 2025}}</ref>

==Geography== Panhandle is located slightly south of the center of Carson County.<ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=April 23, 2011|date=February 12, 2011|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990}}</ref> U.S. Route 60 passes through the city, leading northeast {{convert|27|mi}} to Pampa and southwest the same distance to Amarillo. Texas State Highway 207 crosses US 60 in Panhandle and passes through the center of the city; it leads north {{convert|23|mi}} to Borger and south {{convert|9|mi|0}} to Interstate 40 at Conway.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Panhandle has a total area of {{convert|5.5|km2|order=flip}}, all land.<ref name="Census 2010">{{cite web| url=http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/G001/1600000US4854960| title=Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Census Summary File 1 (G001): Panhandle town, Texas| publisher=U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder| access-date=July 23, 2015| archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213082758/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/G001/1600000US4854960| archive-date=February 13, 2020| url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Climate=== According to the Köppen climate classification system, Panhandle has a borderline humid subtropical (''Cfa'')/cool semi-arid (''BSk'') climate.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather-summary.php3?s=587614&cityname=Panhandle%2C+Texas%2C+United+States+of+America&units=|title=Climate Summary for Panhandle, Texas|publisher=Weatherbase}}</ref> It features hot summers with moderate rainfall and cold, though extremely variable, and generally dry winters.

{{Weather box |location = Panhandle, Texas (1981–2010) |single line = Y |collapsed = yes |Jan high F = 49.9 |Feb high F = 53.9 |Mar high F = 62.7 |Apr high F = 71.9 |May high F = 80.0 |Jun high F = 87.9 |Jul high F = 92.8 |Aug high F = 91.0 |Sep high F = 83.8 |Oct high F = 72.7 |Nov high F = 60.3 |Dec high F = 48.7 |year high F = 71.3

|Jan snow inch = 3.9 |Feb snow inch = 3.1 |Mar snow inch = 2.0 |Apr snow inch = 0.5 |May snow inch = 0.1 |Jun snow inch = 0.0 |Jul snow inch = 0.0 |Aug snow inch = 0.0 |Sep snow inch = 0.0 |Oct snow inch = 0.3 |Nov snow inch = 1.7 |Dec snow inch = 4.1 |year snow inch = 15.8 |source 1 = NOAA<ref>{{cite web |url = https://w2.weather.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=ama |title = NOWData - NOAA Online Weather Data |publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |access-date = May 5, 2013 |archive-date = May 10, 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210510185303/https://w2.weather.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=ama |url-status = dead }}</ref> }}

==Demographics== {{US Census population | 1910 = 521 | 1920 = 638 | 1930 = 2035 | 1940 = 978 | 1950 = 1406 | 1960 = 1958 | 1970 = 2141 | 1980 = 2226 | 1990 = 2353 | 2000 = 2589 | 2010 = 2452 | 2020 = 2378 | footnote = U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|access-date=June 4, 2015}}</ref> }}

===2020 census===

{| class="wikitable" |+'''Panhandle racial composition'''<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Explore Census Data |url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?g=1600000US4854960&tid=DECENNIALPL2020.P2 |access-date=May 20, 2022 |website=data.census.gov}}</ref> (''NH = Non-Hispanic''){{efn|Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.<ref>https://www.census.gov/ {{nonspecific|date=August 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=About the Hispanic Population and its Origin |url=https://www.census.gov/topics/population/hispanic-origin/about.html |website=www.census.gov |access-date=May 18, 2022}}</ref>}} !Race !Number !Percentage |- |White (NH) |1,987 |83.56% |- |Black or African American (NH) |13 |0.55% |- |Native American or Alaska Native (NH) |17 |0.71% |- |Asian (NH) |7 |0.29% |- |Pacific Islander (NH) |1 |0.04% |- |Some Other Race (NH) |3 |0.13% |- |Mixed/Multi-Racial (NH) |109 |4.58% |- |Hispanic or Latino |241 |10.13% |- |'''Total''' |'''2,378''' | |} As of the 2020 United States census, there were 2,378 people, 1,058 households, and 723 families residing in the city.

===2000 census=== As of the census<ref name="GR2" /> of 2000, 2,589 people, 945 households, and 719 families were residing in the city. The population density was 1,216.6 people/sq mi (469.3/km2). The 1,014 housing units averaged 476.5/sq mi (183.8/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 93.16% White, 0.66% African American, 0.77% Native American, 0.08% Asian, 3.86% from other races, and 1.47% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 8.96% of the population.

Of the 945 households, 38.2% had children under 18 living with them, 64.0% were married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.9% were not families. About 22.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.63, and the average family size was 3.10.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 29.4% under the age of 18, 5.9% from 18 to 24, 26.4% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, and 17.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $41,686, and for a family was $50,735. Males had a median income of $38,155 versus $25,329 for females. The per capita income for the city was $21,640. About 4.0% of families and 6.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.1% of those under 18 and 11.4% of those age 65 or over.

==Arts and culture== Sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places include Carson County Square House Museum, and the Panhandle Inn.

==Education== thumb|Panhandle High School

Panhandle is served by the Panhandle Independent School District. Panhandle High School is located here.

==Notes== {{notelist}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{commons category|Panhandle, Texas}} *{{official website|http://www.panhandletx.govoffice2.com}}

Category:Cities in Texas Category:County seats in Texas Category:Cities in the Amarillo metropolitan area