The legacy of the "Diamond in the West" can be traced back years ago, when this whole area now known as the plains was one vast lake. As the years went by so did the water, giving way to the arrival of the famous South Plains winds and the leveling of this once vast caprock.
The lands of the High plains have been inhabited for thousands of years, tracing back to the first tribe of elephant.
It was across these plains in that the Spanish explorer, Captain Francisco Vaquez de Coronado came to explore the flat lands of the Southwest in search of the much fantasized Golden city of Quivira. Historians and archeologists have found evidence that these Spanish expeditions camped in the famous "Lubbock Lake Site and Yellow House Canyon," which is present day north of the city of Lubbock.
Many of the natural geographical features discovered by the Spanish explorers were named by these exploring heroes of humanity, and some of these names are still used today. Later, Indians of the Comanche tribe roamed this whole area because it was a haven for their basic livelihood, the buffalo. The Comanche tribe had free reign of the South Plains until the 's when the white settlers and hunters arrived and deprived the Comanche people of their livelihood.
These hunters were responsible for many of the Indian uprisings and eventually the demise of the Comanche civilizations on the South Plains. After the slaughter of the buffalo, very few people stayed on these level plains as many of the first explorers moved on to other parts of the world. After the Civil War many citizens from the North and the South headed to Texas because of economic hardships caused by the bloody brother vs.
The first wave of the migrating hordes reached the South Plains by March, During that year a group of migrating adventurers joined together and formed a group to explore the South Plains and to open the way for others who wished to seek homesteads on the Llano Estacado. The cattle boom in the late s gave new motivation to settle this region and take advantage of the vast pastures and other abundant natural resources.
The lure of vast open and cheap land brought many adventuresome settlers to this part of the country for a chance to colonize one of the final western frontiers.
Lubbock County was created on August 21, by an act of legislation in Austin that divided Bexar county which included parts of Northwest Texas and the South Plains into forty-eight counties. One of the newly formed counties, know as Lubbock County, was named after Tom S. Lubbock, Civil War Governor of Texas. At its creation, Lubbock County was attached to Baylor County and remained an appendage of that County until the organization of Crosby County in Many distinct individuals were responsible for the formation of Lubbock County, some the more notorious were: W.
Rainer, W. Crump and Associates, and Frank Wheelock. Rainer was a wealthy cattleman, manager, and part owner of the Rayner Cattle Company, with home offices in St. Louis, MO. Once established in the county, Rainer decided to form a city on the north side of the canyon, and call his new town Monterey. At the same time, another father of Lubbock, W. Crump, wished to build on the north side of the canyon, and name his new establishment Old Lubbock.
After the development of these new townships talk began as to where the county seat would be established. Hence conflict. Crump wanted the seat in Old Lubbock and Rainer wanted Monterey. The city of Lubbock was incorporated in Lubbock Texas is located in the North West of the State of Texas and situated on the Llano Estacado, at an elevation of 3, ft meters. The city hosts a population of , people Lubbock is known as the "Hub City", because it is the economic, educational, and health-care hub of the multi-county region.
Llano Estacado is a Spanish term that loosely translates as "Staked plains". It was named by early Spanish explores who came through the region in The Llano Estacado Mesa. The Llano Estacado is a flat, featureless grassland. Outside of developed areas, common plants are cactus, mesquite trees, plains cottonwood, and several types of short grasses.
The soil, climate and lack of trees made this area great for agriculture. Due to low precipitation farmers and towns rely primarily on underground water sources, such as the Ogalala aquifer.
Crops grown on the South Plains include: cotton, wheat, sunflowers, peanuts, sorghum, grapes for wine , and corn.
Lubbock has a semi-arid climate with hot summers and mild winters. Lubbock is a windy city. Winds can vary from a breeze to high winds, that can produce dust storms, these are most common during the winter and spring months. Precipitation: There is very little rain on the South Plains, which makes for a dry climate with little to no humidity. The rainiest times being in the Spring and Summer.
Lubbock averages 19 inches mm of precipitation per year. While snow if uncommon it you might be lucky enough to experience a bit of snow in the winter. The average snowfall on the South Plains is 9 inches.
Much of the city's growth and prosperity depended on production from the surrounding rich agricultural area, which during the s was turning increasingly to cotton and sorghum culture as irrigation increased rapidly. In Lubbock had some sixty-seven wholesale outlets and an increasing number of manufacturing plants. Lubbock was the wholesale trade center for fifty-one counties in West Texas and eastern New Mexico and the retail center for much of the same area.
The city was also the world's leader in the cottonseed industry. Lubbock has had a newspaper throughout its history. After the Lubbock Leader was moved to Plainview in , the Lubbock Avalanche was founded in and so named, editor J. Dillard said, because it was planned in secret so that it would hit the streets like an avalanche. The Plains Agricultural Journal began publication in and was absorbed by the Avalanche in After the Avalanche-Journal published only a morning edition. From to H.
Adams was editor and publisher of the Lubbock County Herald , a weekly. Transportation improved through the years; by the s four major airlines-American, America West, Delta, and Southwest-were boarding more than half a million passengers at Lubbock each year.
Lubbock was still being served by the Santa Fe, although the Burlington Northern had quit the city. By U. Highway 84 ran through the city from northwest to southeast, U. Highway 87 ran north and south, U. Population growth intertwined itself with economic development. In the half century after its incorporation Lubbock grew from a population of 1, in to , in , and during the decade —50 it was the second most rapidly growing city in the country, lagging behind only Albuquerque.
In the s Lubbock ranked as the eighth largest city in the state, with a population of , Of these 70 percent were Caucasian, 21 percent Hispanic, and 9 percent black. By the population was , Like the county, the city of Lubbock has gone from being overwhelmingly Democratic to splitting its votes between both major parties.
For president the city went Republican in nine of ten elections following that of , voting for a Democrat only in , when Lyndon B. Johnson ran against Barry Goldwater. Balloting for governor and United States senator has been more evenly split, with Republicans winning six of fourteen gubernatorial races and nine of fourteen for senator.
The city joined the county in supporting Republican Larry Combest for United States representative in , , and From an area once called "a treeless, desolate waste of uninhabited solitude" Lubbock has grown to be a cosmopolitan, modern city.
Texas Technological College became Texas Tech University in and a year later added its medical school, which grew into the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center , with schools of medicine, nursing, and allied health.
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