Tulia, TX

Tulia sits in the Texas Panhandle 49 miles south of Amarillo, at U.S. 87 and Texas 86 about two miles east of Interstate 27. The city grew on the Tule Ranch division of the JA Ranch and became the Swisher County seat; incorporation followed in 1909. The courthouse square still gives the town its administrative center, while the surrounding agricultural system supplies the working backdrop: cattle-feeding operations, farm-implement manufacturers and repair shops, cotton gins, and grain elevators operate in the area. Tulia Independent School District serves local students, and Amarillo College serves the county.

Historic Highway 86 runs past the Swisher County Archives and Museum, where ranch and farm artifacts, a recreated early-twentieth-century house, a blacksmith shop, railroad material, and county photographs connect the present town to the plains around it. Each late July, the Swisher County Picnic and Ranch Rodeo brings food vendors, games, and music to the courthouse square. Tulia's daily map is easy to read: county offices and community gatherings cluster around the square, and the roads out of town lead quickly into the cattle, cotton, grain, and repair businesses that support the region.