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RESOURCESFounded by a Texas Ranger in 1876, the area known today as Lubbock, Texas, is home to more than 200,000 residents and is the center of the South Plains region. Although Lubbock still maintains an atmosphere of small-town hospitality and West Texas charm, it also offers big-city delights. From award-winning wineries to an archaeological preserve and the largest cowboy symposium in the world to its rich musical heritage (Buddy Holly is the city's most famous native son), an array of unexpected adventures await travelers in Lubbock.
Lubbock is located in northwest Texas, just south of the Texas Panhandle. The city is easily accessible from many of the region's most visited attractions, including Carlsbad Caverns, Albuquerque Balloon Festival or the Ft. Worth Stockyards.
Transportation: Four major airlines service the Lubbock area (Southwest, Continental, Delta Connection, and American Eagle). The city can also be accessed by State Highway and Interstate Highway systems.
Great Things to See and Do in Lubbock, Texas
1. Since 1989, the largest Cowboy Symposium in the country is held in Lubbock, Texas each year. It is held the first weekend following Labor Day. The Western Writers of American Cowboy Poets reveal life on the range. Cattle drives moved 2500 or more head by 10 cowboys across the U.S. and, after the late 1800s, the cattle were driven to the railroads where they were further transported. Cowboy campfire songs are recorded and the writers have preserved a special way of life on the range. Mr. Alvin Davis, a Lubbock resident and Cowboy Poet, promotes the annual Cowboy Symposium and is available for poetry readings and singing the songs of the west.
2. Texas Tech University is in Lubbock, Texas. This University not only provides broad undergraduate and graduate degrees in all fields of study, but specializes in Law, Medicine and training athletes. The Southwest Cancer Treatment Center resides in Lubbock. The University is home to the Ranching Heritage Museum and the Museum of Texas Tech which features traveling exhibits and has a permanent collection of carved ivory and Wyeth paintings. Both museums are within walking distance of each other.) The Ranching Heritage Museum illustrates life on the cattle ranches with reconstructed houses, barns, carriages, windmills, and railroad stations giving the outdoor walking tour a feel for what life was like on the range.
Texas Tech also operates the Lubbock Lake Landmark, an archeological investigation of people living in the area over 5,000 years ago. Life-sized bronzes of the northern giant armadillo, Columbian mammoth, ancient bison, and the giant short-faced bear are displayed. The bones of each of these animals were found at this site. For more information contact Susan Shore at 806-742-1116.
3. The Robert A "Bob" Nash Interpretive Center is an educational exhibit of human history found in the local area. Outdoor archeological digs are in progress and full sized animal recreations are exhibited based on the bones found at this historical site. People have been confirmed to have lived on this site as far back as 12,000 years.
4. The Buddy Holly Center is housed in an historic building dating back to the 1920s. Buddy Holly's glasses and guitar are on display in addition to an educational movie (18 minutes) of the short musical career of Buddy Holly and the extensive influence his talent provided to other musicians. One legacy from Buddy was and his insistence on a musician's rights to his created music. This center houses the largest public collection of Buddy Holly memorabilia including his band, "The Crickets." The center is coupled with a video arts display.
5. The American Wind Power Center is a tribute to the art of pumping water using wind energy. This center houses both an indoor (75 windmills) and outdoor (48 windmills) museum created in 1997 on 28 acres. This center includes the entire 150-year history of the American Windmill preserving the early technology and the improved technology for pumping water along with the largest windmill ever made (Southern Cross made in Australia with a 1400 foot wheel span.)
Between 1854 and 1920 over seven hundred companies manufactured thousands of windmills. There are now only two of those companies left, one of which is in Texas. Most windmills from that period have now been lost and those that remain are in the hands of private collectors. This museum pays tribute to the clever inventors and designers of the water pumping windmills.
Water was pumped for personal use, for cattle, for irrigation and to power steam locomotives. Even a sputter drill rig is on display to show how drilling was accomplished before diesel powered engines were available. The sputter drill rig resulted in straight holes, a feat still tough to accomplish today. The oldest windmill was the Halladay Standard, a wooden mill made in Batavia, Illinois in 1868. The first windmill patent was filed in 1854. Billy Wolf can tell you all about the windmills and will demonstrate for you the "women's windmill". The Center is also available for group parties, weddings and other special events having an outdoor grill and covered area for outdoor parties.
For more information on the American Wind Power Center contact Coy F. Harris, Executive Director, at 806-747-8734, or visit www.windmill.com.
6. The Llano Estacado Tourism Society is the Texas high plains organization of Lubbock and the surrounding small towns. The towns include Atldo Farms, Inc where there is a Maze to find your way through (agri-tainment.) There are lovely bed and breakfasts in the towns. Crosbyton County has the Pioneer Memorial Museum. Hale county Farm and Ranch has a museum of antique farm and train equipment. Muleshoe has a national wildlife refuge. Plainview had antique stores and local artists who painted the bulls. A map takes you on a walk around town to view each of the 48 artistically and whimsically painted bulls. It's Plainview's own cattle drive! The city of Post has an historic Main Street, two national register historical sites and thirty historical markers. Olympic gold metals are on display in Post named for the cereal magnate. The OS museum is not to be missed I Post where 114 carat gold ornaments are on display (806-495-3570.)
These towns were all about 40 miles apart, a day's ride on horseback and they work together to share their exhibits, history and wonderful antiques. The Llano Estacado is really a geological formation in the panhandle of Texas. It is a high mesa reaching from Amarillo on the north to Midland/Odessa on the south. The east is defined by the irregular and deeply incised Caprock escarpment. The Llano Estacado comprises all or part of thirty-three Texas and four New Mexico counties and covers roughly 32,000 square miles, larger than all of New England. Sandy can tell you all about it. For more information visit www.LlanoEstacado.com or llanoestacado@door.net
7. The County Line Restaurant has the best bar-b-que in town. This beautiful park and restaurant is host to several families of waterfowl and peacocks. With shade trees, fountains and walkways, this tranquil place provides relaxed and affordable meals for lunch or dinner. Special buildings with screened in porches and rocking chairs along with fireplaces and oversized couches are provided for large groups.
8. To have fun and learn about science in the mean time, the Science Spectrum is the place to take the kids and spend the day. You can seclude yourself inside of a soap bubble, whisper across 100 feet, climb across a mountain, and view an amazing collection of holograms. The Science Spectrum houses three floors of over 250 interactive exhibits and an Omnimax Theater. Special school trips can be arranged for the Science Spectrum.
9. Like American wine? Lubbock boasts of at least three award winning Texas High Plains wines. Each winery can be visited and sampled, and all are different. Visit the CapRock (806-863-2704 or 1-800-546-WINE), Pheasant Ridge (806-746-6033 or visit www.pheasaantridgewinery.com), and Llano Estacado (806-745-2258) wineries. Each has their special recipes and processes for producing top quality wines. If you like dry wines, be sure to visit the Pheasant Ridge winery on Friday, Saturday or Sunday when they are open for tasting. All of their wines are 100% dry, but full of wonderful, estate grown grapes flavor.
10. Two "extreme houses" can be seen in Ransom Canyon. Artist Robert Bruno designed two very different houses. The "steel" house has been under artistic creation for 30 years and overlooks Ransom Canyon, the end of the Caprock escarpment. Magnificent picture windows bring light into each of the many levels on all sides. The "tile" house is near completion and brings color and shape to the neighborhood.
11. The Silent Wings Museum near the Lubbock Airport is a treasure (located at 6202 North Interstate 27, Route 3 and Box 393, Lubbock, Texas 79403-9710, telephone 806-775-2047 or www.silentwingsmuseum.com.) Did you know that glider planes helped to win World War II? The museum guide and full sized displays tell you how gliders were developed, why they were needed (silent infiltration into enemy lines) and what they accomplished. Videotapes present testimonials from the surviving glider pilots about their courage and harrowing experiences landing their heavily loaded glider planes in fields under heavy enemy fire. This museum is a fine testimony to the courage of American pilots who utilized a new technology under actual combat conditions.
Reunions and special events take place nearly every month of the year at the Silent Wings Museum. Call to obtain a copy of their seasonal newsletter for current educational events, reunions, and memorials to the silent wing pilots.
12. The Apple Country Orchard (806-892-2961) is a great place to take your family if you want the experience of picking apples for your pleasure. A wide variety of applies, including grated tree varieties, have been planted for fruit production which starts in July and ending in early November. Containers on rollers are provided and the trees are trimmed to assure that the apples are within easy picking reach. Lunch is served at the Orchard, tours are provided and weddings can be arranged in the garden gazebo next to the water fountain garden. Festivals occur year round including the apple butter festival in the fall, the hay maze, and the annual cork and fork affair. Pay by the pound and enjoy fresh, beautiful apples at the Apple Country Orchard. Visit applecountryorchards.com for further information. It is located four miles East of Idalou on highway 62/82.
13. Shop 'til you drop! Lubbock houses not only wonderful department stores at its mall, but also offers antique stores, gift shops and a myriad of specialty stores and restaurants at its downtown Depot area. The Hub City Brewery can be found in the Depot area providing a wonderful assortment of home brews with an affordable menu of steaks, wood fired Italian Pizzas and Calzones as well as an assortment of salads, sandwiches and south of the border fare. It is located at 1807 Buddy Holly Avenue (806-747-1535), within walking distance of the Buddy Holly Center. A tour of the brew making process is provided along with the award winning beer sampler. Hub City Brewery is know for Raider Red Ale, Hub City Specialty Brew, Ogallala Light Ale, Wild Bill's Yellowhouse Wheat and Stauss & Braun Stout.
Visit the Texas Music Kitchen for entertaining dining (www.TexasMusicKitchen.com.) A large and lively place to dine western style is at Cagle Steaks (806-795-3879 or www.caglesteaks.com, and located on the corner of West 4th Street and Farm Road 179, just east of the Reece Center.))
The Cactus Theater across the street hosts great concerts, musicals and dramatic plays, and the Stars and Stripes drive-in theater still operates showing first run films. Don't miss the new Krispy KremeTM on the south loop road.
14. Lubbock, Texas is the hub of the South Plains and the center of the most concentrated cotton production in the world. In a radius of about 100 miles, two million bales of cotton are produced each year. Lubbock County alone produces over 250,000 bales. A regular cotton bale weights 500 pounds and its average valued is $325. The average yield per acre is 453 pounds. Visit the Lil' Cotton Gin in Lubbock, Texas (806-794-7097 or 806-745-3745).
For more information on any of the above items, maps, visitor guides and for arranging conventions in Lubbock, contact the Lubbock Convention & Visitors bureau at 806-747-5232 or visit www.lubbocklegends.com.
Time Zone: Central Standard TimeLubbock offers lodging accommodations to meet every budget and need. With more than 3,000 hotel rooms available in the city, travelers are sure to find the perfect place to stay. The Lubbock Convention and Visitors Bureau Web site offers hotel coupons.
Visit www.lubbocklegends.org for more information.The county of Lubbock was founded in 1876. It was named after Thomas S. Lubbock, a former Texas Ranger and the brother of Francis R. Lubbock, the governor of Texas during the Civil War. The settlement that is the present-day city of Lubbock was not formed until late 1890. Two settlements within the county, Old Lubbock and Monterey, were combined to form the settlement of Lubbock. During the following year, the settlement of Lubbock was named the county seat for Lubbock County. The city was incorporated on March 16, 1909. Shortly after incorporation, rail service was established in Lubbock. As agriculture continued to grow within the region and as the railroads continued to expand, Lubbock became the marketing center of the region and earned the name "Hub of the Plains." In 1925, Texas Technological College (today Texas Tech University) opened its doors. And during the 1940s, Lubbock's growth rate was second nationally only to Albuquerque. (Source: City of Lubbock)
Lubbock is home to an internationally recognized wine industry that features three award-winning wineries:
Cap*Rock WineryDepot District The Depot District is the heartbeat of nightlife in downtown Lubbock. A collection of historical buildings along and near Buddy Holly Avenue, the Depot District features live music, stage shows, sports and cigar bars, restaurants and a micro-brewery.
Ranching and cowboy culture roots run deep in Lubbock - the city itself was named after Thomas S. Lubbock, a former Texas Ranger. A few ways for travelers to immerse themselves in this culture include:
- National Ranching Heritage Center (authentically recreates ranch life from the late 1780s through the 1930s)Located in the Central Flyway, Lubbock has an outdoor bounty of trails for birding and wildlife enthusiasts. Highlighted in the Texas Parks and Wildlife's Panhandle Plains Wildlife Trail, Lubbock has numerous lakes, parks, a 336-acre preserve, an arboretum, the Garden Arts Center, and The Robert Nash Interpretive Center which provides guided tours of nature's best.
Lubbock also contains one of the very few sites in North America known to contain evidence of a complete sequence of human existence, the ancient people of the Southern High Plains, during the past 11,500 years.
Museums:Founded in 1925, Texas Tech today boasts a student population of almost 30,000 and is one of the largest universities in Texas. As such it offers a plethora of opportunities for visitors. Here is a sampling of what's available:
- Lubbock Lake Landmark (an archaeological and natural history preserve)Performing arts are thriving in Lubbock. Visitors will find numerous entertainment options to choose from:
- Allen Theatre at Texas Tech UniversityOptions abound for families traveling to Lubbock:
- Science Spectrum® and OMNI Theatre (a non-profit museum for science education that makes it easy for children of all ages to experience the science of fun)This is Texas after all, and Lubbock can hang with the best when it comes to shopping. Some local favorites include:
- South Plains Mall (the largest mall located between Dallas/Ft. Worth and Albuquerque)