Claude, Texas: The Movie Capital of the Texas Panhandle

We often drive up 287 on our way to Colorado. On that stretch are several small towns that I would love to stop and check out. One of those towns is Claude, Texas.

Claude is about 30 miles east of Amarillo and the county seat of Armstrong County. It was founded in 1887 when the Fort Worth and Denver Railway came through town. It was named for Claude Ayers, the engineer that drove the first passenger train through town. The train established Claude as a shipping point for cattle.

The Armstrong County courthouse was built in 1912 and is still an active courthouse today.

In the 1890s, the Palace Hotel was built at this location. It was a three story building and the largest hotel in the Texas panhandle. It was built by J.M. White and was known for amenities such as steam heat and electric lights. I'm not sure what happened to the building but the Corner Drug building is in its place.

The Armstrong County Museum is a free museum that is located on Trice Street, across 287 from the courthouse. It takes up several buildings. It was started in 1990. It's a very cool museum. There are examples of various businesses, electronics, and photos that give you a history of Armstrong County. We were very lucky to have a guided tour. I didn't get the lady's name but she was a fountain of information about the people that lived there. Unfortunately, no photos inside the museum.

The Gem Theater is part of the Armstrong County Museum complex. It opened in 1915 as The Claudia and it hosted live events. It later became the Rialto. Inside there's the main theater and then a balcony on the second floor. It was really cool.

The Claude News is a weekly newspaper that started back in 1890 as the Claude Argus. In 1891, the paper merged with the Goodnight News. The paper was run from this building for a while. Our guide in the museum said that the paper was now published from the owner's home. This building, also erected in 1915 was donated to the Armstrong County Museum in 2005. This building holds some cool war memorials. There's also an exhibit for the Boy Scouts as Claude had one of the earliest and now oldest Boy Scout Troops.

This is the Armstrong County Sheriff's office and Jail. This building was erected in 1953. It used stone from the original jail that was constructed in 1894. For that jail, the stones were quarried from Palo Duro Canyon and then hauled here in wagons by citizens. That building had 2 stories and 20 inch thick walls! It was known as "Fort Knox" and only three convicts had ever escaped.  It ceased to be a jail in 2022 due to the cost of upkeep.

Claude is known as the movie capital of the Texas Panhandle because of the movies that were shot here. The most famous, of course, is Hud from 1963 staring Paul Newman and Patricia Neal. A made for tv movie called Sunshine was shot here in 1977. And finally, there was a little movie called Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

We enjoyed our stop in Claude. The visit to the museum alone was well worth the visit. Next time you're up that way, stop in and check it out.