Tulia, Texas: City of Windmills

If you drive due south from Amarillo on I-27, you'll go through a small town called Tulia, Texas.

Tulia used to be a division of the JA Ranch. While the ranch didn't necessarily own the land, they used it for grazing. Then in 1887, a guy named J A Parrish had a dugout, which is basically a shelter built into the ground, where he had a post office. The town was named Tule for the Tule Creek. But a "typo" by an office clerk changed the name to Tulia. In 1889, W. G. Conner took over the post office and moved it to where the present town is today.

In 1890, Swisher County was established and Tulia became the county seat. The county was named for James Swisher, signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence and soldier in the Texas Revolution. In 1909, they built this beautiful courthouse.

Then in the 1960s, they defaced it. At least they didn't just demolish it and build a new one. There's still hope that one day they'll put it back like it was. After several of these blogs I'm sure you can tell how I feel about county courthouses.

In 1906, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad came to town. They had a little wooden depot that burned in 1915. This new passenger and freight depot was built in 1915.  Broadway dead ends into the the train depot so when passengers exited the train, they could walk down Broadway to the Hotel Tulia, which is no longer with us. 

As we all know, I'm a sucker for a good Coca-Cola Mural. This is on an old building that is currently an antique store. The mural has clearly been refreshed in the last few years.

Across the main street from the courthouse is the Royal Theater. It was built in the 1940s and for a long time was the main source of entertainment in this small town. Like all small town theaters, business declined in the late 1980s. It makes me wonder what people did for entertainment when their only movie theater closed. But in the 2000s, the theater was repurposed for live performances. When I walked by here on a Saturday, the place looked abandoned.

I thought this was a pretty cool mural. I think it's a play on the Route 66 murals. Route 86 goes right through town.

The big story that put Tulia on the map was a drug bust in 1999. Based on the word of one white police officer, 45 Black men were arrested and jailed on drug charges. Turns out, that guy lied. What? The police not telling the truth? I know not all law enforcement officers are corrupt but the bad apples are so plentiful that it shines a bad light on all of them. Meanwhile, the guys that were jailed were eventually pardoned by Rick Perry and they got a large monetary settlement from the state. But they still spent years in prison.

I hate to say it but Tulia was depressing. When you drove into town, the first thing you see is a big pile of junk. This doesn't really seem very inviting. From there, the town just seemed to have given up. We didn't see any people except one sad lady working at the Allsup's.

Only about 4,400 people live here and honestly, I can see why. With Amarillo and Lubbock both about an hour away, either of those places would be a big step up. For grocery stores, we saw a Lowe's Market and then for big restaurants, there was a Sonic and a McDonald's off the highway.

While the big employers in Tulia are Swisher County and the Tulia ISD, Agriculture is very big. There are several grain elevators like this in Tulia. Farmers around the area grow wheat, corn, sorghum and cotton (though cotton is not stored in a grain elevator). As for the "city of windmills" moniker, that was because of all the traditional windmills that were used to pump groundwater on the outlying farms and ranches. We didn't see any windmills in town but perhaps further out?

Suffice it to say, Tulia was not my favorite place but I feel that it was important to see. If nothing else, it will make you appreciate where you live. And while it might not be fancy, Tulia is still an important town due to its agricultural importance. So, if you're in the area, check it out!