Parmer County tells its story through two closely connected elements: the broad landscape of the High Plains and the communities shaped by ranchland and railroads.
The High Plains and the Agricultural Landscape
Parmer County lies in the High Plains of Texas. Flat terrain and sandy, clayey, and silty soils shape the land. Alongside native grasses, there are cultivated fields that produce corn, sugar beets, potatoes, sorghum, cotton, wheat, hay, and soybeans.
Running Water Draw crosses the county from northwest to southeast. The stream carries water intermittently and forms another defining line in an otherwise flat landscape.
Churches, Museum, and Remembrance
The Parmer County Museum in Friona grew out of the “First Church in Friona,” which was dedicated on May 23, 1909. After the original wooden church burned down, an adobe chapel was built at the museum site in 1921. A historical marker was erected at the former church site in 1975. The museum presents the origins of Parmer County and its condition at the beginning of 1876.
A 2012 newspaper report described a large arrow at the museum in Friona that highlighted the history and heritage of the Comanche in the county. The same report included Parmer County in the Quanah Parker Trail.
Ranchland and Railroad Towns
Parmer County lay entirely within the lands granted to the XIT Ranch. Bovina began as the ranch’s Hay Hook Line Camp and is located in the western part of the county between two branches of Running Water Draw. Around 1900, Bovina was one of the largest livestock shipping points in the United States. In 1898, train crews named the railroad section near Bovina “Bull Town” because cattle often stood on the tracks there.
Friona was established in 1898 as a freight-transfer and shipping station on the Pecos Valley and Northern Texas Railway. The early land-development trains to Friona carried 250 to 500 people each.
Farwell is also closely connected to railroad and county history. The town site was located where the Pecos Valley and Northern Texas Railway entered New Mexico, on land that originally belonged to the XIT Ranch. The county seat was moved from Parmerton Hill to Farwell on December 10, 1907; in 1917, county officials moved into the courthouse. Farwell’s stone church, built in 1907, also served as a public school until 1910. Another milestone: in 1913, the Pecos and Northern Texas Railway built a branch line from Farwell to Lubbock.
Friona Today: Festival and Places to Visit
Friona held its first Cheeseburger Festival in 2005. The festival showcases the beef, dairy, and grain industries in the Friona area and takes place every year on the third Saturday in July. If you’d like to plan your trip around it, check the date for the year in question.
Friona also has local points of interest for visitors: the city park has a pavilion and a playground; check the facilities before your visit. The municipal swimming pool offers swimming lessons for children aged three and up. Confirm current operating hours and class dates before visiting.
U.S. Highway 60 runs from Farwell through Bovina, Friona, Hereford, and Canyon to Amarillo. The former rail connections shaped the county’s development in other ways.
Discover more destinations: Friona, Matagorda County, Hunt County, Nueces, Hardin County, Hidalgo, Williamson, Crane County.
For the broader travel overview: Texas.
