I lived and grew up in Happy. Spent my childhood and adolescence there in the 1960's and 70's. In this video I saw one of the houses I grew up in. It was a busy place during the 1960's,1970's and 1980's. Those empty buildings downtown all had active businesses in them: a doctor's office in the post office building, a grocery store, an auto parts store, a barber shop, a hardware store, a clothing store, a Ford dealership with auto repair shop, a drug store and soda shop, a farm equipment store, a Lion's Club, and a hair salon. There was a lumber yard. There was even an active dirt strip airport for a crop dusting business and at one time a hotel. This video is all that I have seen of the town since leaving in 1984. Sad to see all that is lost. Thank you very much Lord Spoda for posting this.
It should give you a sense of why Rust Belt cities are called that. Once upon a time Detroit, for instance, was the 4th or 5th largest city. It will never be a top 10 city again.
My husband grew up in Happy, Texas. He really enjoyed this video. He knows all these towns. It kind of made him feel bad. Happy was such a nice town for a kid.
And yet the people in those same sad towns believe that Sam Walton was just a good 'ol boy in his beat up Ford 150 pickup with his dog 'ol Roy riding shotgun. Lol. Walton of Wal-Mart fame was one of the biggest robber Barrons who ever lived.
I live in the UK, and up until Covid I travelled around America for about 1 month per year as I love the US. I love your videos as I can sit here, thousands of miles a way and enjoy exploring… Keep them coming!
One month per year, you say? I'm an older American and you have surely seen more of this country than I have. I do not think myself either deprived nor atypical.
His videos are descriptive detailed, and good camera work with fairly high quality video, stable shoots and wide angles, you get the feeling your there like GoogleEarth.
@David Garcia Am Irish and love travelling the US, not into big cities, just love travelling through small towns and countryside. Lovely people especially in the south, real salt of the earth people.
Beware that "Jon and Nic" give a very biased, cherry picked view of rural America, especially with Jon's low IQ commentary about "dying/declining" rural this or that. As commentator "jodibaggerman3796" said in response to this video: "You should come back to Happy and talk to people from our town. We actually have quite a few small businesses in town, 4 churches, funeral homes, and a very successful school. It's not a dying town at all. Houses sell quickly because so many are trying to move into town. We don't have a grocery store because there are two towns within 15 mins with grocery stores. Most people drive to those two towns for work. I encourage you to stop and talk to people in these towns you are going through. Also, look up the history of our grain elevators in town. The Grande theater in town is actually a store and museum of Happy." As someone who has lived in rural America all his life, I agree with "jodibaggerman3796" and add that "Jo and Nic" aren't to be trusted in their assessments and commentary.
I took my husband to the little Panhandle town I grew up in until the end of my 5th grade year...Stinnett, Hutchinson Co., TX. He loves that town and calls it a "town lost in time". My two sisters and I continue to return there every few years just to remember our childhood. We left there in 1959. It really hasn't changed much, other than the school changing its name and enlarging. Living in a small town in the 1950s were good years in which to be a child.
The windows on the courthouse are boarded up because of a bad hailstorm. So many windows were broken throughout town that they have been having a hard time getting them all repaired.
In the early 60's my uncle was farming cotton by Earth, Tx. his cotton was up about 8 inches and a hail storm wiped it out. he had time to replant and the crop got further along and it got hailed out. The following year my aunt came home from the grocery store and cooked our lunch, we setting at the table when it started to hail and my uncle ran to get the car in the garage. My aunt was screaming at him to not go outside. so we all sat in the window and watched that almost new chevy get beat to hell by hail.
Regarding Happy's lack of a grocery store, I would think that Canyon would be the place to go. (speaking of Canyon, Palo Duro Canyon is right there, well worth a visit!) I'm always a bit surprised to see such nice murals in otherwise desolate-looking towns. It shows there's at least one person who's willing to do something positive for the community.
Also further south in Plainview as well for more Walmarts and grocery stores...you missed the Amigos United in Hereford, the Eagles Landing truck stop, Sonic, Pizza Hut, and the other Allsup's on the NORTH side of Tulia, and the Lowe's and Dollar General in Dimmitt as well...
The construction of I-27 between Amarillo and Lubbock hurt business in these small towns. Old Hwy 87, which pretty much parallels I-27, ran directly through these small towns.
I was driving from Albuquerque to Austin back in 2003, and badly misjudged my fuel and left Amarillo without a fill-up. Got the sweaty hands watching the tank hitting "E" and saw the "prairie skyscrapers" and took a chance and headed for them. Stopped at that very gas station with the mystery "credit card pump" which at the time was staffed (and full-serve) by an older gentleman. Put nearly 31 gallons into our 30 gallon tank. MAN was that close. Anyway, I was as happy to see Happy as any a happy person has been. Never forgot the name. Thx for the tour.
I’ve grown up in the Texas Panhandle and my dad in the ag business and friends who owned grain elevators - I’ve never in my life over 50 years heard these referred to Prairie Skyscrapers … but I love it 🤣
I heard the term used in Kansas and Nebraska, I grew up in the Panhandle during the sixties and seventies and don't recall hearing them called anything other than grain elevators.
4:48 Buddy Knox (in the 70's) toured in Canada and my Father got to know him and played guitar with him once in a while...in the 80's he lived in Manitoba...he was getting back into touring at those weekend jubilee's with 12 bands events...then just as he was getting started he passed away. He had a rough life in the 70's and 80's...had dinner with him a few times.
I'm really shocked at the level of poverty in parts of the u.s. , I was obsessed with the states when I was younger and always wanted to go we were always influenced by t.v. and film back then , but in the advent of the Internet etc it's easier to see the other side of America and American life . I'm in England and enjoy watching your videos . 🙂
@@PraiseDog I've never seen poverty this bad in the u.k. not even close , but yes I realise its not all of the u.s. and it is a vastly larger country than Britain .
You should see the U.S. and judge for yourself. It’s an extremely complex nation. One of the items that stands true with respect to these small towns is, the level of resentment existing within. They believe their values are being attacked and they are being made fun of by elitist city dwellers. 2:06
As an American born in San Antonio who came from a career miltary\law enforcement family, I am not anti much, but I am pro America, but we continue to outsource our kids’ futures. First Manufacturing, now customer service for credit cards, cable tv, etc. What are we doing?! What’s next? America was built on Coal, Farming, Manufacturing, etc. Now that we turned a corner, we are outsourcing technology, customer service, solar and much more, while NOT helping farmers and lower\middle class Americans. This IS our future!? Our politicians better get their acts together, because this type of lobbying, in-fighting and stupidity is only helping our enemies. Wake up America! Wherever you live, help\support YOUR community. Peace. - Ron
I did some Googling on the Hereford Court House. The magnificent building had a roof collapse in 2020 and court proceedings have been moved to a temporary premises. Hope they're able to save it, it's a beautiful building. Interestingly the temporary court arrangements are in a building built in the 1860's.
As an Australian, I live in a very small town. Less than 100 people. The town is in central Queensland and it is flat, dry for most of the year and has red dirt which we call Bull Dust when it is dusty or when it covers your vehicle etc. We have no crime and no Mao. Town center except for a bar and a rural fire brigade. My farm covers just on 50k acres which I run my beef cattle and sheep. Seeing the town in your videos when I get to watch them makes me wonder how they can get to the condition they are in considering america is meant to be rich and powerful. I either drive or fly a helicopter to the nearest big town which is over 300 kilometres away by road. My internet service is limited and my internet and phone antenna is on a tower 100 feet in the air. And as far as TV goes we don't get a good signal so basically we just watch DVDs and like I said, you tube when we get a decent signal. I really hope something can be done with those towns and things can improve. As for is, it looks like we are heading into another drought with LA Nina coming back sowe are preparing now. If its another 10 year drought, I don't know how we will get through it again if things get really bad cause there's only so much feed you can keep in stock for your livestock. It's tough on the land but we Australians are resilient. Good luck to you guys over there 👍
IMHO the Aussies I’ve had the honor to meet in my life have reminded me most of those where me and mine were raised. OK/TX Panhandles, Liberal KS in their spirit and wisdom. Thank you for your kind words.
The deal with all the boarded windows and tore up houses in Hereford is a massive hail storm hit last year and devastated a big part of the town and even rural.
You know these towns look almost indistinguishable from the wheatbelt towns here in Western Australia. Your courthouses being far, far, grander is the only real exception I could pick out. That & the fact we have no interstate, the highway just runs down main street. I had to cancel my planned trip to the US south east 2 years ago, so these vids are very much appreciated. Thank you.
Once the interstate was finished outside of town it killed downtown Happy. I'm from another small panhandle town, Plainview, and traveled through, stopped to eat, many times on the way to Amarillo. My friends and I like to claim who's most successful by who moved the farthest away. I miss the small town feel I left behind for the larger urban environment I moved to, but that's all I miss. Thanks for the stroll down memory lane.
Yep that's how they die sometimes half the town wants the traffic out and peace and quiet and the other half wants the traffic through town. People stop, fill up, grab a bite and drink, stretch their legs, keeps the economy going . sad to see these places wither away.
I was born in Plainview, 1961. We lived in Dimmitt until I was 15, then moved to another small town in East Texas. We used to shop in Plainview, in Hereford and Amarillo. This video brought back memories. I would love to go back and look at some of the places we used to shop in Amarillo and Hereford.
Tikis does have some very nice homes. The famous western artist, Kenneth Wyatt, lived in Tulia and had his home there until he passed. His main gallery was in his home. That is the only grocery store there.
Growing up in Galena Park, TX...there was a grain elevator on the Houston Ship Channel. I was in junior high school and out in the front yard of the friend...looking right at the point when the grain elevator exploded....grain dust is very volatile. Very real memory. The explosion shattered windows all around Galena Park and the school was closed the next few days, giving the school district time to replace the broken windows and clean up the shattered glass. I won't go into the loss of life. Most people my age remember this quite vividly. BTW, if you were to visit Galena Park, you would find a good solid community...city of its own, but surrounded by East Houston....but a community much different than the one in which I grew up.
I think one thing you're missing on these videos is that you're visiting during the weekends. If you come back during the weekdays, you may find some of these towns are a lot busier. Many of the RV Parks are for the oil field workers. Oil is still big business up there. Having said that, being from Morton, the only reason is still there is because it's the county seat.
Thanks for sharing! I completed the first grade in Lela Junction Tx, a wide spot in the road, near Amarilla,1946. When my Dad returned from WW2 we moved to Oregon and in 1952 back to my birthplace, San Diego, Cal and finally moving to WA state in 1970 and here I remain, so far. Those days were a much different chapter in American History! Todays extremes began in the Early 1960's with a big bump in the early 1990's with Windows 3.0 and now pushing hard for A.I. The future is not the past repeated. The future will go from bad to worse and then Armageddon after which things will improve for the much-much better! See God's Love! Ron PTL USA
Brings back memories, Lord Spoda! Before commenters assume that the folks in Happy are miserable and trampled upon by other Americans allow me to disabuse you of that notion. Is the population dwindling? Absolutely. Folks who live in these towns don’t live in mansions-in fact many live nearby. Of course their annual income is less than the US avg. After all, the cost of living is likely 25% below that. Indeed, my family who were/are dry-land farmers worked the land for generations. Fortunately, there have been significant oil/gas findings and-more importantly-have set our parents and grandparents up for life. When you make it to the Oklahoma panhandle through Guymon, Hooker, Tyrone and 5 miles up the road to Liberal, KS we’ll discuss more.
"Making a circle around the square." It's nice to hear someone who talks like I do! These presentations are very entertaining, albeit very bittersweet. I look at the old, crumbling houses and wonder what they were like when they were new and full of life, and I ponder the memories they must hold. I think back to the brand-new house my wife and I bought 35 years ago, and I hope that it will not suffer the same fate in another 65 years, when we're long gone. Oh, well; I'm 65 now, so I guess I'm bound to get a little maudlin from time to time.
One thing I noticed was all the towns were losing people, but to my amazement were relatively clean, not trashy. Old empty buildings did not have junk all around them. The one place you called junk, seemed like a business of old stuff. Thanks for the ride along.
I really appreciate all your videos - gives a good impression of different regions in the US, by your comments as also what you're showing - thank you - regards from Germany...
The part of the Texas that is growing and becoming prosperous is the Texas triangle of the five largest cities of Dallas, Ft Worth, Houston, San Antonio and Austin. What Texas has is a divide between urban and rural and who's benefiting the most from all this prosperity coming to the state.
Amarillo has had big growth and that is continuing. Canyon used to be very very little now very fast-growing. Yes Texas is going thru what CA did in the 60’s - everyone moved there for good jobs, Repub good governance, warm weather and beauty. Prosperity yes but quality of live changing. Massive growth has its downside.
It is really sad how all over North America, these towns have died, and have for all practical purposes, become ghost towns. I own a small shack in a village about the same size as Happy in southern Mexico, about 800 or 900 inhabitants, but there are at least 9 small stores, at least 5 bars, at least 2 small restaurants, 1 tortillería, 1 veterinarian ( or feed store) and 4 small churches or chapels. But no fire department and no gas station( as seen in Happy Texas). I didn't see a single human being outside in Happy, whereas in my village there are kids, dogs, chickens, goats and quite a few adult humans, all over the place. Local public transportation passes on the main highway through town about every 10 minutes. My village, along with hundreds of thousands of similar small villages throughout Latin America, are what I call ""Living Towns"". It is nothing less than depressing and even scary, to see rural USA as such a dead place( but with about the same population hidden away in their houses and cars).
Do you know why there is a difference? Factual reasons: end of Robinson Patman Act, SEC lack of enforcement, deregulation of banks, mechanization of farm machinery, neo conservatism and debt, neo liberalism and trade agreements. There has been a class war in the U.S. since the Tea Party years of Newt Gingrich and Ronald Reagan that has been continued by both political parties. Look at Bill Clinton and NAFTA, the WTO, and U.S. trade agreements. These small towns are abandoned because the people moved out to the Interstate Highways near Walmart, and the big box stores where new suburbs are built. As the towns died, the people also moved to the east and west coasts.
it's not economic breakdown in rural USA. it's an cultural breakdown. the soul is dying. so much land you can eat plentiful only from your backyard. still people leave for trashy town life.
Very good video. I noticed several things; I didn't see many people out in the yards, even though it was a Saturday, no one walking the streets, and I did not observe any law enforcement. Overall it was a very good video and looking forward to your next one. Be safe on the road.
the people are the law enforcement because they don't have the tax base to fund enough officers for the massive land area, one of the big reasons 2A rights are so important to people in these areas
@@al99795you’ll be surprised here in lil ol Tulia our police budget is $1 mill a year 😂🤦🏽♂️ they buy new police cars n SUVs every year. They just bought a police mustang 🤦🏽♂️
I really loved this! The mural in Tulia was fabulous. Someone said in a comment that it was named after Cyd Charisse.. I loved that. Hereford was enchanting. I loved the history of Deaf Smith. I want to go there and get some of their cheese and see the beautiful courthouse. Thank you for our delightful journey today. I missed Nicole so please tell her I did! Love to you both always
@@daviddecelles8714 We have long been dependent on them, except for America. But my people are hardworking and live by their own work. Now the outcome of the war will decide.
In Hereford....have you ever seen the hail they get...boarded up windows are a way of life. We replaced every window on one side of our home after one storm. There was a famous NFL player from Hereford that played for the Baltimore Ravens. I used to ride the VA bus from Lubbock to Amarillo and we'd stop in Happy to pickup/dropoff vets for care. And we'd always stop on the way up to Amarillo at the gas station in Trulia along the interstate. Trulia was nearly wiped out by a tornado a few years back. There's a big training center just outside of town that is used by federal law enforcement. Shame you didn't go look around more.
Funny to see Hereford on youtube like this. I grew up there and lived there until I was 18. My cousins lived next door to that pretty house you commented on and my mom used to work right across the street from the court house! (Also I believe all the boarded up windows were because of a bad hail storm that rolled through the area. It took a long time to get window replacements if I remember correctly.)
Many of the people that still live in these towns are retired. That’s why the average age of most these towns is so high and why so many female residents are widows. But outside of cheap house prices there’s not much to lure retirees to these towns. I don’t see any medical facilities, assisted living homes, or senior centers in any of these towns. Cheap homes and peace and quiet but not much else to offer for retirees to move there.
I watch a lot of your videos and learn quite a bit. I can’t help but think how many billions of dollars we send around the world and how much good it could do a lot of the communities you highlight.
Some places just can't support a fixed settlement of folk. This was the "Comancheria" for centuries. That whole north-south strip of land running from 100°meridian to the Front Range is just a Big Empty
Drove through Happy in Summer 2022 with my father on a long road trip! Honestly, this town was special to us because my grandfather, my father's father, was nicknamed "Happy:. Definitely seemed quiet but still, special for personal reasons.
I didn’t notice a hospital, dentist, or pharmacy in this entire video. I guess the Walmart has the pharmacy, but my goodness, Walmart is part of the ruin of small town USA.
Lack of healthcare is a big issue in rural America. A lot of rural hospitals have shut down over the years and rural residents have to drive further and further for medical care.
These towns were dying long before Walmart out grew Arkansas. Once travel by car became reliable, the local retail businesses had to compete with Lubbock and Amarillo. The only businesses that could really survive were grocery stores and gas stations. The further away a town was from Lubbock and Amarillo, the more retail and service businesses they could hold on to. Rural Texas communities face the same challenge as rural towns everywhere, trying to hold on to the young people. If young people don't want to be farmers or ranchers, there's little else to keep them there, so they move to where the opportunity is.
I love these panhandle tours, I've been through all of these towns. I'm waiting for you to tour my slowly dying small town of Slaton: current pop is about 5,800, I've seen varying figures on peak pop of about 7,500. Plenty of ruins for you to see, not a bad place actually.
My grandfather worked as an engineer for the Santa Fe Railroad in Slaton. He retired in the 1960s. I'm old enough to remember when the Slaton Bakery was located in a small building on Division Street before it moved up to the square.
I was born in Slaton Texas on July 27 1961. I was born in the Catholic Hospital there. My Dad worked as a Carman at the Slaton Santa Fe Railroad. In July of 1969 they closed the shops and he was sent to Temple Texas with most of his coworkers. We went back to visit others friends that stayed behind in July of 1970, but it was such a long trip back we never went back. I missed my Uncle Bill and Aunt Juanita So bad through the years, Bill was a Herford Cattle Rancher at Ropesville. ❤❤❤
Happy reminds me of wheat towns in North Western Victoria, Australia. I always love to see a silo on the horizon. That's what we call them. The dirt and landscape colouring and vibe very relatable.
your channel has inspired me to create a travel itinerary called “made in America” my aim is to escape the big cities and get to know rural America, I am Brazilian and I am tired of standardized trips, I want to see, hear and taste an America that is not available at travel agencies, congratulations again on your work and worthy of a grade 10, keep going!
I really enjoy these tours around these small towns. Happy seemed so quiet, but so interesting. Nice old theatre there, and it was lovely that you found one "happy" cat !! Tulia was interesting to explore, too, and another cat, awesome !! You see some very odd and interesting things by the side of the road in rural Texas !! Dimmitt seemed to have a slightly different feel to the other towns, and I love a good garage sale !! Hereford seemed slightly more active, too. All of these towns are so fascinating, and each one is so different. I always look forward to your videos. Thank you so much.😊
Happy state bank was bought out by a big bank and they are horrible and quickly losing a lot of the banking customers. It’s no longer based in Happy - or even in the panhandle. They also had a murder about a year ago.
Rv park is going to be oil field workers more than likely! Small town living is great I don’t understand why you can’t figure that out most of the time it’s people trying to get there kids out of the major city’s
Thank you for the nice comments about Hereford. The boarded windows are a result of a terrible hailstorm. Interesting story about the courthouse. The town had a bond election in 1900's to pay for a new courthouse. The vote was to be about $50,000 but at the last minute Mr. Witherspoon changed the amount to $125,000 ,because he did not think Hereford needed a new courthouse. He thought no one would vote for $125.000 bond. But the town overwhelming voted for the $125,000 and built this beautiful courthouse.
I went through Tulia in fall 2016 and will always remember it because of the Lasso Motel, and I took a picture of my dog named Lasso in front of it. Other than that though I didn't explore much as I had been driving for 2 days and 700ish miles by that point, and ended up in Canyon for the night.
I'm from Plainview. You have a lot of farming and livestock on the plains. You should have stopped and had an Allsup's burrito and ate Taco Villa. It's a big thing in that area. Happy, TX used to have pig farms. You could always smell you were getting close to Happy. LOL! Hope you were able to see Palo Duro Canyon or Caprock Canyon while you were in the area. Nazareth used to be called the "holy city" and people would drive there to get alcohol, because all the other counties were dry. Brings back a lot of memories.
I grew up in Perryton Texas. We have a grain elevator. I have never heard anyone in my 50 years refer to them as “prairie skyscrapers”. That’s dumb. Poor? Of course, oil drying up and factory farms have destroyed country life. However, to depict them as missable and destitute because it doesn’t look like a big city is a rotten thing to do. I currently live in a big city with all its bright lights, big shopping, bars on every corner, an entertainment district, tourism and steadily rising violent crime rates and let me tell you… I hate it. I can not wait to get back to a tiny “poor” town. Y’all can have your rich cities. You’re not far from Lubbock, Cayon, Amarillo, Plainview… all the shopping you need. There are plenty of resources and it’s sad the shops in Happy are closed down. But again, shopping is close by. You should definitely check out Palo Dura Canyon. Seriously beautiful place to see.
Love the Panhandle and the people there. I visited Palo Duro Canyon with a girlfriend at the time and was overwhelmed by it. It really is a mini Grand Canyon.
Keith I am glad you have visited the Texas Panhandle it is a great place to live I been here my whole life we recently have broken our drought with ten inch’s of rain. Come soon and see how green it is down in the Palo Duro Canyon!!!
I like imagining what life was once like in the deserted downtowns. Sad the film Happy Texas was filmed in CA. I love the Texas squares and brick streets. That collector in Nazareth does not need to worry about me covering his “treasures”. Thank you for another great video.
My mom grew up in Happy. The town was formed around a spring, the spring dried up, the people moved away. I remember looking at her yearbook from 1968 and seeing her with all the other girls in her class under "Future Homemakers of America." Times sure changed, thank god! I've been there a few times as a kid in the 90s, and it was all dried up and dusty at THAT point. My mom didn't want to let us play in the playground because she was worried it would be littered with used needles. Let's just say this town's heyday was...more than 50 years ago. Lol.
Used needles in a little town like that in the park I doubt it. Actually after he read the statistics did the crime rate in tulia was double the national average maybe so would be hard to believe they'll be a bunch of junkies and Little Texas town like that man that is terrible.
Whenever we are RVing to places like Colorado, Wyoming and Montana, we go up I-27 to Amarillo. I can’t remember stopping anywhere along I-27 except the excellent rest areas on that road. I-27 likely just killed these towns, which were already on their way out.
Happy looks more organized and neater than many of the other towns you've featured. I noticed that it also has more trees and bushes as well. The best jobs to be had in these areas are in those small offices next to the grain elevators. Sort of a combo blue/white collar job.
You missed it earlier this month a F3 Torando his Perryton Texas , there is no more Perryton Texas.Perryton is on the OK & Tx border in the far North area of the Panhandle. That part of Texas, has huge blizzards, fires, and tornados and Ranches with cattle and cattle feed lots
Wow, a Dollar General in dudsville (Tulia) , the rumor is, Dollar General AND a Wal mart will be the first stores to open up on The Red Planet, Mars. DG’s are everywhere!
Born in Lubbock in 1968. Brings back memories of the outskirts. Mom grew up near Lakeview in a farming community. Great Grandparents lived on Brownfield.
That cafe on the Interstate we used to drive there to eat. It’s only open weekend nights… when it’s open. Have to call first. happy isn’t far down the road from Canyon (north of Happy) which is probably where they get groceries etc. Canyon, Happy, Tulia, Kress, Plainview - that winding highway used to be the main route to Lubbock - I was in high school when they finished I27… much better trip to Lubbock once that was finished for sure!
It would be interesting to see the schools in these towns along with the other infrastructure like courthouses, grocery stores, and fire departments that you point out.
I love the sheer space in rural Texas down to the WIDE brick roads, but could not live with the total lack of green. My country is a small, very green place mostly, with a lot of dairy cows that eat mostly grass all year round, as do the beef cows and sheep. Looking forward to your trip north.
@@daviddecelles8714 Maybe in other countries, but the milk production of friesians is far superior, but they probably wouldn’t do as well if they had to eat grain instead of grass. Herefords are very hardy, but here they are purely for beef. Angus are at least as popular for beef. I live on a large Angus beef farm, they are lovely bovines, docile and friendly.
Home values go down when they are not selling. People take less for them just to sell them. The grain elevators operate during the right time of the year. Deaf Smith county has a gorgeous courthouse. Great video.👍
So fascinated with your channel and the towns you go and explore. Places I will never visit personally but just to see it and see small town struggle. Just imagining what those places looked like when those businesses and town centers were occupied, etc.)
I'm originally from Borger. In the 70's my brother worked for Phillips petroleum. We moved in 1977. I live near Brownwood now. As a kid we spent a lot of time at the Palo Duro canyon. I miss those days.
Lord, Goshen & Shipshewana Indiana Great Places To See. Goshen Has Court House But Elkhart Is County City😅! Gary Has Always Had A Terrible Crime Rate. Safe Travels, always, Tommy🤠
Interesting to see you hit up these small towns. When I was in college in Lubbock, I would hit them up on the weekends cause I had never been out there. I go to see a lot of the panhandle when I lived there.
The spot at the 18:20 mark, the house in the left, the white one. I knew the people that lived there last. It was habitated up until about 6-7 years ago. If you were to stop at the small museum there in town sometime, you will see that house in all it's glory in a photo taken over 80 years ago! So sad though seeing it that way now. I spent a few times at the house with my friends who used to live there. Also a second or two before you got there, there was a small building on the right at the 18:04 mark, that used to be a small church
I lived and grew up in Happy. Spent my childhood and adolescence there in the 1960's and 70's. In this video I saw one of the houses I grew up in. It was a busy place during the 1960's,1970's and 1980's. Those empty buildings downtown all had active businesses in them: a doctor's office in the post office building, a grocery store, an auto parts store, a barber shop, a hardware store, a clothing store, a Ford dealership with auto repair shop, a drug store and soda shop, a farm equipment store, a Lion's Club, and a hair salon. There was a lumber yard. There was even an active dirt strip airport for a crop dusting business and at one time a hotel. This video is all that I have seen of the town since leaving in 1984. Sad to see all that is lost. Thank you very much Lord Spoda for posting this.
Thank you for the great comment. :)
Happy you have good memories...I'm not surprised that you do. It's a shame what we've done.
Case Power and Equipment after 1968, Happy Implement before that.
@@don66hotrod94 Been to fish fry's at the Case Barn
It should give you a sense of why Rust Belt cities are called that. Once upon a time Detroit, for instance, was the 4th or 5th largest city. It will never be a top 10 city again.
My husband grew up in Happy, Texas. He really enjoyed this video. He knows all these towns. It kind of made him feel bad. Happy was such a nice town for a kid.
I drive thru these town and can't help but think about all those empty storefronts were once someone's hope and dreams.
Yep it's sad.even harder for small businesses now.
And yet the people in those same sad towns believe that Sam Walton was just a good 'ol boy in his beat up Ford 150 pickup with his dog 'ol Roy riding shotgun. Lol. Walton of Wal-Mart fame was one of the biggest robber Barrons who ever lived.
Same.
Ymmv cry yuh bu
Its all about bad government
I live in the UK, and up until Covid I travelled around America for about 1 month per year as I love the US. I love your videos as I can sit here, thousands of miles a way and enjoy exploring… Keep them coming!
One month per year, you say? I'm an older American and you have surely seen more of this country than I have. I do not think myself either deprived nor atypical.
His videos are descriptive detailed, and good camera work with fairly high quality video, stable shoots and wide angles, you get the feeling your there like GoogleEarth.
@David Garcia Am Irish and love travelling the US, not into big cities, just love travelling through small towns and countryside. Lovely people especially in the south, real salt of the earth people.
Beware that "Jon and Nic" give a very biased, cherry picked view of rural America, especially with Jon's low IQ commentary about "dying/declining" rural this or that.
As commentator "jodibaggerman3796" said in response to this video:
"You should come back to Happy and talk to people from our town. We actually have quite a few small businesses in town, 4 churches, funeral homes, and a very successful school. It's not a dying town at all. Houses sell quickly because so many are trying to move into town. We don't have a grocery store because there are two towns within 15 mins with grocery stores. Most people drive to those two towns for work. I encourage you to stop and talk to people in these towns you are going through. Also, look up the history of our grain elevators in town. The Grande theater in town is actually a store and museum of Happy."
As someone who has lived in rural America all his life, I agree with "jodibaggerman3796" and add that "Jo and Nic" aren't to be trusted in their assessments and commentary.
I took my husband to the little Panhandle town I grew up in until the end of my 5th grade year...Stinnett, Hutchinson Co., TX. He loves that town and calls it a "town lost in time". My two sisters and I continue to return there every few years just to remember our childhood. We left there in 1959. It really hasn't changed much, other than the school changing its name and enlarging. Living in a small town in the 1950s were good years in which to be a child.
The windows on the courthouse are boarded up because of a bad hailstorm. So many windows were broken throughout town that they have been having a hard time getting them all repaired.
In the early 60's my uncle was farming cotton by Earth, Tx. his cotton was up about 8 inches and a hail storm wiped it out. he had time to replant and the crop got further along and it got hailed out. The following year my aunt came home from the grocery store and cooked our lunch, we setting at the table when it started to hail and my uncle ran to get the car in the garage. My aunt was screaming at him to not go outside. so we all sat in the window and watched that almost new chevy get beat to hell by hail.
Fun Fact: Tulia Finklea was from Amarillo named after the town and her stage name was - Cyd Charisse.
Regarding Happy's lack of a grocery store, I would think that Canyon would be the place to go. (speaking of Canyon, Palo Duro Canyon is right there, well worth a visit!) I'm always a bit surprised to see such nice murals in otherwise desolate-looking towns. It shows there's at least one person who's willing to do something positive for the community.
I wonder how people would survive without cars
Also further south in Plainview as well for more Walmarts and grocery stores...you missed the Amigos United in Hereford, the Eagles Landing truck stop, Sonic, Pizza Hut, and the other Allsup's on the NORTH side of Tulia, and the Lowe's and Dollar General in Dimmitt as well...
I love Canyon TX and their HUGE 4th of July Parade.
Sexton's Grocery was downtown at one time.
And a video picture of the giant cement cowboy on the west side of town leading towards Hereford
The construction of I-27 between Amarillo and Lubbock hurt business in these small towns. Old Hwy 87, which pretty much parallels I-27, ran directly through these small towns.
Yea, the same thing happened to all those businesses along route 66 when I 80 was born...
I was driving from Albuquerque to Austin back in 2003, and badly misjudged my fuel and left Amarillo without a fill-up. Got the sweaty hands watching the tank hitting "E" and saw the "prairie skyscrapers" and took a chance and headed for them. Stopped at that very gas station with the mystery "credit card pump" which at the time was staffed (and full-serve) by an older gentleman. Put nearly 31 gallons into our 30 gallon tank. MAN was that close. Anyway, I was as happy to see Happy as any a happy person has been. Never forgot the name. Thx for the tour.
I’ve grown up in the Texas Panhandle and my dad in the ag business and friends who owned grain elevators - I’ve never in my life over 50 years heard these referred to Prairie Skyscrapers … but I love it 🤣
It's a great name for them, I think. :)
@@JoeandNicsRoadTripAs you are finding out, Texas is big that even natives opinionated with each other and disagree! 🤠
I heard the term used in Kansas and Nebraska, I grew up in the Panhandle during the sixties and seventies and don't recall hearing them called anything other than grain elevators.
Love this channel. To me, this shows the true America
Thanks, Pat!
4:48 Buddy Knox (in the 70's) toured in Canada and my Father got to know him and played guitar with him once in a while...in the 80's he lived in Manitoba...he was getting back into touring at those weekend jubilee's with 12 bands events...then just as he was getting started he passed away.
He had a rough life in the 70's and 80's...had dinner with him a few times.
I'm really shocked at the level of poverty in parts of the u.s. , I was obsessed with the states when I was younger and always wanted to go we were always influenced by t.v. and film back then , but in the advent of the Internet etc it's easier to see the other side of America and American life . I'm in England and enjoy watching your videos . 🙂
There is vast and complex poverty in the U.S, not commonly understood or appreciated by non-Americans.
@@daviddecelles8714 it's such a shame I really feel for the people in these areas , very much forgotten bless them .
@@PraiseDog I've never seen poverty this bad in the u.k. not even close , but yes I realise its not all of the u.s. and it is a vastly larger country than Britain .
@@daviddecelles8714 Wait till you live there , then you will begin to believe in how Micky mouse the USA is .Tv and Hollywood made it all an illusion
You should see the U.S. and judge for yourself.
It’s an extremely complex nation.
One of the items that stands true with respect to these small towns is, the level of resentment existing within. They believe their values are being attacked and they are being made fun of by elitist city dwellers. 2:06
As an American born in San Antonio who came from a career miltary\law enforcement family, I am not anti much, but I am pro America, but we continue to outsource our kids’ futures. First Manufacturing, now customer service for credit cards, cable tv, etc. What are we doing?! What’s next? America was built on Coal, Farming, Manufacturing, etc. Now that we turned a corner, we are outsourcing technology, customer service, solar and much more, while NOT helping farmers and lower\middle class Americans. This IS our future!? Our politicians better get their acts together, because this type of lobbying, in-fighting and stupidity is only helping our enemies. Wake up America! Wherever you live, help\support YOUR community. Peace. - Ron
Back when taxes were high little towns thrived. No economy at all now and no social programs to try again. The Interstate ate.
I did some Googling on the Hereford Court House. The magnificent building had a roof collapse in 2020 and court proceedings have been moved to a temporary premises. Hope they're able to save it, it's a beautiful building. Interestingly the temporary court arrangements are in a building built in the 1860's.
Watching your channel really shows how fast some of these little towns have degraded.
As an Australian, I live in a very small town. Less than 100 people. The town is in central Queensland and it is flat, dry for most of the year and has red dirt which we call Bull Dust when it is dusty or when it covers your vehicle etc. We have no crime and no Mao. Town center except for a bar and a rural fire brigade. My farm covers just on 50k acres which I run my beef cattle and sheep. Seeing the town in your videos when I get to watch them makes me wonder how they can get to the condition they are in considering america is meant to be rich and powerful. I either drive or fly a helicopter to the nearest big town which is over 300 kilometres away by road. My internet service is limited and my internet and phone antenna is on a tower 100 feet in the air. And as far as TV goes we don't get a good signal so basically we just watch DVDs and like I said, you tube when we get a decent signal. I really hope something can be done with those towns and things can improve. As for is, it looks like we are heading into another drought with LA Nina coming back sowe are preparing now. If its another 10 year drought, I don't know how we will get through it again if things get really bad cause there's only so much feed you can keep in stock for your livestock. It's tough on the land but we Australians are resilient. Good luck to you guys over there 👍
IMHO the Aussies I’ve had the honor to meet in my life have reminded me most of those where me and mine were raised. OK/TX Panhandles, Liberal KS in their spirit and wisdom.
Thank you for your kind words.
God bless Texas.
The deal with all the boarded windows and tore up houses in Hereford is a massive hail storm hit last year and devastated a big part of the town and even rural.
How Horrible! I hope no one was injured or killed.
You know these towns look almost indistinguishable from the wheatbelt towns here in Western Australia.
Your courthouses being far, far, grander is the only real exception I could pick out. That & the fact we have no interstate, the highway just runs down main street.
I had to cancel my planned trip to the US south east 2 years ago, so these vids are very much appreciated. Thank you.
Once the interstate was finished outside of town it killed downtown Happy. I'm from another small panhandle town, Plainview, and traveled through, stopped to eat, many times on the way to Amarillo. My friends and I like to claim who's most successful by who moved the farthest away. I miss the small town feel I left behind for the larger urban environment I moved to, but that's all I miss. Thanks for the stroll down memory lane.
Yep that's how they die sometimes half the town wants the traffic out and peace and quiet and the other half wants the traffic through town.
People stop, fill up, grab a bite and drink, stretch their legs, keeps the economy going .
sad to see these places wither away.
I was born in Plainview, 1961. We lived in Dimmitt until I was 15, then moved to another small town in East Texas. We used to shop in Plainview, in Hereford and Amarillo. This video brought back memories. I would love to go back and look at some of the places we used to shop in Amarillo and Hereford.
Tikis does have some very nice homes. The famous western artist, Kenneth Wyatt, lived in Tulia and had his home there until he passed. His main gallery was in his home. That is the only grocery store there.
Growing up in Galena Park, TX...there was a grain elevator on the Houston Ship Channel. I was in junior high school and out in the front yard of the friend...looking right at the point when the grain elevator exploded....grain dust is very volatile. Very real memory. The explosion shattered windows all around Galena Park and the school was closed the next few days, giving the school district time to replace the broken windows and clean up the shattered glass. I won't go into the loss of life. Most people my age remember this quite vividly. BTW, if you were to visit Galena Park, you would find a good solid community...city of its own, but surrounded by East Houston....but a community much different than the one in which I grew up.
Wow a fellow Yellowjacket class of 2002 for me
I think one thing you're missing on these videos is that you're visiting during the weekends. If you come back during the weekdays, you may find some of these towns are a lot busier. Many of the RV Parks are for the oil field workers. Oil is still big business up there. Having said that, being from Morton, the only reason is still there is because it's the county seat.
Spoda's videos are often taken on weekdays.
@@daviddecelles8714 And from what I see ANY american town is empty no matter what day and time. Thats what hundreds of videows tell me here.
Thanks for sharing! I completed the first grade in Lela Junction Tx, a wide spot in the road, near Amarilla,1946. When my Dad returned from WW2 we moved to Oregon and in 1952 back to my birthplace, San Diego, Cal and finally moving to WA state in 1970 and here I remain, so far. Those days were a much different chapter in American History! Todays extremes began in the Early 1960's with a big bump in the early 1990's with Windows 3.0 and now pushing hard for A.I. The future is not the past repeated. The future will go from bad to worse and then Armageddon after which things will improve for the much-much better! See God's Love! Ron PTL USA
Brings back memories, Lord Spoda!
Before commenters assume that the folks in Happy are miserable and trampled upon by other Americans allow me to disabuse you of that notion. Is the population dwindling? Absolutely. Folks who live in these towns don’t live in mansions-in fact many live nearby. Of course their annual income is less than the US avg. After all, the cost of living is likely 25% below that. Indeed, my family who were/are dry-land farmers worked the land for generations. Fortunately, there have been significant oil/gas findings and-more importantly-have set our parents and grandparents up for life.
When you make it to the Oklahoma panhandle through Guymon, Hooker, Tyrone and 5 miles up the road to Liberal, KS we’ll discuss more.
"Making a circle around the square." It's nice to hear someone who talks like I do! These presentations are very entertaining, albeit very bittersweet. I look at the old, crumbling houses and wonder what they were like when they were new and full of life, and I ponder the memories they must hold. I think back to the brand-new house my wife and I bought 35 years ago, and I hope that it will not suffer the same fate in another 65 years, when we're long gone. Oh, well; I'm 65 now, so I guess I'm bound to get a little maudlin from time to time.
One thing I noticed was all the towns were losing people, but to my amazement were relatively clean, not trashy. Old empty buildings did not have junk all around them. The one place you called junk, seemed like a business of old stuff. Thanks for the ride along.
"relatively clean, not trashy...."
That's what a stuff north wind will do for ya.....
@@willbass2869exactly it’s not a matter of tidiness, the wind blows! Lol
Happy town, wow that's the cleanest and tidiest disappearing town I've seen so far.
I really appreciate all your videos - gives a good impression of different regions in the US, by your comments as also what you're showing - thank you - regards from Germany...
Thank you very much!
The part of the Texas that is growing and becoming prosperous is the Texas triangle of the five largest cities of Dallas, Ft Worth, Houston, San Antonio and Austin. What Texas has is a divide between urban and rural and who's benefiting the most from all this prosperity coming to the state.
Amarillo has had big growth and that is continuing. Canyon used to be very very little now very fast-growing. Yes Texas is going thru what CA did in the 60’s - everyone moved there for good jobs, Repub good governance, warm weather and beauty. Prosperity yes but quality of live changing. Massive growth has its downside.
Dumas also growing
Lubbock continues to grow, being the largest city in Texas west of DFW and north of Austin.
It is really sad how all over North America, these towns have died, and have for all practical purposes, become ghost towns. I own a small shack in a village about the same size as Happy in southern Mexico, about 800 or 900 inhabitants, but there are at least 9 small stores, at least 5 bars, at least 2 small restaurants, 1 tortillería, 1 veterinarian ( or feed store) and 4 small churches or chapels. But no fire department and no gas station( as seen in Happy Texas). I didn't see a single human being outside in Happy, whereas in my village there are kids, dogs, chickens, goats and quite a few adult humans, all over the place. Local public transportation passes on the main highway through town about every 10 minutes. My village, along with hundreds of thousands of similar small villages throughout Latin America, are what I call ""Living Towns"". It is nothing less than depressing and even scary, to see rural USA as such a dead place( but with about the same population hidden away in their houses and cars).
Sounds pretty cool
I've been to many towns like yours in Mexico and so very enjoyed all my experiences. Thanks for your comment. Saludos desde SF CA
The same applies to Central Europe, even small places have restaurants, real churches and small grocery stores. It's up to the Americans...
Do you know why there is a difference? Factual reasons: end of Robinson Patman Act, SEC lack of enforcement, deregulation of banks, mechanization of farm machinery, neo conservatism and debt, neo liberalism and trade agreements. There has been a class war in the U.S. since the Tea Party years of Newt Gingrich and Ronald Reagan that has been continued by both political parties. Look at Bill Clinton and NAFTA, the WTO, and U.S. trade agreements. These small towns are abandoned because the people moved out to the Interstate Highways near Walmart, and the big box stores where new suburbs are built. As the towns died, the people also moved to the east and west coasts.
it's not economic breakdown in rural USA. it's an cultural breakdown. the soul is dying. so much land you can eat plentiful only from your backyard. still people leave for trashy town life.
Very good video. I noticed several things; I didn't see many people out in the yards, even though it was a Saturday, no one walking the streets, and I did not observe any law enforcement. Overall it was a very good video and looking forward to your next one. Be safe on the road.
Thanks!
I never gave it any thought that there are no cops anywhere in any of these towns
the people are the law enforcement because they don't have the tax base to fund enough officers for the massive land area, one of the big reasons 2A rights are so important to people in these areas
@@al99795you’ll be surprised here in lil ol Tulia our police budget is $1 mill a year 😂🤦🏽♂️ they buy new police cars n SUVs every year. They just bought a police mustang 🤦🏽♂️
I really loved this! The mural in Tulia was fabulous. Someone said in a comment that it was named after Cyd Charisse.. I loved that. Hereford was enchanting. I loved the history of Deaf Smith. I want to go there and get some of their cheese and see the beautiful courthouse. Thank you for our delightful journey today. I missed Nicole so please tell her I did! Love to you both always
Thanks Denise! We love you back. :)
It is interesting to watch and listen about the country while sitting in your car, thanks for the fascinating video. From Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia.
From Kyrgyztan? Beware the Russian Bear, the Chinese Panda and Uncle Sam bearing gifts. Stand on your own two feet.
@@daviddecelles8714
We have long been dependent on them, except for America. But my people are hardworking and live by their own work. Now the outcome of the war will decide.
The region is wonderful, nothing overcrowded, wide areas, you can park everywhere. Its a paradise in my opinion.
Work is the problem or of course the towns would not be dying.
In Hereford....have you ever seen the hail they get...boarded up windows are a way of life. We replaced every window on one side of our home after one storm. There was a famous NFL player from Hereford that played for the Baltimore Ravens.
I used to ride the VA bus from Lubbock to Amarillo and we'd stop in Happy to pickup/dropoff vets for care. And we'd always stop on the way up to Amarillo at the gas station in Trulia along the interstate. Trulia was nearly wiped out by a tornado a few years back. There's a big training center just outside of town that is used by federal law enforcement. Shame you didn't go look around more.
Funny to see Hereford on youtube like this. I grew up there and lived there until I was 18. My cousins lived next door to that pretty house you commented on and my mom used to work right across the street from the court house! (Also I believe all the boarded up windows were because of a bad hail storm that rolled through the area. It took a long time to get window replacements if I remember correctly.)
2 videos to catch up on this monday. Thanks always.
I would think these small towns would be great for retired people. Those abandoned storefronts could be revitalized for a cafe or NAPA Auto Parts, etc
Many of the people that still live in these towns are retired. That’s why the average age of most these towns is so high and why so many female residents are widows. But outside of cheap house prices there’s not much to lure retirees to these towns. I don’t see any medical facilities, assisted living homes, or senior centers in any of these towns. Cheap homes and peace and quiet but not much else to offer for retirees to move there.
I watch a lot of your videos and learn quite a bit. I can’t help but think how many billions of dollars we send around the world and how much good it could do a lot of the communities you highlight.
You are absolutely right
Some places just can't support a fixed settlement of folk.
This was the "Comancheria" for centuries.
That whole north-south strip of land running from 100°meridian to the Front Range is just a Big Empty
Drove through Happy in Summer 2022 with my father on a long road trip! Honestly, this town was special to us because my grandfather, my father's father, was nicknamed "Happy:. Definitely seemed quiet but still, special for personal reasons.
I didn’t notice a hospital, dentist, or pharmacy in this entire video. I guess the Walmart has the pharmacy, but my goodness, Walmart is part of the ruin of small town USA.
Lack of healthcare is a big issue in rural America. A lot of rural hospitals have shut down over the years and rural residents have to drive further and further for medical care.
Folks just go to Amarillo for that stuff
These towns were dying long before Walmart out grew Arkansas. Once travel by car became reliable, the local retail businesses had to compete with Lubbock and Amarillo. The only businesses that could really survive were grocery stores and gas stations. The further away a town was from Lubbock and Amarillo, the more retail and service businesses they could hold on to. Rural Texas communities face the same challenge as rural towns everywhere, trying to hold on to the young people. If young people don't want to be farmers or ranchers, there's little else to keep them there, so they move to where the opportunity is.
Only 600 people in Happy, that's really sad. I'm loving your channel.
I love these panhandle tours, I've been through all of these towns. I'm waiting for you to tour my slowly dying small town of Slaton: current pop is about 5,800, I've seen varying figures on peak pop of about 7,500. Plenty of ruins for you to see, not a bad place actually.
My grandfather worked as an engineer for the Santa Fe Railroad in Slaton. He retired in the 1960s. I'm old enough to remember when the Slaton Bakery was located in a small building on Division Street before it moved up to the square.
I was born in Slaton Texas
on July 27 1961. I was born in the Catholic Hospital there.
My Dad worked as a Carman at the
Slaton Santa Fe Railroad. In July of 1969 they closed the shops and he was
sent to Temple Texas with most of
his coworkers. We went back to visit
others friends that stayed behind
in July of 1970, but it was such a long trip back we never went back.
I missed my Uncle Bill and Aunt Juanita
So bad through the years, Bill was a
Herford Cattle Rancher at Ropesville.
❤❤❤
Happy reminds me of wheat towns in North Western Victoria, Australia. I always love to see a silo on the horizon. That's what we call them. The dirt and landscape colouring and vibe very relatable.
your channel has inspired me to create a travel itinerary called “made in America” my aim is to escape the big cities and get to know rural America, I am Brazilian and I am tired of standardized trips, I want to see, hear and taste an America that is not available at travel agencies, congratulations again on your work and worthy of a grade 10, keep going!
Wow, that sounds amazing.
I love this show and all the stats that are given. Keep up the good work. X
Good morning sir. As always I love watching your tours of small towns in. USA. Love always from Jamaica 🇯🇲.
Thank you, Sheron!
I really enjoy these tours around these small towns. Happy seemed so quiet, but so interesting. Nice old theatre there, and it was lovely that you found one "happy" cat !! Tulia was interesting to explore, too, and another cat, awesome !! You see some very odd and interesting things by the side of the road in rural Texas !! Dimmitt seemed to have a slightly different feel to the other towns, and I love a good garage sale !! Hereford seemed slightly more active, too. All of these towns are so fascinating, and each one is so different. I always look forward to your videos. Thank you so much.😊
Happy state bank was bought out by a big bank and they are horrible and quickly losing a lot of the banking customers. It’s no longer based in Happy - or even in the panhandle. They also had a murder about a year ago.
Yes sad
I love cruising small towns when I travel. Always try to stop and visit a while if I can. Get lots of good info and local gossip !
I actually love seeing these small towns. I hope to visit some of them.
Enjoyed your tour of the panhandle of Texas...
Hi Lord Spoda
Thanks for this interesting and informatie video. Enjoyed rural Texas ride. Mural @13:50 is beautiful.
Thanks, Rajeev!
The streets in these towns are surprisingly wide. We need those in our cities.
If I’m not mistaken the Wide streets were for cattle drives?
@@monamorrow8716
Thanks. That’s probably true for many. Its refreshing to see them
Rv park is going to be oil field workers more than likely! Small town living is great I don’t understand why you can’t figure that out most of the time it’s people trying to get there kids out of the major city’s
A classmate's family moved to Tulia from East Texas and this is the first time I have ever seen it. That was over 50 years ago.
Thank you for the nice comments about Hereford. The boarded windows are a result of a terrible hailstorm. Interesting story about the courthouse. The town had a bond election in 1900's to pay for a new courthouse. The vote was to be about $50,000 but at the last minute Mr. Witherspoon changed the amount to $125,000 ,because he did not think Hereford needed a new courthouse. He thought no one would vote for $125.000 bond. But the town overwhelming voted for the $125,000 and built this beautiful courthouse.
I went through Tulia in fall 2016 and will always remember it because of the Lasso Motel, and I took a picture of my dog named Lasso in front of it. Other than that though I didn't explore much as I had been driving for 2 days and 700ish miles by that point, and ended up in Canyon for the night.
i used to drive through the panhandle a lot when I did road trips from Kansas City to Santa Fe. This looks like every town I passed through.
I'm from Plainview. You have a lot of farming and livestock on the plains. You should have stopped and had an Allsup's burrito and ate Taco Villa. It's a big thing in that area. Happy, TX used to have pig farms. You could always smell you were getting close to Happy. LOL! Hope you were able to see Palo Duro Canyon or Caprock Canyon while you were in the area. Nazareth used to be called the "holy city" and people would drive there to get alcohol, because all the other counties were dry. Brings back a lot of memories.
Perfect way to start the morning. Thanks much
I grew up in Perryton Texas. We have a grain elevator. I have never heard anyone in my 50 years refer to them as “prairie skyscrapers”. That’s dumb.
Poor? Of course, oil drying up and factory farms have destroyed country life. However, to depict them as missable and destitute because it doesn’t look like a big city is a rotten thing to do. I currently live in a big city with all its bright lights, big shopping, bars on every corner, an entertainment district, tourism and steadily rising violent crime rates and let me tell you… I hate it. I can not wait to get back to a tiny “poor” town. Y’all can have your rich cities.
You’re not far from Lubbock, Cayon, Amarillo, Plainview… all the shopping you need. There are plenty of resources and it’s sad the shops in Happy are closed down. But again, shopping is close by.
You should definitely check out Palo Dura Canyon. Seriously beautiful place to see.
I've heard them called prairie skyscrapers numerous times. I think it's a great description.
Love the Panhandle and the people there. I visited Palo Duro Canyon with a girlfriend at the time and was overwhelmed by it. It really is a mini Grand Canyon.
Keith I am glad you have visited the Texas Panhandle it is a great place to live I been here my whole life we recently have broken our drought with ten inch’s of rain. Come soon and see how green it is down in the Palo Duro Canyon!!!
"Prairie Skyscraper" is probably the smartest thing to come out of Texas since NASA
Mikki how about the shopping in Liberal?!? 😉
I like imagining what life was once like in the deserted downtowns. Sad the film Happy Texas was filmed in CA. I love the Texas squares and brick streets. That collector in Nazareth does not need to worry about me covering his “treasures”. Thank you for another great video.
My mom grew up in Happy. The town was formed around a spring, the spring dried up, the people moved away. I remember looking at her yearbook from 1968 and seeing her with all the other girls in her class under "Future Homemakers of America." Times sure changed, thank god!
I've been there a few times as a kid in the 90s, and it was all dried up and dusty at THAT point. My mom didn't want to let us play in the playground because she was worried it would be littered with used needles.
Let's just say this town's heyday was...more than 50 years ago. Lol.
Thank god they changed for the worse? lol
Used needles in a little town like that in the park I doubt it. Actually after he read the statistics did the crime rate in tulia was double the national average maybe so would be hard to believe they'll be a bunch of junkies and Little Texas town like that man that is terrible.
@@davidroberson8030 it’s actually more common in small towns cause what else would people do without entertainment
Wow that's a time ago.
I do not share your gratitude as to that particular aspect of change. The children 'raised' in non-'homemaker' homes may, if honest, agree with me.
I LOVE Traveling The Country With You! I'm Enjoying It! ♥️♥️♥️
The Otwell Twins from the Lawrence Welk Show - 1977-1982 - were born in Tulia, Texas on August 2, 1956.
Whenever we are RVing to places like Colorado, Wyoming and Montana, we go up I-27 to Amarillo.
I can’t remember stopping anywhere along I-27 except the excellent rest areas on that road.
I-27 likely just killed these towns, which were already on their way out.
Happy looks more organized and neater than many of the other towns you've featured. I noticed that it also has more trees and bushes as well.
The best jobs to be had in these areas are in those small offices next to the grain elevators. Sort of a combo blue/white collar job.
This was cool watching this bc I grew up all around these areas and drive through them all the time
I watch utube for free tv. And stream my news free. Thanks Lord Spoda for my entertainment. Another good tour.
Cool!
The cats are jockeying for starring roles in your videos!😄😺
Always a great tour, I’m a railroad buff and would like it you could fit in some olds stations in your travels, thanks Bob
You missed it earlier this month a F3 Torando his Perryton Texas , there is no more Perryton Texas.Perryton is on the OK & Tx border in the far North area of the Panhandle. That part of Texas, has huge blizzards, fires, and tornados and Ranches with cattle and cattle feed lots
You finally made it to my hometown of Dimmitt, thank you so much
Wow, a Dollar General in dudsville (Tulia) , the rumor is, Dollar General AND a Wal mart will be the first stores to open up on The Red Planet, Mars. DG’s are everywhere!
Born in Lubbock in 1968. Brings back memories of the outskirts. Mom grew up near Lakeview in a farming community. Great Grandparents lived on Brownfield.
Cool video as usual, thank you.
But i would have checked out the yard sale 🙂
Traveled through here several times and it had an eerie vibe.
Grew up in Tulia would NEVER go back. Live in Pacific Northwest it’s so beautiful here
That cafe on the Interstate we used to drive there to eat. It’s only open weekend nights… when it’s open. Have to call first. happy isn’t far down the road from Canyon (north of Happy) which is probably where they get groceries etc.
Canyon, Happy, Tulia, Kress, Plainview - that winding highway used to be the main route to Lubbock - I was in high school when they finished I27… much better trip to Lubbock once that was finished for sure!
It would be interesting to see the schools in these towns along with the other infrastructure like courthouses, grocery stores, and fire departments that you point out.
Greeting. I just discovered your channel. Thank you for the uploads. I really enjoy watching videos of old towns across the US.
Welcome!!! :)
I love the sheer space in rural Texas down to the WIDE brick roads, but could not live with the total lack of green. My country is a small, very green place mostly, with a lot of dairy cows that eat mostly grass all year round, as do the beef cows and sheep. Looking forward to your trip north.
Be reminded that Hereford has vast herds of very productive dairy cows.
@@daviddecelles8714 Maybe in other countries, but the milk production of friesians is far superior, but they probably wouldn’t do as well if they had to eat grain instead of grass. Herefords are very hardy, but here they are purely for beef. Angus are at least as popular for beef. I live on a large Angus beef farm, they are lovely bovines, docile and friendly.
Yes drought has become a way of life
Home values go down when they are not selling. People take less for them just to sell them. The grain elevators operate during the right time of the year. Deaf Smith county has a gorgeous courthouse. Great video.👍
Quitaque,Turkey,Flomot,Gasolibe,Matador,Spur
So fascinated with your channel and the towns you go and explore. Places I will never visit personally but just to see it and see small town struggle. Just imagining what those places looked like when those businesses and town centers were occupied, etc.)
You could be in Amarillo by morning.
Up from San Anton
I see what you did there... 😀
I'm originally from Borger. In the 70's my brother worked for Phillips petroleum. We moved in 1977. I live near Brownwood now. As a kid we spent a lot of time at the Palo Duro canyon. I miss those days.
It's been said Tulia was a busy place until I-27 bypassed it.
Lord, Restoring Court House Or Storm Damage. Great Tours Of The Towns. Safe Travels.always, Tommy🤠
Lord, Goshen & Shipshewana Indiana Great Places To See. Goshen Has Court House But Elkhart Is County City😅! Gary Has Always Had A Terrible Crime Rate. Safe Travels, always, Tommy🤠
God Bless Texas
Interesting to see you hit up these small towns. When I was in college in Lubbock, I would hit them up on the weekends cause I had never been out there. I go to see a lot of the panhandle when I lived there.
Now you can say you've been to Dimmitt damn it 🙂
LOL!
The spot at the 18:20 mark, the house in the left, the white one. I knew the people that lived there last. It was habitated up until about 6-7 years ago. If you were to stop at the small museum there in town sometime, you will see that house in all it's glory in a photo taken over 80 years ago! So sad though seeing it that way now. I spent a few times at the house with my friends who used to live there. Also a second or two before you got there, there was a small building on the right at the 18:04 mark, that used to be a small church
Great Video, Are most of the grain elevators still in use.
Yes at harvest season
Thank you for showing your beautiful Texas