Road Trip to Lubbock, Texas

 

It’s a story of the Wind and the Plow

Lubbock YouTube Video

The story of Lubbock, the "Hub City" of the Texas South Plains, is a saga written in red dirt, marked by stubborn persistence, the whisper of the wind, and the transformative power of water and education. It begins not with a single stroke of genius, but with a competitive scramble on the open prairie.

In the late 1880s, the vast, semi-arid high plains of West Texas were home to powerful ranching operations. Civilization came tentatively, often driven by rivalry.

The settlement we know as Lubbock was born from the merger of two small, competing towns: Old Lubbock (named for Colonel Thomas Saltus Lubbock, a Confederate officer) and the nearby community of Monterey. In 1890, the two groups struck a deal, consolidating their resources and establishing the new county seat on a centrally agreed-upon tract of land.

Early Lubbock was a ranching service town. Cowmen drove their herds through, and businesses catered to the rugged life of the open range. The landscape was flat, the weather was unpredictable, and the future depended entirely on a single, crucial resource: the ability to tap the deep reserves of the Ogallala Aquifer (say THAT three times fast). The railroad finally arrived in 1909, linking Lubbock to the wider world.

The advent of the railroad and the revolutionary use of deep-well irrigation systems turned Lubbock from a cattle town into the undisputed capital of cotton. Farmers discovered that the region’s long, hot summers were perfect for the crop, and the sandy loam of the South Plains, when watered, yielded bountiful harvests.

Cotton quickly became King, driving massive population and economic growth. Lubbock became the primary shipping and processing point for one of the largest contiguous cotton-growing areas in the world.

Red Raider Mascot

However, the defining moment that guaranteed Lubbock’s long-term stability was the founding of Texas Technological College in 1923 (later Texas Tech University, Go Red Raiders). The establishment of this major state institution secured a permanent, intellectual, and economic anchor for the city, diversifying it far beyond the fortunes of agriculture. The institution grew alongside the city, providing a stream of engineers, educators, and doctors paving the way for the next phase of development.

World War two brought aviation to Lubbock. Gliders were used extensively in the invasion of Europe and many pilots and crews were trained in Lubbock. The Silent Wings Museum showcases this little known but important element of the Allies invasion of Europe.

The former South Plains Army Air Field site, now the Lubbock Municipal Airport, where 80 percent of pilots were trained, opened the Silent Wings Museum with the restored Waco CG-4A  glider as a centerpiece of the exhibits. 

The post-war boom solidified Lubbock's status as a regional medical and retail center. It survived major setbacks, most notably the Lubbock Tornado of 1970, a disaster that tore through the heart of downtown.

 May 11^th, 1970 was devastating for Lubbock. An F-5 dual Tornado, which     ravaged much of downtown and wiped out the near-by Guadalupe         neighborhood, killed 26 and injured over 1500. The path of the Lubbock     tornado was the subject of a detailed mapping carried out by Ted Fujita. It   was described as the "most detailed mapping ever done, up to that time, of   the path of a single tornado," becoming a seminal work in understanding the   relationship between tornado subvortices and extreme damage. The degrees   of damage wrought by the tornado also became the basis for the six tiers of   the Fujita tornado scale, which served as the standard for classifying   tornadoes until it was superseded by the Enhanced Fujita Scale in 2007.

 The memorial includes two flowing black granite-clad walls representing the two paths of the tornadoes. 

The community responded with resilience, clearing the rubble and engaging in significant urban renewal projects that ultimately modernized the downtown area.

The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center has transformed the city into a medical destination for the South Plains. While cotton remains a vital part of Lubbocks identity, the economy has diversified into manufacturing, technology, and energy sectors, including the wind farms that dot the horizon.

Lubbock is also famous as the birthplace of rock 'n' roll pioneer Buddy Holly. The Buddy Holly Center and a Walk of Fame honor his legacy and that of other West Texas musicians.

Early on February 3, 1959, his plane crashed shortly after takeoff, killing Holly, Ritchie Valens, J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, and the pilot, Roger Peterson. Buddy Holly was 22 years old. This event is known as "The Day the Music Died," as popularized by Don McLean's song "American Pie". 

For nearly a century, Lubbock was the largest "dry" city in the United States prohibiting the sale of alcohol. This changed in 1972 when the city allowed the sale and consumption of alcohol.

Interestingly, the city has also become a center for Texas wine, with the region accounting for 90% of the state's wine grape production.

 Let’s not forget a Lubbock icon, the Prairie Dog. Lubbock saw fit to honor the Prairie Dog with their own park and preserve. The cute little devils are everywhere around town and the ones at the park look well fed. Our guests learned they love broccoli so we scored some and fed them as we watched.

We stayed at the Hotel Elegante’ in Downtown Lubbock and steps away from the Tornado Memorial. Our hotel was nice but needed a remodel. You just can’t paint and expect it to brighten an old interior. The hotels sales pitch was that they had the “Comfiest Beds on the Planet”. I will say the beds were comfy.

And there were the meals we had. Dinner was at Bryan’s Steakhouse. Great steak and came with a baked potato and amazing salad bar. Reminded me of the old Pinnacle Peak in Santee, California without the hanging ties. Lunch was Triple J’s Chophouse. Huge menu and large portions. Breakfast was Lubbock’s Breakfast House and Grill. Old style restaurant feel with big portions and lots of coffee to fuel our trip home.

From its humble beginnings as a dusty crossroad, Lubbock has demonstrated a relentless ability to adapt, first by harnessing water, then by investing in education, and finally by rebuilding and diversifying. It remains a vital economic and cultural engine of West Texas, a testament to the pioneering spirit of its founders.