Vega-Oldham County

County Offices
105 South Main
Vega 806-267-2667
https://www.co.oldham.tx.us/

Municipal Offices
900 Main Street
806-267-2144

Chamber of Commerce
904 Main Street
Vega 806-267-2828
http://www.oldhamcofc.org/

Located in the northwestern corner of the Panhandle and sharing a border with the state of New Mexico, Oldham County is encompassed within the Amarillo Metropolitan Statistical Area. With 1,485 square miles of relatively level grassland, the topography is broken by the Canadian River and its tributaries. Agricultural activity includes farming, but less-than-ideal soils have resulted in an economy that relies heavily upon ranching. Modern industry includes Wilderado Wind Ranch, with turbines that can provide electricity for as many as 50,000 households.

Oldham County enjoys a strategic location at the crossroads of Interstate 40, U.S. Highway 385, and part of the historic U.S. Highway 66—also known as Route 66, the Mother Road, Main Street of America, and Will Rogers Highway. The city of Vega serves as the county seat and ranch trade center, although the smaller communities of Adrian and Wildorado expand the options for country living. The county is also home to Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch, a residential community offering hope and support to children from 5 to 18 years. Commercial airline services are available at Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport in Amarillo.

Services

Residents of Oldham Country enjoy all the advantages of small-town and country living just a short drive from Amarillo’s state-of-the-art healthcare resources. Distinguished as the first city hospital district in Texas, Amarillo’s 430-acre Harrington Regional Medical Campus (HRMC) is home to scores of premier facilities that include the city’s two largest hospitals and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. Metropolitan Amarillo is well-served by two major healthcare systems, BSA Health System and Northwest Texas Healthcare. The latter is recognized for heart, emergency, stroke, and children’s care but also provides the lead trauma center for the top 26 Panhandle counties. Designated as a tertiary care academic institution for state-of-the-art diagnosis and treatment, Northwest Texas Hospital provides highly specialized cardiac care at the Heart Hospital at Northwest. BSA Health System, which includes Baptist St. Anthony’s Hospital and the Harrington Cancer Center, is consistently recognized as having one of the nation’s Top 100 Hospitals for clinical excellence and exemplary customer service. With a medical staff of more than 450 physicians and 3,400 employees, BSA Health provides comprehensive services that include 24-hour emergency care, neurology, nuclear medicine, oncology, pulmonology, rehabilitation, rheumatology, robotics, sleep disorders, a stroke center, and women’s services. Other specialized medical facilities in Amarillo include Vibra Hospital of Amarillo for long-term acute care and skilled nursing. The city is also home to the Thomas E. Creek Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, the flagship hospital for the Amarillo VA Health System.

Access to quality educational resources is no less impressive in Oldham County, beginning with local school districts where favorable student/teacher ratios emphasize personalized instruction. Postgraduate opportunities are available in first-rate colleges and universities close to home, including Amarillo College for two-year associate transfer degrees, certificates, and career training. With four campuses in Amarillo, the college serves 10,000 students with comprehensive programs and a dedication to continuing innovation, including a new STEM Research Center and greenhouse. Texas Tech University (TTU) with its flagship campus in Lubbock maintains a strong presence in Amarillo, where the TTU Health Sciences Center houses the schools for pharmacy, medicine, nursing, and health professions as well as a graduate school for biomedical sciences. The private institution of Wayland Baptist University maintains a campus center in Amarillo, as does West Texas A&M University (WTAMU). With its flagship campus in nearby Canyon, WTAMU is a recognized global leader in wind energy research but is also expanding centers of excellence in agriculture and veterinary sciences. The most recent additions include the VERO Center (Veterinary Education, Research, and Outreach), WTAMU Agricultural Sciences Complex, and the Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory.

Lifestyle

The Oldham County lifestyle includes easy access to an entire world of historic, cultural, and performing arts venues and attractions. Locally, Route 66 heritage is showcased in preservations like the restored 1926 Magnolia gas station adjacent to the grand old courthouse and the Adrian Lions Club Farm and Ranch Museum. The museum draws visitors to a collection of antique equipment including those once drawn by horses and a Caterpillar combine used in the 1930s. Other Oldham County treasures from the past include the Milburn-Price Culture Museum, Oldham County Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum, and the Oldham County Public Library housed in a 1911 structure that once served as a silent movie theater. This region is also famous as the home of the original Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch, a residential community established in 1939 to provide at-risk youth with nurturing support and structure. Dating back to 1944, the Boys Ranch Rodeo has not only endured but expanded into an attraction that draws thousands of visitors to the rodeo and associated adventureFEST activities. Other popular celebrations around the calendar year bring friends, family, and neighbors together for old-fashioned fun and great food. Spring heralds the Easter Eggstravaganza on the Courthouse Square, followed by Fourth of July fireworks at Adrian City Park and the Comancheros de Vega Community garage sale in Vega. The crowning glory of annual events is the Oldham County Roundup, drawing throngs of enthusiastic visitors to rodeos, a parade and free barbecue dinner, games, street dances, sports competitions, and a music festival.

The metropolitan Amarillo area adds a wealth of world-class venues and attractions including Texas Air & Space Museum, the Amarillo Museum of Art on the Amarillo College campus, the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame & Museum, and the renowned Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum on the West Texas A&M University campus in Canyon. Big-name entertainment and performances by Amarillo Little Theatre, Amarillo Symphony, Amarillo Opera, and Lone Star Ballet are just minutes from home. Family activities are abundant in Amarillo, from unique destinations like Cadillac Ranch to Wonderland Amusement Park, Amarillo Botanical Gardens, Don Harrington Discovery Center and Space Theater, and the 15-acre Amarillo Zoo. For the finest in outdoor adventure and breathtaking natural beauty, Oldham County residents are approximately an hour’s drive from two of the Panhandle’s most picturesque recreational sites. More than 30 miles of trails are available for deep exploration at nearby Palo Duro Canyon State Park, designated as a top Texas mountain bike destination but equally popular with hikers, campers, and horseback riders. One of the region’s most famous and long-standing cultural attractions is also set against the scenic wonder of the canyon at the Pioneer Amphitheater, where the outdoor musical drama Texas plays nightly during the summer months. Water-sport lovers will want to explore Lake Meredith National Recreation Area, a regional oasis for swimming, fishing, boating, camping, and picnicking. Blending reverence for the past and traditional family values with easy access to metropolitan amenities and advantages, rural Oldham County offers a quality of life that grows richer with every passing year.