GARZA COUNTY

County Offices
300 West Main Street
Post 806-495-4430
http://www.garzacounty.net/

Chamber of Commerce
1 Santa Fe Plaza
Post 806-495-3461
https://postcitytexas.com/

Covering 914 square miles, rural Garza County is situated partly on the Llano Estacado or High Plains but also extends eastward along the rolling plains that stretch from foot of the Caprock Escarpment. Just 40 miles from metropolitan Lubbock, this region features a mix of sandy, loamy and clay soils and a growing season of 216 days that has long supported an agricultural economy. In addition to cotton, grains, cattle, and hog production, county revenues are strengthened and diversified through local industry, oil and gas production, recreation, and services. The center of government, population, healthcare, and commerce is the city of Post.

Garza County is situated along the crossroads of several heavily traveled highways that bridge northwestern Texas with larger metropolitan centers. Texas State Highway 84 connects to Lubbock and Amarillo, while U.S. Highway 380 leads to Fort Worth and Dallas. Other important roads include Texas State Highway 207 and Farm to Market Road 669. General aviation services are available locally at Garza County Airport with the nearest commercial airline service at Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport just four miles from the city of Lubbock.

Services

Access to first-rate educational opportunities begins with public school districts that excel in favorable student/teacher ratios and personalized attention. One of the common threads in West Texas towns is a sense of school pride and support from the entire community. Postgraduate opportunities are abundant in this region, including two centers for South Plains College in Lubbock. With more than 100 programs of study, this two-year community college combines programs in the arts and sciences with technical education, continuing education, and workforce development. Lubbock is also home to Texas Tech University, renowned as a Tier One Carnegie Designated University with preeminent research partnerships in a variety of areas including sustainable energy, wind power, crop science, and food safety. Students can choose from 150 undergraduate majors, 100 master programs, and 50 doctoral programs in 13 colleges that include a school of law, a medical school, and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. Two private colleges are also located in Lubbock: Wayland Baptist University and Lubbock Christian University, recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a Top 20 Comprehensive College in the Western Region.

While most routine healthcare needs can be met close to home at the Garza County Health Clinic, nearby Lubbock offers a world of additional resources from primary care and specialty clinics to regional medical centers. Covenant Health stands as the largest of the healthcare systems serving West Texas, maintaining its flagship facilities of Covenant Medical Center and Children’s Hospital in Lubbock. With a total of more than 1,360 beds, Covenant Health operates specialty centers that include the Heart & Vascular Institute, Joe Arrington Cancer Research & Treatment Center, the NeuroScience Institute, Covenant Specialty Hospital, Covenant Medical Group, and Grace Health System. Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, the University Medical Center Health System (UMC) in partnership with Texas Tech University, provides a world-class teaching hospital and premier research center that produces nationally recognized innovative technologies and treatment breakthroughs. The UMC Timothy J. Harnar Burn Center not only serves a multicounty region but is the only resource of its kind between Denver and Dallas.

Lifestyle

Small in population but big in heart and spirit, rural Garza County welcomes visitors from across the region to unique local attractions. Old Mill Trade Days draws weekend crowds to a lively market atmosphere where 120 vendors ensure unique shopping and great food along with pony rides and a petting zoo—all in the rustic historic mill site. The Ragtown Gospel Theater is another local treasure, seating up to 400 guests in a caprock setting designed to resemble a street in Old Jerusalem for gospel music and live-stage performances. Historic Hotel Garza hosts fanciful interactive themed murder mysteries several times each year, while the OS Ranch Museum and Heritage House preserves and interprets the region’s legacy of art and culture. Downtown Post offers a charming retail district where residents and visitors can explore one-of-a-kind boutiques as well as shops for furniture, fine clothing, antique treasures, and contemporary gifts. Well known for its colorful celebrations, Garza County host such lively events as the Smokin’ in the Park State Championship BBQ Cook-Off, Taba’na Yuan’e, Post Stampede Rodeo & Parade, and holiday festivals including the Christmas Parade and July 4th Parade and fireworks.

Scenic backdrops for a kaleidoscope of outdoor adventures are close to home in Garza County, including Lake Alan Henry for fishing, skiing, hunting, hiking, and camping. A number of outfitters that specialize in trophy hunts have turned thousands of acres of private land into recreational revenue. When summer sizzles, Lubbock Water Rampage in Lubbock attracts water-lovers of all ages to a wave pool, lazy river, water slides, and themed adventure worlds. Shooting facilities, entertainment venues, and beautiful golf courses combine with recreation centers and acres of lush parkland filled with amenities including walking tracks, sports courts and fields, dog parks, and disc golf courses. At Lubbock Municipal Garden and Art Center, visitors of all ages enjoy classes, programs, performing arts, exhibitions, and special events. Metropolitan Lubbock also offers a world of cultural enrichment in arts centers and dazzling centers for the performing arts. Few places in West Texas can match the appeal of Garza County for its blend of homespun delights and easy access to metropolitan attractions.

COMMUNITIES

Post
Municipal Offices
806-495-2811
http://cityofposttexas.com/

Chamber of Commerce
806-495-3461
https://postcitytexas.com/

The small but well-developed city of Post serves as Gaza County’s center of population, government, commerce, healthcare services, and entertainment. Local services meet the needs of the surrounding rural population for restaurants and eateries, churches, hair salons and barber shops, and retail specialty stores. More than 200 businesses combine with 16 clubs and civic groups to form an active, engaged, cooperative community where leaders and residents work together to preserve and improve the quality of life. Local law enforcement, a volunteer fire department, and EMT-paramedics provide a superior level of service usually reserved for larger cities. The local economy blends farming and ranching activity with oil and gas production, service businesses, and an expanding number of enterprises based on recreational services. Colorful annual events, a lively Old Mill marketplace, eclectic shopping, historic attractions, and unique celebrations make Post a destination city beyond the bright lights of Lubbock.